In a Nov. 8 Q&A with students, Kavita Ramdas reminds her audience of the challenges they'll face when confronting injustice.
Social change comes neither naturally nor easily for many communities, but as a leading expert on social justice philanthropy shared Tuesday in a question-and-answer discussion with Elon University students, inequities are worth combating.
Kavita Ramdas, the executive director for Stanford University’s Program on Social Entrepreneurship, spoke with dozens of students in Whitley Auditorium just hours before a formal lecture in McCrary Theatre on the way women’s movements are leading change across the globe.
Ramdas’ two public appearances augment the university discussion for the 2011-12 Common Reading, Creating a World Without Poverty by Muhammad Yunus.
“Social change happens because someone has a different vision for how things can be, and that definitely causes discomfort,” Ramdas said.
Students quizzed Ramdas on her views of the United Nations Convention to Eliminate All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, a treaty that serves as an international bill of rights for women; the future of social entrepreneurship; the social ills facing her native India; and the complex definition of “development.”
Ramdas told students they need to constantly ask themselves whether the assumptions they carry are “set in stone” or whether they might change by interacting with others who see the world differently.
She also noted how change in the United States comes slowly, pointing to the women’s suffrage movement and, more recently, the Civil Rights Era as examples of how demands for change by oppressed groups weren’t met with enthusiasm from many of those in the majority culture.
“Where do human rights begin? In small places, close to home, where you can’t find them on a map,” said Ramdas, citing former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt’s remarks to the United Nations half a century ago.
Ramdas is a senior advisor for the Global Fund for Women, providing direction for the nonprofit grantmaking foundation that focuses on supporting international women’s rights. She holds master’s degrees in Public Affairs and International Development Studies from Princeton University.
Ramdas is fluent in Hindi/Urdu, English and German, and conversational in Tamil, Spanish and French.