Entre-preneurial Spirit
The Solidarity Family exemplifies an entrepreneurial spirit. Although the word entrepreneur is usually associated with business and with profit making, at a deeper level it means using organizational skills to be creative, to make something new or different, or to solve a problem in an innovative way. For a for-profit entrepreneur, the goal is to earn more money by doing things in a new way. For the Solidarity Family, the goal is to provide crucial assistance to underserved people by finding new ways to engage needed partners and effectively deploy their contributions. Entrepreneurs create something where it did not exist before. The Solidarity Family is meeting a profound need that had not been met before, and we are meeting the need in innovative ways. Drawing on our passion for partnership, we create vehicles for channeling the good will, talent, and resources of others for the common good. The entrepreneurial spirit is a mindset that embraces critical questioning, innovation, and continuous improvement. Rather than waiting to adapt to change when it comes, it actively seeks to bring about the change that is needed.
The Solidarity Family exhibits key characteristics of entrepreneurs:
We are people with passion and conviction; we have genuine enthusiasm for what we do. Our passion for building something great means we are willing to push ourselves to accomplish more.
We are continuously improving because we continuously question how our work could be done better.
We are optimistic, so we push the boundaries of what is thought possible. We explore ambitious goals and embrace challenges.
We take calculated risks in order to reach our goals. We know we might not succeed, but we are willing to risk trying.
We execute, acting effectively to accomplish our goals. We act with firm purpose and professionalism. We promise less, but we deliver more.
In the Solidarity Family, the passion, optimism and resilience typical of entrepreneurship are rooted in the spiritual basis of our work. As an organization rooted in lay vocation—which is in itself innovative within Catholicism—we are deeply familiar with how the secular world works and we use our organizational skills and techniques to navigate within that world for the sake of the reign of God on earth. The entrepreneurial spirit is an element of our charism found in all the entities in the Solidarity Family: Solidarity Bridge, Puente de Solidaridad, Puente de Solidaridad Internacional, Solidarity Medical Equipping and the Solidarity Lay Association. Recent expressions of this spirit can readily be seen in the surgical campaigns run by Puente de Solidaridad, in the biotech mission trips begun by Solidarity Bridge, and in the social entrepreneurship represented by Solidarity Medical Equipping.