Another one bites the dust ? though in the positive sense of the word. Socially innovative initiatives such as crowdfunding platforms are popping up like mushrooms, but the legal realms have been largely left untouched. Until now.?Ronald Lenz, a THNK?Class 3?participant, together with fellow social entrepreneurs?Rick Smets?and?Robbert Woltering, has just launchedCrowdsuing: a platform that uses crowdfunding to raise money for lawsuits against existing societal and corporate injustice. Their aim is to unite and empower people to challenge these injustices. Is our legal system about to be turned upside down?
Crowdsuing: class action for change
Founded only 4 months ago, Crowdsuing has attracted widespread media attention in the Netherlands. Working together with various law firms and partner organizations, the start-up is currently working on its first cases. Though these are currently non-disclosed, it is clear Crowdsuing wants to increase fairness and transparency on social issues related to e.g. privacy, food and human rights, by giving voice to the people and citizen interest groups. ?We became extremely frustrated by many things we read in the media. From Facebook exploiting private consumer data, to a multinational like Monsanto obtaining patents on broccoli.?
According to Ronald, the rationale behind Crowdsuing is three-fold. First, Crowdsuing wants to positively change behavior in big corporations, organizations, currently fixated on short-term vision and profits. Second, current legislation does not always keep up with changes in society, ?there are too many grey areas, leading to corporate wrongs against citizens.? Third, Crowdsuing shows people they have the power to bring about change, despite popular belief. ?We want to add a new legal option for people to collectively act, going beyond petitions and TV shows like?Radarand?KASSA?[Radar and KASSA are two Dutch consumer TV programs shedding light on societal and consumer injustices].?We hope that together, we can bring about systematic and positive change.?
Ronald emphasizes that, while pushing for new or reformed legislation, it is not their intention to change the legal system. ?The current system took hundreds, thousands years to develop. Its core essence is magnificent.
The only problem is that many important issues never reach the courts. We make sure that these cases are tried and heard, offering an enabling platform to citizens. But we fully trust our legal system will do that which is just.?
Creating social impact by empowering others
Ronald?s deep passion for driving positive change shows through all that he says and does. Starting off as a researcher, Ronald quickly realized that he could do a lot more about the social problems he was passionate about as entrepreneur. Quitting his then-job, he has since focused on creating social impact by creating innovative platforms, enabled by new technologies. He sees technology as a catalyzer for social change: ?I am interested in bringing together people, creating social, collective change together, using technology as a key tool. I guess this is the red thread that binds together everything I do?. ?This is actually something I realized at THNK: by working with these people, and through intensive coaching I was able to become more focused, get rid of all the ?noise?, as I like to call it, and focus on working on projects I was truly passionate about.?
In addition to his work for Crowdsuing, Ronald is Head of Business Development, Sales and Partnerships at?the 1% Club, a global crowdfunding and crowdsourcing platform, co-founded by THNK participant?Anna Chojnacka. He is also?Director at?Cities Next, an agency for civic design that connects citizens, municipalities and companies to resolve urban challenges, which he founded with THNK classmate?Daniela Krautsack. Ronald explains that his emphasis on collective impact, is probably due to his being an urban innovation expert approaching issues from a wider macro-perspective. ?Today?s social problems are so grave and severe that we can only tackle them together.?
What is next
So what is next? With regards to Crowdsuing, Ronald already has various other cases in the pipeline. He and his partners feel that the Netherlands is a greatly (and tiny) innovative place to kick start the platform. The next step is to expand to the United States, where class action already is much more embedded in the legal culture. Dubbed ?class action for change?, the initiative has been widely embraced in the U.S.A. Ronald and his partners are in the midst of negotiations with various impact investors. But he stresses that there is no end-game. Like many of his professional endeavors, he wants to play an enabling role, coming up with new business models, strategies and solutions that aid society (some of his other ventures include?7scenes, Waag Society?s?Urban Reality Lab?and the?Mobile Learning Academy). Above all, Ronald is very hopeful about the future, adding that while the 1980?s and 90?s were driven by linear economic growth and accumulating material wealth, social enterprises are gaining ground. His personal role in all of this is clear: creating social impact by facilitating people with the right tools and platforms, showing people that together,?we can?drive breakthrough change.
Sources:?Mr-Online,?Thnk.org,?Crowdsuing.nl, InnovatingJustice