Will Byrne, co-founder and chief executive officer of the nonprofit Groundswell, delivered the closing keynote for the 2013 Global Engagement Summit on Saturday evening with a speech about his company's mission and the concept of "civic consumption."
Byrne spoke in the Harris Hall lecture room to about 100 GES attendees. He opened his speech with a summary of the origins of Groundswell, a nonprofit that aims to foster sustainable energy markets in underprivileged areas by organizing the communities into developing what they call "their shared purchasing power."
Byrne and his fellow co-founders started out as campaigners for Barack Obama's 2008 presidential run. When the election was over, the group decided they wanted to start helping disadvantaged neighborhoods while spreading the use of sustainable energy. First, they needed to get the community engaged in their cause, and Byrne soon realized that his time as a campaigner had already equipped him well for this project.
"We started doing what we do best," Byrne said, "canvassing the neighborhood, going door-to-door and actually talking to people."
Soon enough, Groundswell was up and running, getting underprivileged neighborhoods interested in investing in sustainable energy. They also began convincing the power companies to build facilities locally, providing an economic boon to these poorer neighborhoods and creating jobs for the residents.
The defining aspect of Groundswell is their method of rallying entire neighborhoods and using the collective purchasing power of communities to influence local markets. Byrne calls this unique form of economics "civic consumption," a business model he's trying to encourage in other sectors of the economy.
"When we started out, we didn't think we'd have much leverage," Byrne said. "As it turned out, we had a lot of leverage ... One resident has no sway, but a group of residents has a whole bunch of sway."
Near the end of his speech, Byrne – one of Forbes' 2012 "30 Under 30" social entrepreneurs – gave his advice about starting a full-fledged business to all of the aspiring entrepreneurs who attended the summit.
"If you have doubts, you can't figure out every little piece, you don't have an answer to every question, don't let it stop you," Byrne said.