Kesero meets Benita, founder of The People Who Share
Benita Matofska is an international speaker, changemaker, and author of Generation Share. She works with businesses and organisations to help them build back better and become changemaker companies.
Benita set up The People Who Share in 2010 on a mission to fix the shortage of sharing in the world. As part of the education around sharing, Benita took on the challenge of capturing the world's change-makers to create the most wonderful book, affectionately known as ‘The Yellow Book of Hope’. The book is an uplifting and inspiring account of the various ways communities are coming together all over the world.
Kesero meets Benita, founder of The People Who Share
Benita Matofska is an international speaker, changemaker and the author of Generation Share. She works with businesses and organisations to help them build back better and become changemaker companies.
Benita set up The People Who Share in 2010 on a mission to fix the shortage of sharing in the world. As part of the education around sharing, Benita took on the challenge of capturing the world's change makers to create the most wonderful book, affectionately known as ‘The Yellow Book of Hope’. The book is an uplifting and inspiring account of the various ways communities are coming together all over the world.
Generation Share has been voted top isolation read for a positive future by Forbes. Congratulations. What were your hopes for the book when you started?
Well, the hope for book was that this would inspire more sharing and more changemaking and the idea of bringing these positive stories is very much taps into my belief that in order to change the world we need to change the narrative. And that's exactly what the book is set out to do that by showcasing extraordinary stories from around the world from people in all kinds of backgrounds, very diverse backgrounds, stories of people who, from the slums in India to refugee camps in Greece and tech initiatives and community based organisations, all kinds of people who, some of them absolutely against the odds have managed to transform their communities. And so, by bringing these stories of hope the idea was to inspire more social impact and create more change in the world.
Well, it's certainly inspiring. I absolutely love the book, I like to dip in and out as well as share the stories. Have you found the book encouraged people to reach out and share their stories?
Absolutely. Sophie and I, aside from the the world tour that we did last year, we've been doing some Facebook Lives, we've been doing a number of different podcasts and sessions. At the moment I'm pretty much doing something daily, and the message really is getting out there and and again that the message is that everybody has this inner change-maker and it's very much about unleashing that and inspiring that change to happen in the world. We're in some really interesting times at the moment with a pandemic. We're seeing all kinds of acts of kindness, all sorts of acts of kindness during the corona virus crisis. And so this is really very much demonstrating that to share is to be human, and that people really want to make a difference. Many people are doing that just now.
As you touched on there, it's packed full of incredible stories from all over the world. How did you find your change-makers?
Well I've been working in what's known as the sharing economy for about a decade really since the early days of the sharing economy and so through the work with my charity The People Who Share and Global Sharing Week which began its life as National Sharing Day in the UK. Over the years I have met many many change-makers. And so there were a number of people that will already known to me and I was really keen to share their powerful stories. But essentially, there's so many stories out there in the world, and and it really wasn't difficult to find. What I've tried to do with the narrative, is to demonstrate the spectrum of the sharing economy and give a variety of stories. If you like, each one of them is representative of a type of sharing, a type of story and type of change maker. The book itself is divided in chapters each chapter is looking at different demographics, so whether people are in urban areas or rural areas, or this is about wealth and status, about gender or disability or geography, where people are living in the world, culture, religion. We've really looked at a whole range of different demographics to ask these questions about who are the change-makers that are transforming our world and building a more sustainable, ethical economy built around people and planet.
So in many ways it really wasn't difficult to find the stories, and oftentimes what I would do is, where there was what I call an anchor story in a particular country, we would start with that story. I would often have an organisation, a social enterprise, a charity that was working in this space, and through those connections, those people led to other change makers and other stories, so that's essentially what we did. We worked with a network of partners, many of whom were already known to me to find other stories to give a representation of the whole wide spectrum of the sharing economy. So they really weren't difficult to find. The challenge actually was making the decisions about who to include in the book, because for every one of these change makers -I interviewed over 200, we've got about 200 stories represented in the book - there were many, many thousands more stories that could have been included. So that was really the challenge was in the editing and there was definitely a stage with the publishers when we kept going back and forth. It was originally supposed to be 225 pages, and I kept going back asking for more. We ended up with 304 pages and I remember the final time we had a negotiation, I fought very hard to have something included in the book and the publisher said okay but that's it, we really have to come to stop somewhere, which obviously you do, It's already a heavy book. We didn't want it to be either cost-prohibitive or just too heavy for people so we had to make those decisions but the idea really was to give that a representation and to show the spectrum and diversity of stories.
For every book we sell it educates a girl in the slums in Mumbai and plants a tree, and it’s made from 100% waste materials.
I was really grateful that I got to come on the tour when you were in Glasgow. I met you and Sophie which was brilliant. Were there any further highlights when you toured, after the book creation?
Well, it was really fantastic to meet you, because for us going on this tour, actually seeing people who are inspired by this, setting up their own initiatives. I was really interested to hear about the skill sharing platform that you were setting up and each time we presented at various different locations around the world - We did something like 28 launches in a variety of different places - it was always inspiring to me to meet change-makers and really that was the point of the tour. The point of the tour was to bring together a network and a community of change-makers. Really we have always seen this as a global movement and the tour demonstrated just that. It wasn't just about selling books. Yes, of course we want to sell books because for every book we sell it educates a girl in the slums in Mumbai and plants a tree, and it's made from 100% waste materials and the social impact by virtue of that transaction happening, but also the connections are really important. It's really hard to single out - I mean there were many highlights.
I would say that we had a really extraordinary moment in Edinburgh. It was the day after the Glasgow launch, and it was actually following the event itself. It took place in a community centre which was really dynamic and interactive. It wasn't in a bookstore, it had a very different feel to it. And some of us went following that to have food at a sharing space, a pay as you feel sharing space, a zero waste sharing space really inspiring lovely vegan food. And whilst we were sitting there having a conversation about sharing, about Generation Share, we received a message from Aarti Naik in the slums in India, via LinkedIn to let us know that she just received her copy of the book. There were photographs of her with the girls, having just received their copies of the book, and it was just an extraordinary moment. I mean I still have chills to think about it. One of the women that was sitting around the table then took photographs of Sophie and I receiving that news and, it was just a really extraordinary moment. That there we were, in Scotland launching this book, and meanwhile at the other side of the world in the slums Aarti Naik just received her copy, and was sharing that with the girls that are being helped by the sales of the book. So that was a real highlight for me. And it's a real moment.
I'd also say that our launch in in Leeds because that's my hometown was very very special. To see friends and family, and so many people, people that I was at school with. People that I've known all my life come out to support the book and and hear what Sophie and I had to say. That was very very special, obviously having my parents there was just fantastic.
We also had a brilliant launch in Lisbon. It was it was very very special. We were in a space called Ler Devagar. And actually if you look at the skill sharing story in the book which obviously relates to what you do at kesero, you'll see that it takes it takes place -the photograph itself - is in a book sharing hub called Ler Devagar, Lisbon. That very space is where we launched the book where we had the book event. It was just extraordinary. It was absolutely packed, it was one of the busiest launches that we had. There's a big appetite for the sharing economy in Portugal and I've actually spoken in Portugal quite a few times before at GreenFest and other events ,other sharing economy events, And it always strikes me that there's a real zest for social entrepreneurship there. And that was a really phenomenal, phenomenal launch.
I'll also mention New York as well, that was very special. I used to live in New York, and so again I had a lot of close friends that came to support, and also there's a real network of change-makers. So they were some of them, but they were all special in their own way. What I really loved about the tour was the fact that every single place we went to, the launches were different in nature, We held them in different kinds of places. Some of them were held in Waterstones or other big bookstores. Blackwell's is another one in the UK. In San Francisco, we were in a really eclectic bookstore called Book Passage that was really interesting, but then we had Nottingham in Rough Trade records. So again, really diverse. In New York we were in a bar we, were in a brewery.
I mentioned that we some of them were in community centres. We had one in Norwich, which is a sharing city, which is the UK’s first sharing city. And believe it or not, that was in a shopping centre which is a sharing space. So, within the shopping centre they have all these different sharing zones, It took place in this lovely, it's a book hub again, where it's it's a free exchange of books and people come and they share their books. Itwas a very appropriate place within the shopping centre to have that, like a sharing office.
And so, they were all really different in nature. At the Norwich event for example, we had somebody from the local food hub who came and shared their food. We had demonstrations, we had people from the local sharing community come and talk about what they were doing.
To a number of them we brought change-makers. There's an extraordinary woman in the book called Natasha Wood, who's a laughter sharer, and she came to several of our launches. She travelled around the country. She's disabled woman she came to four or five launches and she's hilarious! I mean talk about, you know, bringing the laughter on tour. Well, we decided that we wanted to keep her and that she had to come on all the tours. She started crowdfunding during the tours to see she could get out to New York and San Francisco, and that became a big source of amusement. She didn't unfortunately come with us to the US.
But again, what we tried to do is really tap into that local Change-maker community wherever we went and bring people together and recognise that there's something that everybody can get involved in.
Amazing. It sounds as though the tour was actually just as good as creating the book!
Well, it really was. It felt like the next stage, and it really did feel like a kind of evolution of the project, actually. Really seeing these things come to light, and also seeing their impact on other people. People would say - go to q&a - and people would stand up and they would talk. There was definitely lots of emotion. I mean we had tears, we had joy, we had people who are just really impacted by what we have to say, and again, that just has an impact on you but it tells us that these stories really resonate with people. People have really responded to the writing and responded to the photography. They responded to the humanity of the book, and I think for us that's something that has been just really really incredible and inspiring for us.
For yourself, you’re very busy with lots of different things going on, and The People Who Share, are there are there ways that you share in everyday life?
Absolutely. And, you know, I've been working in this sector for about a decade now, as I mentioned, People Who Share will be 10 years old in January next year - January 2021. My work over the last few months during the coronavirus crisis is to really see what can I do to help both on a personal level, and also through the People Who Share. At The People Who Share we launched a COVID-19 food relief campaign. We want to make sure the most vulnerable people are fed. We've created a one stop resource where people can find food banks, for example, and access them or they could volunteer or they could donate. So lots of ways in which people can get involved, either finding the resources they need, or equally, they can help and support in any way that they can. So that was something that we really wanted to do as a charity.
On a personal level, we have on my streets, we have a COVID-19 mutual support group whatsapp group. Every day people are posting things that they need and if I'm going out, you know to pick up some food and I will say ‘Does anybody need anything?'‘ We've got a somebody who's disabled, who's living living across the street, and we've all been making food for him and helping him with whatever he needs. There are elderly people on the street and again I always I check in with them very frequently. With my synagogue, I'm very involved in Brighton and Hove progressive synagogue, and I've been on the pastoral care team we've been calling around. First of all, the elderly and vulnerable people in the community to see what they need and is there anything that we can help with or just be, you know, a friendly voice on a phone call. Not everybody in the community, for example, has access to technology or knows how to use that technology and sometimes, you know, a phone call is just what's needed. And then we expanded that to call everybody within the within the community because, you know, everybody's has their challenges, and whatever age they may be and whether they're vulnerable or not, whether they're sick or not, this has been difficult for everybody, to a different degree of course.
And so those are some of the things that that I've been doing and then just generally again I'm always aware when I'm out and about. There was an incident last week when there was a girl who was homeless. She looked pretty much the same age as my daughter which is 17. I talked to her and asked her what she needed. I don't give cash. I always have a principle of that anyway but at the moment I'm not carrying cash around with me like most people aren't. And so she wanted drinks so I went and bought her some orange juice, you know, got some water and just the things that she needed. I told her about a resource called Street Link where you can get help and support. So, it's on a daily basis. I'm always looking to see what can I do to help. How can I share?
Also, I've been blogging. I started a blog called Love in the time of Corona, really looking at bringing positive stories and inspiration and kindness from around the world. And it's just extraordinary, you know, we've had the largest volunteer efforts since the Second World War. There are lots of positive things that come out of this pandemic, how people are helping each other, but also in terms of the planet. The planet is able to breathe at a time when tragically, humans are struggling. And you know what we've been seeing in terms of the planet is because of the lowering of carbon. 95% fewer flights, cars, and traffic reduced to levels of 1955. And so that's had a positive impact on the planet. And I believe that during this time has been a real shift in behavior, and people are really assessing what's important, what's valuable. People are obviously spending time in their homes with the people who are nearest to them. And, you know, this is very much, the re-evaluation of what's important, and you know, do we need to be consuming all of these things. Do we need to be leading such a materialistic life Do we need to be leading the kind of life that creates such huge carbon impact, planetary impact. So for a lot of people and it has been a time to stop and a time to assess, while at the same time it's been a huge challenge for many people.
So for me, it’s on a daily basis. I wake up and I think okay, well what can I share today? What can I do? And that could be something really simple.
I really feel for those, for those children who, for them home is not a safe environment. And for those women who are suffering from domestic violence. People talk about coronavirus knows no boundaries and the disease itself, obviously doesn't discriminate. In one sense though, obviously you're hearing a disproportionate number of people from BAME backgrounds, black minority and ethnic backgrounds who have perished from this disease tragically. And then all kinds of reasons for that, poverty being a big driver. So it doesn't affect everybody equally - we know that. I'm always looking out for what can we do about that. What are the key issues that sit behind that. How can we continue - how can I continue to campaign for people, for a sharing, caring, sustainable society that really cares about the planet. So for me it's on on a daily basis. I wake up and I think okay well what can I share today. What can I do. And that could be something really simple. I think that's the joy of the sharing economy, that anybody can be part of this, it's not exclusive in any way shape or form.
I love that. That you think every morning, what can I do to share. I guess that's probably where that mindset change is going to come from. It's only by asking yourself that question.
kesero is all about sharing skills. Is there anything in particular that you would share? You have listed an endless amount of things that you are very skilled in. And anything that you would look for through the sharing platform?
Well, I think for me I'm always about sharing positive stories. And so anyway that I can help to do that. Also communication skills. I'm an international public speaker
And you know for me it's very much about how can I showcase, amplify and signpost these incredible stories. Because the reality is that, we've had very negative media, and we focus not on the positives in the world. There are so many incredible, inspiring people and stories out there and we want, I want to give those light of life. My skills are really around communication. There are people who have - change-makers who have extraordinary initiatives and projects that they're doing. I want to help amplify that, and that's something that I continue to do through my blogging, through my charity People Who Share, through my speaking. I'm always looking for fantastic stories and case studies, so that's one way which I'm constantly sharing and that I'm interested in.
I suppose in terms of anything that I'm looking for through the platform, currently, right now I'm looking for volunteers to help with global sharing week which is the 21st - 27th June [2021], and we're looking for volunteers to help with some of the coordination and the administration of that campaign. It's obviously going to be very different this year because people are not going to be physically meeting for events, but we're going to be doing some different things, and we have a global map. Anybody who has a resource to share can be listed on that map. I really would urge kesero to list on that map but also people who are listed on your site. If they have resources that they want to share make them available. The idea is that we want to populate that global map with as many shared resources as possible so that people can access and use that map year-round and not just for global sharing week. It's going to be an ongoing resource, where people can list the organisation's projects and initiatives rather than events. Of course, there are still some digital events that will be happening during the week and people could list those too. But the idea is really to provide this really one-stop shared resource, where people can access year-round all kinds of projects and initiatives that are really transforming the world.
Our planetary resources may be finite, but our potential to share is unlimited. And if we can unleash that then there’s really no end to what we can achieve.
What are your tips for someone who would like to participate in the sharing economy, who maybe doesn’t have that much information and doesn't quite know where to start. Do you have any ideas for people?
Well, I do believe it starts with that simple question which is what can I share today. So everybody can do that. We all have this unlimited capacity to share and I often say that our planetary resources may be finite, but our potential to share is unlimited. And if we can unleash that then there's really no end to what we can achieve. So for me, that's the starting point - what do you have that you can share. It's something very simple and it might be something as simple as a smile. It might be something as simple as making a call to somebody elderly on your street to see if they need anything. It might be just reaching out to somebody digitally, to see if there's anything that they need or just to have that human connection. We've got to remember at the moment that there are many, many people who are living on their own, and for whom this is really really difficult because they get up in the morning and they're literally on their own. And that's tough. And if there's anything that any of us can do to reach out to those people and those who are vulnerable in a safe way, in a digital way, then that's something that we can all do at the moment. So the sharing economy is very easy to access.
Of course, people can also look for all of these different platforms to use them. So, obviously your platform Kesero, people can share through your platform in terms of sharing skills, but again there's lots of other platforms that are out there. And not just platforms, it isn't just about those it's about sharing and communities. And so it might be that there's volunteering, you could do. Could you volunteer? Do you have any time to spare? Obviously, the NHS put a call out for volunteers. But there are lots and lots of charities out there at the moment, who really need help.
I've mentioned that the People Who Share currently is really in need of support so anybody who wants to come forward and help us with - mostly administration, helping us to populate that global map because we want to make these shared resources available as much as possible and activities happening fast and furiously over the next couple of weeks as we advance towards the first June, so that's one way in which people can get involved in the sharing economy.
What you're saying there about a lot more people being at home and getting to know their neighbours. It's a nice idea to check in on your neighbours a bit more, probably an easy first step.
Absolutely, absolutely. And it's something that we can all do. Up and down the country people are coming out on Thursday evening at eight o'clock to clap for carers and it's an opportunity, of course, to see your neighbours but also to check in that they’re okay.
I'll give you another example of a situation again on my street, we've got this very active WhatsApp group and because it is so caring and sharing this woman felt comfortable enough to be able to say that she was feeling really low. And that she was just feeling really low and she's got her Mum in a care home and she can't go and visit her. All of these anxieties and concerns and worries and she expressed that and so I reached out to her directly via WhatsApp, I said ‘Would you like to come to my gate and I'll put a chair out for you we can have a socially distant coffee, she can bring her coffee I can have my coffee, I'll sit at the top of the stairs she'll be just inside the gate and more than two meters apart. And, and that's what we did. We did that the other morning and she came and we just talked, and really she just wanted that connection. She just needed to reach out to somebody, She's new to the area she hasn't lived on this street for very long and she just needed a friendly voice and a friendly face. And, and that's something very simple. We talked for an hour. It was an hour of my time, and that made a big difference to her. So I think there are simple things that we can all do to help and to share.
That’s lovely Benita. She must have been absolutely delighted to get an hour of your time. That's really really lovely. As you say as it's the simple things and it's just that human connection.
So, my final question for you today is, the world has changed significantly since the book was published, What are your predictions for the sharing economy as we recover from this pandemic?
Well, I believe - I've written a blog about this - I believe that the sharing economy is saving us during COVID-19. What I'm seeing is this huge effort in terms of volunteering. I've seen three types of sharing that have been happening. I've seen this shared action when people are coming forward to volunteer and take action to protect lives and save the NHS. All kinds of people around the world distributing food, and just an incredible volunteer effort so there's the shared action that's happening.
And then the next kind of sharing that I've seen is the shared understanding where people are starting to reevaluate and there's this value shift that's happening, What's really important, We hear this term key workers and that speaks volumes. What's really important in our lives. People are starting to really enjoy spending time in nature and spending time being grateful for the things that they have. And rather than obsessing over the latest and the greatest and this kind of hyper-consumption that is destroying our planet. People have had to cease those activities that are incredibly damaging to the planet. So there's been this shared understanding and this value shift and I see, most powerfully that that is what is taking us into the future. The world will be forever changed as a result of this, and I believe lots of positives will come out of this crisis, Nothing can replace that tragic, tragic, loss. The world will be forever changed as a result of this pandemic. I believe lots of positives will come out of this. People will think twice before they get on a plane to go somewhere, people will think twice before they get in the car, people will think twice before they buy something that they really don't need, people will think twice before they do something that's actually going to be harmful to friends and neighbours and families and colleagues and so on. So, I just think we're seeing mindful behavior. Supposedly it takes between nine and 10 weeks to create a habit, and obviously, we've been staying at home for about eight weeks at this point. We're still in that situation where we're still in lockdown. And that is going to have an impact on people's routines and on people's behavior change in the future. So I'm actually very positive about the future and what I see coming.
We've also seen, I mentioned there are three types of sharing, so you've got this shared action, this shared understanding, but also looking forward to the future, we've also seen what I call the shared responsibility. I think this is probably the most important point here because these terms social distancing - why are we doing that - we're doing that to protect other people, to protect ourselves, to protect our families. This shared responsibility. Nobody alone can beat this virus, people have been coming together, this phrase ‘we're all in this together’. Although the virus may affect us differently, at the same time this is going to take everybody, and we are, people are taking responsibility and we've seen that the world over where people have come together in an extraordinary way that changed I mean, the changes that have happened, and the speed at which they have happened is just extraordinary.
The way that individuals. that families have had to change their lifestyles, the way that communities, the way that businesses, the way that public bodies. People have had to make these rapid changes which demonstrate, it can be done but we're doing this because we're taking shared responsibility.
And so, looking ahead to the future, you're right that the world has changed immensely since generation share was published last year. However, a lot of the values and the messages of the book could not be more relevant than they are now. And I believe that what's what we're seeing is the growth of this caring, sharing society through this, and it's that that is actually saving us and that is what is enabling people, and the planet to survive because we're all being more caring and more sharing more mindful because we've had to be. There hasn't been a choice for many of us, those choices have been taken away from us. And that's not a bad thing, necessarily, in and of itself, So I'm very positive for the future. I believe that what we need to do, the important thing now is we need to build positively on those changes to make sure that what we don't do is just revert to all the bad behaviors. Because, you know, that doesn't really bear thinking about, I think some habits will be very impossible to revert to because they just simply won't be won't be available to us. But I think the important thing really is that we build on the positive changes that have been made and we continue to be mindful to others and that we continue to share in whatever way that we can. This whole idea of unleashing this unlimited capacity to share is something that is incredibly powerful that I believe is going to really steer us towards a positive future
I share that belief. It has been absolutely wonderful to talk to you and to hear what you have to say. I was so inspired when I first read the book, more inspired then meeting you and you have just inspired me again today. Thank you - I appreciate you are very busy. I wanted to mention again this lovely book. I can’t recommend it enough. It truly is uplifting and I think it’s a great book to be reading at the moment to give you that hope for the future.
Thank you so much, and again just to reiterate the book is made from 100% waste materials that each book educates a girl in the slums in Mumbai and plants a tree.
You can purchase a copy of Generation Share here. The book is currently helping slum-based girls in India continue their education digitally and stay safe at home during Covid 19 and also receive food packages, so each book purchase helps.
