Everyone can be a changemaker
From mental health to climate change, influencers, experts, and activists use their voices to raise awareness about pressing issues. Influencers4Good serves as a platform that brings them together and amplifies the impact. In this interview, Patrycja Radek from SWPS University’s Center for Knowledge Transfer speaks with Professor Tomasz Grzyb, Dean of the Faculty of Psychology in Wrocław, and Wojciech Mróz, Country co-Director at Ashoka Poland. They discuss their involvement in the Influencers4Good initiative and share their insights on the power of social media in driving positive change.
Why did Ashoka decide to engage influencers in taking action?
Wojciech Mróz: Ashoka Poland teamed up with several experienced online creators to launch the Influencers4Good campaign. Its goal is to inspire influencers to advocate for a common cause and encourage their followers to engage in acts of goodwill. Rather than focusing on crowdsourced online fundraising, we want to prioritize issues that directly impact young people and their ability to navigate the complexities of the modern world. Ashoka's guiding principle is "Everyone a Changemaker." We aim to empower everyone to make a difference in matters that they disagree with and speak out on issues that are important to them. Influencers4Good also provides an opportunity for intergenerational dialogue. Online creators have the attention of their generation, a group that Ashoka has limited access to. This campaign serves as a means to reach young people, share insights and tools with them, and leverage the influencers' knowledge about their fans to collaborate more effectively.
Which influencers do you work with?
Wojciech Mróz: We have invited hundreds of Polish creators to participate in our campaign. To date, dozens have joined us. These influencers have a significant following, with one YouTube creator having over four million subscribers and others having between 50,000 to 500,000 highly engaged fans. However, we are open to collaborating with all influencers. In the future, we plan to form a team of about 50 dedicated creators passionate about the campaign's purpose and understand that collective action can have a more significant impact than individual efforts. We understand that creators may have concerns about being inundated with requests for help or facing online backlash, which can be daunting. That is why Influencers4Good, as a credible, proven, and high-impact initiative, provides support and serves as a buffer.
Why did SWPS University decide to support the campaign?
Tomasz Grzyb, Ph.D. / Associate Professor: We can begin by reflecting on some quasi-historical examples. Those who remember the 1990s in Poland might recall the immense popularity of the soap opera Klan. Although the audience loved it, the critics dismissed it as mindless entertainment that chained people to their TV sets. At the time, the health system in Poland focused on promoting breast self-examination among women by organizing various events, such as pink ribbon campaigns and breast cancer awareness marches. However, these efforts were met with mixed interest [...], and their effectiveness was questionable. But when we analyze the number of women who enrolled for cytology and mammography tests in the 1990s, we see only one clear peak - it was the time when Krystyna Lubicz, one of the main characters in Klan, found a tumor in her breast. The introduction of her diagnosis had a significant impact. It inspired viewers to get tested, resulting in a dozen or more women beating cancer. They survived not because they saw a leaflet with detailed instructions on how to examine themselves or because their physician told them how to do it but because they saw one of the episodes of the series. One might wonder how the information about the critics neglecting Klan and the series' success in raising breast cancer awareness are connected. Well, for me, it is obvious! If we want to inspire people to care for themselves and others and make a difference in the world, we cannot ignore any communication channels, even if some may appear confusing or stupefying. Our mission is to find ways to leverage these channels for social good. We were thrilled to partner with Ashoka, an organization that shares our values and vision for creating positive change.
How does collaboration with influencers look like?
Wojciech Mróz: Communicating with creators can be challenging, especially when we try to bridge generational gaps. [...] It is crucial for us to understand the creators and for them to understand our intentions as well. Finding common ground can facilitate learning from one another, and we consider this the significant value of this project. The biggest challenge is catching the creators' attention and demonstrating the benefits of an in-person meeting and meaningful conversation rather than just exchanging emails or having a brief call. Often, they lead busy lives, and we aim to help them take a moment to understand the importance of the issue we are raising. This way, they can deliberately decide whether they want to engage with us. Sometimes, managers are involved in the arrangements, so it is also essential to communicate the issue's significance to them. We strive to keep their attention and show mutual benefit. We want them to understand that the creators can gain personally from engaging in projects important to their outreach groups. Participating in these kinds of initiatives can also give them a sense of meaning. Our previous campaigns received positive feedback from both creators and their followers. They also caught the attention of traditional media. For instance, our first initiative, #godzinadobra (hour of doing good), generated almost two million social media impressions, and the #nietrujSWETRUJ campaign, promoting wearing sweaters instead of turning up the heat, received over 800 thousand. However, we are uncertain about how our campaigns affected viewers' attitudes. In the future, we plan to monitor and learn how to measure the effects of our engagement more effectively.
Which key social issues could benefit from increased awareness in social media?
Tomasz Grzyb, Ph.D. / Associate Professor: Nowadays, all issues are relevant, including mental health [...], the climate crisis, and attitudes toward war-affected reality. Poland has undergone significant changes in the past year that may have gone unnoticed as they have become part of everyday life and affect everyone. If we had said a year ago that we would have three million people from Ukraine in Poland, who came here not by choice but to flee the war, many of us would have thought it wouldn't work and that we could not manage the situation successfully. While we are currently facing some challenges with the growing presence of Ukrainians in Poland, we can also say that we are coexisting and supporting each other - we need them as much as they need us. These topics are currently top of mind. Collaborating with influencers who can reach millions of people, an audience we may not be able to reach otherwise, is a worthwhile approach to addressing these issues. As the scientific and content-conscious side of Influencers4Good, we need to recognize that we do not have all the answers. We cannot tell influencers with four million subscribers how to communicate with their audience. For me, this is a new experience. As a social psychologist and an expert on the psychology of social influence, I am used to telling others what to do. However, in this case, I have to humbly bow my head and admit that this influencer probably knows better how to handle this kind of communication. I can suggest what is worth discussing and create some initial ideas while acknowledging that the final decisions belong to those who will communicate the issue through their channels.
The interview was conducted by Patrycja Radek, innovation broker from SWPS University’s Center for Knowledge Transfer.
Influencers4Good: online creators making a difference
The Influencers4Good initiative has launched various campaigns, including:
- #GodzinaDobra (hour of doing good), initiated by Professor Tomasz Grzyb, inspiring people to do little acts of kindness for others and share them on social media using the hashtag #GodzinaDobra
- #nietrujSWETRUJ, encouraging people to wear warm clothes instead of cranking up the heat. Social media personalities have shown that small actions can make a big impact. By wearing a sweater, we can turn the heating down, saving on electricity bills and reducing pollution
SWPS University partnered with Ashoka a few years ago while seeking an ally who could help us to realize our mission — guiding young people towards social impact goals and preparing them to become responsible members of society. In 2019, our Management and Leadership program was awarded the Journey to Changemaker Certificate (J2CC), granted by Ashoka. We were the first university in Poland and continental Europe to receive this prestigious recognition.
Learn more about our commitment to changemaking
Ashoka Fellows inspire social change
Ashoka is a global organization headquartered in the United States but operating in more than 90 countries, including Poland. It aims to create a world where everyone can contribute to the common good. One of the ways Ashoka achieves this goal is by identifying leading social entrepreneurs in the world and, following a rigorous selection process, offering them lifelong fellowships. Poland boasts more Ashoka Fellows than any other European country, currently over 80. Some of these Fellows are:
- Teresa Ogrodzińska, who introduced alternative forms of preschool education to the Polish education system and founded SPYNKI, childcare centers for children from Ukraine
- Barbara i Tomasz Sadowski, who established the BARKA Foundation for Mutual Help, which has helped tens of thousands of people in Poland and Poles living abroad escape homelessness
- Paula Bruszewska, the co-founder of the Beyond Theory Foundation, who has inspired almost 70,000 young people to launch their first social projects