30 Years of EdC

An intense and emotional hour of gratitude to the outgoing International EoC Commission and trepidation for the difficult challenges awaiting the newly installed one. Let’s wish success to all of us in this new phase.

by Antonella Ferrucci

4 November 2021: more than 180 people involved in the EoC around the world are connected, with a timing that allows everyone to participate, some at the crack of dawn (USA and Latin America), some late in the evening (Philippines and Korea) and some - in Europe or Africa - in the afternoon. It is a highly anticipated occasion: the new International EoC Commission, just appointed by the President of the Focolare Movement, will introduce itself to everyone.

Luigino Bruni introduced the new team (see the video in the preview image), which was chosen according to the criteria of representation of the generations, of the various geographical areas of the world, of competence and passion for the Economy of Communion. Co-responsible for the new International Commission are: Anouk Grevin (French, professor of management at the University of Nantes) and Isaias Hernando (Spanish, general director of the Spanish company Fansa). The other members of the new commission are: Maria Helena Faller (Brazilian, university lecturer, social entrepreneur and president of the Brazilian EoC Association Anpecom), Koen Vanreusel (Belgian, EoC entrepreneur of Easykit and current president of the Polo Lionello Bonfanti), German Jorge (Argentinian, EoC entrepreneur of Dimaco), John Mundell (American, EoC entrepreneur of Mundell & Associates), Maja Calfova (Slovakian, project manager and president of the Francis and Friends Cooperative), Sole Lim (Korean, EoC entrepreneur of SumSingDang) and Gloria Imumpaye (Burundian, PhD student in enterpreneurship at the Sophia University Institute).

“The commission,” states Luigino Bruni, “is made up of people I hold in high esteem who will be at the service of the EoC in the various parts of the world, according to the principle of subsidiarity, accompanying the vital realities or giving some input if it is necessary to encourage the birth of something new. The EoC of today,” continues Bruni, “is not the same as it was 30 years ago, with profits shared according to 'one third, one third, one third'. That EoC - which was in itself a miracle because it allowed thousands of young people to study, and families to have the necessities of life, health care or a house to live in - would be too little today.”

Luigino Bruni's expectations for the next 20 years are that the EoC will not remain what it is today, but that - as in the metaphor of the Kingdom of Heaven in the Gospel - it will be transformed from a seed into a tree:

"because the EoC only makes sense today if it continues to generate children that lead to a ‘new’ economy without it having to be ‘ours’".

There followed a round of greetings from the members of the outgoing Commission: Alberto Ferrucci, Luca Crivelli, Armando Tortelli, Teresa Ganzon, Benedetto Gui, and Gian Maria Bidone. Gratitude, the joy of leaving the gift of a "heavy" inheritance in good hands, willingness to go forward together but also being moved were the common features of the speeches.

Then the new members of the Commission introduced themselves to everyone. Gloria Imumpaye will represent young scholars and the African continent, concentrating especially on the EoC-IIN business incubators; Maria Helena Faller will bring her contribution with a special focus on poverty.

German Jorge recalls his own EoC vocation, born in 1991 in O'Higgins, at the Mariapolis Lia. There he experienced how communion can really solve poverty and from that moment he has always tried to live the EoC. “The EoC is everywhere today and is expressed as a flood. We have to realise that today the world is going through a phase of very rapid change and it will be thanks to young people if we are not going to become obsolete without even realising it.”

Koen Vanreusel, an EoC entrepreneur of the very first hour, will take care of the reality of the entrepreneurial business parks and entrepreneurship training. John Mundell will continue to focus on training young people in the EoC, which he says he is "passionate about". Sole Lim will represent Asia and young entrepreneurs.

Maja Calfova says she is moved by the sacredness of this occasion that we all experienced together. She has always had in her heart a sincere "curiosity" for what is the Economy of Communion and this is what she will bring to the new commission.

Finally, the two new Co-responsible persons were given the floor. Anouk Grevin shares her experience of the last few months: she accepted her new post having understood how it is possible to "spend oneself for EoC" even in a situation of fragility, if one trusts in the Unity of all, certain that all of us, together are doing the job of gathering "the weight" of this inheritance.

Isaias Hernando :speaks up: “The EoC is the vocation that has given meaning to my professional life and not only. Even if I feel a sense of inadequacy because the challenge is tough, I feel that it is life that has brought me here today. It is clear that humanity is experiencing a very critical moment in which fraternity and communion are needed more than ever. What is asked of us today is a sort of "passage to adult life", a collective project that will lead us to transform the economy from the place of exploitation of the poor of the earth that it is today, to a place of salvation, from a place of immanence to a place of transcendence.” The passage is strong and Isaias is somewhat overcome with emotion:

“A new stage begins in which listening to the cry of the poor and the earth will have to be accompanied by dialogue with all the realities of the EoC present in the different lands. It is very important to transform ourselves into a "plant like" organisation with shared responsibilities, very much linked to the lands. A dialogue that will begin immediately with a programme of meetings with each of the realities that make up the EoC (business parks, associations, local commissions... but also all the realities that have emerged in recent years, EoC-IIN, OPLA) and that will necessarily need everyone's contribution.”

In her letter of appointment Margaret Karram described the new Commission as consisting of: “young members who are competent and sensitive to the new challenges being faced" and hoped that : "... they will be able to experience working in synergy and full cooperation, with fully shared responsibilities.”

The conditions for this to happen seem to be in place. Therefore, let’s keep the good work up: good luck and success to the new commission and ...to all of us.