Dr. Ernesto Sirolli, Founder and CEO of Sirolli
Institute International - Enterprise Facilitation®
Inc. is the author of Ripples from the Zambezi
– Passion, Entrepreneurship and the Rebirth
of Local Economies. Adopted as a textbook in an increasing number of academic courses in Community and Economic Development, the book has helped to introduce Enterprise Facilitation to a new generation of economic development practitioners and civic leaders interested in growing their communities from within, one passionate person at the time. In 1985, in a small rural Australian town, he pioneered a unique economic development approach based on harnessing the passion, determination, intelligence, and resourcefulness of the local people. The striking  results of “The Esperance Experience” have prompted more than 250 communities in several countries to adopt responsive, person-centered approaches to local economic development similar to the Enterprise Facilitation® model pioneered in Esperance. Italian-born Dr. Ernesto Sirolli received a Laurea di Dottore in Political Science from  Rome University in 1976 and his continuing dedication and work in the field of local economic and community development earned him Ph.D. from Murdoch University in Perth, Western Australia in 2004. He has worked in Europe, Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the U.S.A. and the United Kingdom in the field of economic development. He has also lectured in dozens of countries in the past 30 years.
Sirolli has been influential in shaping development policy and initiatives in Australia, the United States and Scotland. Whether traveling or based at the U.S. Office of the Sirolli Institute, Dr. Sirolli receives frequent requests for television and radio interviews and panels, as well contributing print articles to a variety of publications. Dr. Sirolli is the founder and CE O of Sirolli Institute International, Enterprise Facilitation®, with offices presently established in the U.S., Canada and England. The non-profit organization trains regions and communities in the Sirolli Enterprise Facilitation®.

Q & A

What differences, if any, does Dr. Sirolli see between enterprise development in the Native community and the non-Native community?
There is a dominant opinion in conventional economic development that says that since communities are different no one economic development methodology can be universally applied. We believe that communities are different but that people are people and one can, for example, treat pneumonia in the same way whether in Africa or Northern Canada. People are people and they all bleed equally. Enterprise Facilitation helps individuals to grow by helping them to do beautifully what they love to do. Being respectful of culture, and ONLY if invited to do so, the Sirolli Institute teaches communities how to capture the passion of its people.

What are the major challenges to enterprise development in the Native community that Dr. Sirolli sees?
There are major challenges to enterprise development… Full Stop! In Native communities or not, Economic Development ( Capital E and capital D) is done ‘to’ people, usually in a top down way, with scant consideration of what is already there, in the head and minds of the locals. Helping people to start their own businesses is difficult work in any environment and it requires both passion and know-how. Poverty, illiteracy, lack of finances, distance from markets
and even lack of personal safety don’t stop people from dreaming of a better life. On the contrary, it makes people more determined to find ways to feed themselves and their families; like in our project in the Eastern Congo.

What advice can Dr. Sirolli provide to those of us in the Native community who wish to support and encourage enterprise development work?
Educate yourself on the principles and practices of Enterprise Facilitation, win the trust of your people, and ONE by ONE, help people in your community go from solitude and poverty to personal success. The rest will come. Other people
will hear about what you have done and will, in turn, come to you….repeat the process and you will see a profound change take place in your community.