First Concert Success!

<-- st. xavier's gymnasium was transformed into a world-class music venue!

On May 3rd, 2008 we launched the Just Because Initiative with a bang! Thanks to the impressive efforts of the St. Xavier HS student council in Cincinnati, Ohio, the concert was a huge success, with over 400 students in attendance and $2000 raised!

None of this would have been possible without the vision and dedication of Dan Lewis, St. Xavier HS student body president for the '07-'08 school year. Despite facing a number of obstacles to making this event happen, Dan stepped up and met the challenges with exceptional poise and determination.

<- dan lewis, st. x student body president

Dan personally had quite a stake in seeing this concert through. In the Summer of 2007, Dan visited the village of Durán, a small town in western Ecuador. The experience seemed to have left him inspired, so much that he suggested we donate the proceeds of the concert to the various villagers he met. Dan mentioned a farmer who dreamed of starting his own market but lacked the necessary funding.

<-- the flyer used to promote the concert

Dan, along with the rest of the St. Xavier student council, learned a lot about the hassles of putting a successful event together. Between concerns of crowd control, electricity capacity, and sound arrangements, Dan called me a number of times expressing grave doubts that we could pull the concert off. But we worked through those various roadblocks (including the last-minute problem of a lack of chaperones), and the concert was a wild success. These guys showed a lot of leadership and heart, and in the end we were able to create social good from nothing except music, passion, and the dedication of these students. Dan will be a freshman this fall at Marquette University in Milwaukee, and we have no doubt that he will go on to do great things. Congratulations!

The Just Because Initiative Background

The Just Because Initiative is a venture designed to encourage and foster the spirit of social entrepreneurship among high school students through well-executed benefit concerts. It is a means for high school student leaders to work together with bands, artists, and music industry professionals to plan and execute a benefit concert that raises money for a cause of the students’ choice. We want to help funnel the passion and energy of our youth into something effective, successful, and self-affirming.

About two years ago I made the 3-hour trip from Cincinnati to Ohio University in Athens, OH for a benefit concert raising money for Malaria No More, an organization that helps buy bed nets for communities in Africa. Even though we weren’t going to be making much money, we agreed to play the show because the student who asked us to play seemed to be passionate about Malaria No More, and we supported the cause. We also hoped to make a few new fans.

Simply put, the show was a disaster. Besides the 3 students organizing the event, not a single person showed up, the sound & lighting was terrible, and the schedule completely disorganized. No one seemed to even know there was a concert happening. Instead of raising money for Malaria No More, the group actually lost money for their student organization on the concert. Everyone involved left frustrated and disappointed. We spent 150 dollars on gas and hadn’t made a single new fan.

The above scenario became all too familiar to us as a band supported almost exclusively by teenagers and college students. A young person passionate about music and a particular cause takes the initiative to support what they believe in, to do something in the form of a benefit concert. But because of a lack of adequate guidance, support, and experience, their efforts end up having little actual impact, and are frustrating to those involved. After playing one too many of these fruitless “benefit” concerts, we found ourselves torn. We cared deeply about supporting the passion of young people dedicated to making a difference, but we couldn’t continue to donate our money and energies to events that were, by our standards, complete failures.

And so we decided to do something about it. The Just Because Initiative is a venture designed to encourage and foster the spirit of social entrepreneurship among high school students through well-executed benefit concerts. It is a means for high school student leaders to work together with bands, artists, and music industry professionals to plan and execute a benefit concert that raises money for a cause of the students’ choice.

I was first introduced to the notion of social entrepreneurship while earning my bachelors degree in Interdisciplinary Studies at Miami University of Ohio. My bandmates (who also studied social entrepreneurship) and I found the idea of creating sustainable entities that fundamentally promote a social good particularly inspiring. Sustainability was the key for us, though. Experiences like the one described above had taught us there is a big difference between wanting to make a difference and actually making one.

I think one of the most exciting current trends among America’s youth is the increasing number of teens who, aware of their privilege and potential, are inspired to make a difference in the world around them, to actually do something. It seems that more and more high school student leaders are actively supporting causes they believe in. New York Times columnist Nicolas Kristof has been following this trend for the past few years.

College students used to be the activists, but increasingly they’re joined by high school pupils and even younger children. The spotlight may be on billionaire philanthropists like Bill Gates, but one of the country’s healthier trends has been the rise of piggy-bank philanthropists… Today’s young social entrepreneurs come across as more constructive than my generation of student activists, and more savvy about how to accomplish their goals cost-effectively.
Kristof. Nicholas. "The Age of Ambition," New York Times 27 Jan 2008. 5 Nov 2008

The teenage love affair with music has long been historical fact, so it should come as no surprise that many high school student leaders turn to live concerts as a way of raising awareness and funds for a cause. Indeed, benefit concerts can be an exciting way to accomplish these goals. But it has been my experience that while many students are passionate about doing something, putting together a successful event can be challenging and frustrating, especially the first time around. I think it is imperative that, especially in the early stages, young social entrepreneurs are given every possible opportunity to make their efforts a success. This is the foundational idea behind The Just Because Initiative. Our aim is to provide support and guidance to students trying to make a difference. We want to help funnel the passion and energy of our youth into something effective, successful, and self-affirming.

And so The Just Because Initiative is currently searching for high school student leaders who are passionate about a social cause or charity. We’ve started small, with our band Cavashawn helping students organize concerts at their high schools in Chicago, St. Louis and Cincinnati. We’ve been absolutely floored by how capable and dedicated these student leaders have been in making sure these concerts are successful. At St. Xavier HS in Cincinnati we helped student body president Dan Lewis raise over $1500 for a village in Ecuador he’d visited on a Mission Trip. At Hazelwood West HS near St. Louis we helped Marisela Barrera raise over $800 for To Write Love On Her Arms, an organization dedicated to preventing teen suicide. We're in the process of planning more events in Chicago, Cincinnati, and Northern Virginia. We’re humbled that The Just Because Initiative is helping students make a difference for causes they believe in.

- Jesse Feister
(jesse@justbecauseinitiative.org)