social work

Interview Kim Dankoor: A New Social Entrepreneur

Krista Kleinwort, Cultural Representative and Master student at Wilfrid Laurier University (Canada), interviewed Kim Dankoor for her academic Assignment ‘Social Entrepreneurs’.  Read the interview if you want to know what drives Kim and why she chose Social Entrepreneurship.

Thank you, Krista! I will keep it moving ;). 

Social Entrepreneur

Understanding the impact of media on consumers and awareness amongst media producers of the effects of their products impact has become Kim Dankoor’s focus. During her Master’s year of study at Erasmus University in Rotterdam, The Netherlands she increasingly recognized the chronic stigmatization and discrimination in media and was drawn to combine her work as a journalist with her growing understanding of the impact of media messages on consumers. She began with teaching media literacy to students after graduation. Recognizing the need for increased awareness about the messages in current media, she then created KIM (Kritische Inzichten op het gebied van Media or K(C)ritical Insights regarding Media). KIM’s main key activity is the use of “a two-way strategy: use media to make people aware of the possible influence of media (write articles, make short films, use diverse imagery as an editor/journalist and inspire my media colleagues) and create awareness among the audience about the possible influence of media” (Dankoor, 2015, personal correspondence).  As the author of documentaries, interviews and her own website, Kim moved recently to Atlanta, Georgia to pursue studies at Georgia State University. She is researching the impact of hip hop music videos on men as well as women’s self-concepts with particular emphasis on quantifying how hip hop music impacts consumers self-concept of physical attractiveness and romantic appeal (Dankoor, 2015, personal correspondence).

The business of KIM, or the activities undertaken by Kim Dankoor to address the problem of stigmatization and discrimination in the media can be clearly articulated via the Social Business Model Canvas. KIM has two main users or customers: media producers and media consumers.