When trying to forge new partnerships
and connections in the context of
initiatives being completely innovative,
working with people who wouldn’t
ordinarily work together, Yassmin
focuses on the vision.
“I’m a vision-type person. So you build a
vision, and say “we can achieve this” and
then you get people to own it as much as
you own it. You need a group of people
who believe in the vision just as much as
you – if not more than you – so there’s the
drive to make it work.”
Yassmin goes on to say:
People have asked me for a long time
what’s your thing, and I do a lot of random
stuff! But I think everything comes down
to a couple of things. One around the idea
of improving access to opportunity – there
are so many opportunities out there, but
only a small number of people get that.
The second is around increasing diversity
of representation in positions of influence
– I truly believe that until we have
our leadership, our media, our public
conversations be reflective of the people
Depending on what you’re asking for
that actually live in the nation we are
and wanting to collaborate on, Yassmin always going to privilege a certain
says it is also about seeing things from few. There’s nothing wrong with people
their point of view.
being privileged as long as there’s equal
opportunity to be privileged.
“So it’s saying ‘this is why I think you
would be great for it’, ‘this is what I think I think it’s incredibly powerful to have
you would get out of it’ or ‘I know you
people who disagree with you to still
care about this, and THIS is what we are respect you – That’s probably something
doing to help what you care about’... Give that I would aspire to – to have a level of
them a reason to be involved.”
integrity that where even if people disagree
with you they respect you.
Yassmin recommends finding out what
their motivation is – their “value driver”
– and focusing your pitch to play to
that.
Given her success so far, it’s clear she’s
going to go on to achieve even greater
things, and that people will have many
reasons to be involved in collaborating
with her.
10
GLOSS JULY 2015