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Essentials of Social Innovation

Social entrepreneurship: the case for definition.

Social entrepreneurship is attracting growing amounts of talent, money, and attention, but along with its increasing popularity has come less certainty about what exactly a social entrepreneur is and does.

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By Roger L. Martin & Sally Osberg Spring 2007

A starter kit for leaders of social change.

• Collective Impact

• Social Entrepreneurship: The Case for Definition

• The Dawn of System Leadership

• Design Thinking for Social Innovation

• The Nonprofit Starvation Cycle

• Ten Nonprofit Funding Models

• The Science of What Makes People Care

• Stop Raising Awareness Already

• Rediscovering Social Innovation

• Innovation Is Not the Holy Grail

The latest social innovation essentials, delivered to your inbox .

The nascent field of social entrepreneurship is growing rapidly and attracting increased attention from many sectors. The term itself shows up frequently in the media , is referenced by public officials, has become common on university campuses, and informs the strategy of several prominent social sector organizations, including Ashoka and the Schwab and Skoll Foundation foundations.

The reasons behind the popularity of social entrepreneurship are many. On the most basic level, there’s something inherently interesting and appealing about entrepreneurs and the stories of why and how they do what they do. People are attracted to social entrepreneurs like last year’s Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus for many of the same reasons that they find business entrepreneurs like Steve Jobs so compelling – these extraordinary people come up with brilliant ideas and against all the odds succeed at creating new products and services that dramatically improve people’s lives.

But interest in social entrepreneurship transcends the phenomenon of popularity and fascination with people. Social entrepreneurship signals the imperative to drive social change, and it is that potential payoff, with its lasting, transformational benefit to society, that sets the field and its practitioners apart.

Although the potential benefits offered by social entrepreneurship are clear to many of those promoting and funding these activities, the actual definition of what social entrepreneurs do to produce this order of magnitude return is less clear. In fact, we would argue that the definition of social entrepreneurship today is anything but clear. As a result, social entrepreneurship has become so inclusive that it now has an immense tent into which all manner of socially beneficial activities fit.

In some respects this inclusiveness could be a good thing. If plenty of resources are pouring into the social sector, and if many causes that otherwise would not get sufficient funding now get support because they are regarded as social entrepreneurship, then it may be fine to have a loose definition. We are inclined to argue, however, that this is a flawed assumption and a precarious stance.

Social entrepreneurship is an appealing construct precisely because it holds such high promise. If that promise is not fulfilled because too many “nonentrepreneurial” efforts are included in the definition, then social entrepreneurship will fall into disrepute, and the kernel of true social entrepreneurship will be lost. Because of this danger, we believe that we need a much sharper definition of social entrepreneurship, one that enables us to determine the extent to which an activity is and is not “in the tent.” Our goal is not to make an invidious comparison between the contributions made by traditional social service organizations and the results of social entrepreneurship, but simply to highlight what differentiates them.

If we can achieve a rigorous definition, then those who support social entrepreneurship can focus their resources on building and strengthening a concrete and identifiable field. Absent that discipline, proponents of social entrepreneurship run the risk of giving the skeptics an ever-expanding target to shoot at, and the cynics even more reason to discount social innovation and those who drive it.

Starting With Entrepreneurship

Any definition of the term “social entrepreneurship” must start with the word “entrepreneurship.” The word “social” simply modifies entrepreneurship. If entrepreneurship doesn’t have a clear meaning, then modifying it with social won’t accomplish much, either.

The word entrepreneurship is a mixed blessing. On the positive side, it connotes a special, innate ability to sense and act on opportunity, combining out-of-the-box thinking with a unique brand of determination to create or bring about something new to the world. On the negative side, entrepreneurship is an ex post term, because entrepreneurial activities require a passage of time before their true impact is evident.

Interestingly, we don’t call someone who exhibits all of the personal characteristics of an entrepreneur – opportunity sensing, out-of-the-box thinking, and determination – yet who failed miserably in his or her venture an entrepreneur; we call him or her a business failure. Even someone like Bob Young, of Red Hat Software fame, is called a “serial entrepreneur” only after his first success; i.e., all of his prior failures are dubbed the work of a serial entrepreneur only after the occurrence of his first success. The problem with ex post definitions is that they tend to be ill defined. It’s simply harder to get your arms around what’s unproven. An entrepreneur can certainly claim to be one, but without at least one notch on the belt, the self-proclaimed will have a tough time persuading investors to place bets. Those investors, in turn, must be willing to assume greater risk as they assess the credibility of would-be entrepreneurs and the potential impact of formative ventures.

Even with these considerations, we believe that appropriating entrepreneurship for the term social entrepreneurship requires wrestling with what we actually mean by entrepreneurship. Is it simply alertness to opportunity? Creativity? Determination? Although these and other behavioral characteristics are part of the story and certainly provide important clues for prospective investors, they are not the whole story. Such descriptors are also used to describe inventors, artists, corporate executives, and other societal actors.

Like most students of entrepreneurship, we begin with French economist Jean-Baptiste Say, who in the early 19th century described the entrepreneur as one who “shifts economic resources out of an area of lower and into an area of higher productivity and greater yield,” thereby expanding the literal translation from the French, “one who undertakes,” to encompass the concept of value creation. 1

Writing a century later, Austrian economist Joseph Schumpeter built upon this basic concept of value creation, contributing what is arguably the most influential idea about entrepreneurship. Schumpeter identified in the entrepreneur the force required to drive economic progress, absent which economies would become static, structurally immobilized, and subject to decay. Enter the Unternehmer , Schumpeter’s entrepreneurial spirit, who identifies a commercial opportunity – whether a material, product, service, or business – and organizes a venture to implement it. Successful entrepreneurship, he argues, sets off a chain reaction, encouraging other entrepreneurs to iterate upon and ultimately propagate the innovation to the point of “creative destruction,” a state at which the new venture and all its related ventures effectively render existing products, services, and business models obsolete. 2

Despite casting the dramatis personae in heroic terms, Schumpeter’s analysis grounds entrepreneurship within a system, ascribing to the entrepreneur’s role a paradoxical impact, both disruptive and generative. Schumpeter sees the entrepreneur as an agent of change within the larger economy. Peter Drucker, on the other hand, does not see entrepreneurs as necessarily agents of change themselves, but rather as canny and committed exploiters of change. According to Drucker, “the entrepreneur always searches for change, responds to it, and exploits it as an opportunity,” 3 a premise picked up by Israel Kirzner, who identifies “alertness” as the entrepreneur’s most critical ability. 4

Regardless of whether they cast the entrepreneur as a breakthrough innovator or an early exploiter, theorists universally associate entrepreneurship with opportunity. Entrepreneurs are believed to have an exceptional ability to see and seize upon new opportunities, the commitment and drive required to pursue them, and an unflinching willingness to bear the inherent risks.

Building from this theoretical base, we believe that entrepreneurship describes the combination of a context in which an opportunity is situated, a set of personal characteristics required to identify and pursue this opportunity, and the creation of a particular outcome.

To explore and illustrate our definition of entrepreneurship, we will take a close look at a few contemporary American entrepreneurs (or pairs thereof ): Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak of Apple Computer, Pierre Omidyar and Jeff Skoll of eBay, Ann and Mike Moore of Snugli, and Fred Smith of FedEx.

Entrepreneurial Context

The starting point for entrepreneurship is what we call an entrepreneurial context. For Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, the entrepreneurial context was a computing system in which users were dependent on mainframe computers controlled by a central IT staff who guarded the mainframe like a shrine. Users got their computing tasks done, but only after waiting in line and using the software designed by the IT staff. If users wanted a software program to do something out of the ordinary, they were told to wait six months for the programming to be done.

From the users’ perspective, the experience was inefficient and unsatisfactory. But since the centralized computing model was the only one available, users put up with it and built the delays and inefficiencies into their workflow, resulting in an equilibrium, albeit an unsatisfactory one.

System dynamicists describe this kind of equilibrium as a “balanced feedback loop,” because there isn’t a strong force that has the likely effect of breaking the system out of its particular equilibrium. It is similar to a thermostat on an air conditioner: When the temperature rises, the air conditioner comes on and lowers the temperature, and the thermostat eventually turns the air conditioner off.

The centralized computing system that users had to endure was a particular kind of equilibrium: an unsatisfactory one. It is as if the thermostat were set five degrees too low so that everyone in the room was cold. Knowing they have a stable and predictable temperature, people simply wear extra sweaters, though of course they might wish that they didn’t have to.

Pierre Omidyar and Jeff Skoll identified an unsatisfactory equilibrium in the inability of geographically based markets to optimize the interests of both buyers and sellers. Sellers typically didn’t know who the best buyer was and buyers typically didn’t know who the best (or any) seller was. As a result, the market was not optimal for buyers or sellers. People selling used household goods, for example, held garage sales that attracted physically proximate buyers, but probably not the optimal number or types of buyers. People trying to buy obscure goods had no recourse but to search through Yellow Page directories, phoning and phoning to try to track down what they really wanted, often settling for something less than perfect. Because buyers and sellers couldn’t conceive of a better answer, the stable, yet suboptimal, equilibrium prevailed.

Ann and Mike Moore took note of a subpar equilibrium in parents’ limited options for toting their infants. Parents wishing to keep their babies close while carrying on basic tasks had two options: They could learn to juggle offspring in one arm while managing chores with the other, or they could plop the child in a stroller, buggy, or other container and keep the child nearby. Either option was less than ideal. Everyone knows that newborns benefit from the bonding that takes place because of close physical contact with their mothers and fathers, but even the most attentive and devoted parents can’t hold their babies continuously. With no other options, parents limped along, learning to shift their child from one hip to the other and becoming adept at “one-armed paper hanging,” or attempting to get their tasks accomplished during naptime.

In the case of Fred Smith, the suboptimal equilibrium he saw was the long-distance courier service. Before FedEx came along, sending a package across country was anything but simple. Local courier services picked up the package and transported it to a common carrier, who flew the package to the remote destination city, at which point it was handed over to a third party for final delivery (or perhaps back to the local courier’s operation in that city if it was a national company). This system was logistically complex, it involved a number of handoffs, and the scheduling was dictated by the needs of the common carriers. Often something would go wrong, but no one would take responsibility for solving the problem. Users learned to live with a slow, unreliable, and unsatisfactory service – an unpleasant but stable situation because no user could change it.

Entrepreneurial Characteristics

The entrepreneur is attracted to this suboptimal equilibrium, seeing embedded in it an opportunity to provide a new solution, product, service, or process. The reason that the entrepreneur sees this condition as an opportunity to create something new, while so many others see it as an inconvenience to be tolerated, stems from the unique set of personal characteristics he or she brings to the situation – inspiration, creativity, direct action, courage, and fortitude. These characteristics are fundamental to the process of innovation.

The entrepreneur is inspired to alter the unpleasant equilibrium. Entrepreneurs might be motivated to do this because they are frustrated users or because they empathize with frustrated users. Sometimes entrepreneurs are so gripped by the opportunity to change things that they possess a burning desire to demolish the status quo. In the case of eBay, the frustrated user was Omidyar’s girlfriend, who collected Pez dispensers.

The entrepreneur thinks creatively and develops a new solution that dramatically breaks with the existing one. The entrepreneur doesn’t try to optimize the current system with minor adjustments, but instead finds a wholly new way of approaching the problem. Omidyar and Skoll didn’t develop a better way to promote garage sales. Jobs and Wozniak didn’t develop algorithms to speed custom software development. And Smith didn’t invent a way to make the handoffs between courier companies and common carriers more efficient and error-free. Each found a completely new and utterly creative solution to the problem at hand.

Once inspired by the opportunity and in possession of a creative solution, the entrepreneur takes direct action . Rather than waiting for someone else to intervene or trying to convince somebody else to solve the problem, the entrepreneur takes direct action by creating a new product or service and the venture to advance it. Jobs and Wozniak didn’t campaign against mainframes or encourage users to rise up and overthrow the IT department; they invented a personal computer that allowed users to free themselves from the mainframe. Moore didn’t publish a book telling mothers how to get more done in less time; she developed the Snugli, a frameless front- or backpack that enables parents to carry their babies and still have both hands free. Of course, entrepreneurs do have to influence others: first investors, even if just friends and family; then teammates and employees, to come work with them; and finally customers, to buy into their ideas and their innovations. The point is to differentiate the entrepreneur’s engagement in direct action from other indirect and supportive actions.

Entrepreneurs demonstrate courage throughout the process of innovation, bearing the burden of risk and staring failure squarely if not repeatedly in the face. This often requires entrepreneurs to take big risks and do things that others think are unwise, or even undoable. For example, Smith had to convince himself and the world that it made sense to acquire a fleet of jets and build a gigantic airport and sorting center in Memphis, in order to provide next-day delivery without the package ever leaving FedEx’s possession. He did this at a time when all of his entrenched competitors had only fleets of trucks for local pickup and delivery – they certainly didn’t run airports and maintain huge numbers of aircraft.

Finally, entrepreneurs possess the fortitude to drive their creative solutions through to fruition and market adoption. No entrepreneurial venture proceeds without setbacks or unexpected turns, and the entrepreneur needs to be able to find creative ways around the barriers and challenges that arise. Smith had to figure out how to keep investors confident that FedEx would eventually achieve the requisite scale to pay for the huge fixed infrastructure of trucks, planes, airport, and IT systems required for the new model he was creating. FedEx had to survive hundreds of millions of dollars of losses before it reached a cash-flow positive state, and without a committed entrepreneur at the helm, the company would have been liquidated well before that point.

Entrepreneurial Outcome

What happens when an entrepreneur successfully brings his or her personal characteristics to bear on a suboptimal equilibrium? He or she creates a new stable equilibrium, one that provides a meaningfully higher level of satisfaction for the participants in the system. To elaborate on Say’s original insight, the entrepreneur engineers a permanent shift from a lower-quality equilibrium to a higher-quality one. The new equilibrium is permanent because it first survives and then stabilizes, even though some aspects of the original equilibrium may persist (e.g., expensive and less-efficient courier systems, garage sales, and the like). Its survival and success ultimately move beyond the entrepreneur and the original entrepreneurial venture. It is through mass-market adoption, significant levels of imitation, and the creation of an ecosystem around and within the new equilibrium that it first stabilizes and then securely persists.

When Jobs and Wozniak created the personal computer they didn’t simply attenuate the users’ dependence on the mainframe – they shattered it, shifting control from the “glass house” to the desktop. Once the users saw the new equilibrium appearing before their eyes, they embraced not only Apple but also the many competitors who leaped into the fray. In relatively short order, the founders had created an entire ecosystem with numerous hardware, software, and peripheral suppliers; distribution channels and value-added resellers; PC magazines; trade shows; and so on.

Because of this new ecosystem, Apple could have exited from the market within a few years without destabilizing it. The new equilibrium, in other words, did not depend on the creation of a single venture, in this case Apple, but on the appropriation and replication of the model and the spawning of a host of other related businesses. In Schumpeterian terms, the combined effect firmly established a new computing order and rendered the old mainframe-based system obsolete.

In the case of Omidyar and Skoll, the creation of eBay provided a superior way for buyers and sellers to connect, creating a higher equilibrium. Entire new ways of doing business and new businesses sprang up to create a powerful ecosystem that simply couldn’t be disassembled. Similarly, Smith created a new world of package delivery that raised standards, changed business practices, spawned new competitors, and even created a new verb: “to FedEx.”

In each case, the delta between the quality of the old equilibrium and the new one was huge. The new equilibrium quickly became self-sustaining, and the initial entrepreneurial venture spawned numerous imitators. Together these outcomes ensured that everyone who benefited secured the higher ground.

Shift to Social Entrepreneurship

If these are the key components of entrepreneurship, what distinguishes social entrepreneurship from its for-profit cousin? First, we believe that the most useful and informative way to define social entrepreneurship is to establish its congruence with entrepreneurship, seeing social entrepreneurship as grounded in these same three elements. Anything else is confusing and unhelpful.

To understand what differentiates the two sets of entrepreneurs from one another, it is important to dispel the notion that the difference can be ascribed simply to motivation – with entrepreneurs spurred on by money and social entrepreneurs driven by altruism. The truth is that entrepreneurs are rarely motivated by the prospect of financial gain, because the odds of making lots of money are clearly stacked against them. Instead, both the entrepreneur and the social entrepreneur are strongly motivated by the opportunity they identify, pursuing that vision relentlessly, and deriving considerable psychic reward from the process of realizing their ideas. Regardless of whether they operate within a market or a not-for-profit context, most entrepreneurs are never fully compensated for the time, risk, effort, and capital that they pour into their venture.

We believe that the critical distinction between entrepreneurship and social entrepreneurship lies in the value proposition itself. For the entrepreneur, the value proposition anticipates and is organized to serve markets that can comfortably afford the new product or service, and is thus designed to create financial profit. From the outset, the expectation is that the entrepreneur and his or her investors will derive some personal financial gain. Profit is sine qua non, essential to any venture’s sustainability and the means to its ultimate end in the form of large-scale market adoption and ultimately a new equilibrium.

The social entrepreneur, however, neither anticipates nor organizes to create substantial financial profit for his or her investors – philanthropic and government organizations for the most part – or for himself or herself. Instead, the social entrepreneur aims for value in the form of large-scale, transformational benefit that accrues either to a significant segment of society or to society at large. Unlike the entrepreneurial value proposition that assumes a market that can pay for the innovation, and may even provide substantial upside for investors, the social entrepreneur’s value proposition targets an underserved, neglected, or highly disadvantaged population that lacks the financial means or political clout to achieve the transformative benefit on its own. This does not mean that social entrepreneurs as a hard-and-fast rule shun profitmaking value propositions. Ventures created by social entrepreneurs can certainly generate income, and they can be organized as either not-for- profits or for-profits. What distinguishes social entrepreneurship is the primacy of social benefit, what Duke University professor Greg Dees in his seminal work on the field characterizes as the pursuit of “mission-related impact.” 5

We define social entrepreneurship as having the following three components: (1) identifying a stable but inherently unjust equilibrium that causes the exclusion, marginalization, or suffering of a segment of humanity that lacks the financial means or political clout to achieve any transformative benefit on its own; (2) identifying an opportunity in this unjust equilibrium, developing a social value proposition, and bringing to bear inspiration, creativity, direct action, courage, and fortitude, thereby challenging the stable state’s hegemony; and (3) forging a new, stable equilibrium that releases trapped potential or alleviates the suffering of the targeted group, and through imitation and the creation of a stable ecosystem around the new equilibrium ensuring a better future for the targeted group and even society at large.

Muhammad Yunus, founder of the Grameen Bank and father of microcredit, provides a classic example of social entrepreneurship. The stable but unfortunate equilibrium he identified consisted of poor Bangladeshis’ limited options for securing even the tiniest amounts of credit. Unable to qualify for loans through the formal banking system, they could borrow only by accepting exorbitant interest rates from local moneylenders. More commonly, they simply succumbed to begging on the streets. Here was a stable equilibrium of the most unfortunate sort, one that perpetuated and even exacerbated Bangladesh’s endemic poverty and the misery arising from it.

Yunus confronted the system, proving that the poor were extremely good credit risks by lending the now famous sum of $27 from his own pocket to 42 women from the village of Jobra. The women repaid all of the loan. Yunus found that with even tiny amounts of capital, women invested in their own capacity for generating income. With a sewing machine, for example, women could tailor garments, earning enough to pay back the loan, buy food, educate their children, and lift themselves up from poverty. Grameen Bank sustained itself by charging interest on its loans and then recycling the capital to help other women. Yunus brought inspiration, creativity, direct action, courage, and fortitude to his venture, proved its viability, and over two decades spawned a global network of other organizations that replicated or adapted his model to other countries and cultures, firmly establishing microcredit as a worldwide industry.

The well-known actor, director, and producer Robert Redford offers a less familiar but also illustrative case of social entrepreneurship. In the early 1980s, Redford stepped back from his successful career to reclaim space in the film industry for artists. Redford was struck by a set of opposing forces in play. He identified an inherently oppressive but stable equilibrium in the way Hollywood worked, with its business model increasingly driven by financial interests, its productions gravitating to flashy, frequently violent blockbusters, and its studio-dominated system becoming more and more centralized in controlling the way films were financed, produced, and distributed. At the same time, he noted that new technology was emerging – less cumbersome and less expensive video and digital editing equipment – that gave filmmakers the tools they needed to exert more control over their work.

Seeing opportunity, Redford seized the chance to nurture this new breed of artist. First, he created the Sundance Institute to take “money out of the picture” and provide young filmmakers with space and support for developing their ideas. Next, he created the Sundance Film Festival to showcase independent filmmakers’ work. From the beginning, Redford’s value proposition focused on the emerging independent filmmaker whose talents were neither recognized nor served by the market stranglehold of the Hollywood studio system.

Redford structured Sundance Institute as a nonprofit corporation, tapping his network of directors, actors, writers, and others to contribute their experience as volunteer mentors to fledgling filmmakers. He priced the Sundance Film Festival so that it appealed and was accessible to a broad audience. Twenty-five years later, Sundance is credited with ushering in the independent film movement, which today ensures that “indie” filmmakers can get their work produced and distributed, and that filmgoers have access to a whole host of options – from thought-provoking documentaries to edgy international work and playful animations. A new equilibrium, which even a decade ago felt tenuous, is now firmly established.

Victoria Hale is an example of a social entrepreneur whose venture is still in its early stages and for whom our criteria apply ex ante . Hale is a pharmaceutical scientist who became increasingly frustrated by the market forces dominating her industry. Although big pharmaceutical companies held patents for drugs capable of curing any number of infectious diseases, the drugs went undeveloped for a simple reason: The populations most in need of the drugs were unable to afford them. Driven by the exigency of generating financial profits for its shareholders, the pharmaceutical industry was focusing on creating and marketing drugs for diseases afflicting the well-off, living mostly in developed world markets, who could pay for them.

Hale became determined to challenge this stable equilibrium, which she saw as unjust and intolerable. She created the Institute for OneWorld Health , the first nonprofit pharmaceutical company whose mission is to ensure that drugs targeting infectious diseases in the developing world get to the people who need them, regardless of their ability to pay for the drugs. Hale’s venture has now moved beyond the proof-of-concept stage. It successfully developed, tested, and secured Indian government regulatory approval for its first drug, paromomycin, which provides a cost-effective cure for visceral leishmaniasis, a disease that kills more than 200,000 people each year.

Although it is too early to tell whether Hale will succeed in creating a new equilibrium that assures more equitable treatment of diseases afflicting the poor, she clearly meets the criteria of a social entrepreneur. First, Hale has identified a stable but unjust equilibrium in the pharmaceutical industry; second, she has seen and seized the opportunity to intervene, applying inspiration, creativity, direct action, and courage in launching a new venture to provide options for a disadvantaged population; and third, she is demonstrating fortitude in proving the potential of her model with an early success.

Time will tell whether Hale’s innovation inspires others to replicate her efforts, or whether the Institute for OneWorld Health itself achieves the scale necessary to bring about that permanent equilibrium shift. But the signs are promising. Looking ahead a decade or more, her investors – the Skoll Foundation is one – can imagine the day when Hale’s Institute for OneWorld Health will have created a new pharmaceutical paradigm, one with the same enduring social benefits apparent in the now firmly established microcredit and independent film industries.

Boundaries of Social Entrepreneurship

In defining social entrepreneurship, it is also important to establish boundaries and provide examples of activities that may be highly meritorious but do not fit our definition. Failing to identify boundaries would leave the term social entrepreneurship so wide open as to be essentially meaningless.

There are two primary forms of socially valuable activity that we believe need to be distinguished from social entrepreneurship. The first type of social venture is social service provision. In this case, a courageous and committed individual identifies an unfortunate stable equilibrium – AIDS orphans in Africa, for example – and sets up a program to address it – for example, a school for the children to ensure that they are cared for and educated. The new school would certainly help the children it serves and may very well enable some of them to break free from poverty and transform their lives. But unless it is designed to achieve large scale or is so compelling as to launch legions of imitators and replicators, it is not likely to lead to a new superior equilibrium.

These types of social service ventures never break out of their limited frame: Their impact remains constrained, their service area stays confined to a local population, and their scope is determined by whatever resources they are able to attract. These ventures are inherently vulnerable, which may mean disruption or loss of service to the populations they serve. Millions of such organizations exist around the world – well intended, noble in purpose, and frequently exemplary in execution – but they should not be confused with social entrepreneurship.

It would be possible to reformulate a school for AIDS orphans as social entrepreneurship. But that would require a plan by which the school itself would spawn an entire network of schools and secure the basis for its ongoing support. The outcome would be a stable new equilibrium whereby even if one school closed, there would be a robust system in place through which AIDS orphans would routinely receive an education.

The difference between the two types of ventures – one social entrepreneurship and the other social service – isn’t in the initial entrepreneurial contexts or in many of the personal characteristics of the founders, but rather in the outcomes. Imagine that Andrew Carnegie had built only one library rather than conceiving the public library system that today serves untold millions of American citizens. Carnegie’s single library would have clearly benefited the community it served. But it was his vision of an entire system of libraries creating a permanent new equilibrium – one ensuring access to information and knowledge for all the nation’s citizens – that anchors his reputation as a social entrepreneur.

A second class of social venture is social activism . In this case, the motivator of the activity is the same – an unfortunate and stable equilibrium. And several aspects of the actor’s characteristics are the same – inspiration, creativity, courage, and fortitude. What is different is the nature of the actor’s action orientation. Instead of taking direct action, as the social entrepreneur would, the social activist attempts to create change through indirect action, by influencing others – governments, NGOs, consumers, workers, etc. – to take action. Social activists may or may not create ventures or organizations to advance the changes they seek. Successful activism can yield substantial improvements to existing systems and even result in a new equilibrium, but the strategic nature of the action is distinct in its emphasis on influence rather than on direct action.

Why not call these people social entrepreneurs? It wouldn’t be a tragedy. But such people have long had a name and an exalted tradition: the tradition of Martin Luther King, Mahatma Gandhi, and Vaclav Havel. They are social activists. Calling them something entirely new – i.e., social entrepreneurs – and thereby confusing the general public, who already know what a social activist is, would not be helpful to the cause of either social activists or social entrepreneurs.

Shades of Gray

Having created a definition of social entrepreneurship and distinguished it from social service provision and social activism, we should recognize that in practice, many social actors incorporate strategies associated with these pure forms or create hybrid models. The three definitions can be seen in their pure forms in the diagram to the right.

In the pure form, the successful social entrepreneur takes direct action and generates a new and sustained equilibrium; the social activist influences others to generate a new and sustained equilibrium; and the social service provider takes direct action to improve the outcomes of the current equilibrium.

It is important to distinguish between these types of social ventures in their pure forms, but in the real world there are probably more hybrid models than pure forms. It is arguable that Yunus, for example, used social activism to accelerate and amplify the impact of Grameen Bank, a classic example of social entrepreneurship. By using a sequential hybrid – social entrepreneurship followed by social activism – Yunus turned microcredit into a global force for change.

Other organizations are hybrids using both social entrepreneurship and social activism at the same time. Standards-setting or certification organizations are an example of this. Although the actions of the standards-setting organization itself do not create societal change – those who are encouraged or forced to abide by the standards take the actions that produce the actual societal change – the organization can demonstrate social entrepreneurship in creating a compelling approach to standards-setting and in marketing the standards to regulators and market participants. Fair-trade product certification and marketing is a familiar example of this, with organizations like Cafédirect in the United Kingdom and TransFair USA in the U.S. creating growing niche markets for coffee and other commodities sold at a premium price that guarantees more equitable remuneration for small-scale producers.

Kailash Satyarthi’s RugMark campaign provides a particularly striking example of a hybrid model. Recognizing the inherent limitations of his work to rescue children enslaved in India’s rug-weaving trade, Satyarthi set his sights on the carpet- weaving industry. By creating the RugMark certification program and a public relations campaign designed to educate consumers who unwittingly perpetuate an unjust equilibrium, Satyarthi leveraged his effectiveness as a service provider by embracing the indirect strategy of the activist. Purchasing a carpet that has the RugMark label assures buyers that their carpet has been created without child slavery and under fair labor conditions. Educate enough of those prospective buyers, he reasoned, and one has a shot at transforming the entire carpet-weaving industry.

Satyarthi’s action in creating RugMark lies at the crossroads of entrepreneurship and activism: In itself, the RugMark label represented a creative solution and required direct action, but it is a device meant to educate and influence others, with the ultimate goal of establishing and securing a new and far more satisfactory market-production equilibrium.

Social service provision combined with social activism at a more tactical level can also produce an outcome equivalent to that of social entrepreneurship. Take, for example, a social service provider running a single school for an underprivileged group that creates great outcomes for that small group of students. If the organization uses those outcomes to create a social activist movement that campaigns for broad government support for the wide adoption of similar programs, then the social service provider can produce an overall equilibrium change and have the same effect as a social entrepreneur.

Bill Strickland’s Manchester Bidwell Corporation , a nationally renowned inner-city arts education and job-training program, has launched the National Center for Arts & Technology to advance systematically the replication of his Pittsburgh-based model in other cities. Strickland is spearheading an advocacy campaign designed to leverage federal support to scale up his model. So far, four new centers are operating across the U.S. and several more are in the pipeline. With a sustainable system of centers in cities across the country, Strickland will have succeeded in establishing a new equilibrium. It is because of that campaign that the Skoll Foundation and others are investing in Strickland’s efforts.

Why bother to tease out these distinctions between various pure and hybrid models? Because with such definitions in hand we are all better equipped to assess distinctive types of social activity. Understanding the means by which an endeavor produces its social benefit and the nature of the social benefit it is targeting enables supporters – among whom we count the Skoll Foundation – to predict the sustainability and extent of those benefits, to anticipate how an organization may need to adapt over time, and to make a more reasoned projection of the potential for an entrepreneurial outcome.

Why Should We Care?

Long shunned by economists, whose interests have gravitated toward market-based, price-driven models that submit more readily to data-driven interpretation, entrepreneurship has experienced something of a renaissance of interest in recent years. Building on the foundation laid by Schumpeter, William Baumol and a handful of other scholars have sought to restore the entrepreneur’s rightful place in “production and distribution” theory, demonstrating in that process the seminal role of entrepreneurship. 6 According to Carl Schramm, CEO of the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, entrepreneurs, “despite being overlooked or explicitly written out of our economic drama,” 7 are the free enterprise system’s essential ingredient and absolutely indispensable to market economies.

We are concerned that serious thinkers will also overlook social entrepreneurship, and we fear that the indiscriminate use of the term may undermine its significance and potential importance to those seeking to understand how societies change and progress. Social entrepreneurship, we believe, is as vital to the progress of societies as is entrepreneurship to the progress of economies, and it merits more rigorous, serious attention than it has attracted so far.

Clearly, there is much to be learned and understood about social entrepreneurship, including why its study may not be taken seriously. Our view is that a clearer definition of social entrepreneurship will aid the development of the field. The social entrepreneur should be understood as someone who targets an unfortunate but stable equilibrium that causes the neglect, marginalization, or suffering of a segment of humanity; who brings to bear on this situation his or her inspiration, direct action, creativity, courage, and fortitude; and who aims for and ultimately affects the establishment of a new stable equilibrium that secures permanent benefit for the targeted group and society at large.

This definition helps distinguish social entrepreneurship from social service provision and social activism. That social service providers, social activists, and social entrepreneurs will often adapt one another’s strategies and develop hybrid models is, to our minds, less inherently confusing and more respectful than indiscriminate use of these terms. It’s our hope that our categorization will help clarify the distinctive value each approach brings to society and lead ultimately to a better understanding and more informed decision making among those committed to advancing positive social change.

The authors would like to thank their Skoll Foundation colleagues Richard Fahey, chief operating officer, and Ruth Norris, senior program officer, who read prior drafts of this essay and contributed important ideas to its evolution.

Support  SSIR ’s coverage of cross-sector solutions to global challenges.  Help us further the reach of innovative ideas.  Donate today .

Read more stories by Roger L. Martin & Sally Osberg .

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The Power of Purpose-Driven Entrepreneurship — How Social Entrepreneurs Are Changing the World Social entrepreneurs are the torchbearers of hope and progress, redefining the role of business in society.

By Taiwo Sotikare Edited by Chelsea Brown Aug 1, 2023

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

In a rapidly evolving world facing an array of pressing challenges, the rise of purpose-driven entrepreneurship has emerged as a beacon of hope.

Social entrepreneurs are individuals who use entrepreneurial principles, innovative thinking and business acumen to create positive and sustainable social or environmental impact. They are driven by a strong sense of purpose to address pressing societal challenges and improve the well-being of communities and the planet.

Social entrepreneurs apply the same entrepreneurial mindset used in traditional business ventures to develop innovative solutions to complex social problems. Their primary goal is to generate positive outcomes rather than solely seeking financial profit. They often work to empower marginalized groups, improve access to essential services, address environmental issues and promote social justice.

This article delves into the transformative force of purpose-driven ventures, exploring their sustainable impact and the supportive ecosystem propelling their success.

Related: 3 Steps to Forge Your Company's Purpose-Driven Path

The emergence of purpose-driven ventures

Traditionally, entrepreneurship has been associated with profit-driven motives, but a paradigm shift is underway. Social entrepreneurs have recognized that addressing societal and environmental challenges requires more than just good intentions; it demands a sustainable approach that integrates purpose into business strategies. These visionary leaders view challenges as opportunities and harness the power of innovation and empathy to create lasting impact.

For example, Patagonia, founded by Yvon Chouinard , is a renowned outdoor apparel company that embraces sustainability and environmental responsibility as part of its core mission. They prioritize eco-friendly materials, minimize waste and actively support environmental causes through campaigns like "1% for the Planet," where they donate a portion of their revenue to environmental initiatives.

The power of profit and purpose alignment

Contrary to the notion that profit and purpose are conflicting concepts, social entrepreneurs have unlocked the potential of aligning the two forces for the greater good. By imbuing their ventures with a meaningful mission , they attract a loyal customer base and engage employees who are deeply committed to the cause. This alignment fuels passion, creativity and dedication, propelling these purpose-driven ventures towards remarkable success.

A good example is Warby Parker, an eyewear company co-founded by four friends (Neil Blumenthal, Dave Gilboa, Andrew Hunt and Jeffrey Raider), which has a "Buy a Pair, Give a Pair" business model. For every pair of glasses sold, they provide a pair to someone in need through partnerships with nonprofit organizations. This alignment of profit and purpose has resulted in both business success and significant social impact.

Related: How to Build a Business that Makes a Positive Impact

Driving sustainable impact

One defining characteristic of purpose-driven entrepreneurship is its commitment to sustainable impact . Social entrepreneurs look beyond short-term gains, focusing on solutions that create lasting change. Whether it's tackling environmental issues, empowering marginalized communities or improving healthcare access, these ventures invest in projects with far-reaching and enduring effects, leaving behind a positive legacy for generations to come.

Green School, for example, founded by John and Cynthia Hardy, is an innovative, eco-focused school in Bali that integrates sustainability, environmental education and holistic learning into its curriculum. The school's unique approach empowers students to become changemakers, fostering a generation of environmentally conscious leaders.

Inspiring stories of social entrepreneurs

Tony Elumelu is a visionary entrepreneur and philanthropist who has become a leading example of purpose-driven entrepreneurship. As the founder of The Tony Elumelu Foundation, he is empowering African entrepreneurs to drive sustainable economic growth and social development on the continent. Through his foundation's flagship initiative, the Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme (TEEP), Tony Elumelu has provided mentorship and training to 1,500,000 and seed funding to 18,000 young African entrepreneurs .

There's also Kiva, an online micro-lending platform, co-founded by Jessica Jackley and Matt Flannery. It connects individuals looking to lend small amounts of money (as little as $25) to entrepreneurs in developing countries. This peer-to-peer lending model empowers entrepreneurs to start or grow their businesses, with the goal of lifting them out of poverty.

The support ecosystem

Behind every successful social entrepreneur stands a supportive ecosystem that nourishes their vision. Impact investors, philanthropic organizations and government initiatives play a pivotal role in nurturing purpose-driven ventures. The collective effort of these stakeholders provides access to capital, mentorship and networks that amplify the ventures' reach and potential.

Related: 3 Steps for Making a Positive Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Impact

Spreading the movement

The rise of purpose-driven entrepreneurship is not an isolated phenomenon. It is part of a global movement towards a more sustainable and equitable world. As these social entrepreneurs blaze a trail, they inspire others to follow suit, creating a ripple effect that catalyzes positive change across industries and borders.

B Corporations , also known as B Corps, are businesses that meet rigorous standards of social and environmental performance, accountability and transparency. These Save & Send for Review companies include Patagonia, Ben & Jerry's and Seventh Generation, among others. The B Corp movement is spreading globally, inspiring businesses to pursue not just profit but also purpose and positive impact.

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Exploring Social Entrepreneurship: ‘My Generation Is Full of Activists and Humanitarians’

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Knowledge@Wharton High School first met Fiorella Riccobono in 2015 when she was a senior in high school. We featured her in a story about a business class project to promote fair trade practices among Haitian coffee farmers. Now Riccobono, who is 19, is a college student studying finance and interdisciplinary social science with concentrations in economics and social entrepreneurship. In this personal essay, Riccobono talks about how and why she is embracing her calling to become a bold and tenacious change maker.

I just completed my freshman year of college at Florida State University (FSU), and in many ways I am feeling transformed. When you first step foot onto your college campus, the feeling is incredible. You have a sense of personal freedom that you have never experienced. In college, you start to explore your major based on your passion and build the necessary classes and curriculum to earn your degree. Now imagine that the major you chose is an emerging field in the business world. Imagine that it is a new program at your school, and imagine just how much room for growth that opportunity means for you.

That chosen field for me is social entrepreneurship. I fell in love with social entrepreneurship a few years ago when Mrs. Zocco, my business teacher at Edward A. McCarthy High School in Florida, showed me a video of the most genuinely happy and grateful man I had ever seen. He was one of the farmers participating in a fair trade coop in Haiti that our class was helping to run, and his smile was amazing. He was thanking us because now, through fair trade – which in this case was helping coffee farmers in Haiti’s poorest region earn a just wage for their very hard work — his children had enough money to go to school. Since that moment, I have been driven to learn all I can about social entrepreneurship and how to make it my life’s work.

Leaving the World a Better Place

Many of us want to be extraordinary, to be change makers and to make positive and influential contributions to society. I have discovered that my generation is full of activists, humanitarians and philanthropists. No matter our passions — education, health, environment, economic development — many of us share a common goal: to leave this world a better place than how we found it. I’ve gathered inspiration from the stories of famous social-justice advocates around the world, like Muhammad Yunus, who created the concept of microfinancing, and Malala Yousafzai, who advocates for women’s education. Both Muhammad and Malala are recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize.

Social entrepreneurship is such an emerging concept that it is still not clearly defined. Most importantly, though, it is not charity. Although social entrepreneurs may need to rely on donations to launch their endeavors, they can’t create a business model based on donations, because charity is not sustainable. How can you build a business when you don’t know where your next dollar is coming from – or when?

In my experience, social entrepreneurs are individuals who draw on innovative business tactics to create solutions to societal issues. Social entrepreneurs combine government, nonprofit and traditional business practices in order to create a sustainable business model that is not only profitable, but also beneficial to the social sector. These innovators create large-scale, systemic and sustainable models by addressing a societal issue at its foundation – poverty, climate change, pollution, whatever it may be. Social entrepreneurs do not have an idea and then apply it. Instead, they go directly to the source of the issue and ask what is needed. Based on that answer, they build their business plans. Social entrepreneurs are often empathetic, bold, open-minded and tenacious.

So, that first day I stepped onto campus, I was more than ready to begin the next phase of my social entrepreneurship journey. The social entrepreneurship culture at Florida Sate University is growing rapidly. Early freshman year, I met Valarie Rodriguez, who wanted to start the Social Entrepreneurs and Innovators Club at FSU. I was the first person to join the team, and since then two of our board members have created social enterprises that are thriving within the Tallahassee community. Ramon started Unhoused Humanity, which uses crowd funding to help working homeless citizens make the down payment to get into a home. Often, the working poor do not have enough money saved up to make the hefty down payment needed for renting living space — typically first and last month rent and security and utility deposits. But they do generate enough income to pay their monthly rent once they are in. Unhoused Humanity helps the homeless get over that initial down-payment hurdle.

Another one of our members, Nikolas, has started Qultur. Qultur’s purpose is to use art to decrease crime in communities. Qultur creates and finds financing for events that bring together local artists, businesses and community members with the premise, “When we support and trust each other, we can live in harmony.”

Launching a social entrepreneurship club feels a bit like starting your own business. You have to find funding, promote your mission, explain the concept, and get people invested in your passion. I recruit local entrepreneurs to come speak at our events, plan those events, find funding and sponsors, and educate people on all aspects of social entrepreneurship.

I am getting hands-on social entrepreneurship experience in other ways, as well. The spring semester of my freshman year, I interned with a local fair trade coffee shop in Tallahassee. During that time, my team of interns created a micro social enterprise using the coffee shop’s food truck. We were trained as baristas and innovators and were responsible for creating a business model that would be profitable, while also maintaining a social mission.

We researched local areas and events and chose where to take our “fair trade” truck, what beverages we should make, and handled the actual food truck operations . We were the first group of interns to ever break even and create profit for this program. Our business model – like many other social enterprises — addressed a triple bottom line: people, planet and profits. The model had three key features: first, the coffee we brewed was purchased from small farmers who were paid a fair price through certified organic cooperatives. The coffee farms were bird-safe and shade-grown to ensure the organic coffee was environmentally sound. (Coffee farmers sometimes take strides to grow coffee in sunnier settings because it is faster; however, this often damages the biodiversity of the region.) And finally, the coffee shop placed all our profits in local and global humanitarian causes, truly addressing the triple bottom line.

Helping the Homeless

It is immensely inspiring to be part of a community where social justice is a priority. It is motivating to be surrounded by young individuals who are not only incentivized by profit, but by creating systemic change. I believe social entrepreneurship is the future of business and policy making. People are no longer seeing global poverty as a call for charity, but as a place of economic and cultural growth. Young business minds no longer want to exploit our natural resources, rather build business models that protect our environment.

The best advice I can give to incoming freshmen at any school is to be empathetic, bold, open-minded and tenacious. You are about to be exposed to a world of information, opportunity and incredible curiosity. I am as passionate as ever about my social entrepreneurship future. This fall, with the help of my club members, I will be starting a research project at a local homeless shelter. My plan is to speak personally with members of the homeless community in Tallahassee in order to better understand their backgrounds, prior education, work experience and willingness to rejoin the workforce. I want to use this quantitative data to possibly identify a pattern in homelessness. By pinpointing the need, I can create meaningful solutions.

My ultimate goal is to launch a program that rehabilitates the homeless community and reengages homeless people as active, contributing members of society. My heart tells me that many of them want to improve their circumstances, but need the proper channels for lasting change. I’m not sure how this will all play out, but I have little doubt that we are laying the foundation for something truly extraordinary.

Related Links

• RedEye Mobile Cafe
• NY Times: The Rise of the Social Entrepreneur
• K@W Video: Muhammad Yunus: Lifting People Worldwide Out of Poverty
• FSU Social Entrepreneurship
• Unhoused Humanity

Conversation Starters

Fiorella Riccobono stresses that social entrepreneurship is not charity. What does she mean by this? Why does she make this important distinction?

Using the “Related KWHS Articles” and “Related Links” tabs, find out more about Malala Yousafzai and Muhammad Yunus. How have they made an impact on the world? Can you think of any other social-justice champions whose missions inspire you?

Fiorella says, “I believe social entrepreneurship is the future of business and policy making.” Do you agree? Why or why not?

200 comments on “ Exploring Social Entrepreneurship: ‘My Generation Is Full of Activists and Humanitarians’ ”

Fiorella Riccobono stressed that social entrepreneurship is not charity. She wanted the readers to understand the difference between social entrepreneurship and social services, which I believe readers should give certain importance. As a reader, I feel that I have understood the relation between social entrepreneurship and charity. This distinction plays a role in opening the minds of the readers in defining other facets of social entrepreneurship.

I agree, because many people don’t know the difference between social entrepreneurship and social service. In the social entrepreneurship, you gain money and it is very different than a charity

Social entrepreneurship is where you start companies and develop a fund for some type of environmental issue. Fiorella Riccobono does gain money, but it is for a cause. Fiorella Riccobono donates money to the homeless community because they want to improve their circumstances. I agree as well, that many people don’t know the difference between social service and social entrepreneurship. Unhoused Humanity helps the homeless get over that initial down-payment hurdle. When you are in Social entrepreneurship, you are exposed to a new world of information and technology.

Social entrepreneurship and charity overlap in many fields (helping the homeless, for example); however, charity fosters a feeling of dependence in its recipients. Knowing this, many are scared away from the field. If social entrepreneurs are looking to make a difference, they must set themselves apart from well-established foundations and philanthropy.

1. Fiorella Riccobono stresses that social entrepreneurship is not charity. She is correct. Social Entrepreneurs run a business. While they are more empathetic because their helping the social sector by solving global and humanitarian issues, they ask what is needed and then base their business plan around that. They make a profit while contributing to society. 2. Muhammad Yunus won the Nobel prize for founding the Grameen bank which aided a lot of people with financial structure. Malala Yousafzai fought for women’s education in Pakistan. 3. I agree that social entrepreneurship is the future of business because it builds a good reputation, which is important for an enterprise, while simultaneously making a profit.

1. Fiorella believes that donations are essential, however it can’t create business models because charities are not sustainable. A sustainable business is not only profitable, it has to be beneficial. They want to solve issues and make the business better. Businesses want to fix social issues as well as enviornment issues.

2. Yuman won the noble peace prize and helped people with finances, Malala wanted education for women in Pakistan

3. I agree with social entrepreneuership because it builds a businesses reputation

1. Fiorella Riccobono believes that it is not charity because she is trying to point out to the reader that social entrepreneurship is not a charity, as a charity is not sustainable, because you can’t control the influx of money. She means that social entrepreneurship can last over a long period, and has to be sustainable in order to help the most people possible.

2. Malala and Muhammad inspire the world. Malala inspires women to be educated, even in countries where women are not educated. She wrote a book of her injury, when she was shot by an Islamic group. Muhammad inspires young leaders globally. Also, he won a Nobel Peace Prize for his work on social entrepreneurship. Another social justice champion that I admire is Oprah. She broke barriers by being one of the first black female millionaires in the United States. She also established an empire.

3. I believe that entrepreneurship offers a hopeful way to guide society. This helps people who have less money and in third world countries.

1) Fiorella Riccobonno stresses that it is not charity because she is trying to point out to the reader that social entrepreneurship is not a charity, as a charity is not sustainable, because you cant control the influx of money. She means that social entrepreneurship is different than charity because social entrepreneurship can last over a long period, and has to be sustainable in order to help the most people possible.

2) Malala and Muhammad inspire the world. Malala inspires women to be educated, even in countries where women are not educated. She wrote a book of her injury, when she was shot by an Islamic group. Muhammad inspires young leaders globally. He also won a Nobel Peace Prize for his work on social entrepreneurship. Another social justice champion that I admire is Oprah Winfrey. She broke barriers by being very successful in her field of work, and her work in helping those less fortunate.

3) I believe that social entrepreneurship offers a hopeful way to help rehabilitate the community of people that are less than well off when it comes to their financial situation. Social entrepreneurship is a great way to give back to the less fortunate.

Fiorella Riccobono stresses that social entrepreneurship is not charity because because charity is not sustainable it cant support. she means that how can you build a buisness not knowing when your next pay is. she makes this important distinction so that she can inform the reader so that she gives a guideline. Malala Yousafzai is a pakastani actavist that emphasizes on women empowerment and how a group of people can make a change.

Fiorella Riccobono stresses that social entrepreneurship is not charity because although entrepreneurs may rely on donations they cant really create a business model based on it. She makes this important distinction because people may think that entrepreneurship is based on charity and donations when they are basically innovative business tactics to create solutions to social issues.

I Believe Riccobono stresses that social entrepreneurship isn’t charity so much because of how she wants to impact the world. If Social entrepreneurship was a charity, the problem would only at best get monetarily fixed. However, Social entrepreneurship targets to change the actual problem rather then just throw money at it.

I agree with Fiorella’s statement that social entrepreneurship is the future. Based on the information in this article it appears as though the goal of social entrepreneurship is to help fix the world’s problems. However, instead of simply creating a solution social entrepreneurship also finds ways tranform the issue into an opportunity for economic growth.

Social Entrepreneurship is not a charity because the business still makes money. They do help the community, but making money is a priority. This is an important distinction because she needs to stress the fact that the business still needs to make money. Fiorella does not want people to think that the are a charity that donates all their money.

When Fiorella Riccobono stresses that social entrepreneurship is not charity she means that its also a business and she makes money off it. This is an important distinction because she needs to stress the fact that its a business and she still needs to make money at same time as helping.

The way in which Fiorella explained how social entrepreneurship is not a charity is very educated and clear to understand. It is easy to agree with her statement on social entrepreneurship not being a charity even though it, in some cases, acts like one. For example when a business receives money from investor, it is similar to a charity receiving money from people to support the business. She makes a very good point in saying that a business cannot operate not knowing where they will get their next dollar. Another good point she makes that not everybody would think of is that if a business is running on donations, and donations alone, the business would not be able to create a business model since charity is not sustainable.

I do agree with her thinking, thanks to our generation of young people getting more interested in social matters and being more open minded. Nowadays, people is more intereste in social, environmental, and economical matters, therefore, making them more eager to get involved with our society . Social entrepreneurs will help in developing abetter society for our people

When Fiorella states that social entrepreneurship is not charity she means that social entrepreneurship is its own thing. She recognizes it as being something that can help many people, in many different places, for many different causes. As opposed to charity which is something that helps one cause, or raises money for something in specific. She makes this important distinction because she also realizes that the topic could be confusing for some who do not necessarily know the exact difference between the two.

Malala Yousafzai is a true hero, a legend, who will be remembered forever. She is a courageous leader who fights for women to be able to get an education. On October 9, 2012 she was shot by the Taliban and left in critical condition. She pushed through and from this tragic event that happened to her, she made her voice heard. Her story is touching and she now has her own foundation that advocates for womens’ rights worldwide. Muhammad Yunus is a social entrepreneur from Bangladesh. He is known for founding the Grameen Bank and developing the concepts of microcredit and microfinance. His objective was to put an end to poverty by giving out loans that were suitable to the people and teaching them some financial principles to help themselves. Not only did these two icons earn a Nobel Peace Prize Award, but they will also have an everlasting legacy for their keen, creative, and unique minds. Some other social-justice champions that I admire are Eleanor Roosevelt and Oprah Winfrey.

Fiorella Riccobono explains that social entrepreneurship is not charity. She goes on to clarify that social entrepreneurship is, in essence, using traditional business practices to create a sustainable business model that is not only profitable, but also beneficial to the social sector. Fiorella makes sure to note that charity is not sustainable and that a business model cannot run on donations alone.

Social entrepreneurship is definitely the future of business and policy making because it is a business enterprise not only focused in profitable gains and societal claims. Its significance is reflected on the demand of customers for business to have grater social objectives.

Fiorella says that social entrepreneurship is not charity because it can’t create a business based on donations. Social entrepreneurship creates solutions to societal issues. This is an important distinct because social entrepreneurship should be it’s own business/its own work. It is not a charity where anyone can help, social entrepreneurship helps other businesses to thrive.

Malala Yousafzai and Muhammad Yunus are both huge figure in the world for what they are and what they accomplished. The impact that they had on the world is different from one to another but both helped the humankind to be better. Another social-justice champion that had a mission that inspire me is Nelson Mandela, for what he forgive and what he accomplished.

3. I do believe social entrepreneurship is the future. It allows to have a business that is self sustainable and driven to help the community/planet without having this motivation for self gain. More and more people will start to realize that if we help the planet as a whole, then we will all benefit from it. Not only does it feel great to know that you’re helping people but also you get the satisfaction of helping the whole entire planet.

Personally, I believe that there is a quote that fits this article.

“If you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. If you teach a man to fish, you give him an occupation to feed him for his lifetime.”

Charity can be given to someone and yes, it can help them, however it does not provide something long lasting. Giving people jobs, and a way for them to work in just conditions is how you can truly help people. A sustainable company that can support the people, support the environment, and still make a profit for more investment is a company that can help people. That is how you can truly help and make a impact. That’s the difference between social entrepreneurship and charity. One is sustainable and can sustain others.

Malala Yousafzai is Pakistani activguist who publicy campaigned for girls to go to school and won a Nobel YouthPeace Prize. Due to her popularity and exposure, the Taliban were after her. On October 9, 2012, a Taliban masked gunman boarded her school bus, and asked for her by name. The gunman shot her in the head, neck and shoulders. Malala survived the attack and is now a world famous activist for peace and girls in school.

Muhammad Yunus is a Bangladeshi entrepreneur that was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for founding the Grameen Bank and creating microcredit and microfinance. He is working hard to help advocate a world without poverty.

According to “I believe social entrepreneurship is the future of business and policy making.” as Fiorella said, I agree that social entrepenueurships is the future of bussines annd policy making since entrepeneurs are going up and being more involved in the future policies as well as business

As far as social entrepreneurship being the future of business and policy making, yes, I agree with Fiorella. She has definitely made some interesting and realistic points. She believes that, given our generation and what that all have made a living out of, we all want to leave the world a better place than how we found it. Social entrepreneurship is saving poor regions with solutions such as fair trade and I agree that if you work hard to make that a part of your life work that it can make a difference.

Yes I do agree that, “social is the future of business and policy,” because not only does the entrepreneur make a profit, he or she also supports and helps local, small businesses which in turn helps all the people in a community. Social entrepreneurs need to be smart and innovative to find ways to make money, but still support the community. This benefits the social entrepreneur and the people they are helping. This can build innovative skills and social skills making are world communicate and making our world be together.

I agree with Fiorella when she says “I believe social entrepreneurship is the future of business and policy making.” because we are moving towards a more socially and environmentally cautious world. More and more companies are starting to deal with environmental issues. I t is likely that most future companies or enterprises will be helping raise money to help solve global problems from the start

Fiorella Riccobono stresses that social entrepreneurship is not charity because charity is not sustainable and relies on donations from people. Social entrepreneurship is when individuals use a variety of tactics and strategies to tackle societal problems. She makes this important decision because although they overlap in some areas, social entrepreneurs need to find ways to make their business profitable.

1. Fiorella Riccobono stresses that social entrepreneurship is not charity because in a social entrepreneurship, making money is part of the goal. It does help the community. However, unlike a charity, social entrepreneurship can be sustainable. They don’t base their business plan off of the donations they received but they use innovative ideas and plans. I believe she addressed the difference between the two to clarify that they are separate concepts and emphasize the difference between them.

Throughout the article, Fiorella Riccobono emphasizes on the idea that social entrepreneurship is not charity. Fiorella realizes many young people are willing to help but prevent them self from doing so due to the dependent nature of charity. Through using social entrepreneurship, one is not dependent on others to create a sustainable and reliable network to help those in need. This entices future business students who want to help while still utilizing the skills they have learned.

When Forella says “I believe social entrepreneurship is the future of business and policy making,” I agree with this statement because nowadays the world of business is becoming based off of networking and social elements. It is becoming more common that people want to go out and work on social projects and participate in the community. As this becomes more popular it will begin to become a business. It takes knowledge to turn social work into a business. However if done right, it can make the world a better place.

Social entrepreneurship and charity are two different businesses models. As Fiorella Riccobono says, charity is not a viable business plan that can make money. Social entrepreneurship triple bottom line is people, planet, profits. They want to help the world while making a positive change in the world while making a profit.

I agree with Fiorella’s statement that “social entrepreneurship is the future of business and policy making” because it gives companies the opportunity to give back to their community while making a profit. The upcoming generation of business owners want to leave the world better than they found it, and social entrepreneurship is the perfect opportunity to make a difference. I believe this is extremely beneficial to society and its members as it will also help shape the future generations to become successful leaders through international connections and job opportunities.

Fiorella, in the article, stated that social entrepreneurship is not charity. By stating this she means that charities will help gain money for a cause, but as a social entrepreneur, you have the opportunity to take your knowledge and make money and business. In the article, Fiorella states that “People are no longer seeing global poverty as a call for charity, but as a place of economic and cultural growth. ” If more people are able to gain that knowledge and share it, many people would be able to help more people at a constant rate. Charity is for one cause while social entrepreneurship can be for many.

Fiorella believes that social entrepreneurship is the future to business and policy, and I agree. Although, I would also argue that it is fundamental to today’s business and policy. This is so important because social entrepreneurship in other words is networking. These skills are important to meet others in the business world and expand upon your knowledge. If you have a wide range of connections you will have more opportunities to get jobs, knowledge in every field of business, and create a supportive business network in your working environment. After all you are not working next to computer all day, but next to people that are similar to you!

Fiorella makes the distinction between social entrepreneurship and charity. This is an important distinction because money in a charity flows in one direction. Conversely, money in a social enterprise flows both ways. Social enterprises cannot be charities because they are businesses, and need money to operate. Compared to traditional businesses, though, social enterprises are conscientious about the environmental and social impacts of their actions.

I agree with Fiorella when she claims that social entrepreneurship is the the future success of business and policy making. It doesn’t only help people who already have good conditions of life but it also financially helps those in need and who can’t afford much money. Entrepreneurs can make a lot of profits and invest their money on themselves and the community on where they which can benefit everyone.

The reason Riccobonno made the distinction between social entrepreneurship and charity is because some people don’t understand that social entrepreneurship is in fact a business and relies on more than just donations. In any business it is important to know where and when your money is coming from. Without the knowledge of when you will have money you can not make financial investments or take risks. If your business is not sustainable and it goes bankrupt it will not be able to help anyone.

Fiorella Riccobono stresses that social entrepreneurship is not charity because you cannot created a business based off of donations. Social entrepreneurship makes solutions to social issues.

I agree with Fiorella that social entrepreneurship because it will help many people.And to help the environment and the community.

Fiorella Riccobono stresses that social entrepreneurship is not charity. She focuses about this topic because she wants the reader and society to have the understanding of the difference between entrepreneurship and charity. An entrepreneurship may help and change many people, with different causes or problems, at different situation. A charity is help for a certain person or situation. She wants to make a change not throw money at it and have the problem fixed momentarily.

1. Fiorella Riccobono believes that social entrepreneurship is about making the world a better place. Charity is a completely different subject. Though, they do share a common goal. Malala Yousafzai held a campaign for girls to get an education at school. Muhammad Yunus won the Nobel Peace Prize for social entrepreneurship. They are an inspiration to society. I believe in Fiorella’s point of view. Social entrepreneurship is the future of business. It well help us grow and develop as a person. As well as create opportunities for many in creating a difference.

What Fiorella Riccobono stresses about social entrepreneurship not being charity is that it doesn’t have the ability to launch a business solely based from donations. This is not able to support a fully working business. The charity people give is meant to last a bit, it does not have the ability to make a business work for a long period of time. She makes this important distinction so readers can see the difference between a business that can support itself vs a business that runs on charity.

I agree that social entrepreneurship is the future of business. I believe this because we need to look out for others. There are many people in this world that are self centered and don’t think about others. We need to make sure we take care of others and make sure no one is left behind.

Business entrepreneurship is not charity basically because social entrepreneurs may need to rely on donations to launch their endeavors and making money is part of the goal.

When Fiorella Riccobono states that social entrepreneurship is not charity, she means to create the idea that social entrepreneurship is stable and a dependable new business worth taking part in. She makes this distinction because she wants it to be clear that although it shares a similar idea with charity, it is not only about helping the people but also the planet and business world of the future.

There definitely is a big difference between social entrepreneurship and charity. What Fiorella Riccobono means when she makes this distinction is to not think of social entrepreneurship as the same because of the many differences it has with charity. For example, charity can be looked at as a way to help one specific problem only one time. What she tries to make out of social entrepreneurship is that it helps more than one cause, it is more of a broad way of helping. Also it can shape a better lifestyle for people while charity can only help in one specific way. Giving someone money is not as big of a deal as giving a person a job to consistently earn money. Fiorella makes the distinction so readers know the way that she helps people, by setting a better road for the rest of their lives.

Social entrepreneurship is the future of the business and policy making because it is a way for entrepreneurs to not only make a profit but helps out the community and support their new ideas. And it is a smart way for people to come together as a community and do many great things together.

Fiorella Riccobonno stresses that it is not charity because she wants the reader to be aware that a charity isn’t sustainable because you don’t know where your next dollar comes from, in contrast with social entrepreneurship that is the process to earn profits while helping other people.

[3.] When considering Ms. Riccobono’s statement, “I believe social entrepreneurship is the future of business and policy making.”, I am reminded of the importance of working with non-profit, government, and traditional business, when working towards startling a successful and innovative business. I agree that social entrepreneurship is an important aspect thats importance will become increasingly apparent as time goes on. Using the policies and beliefs that fall under this category, I believe these thing will change the future of business management and development.

Fiorella Riccobono emphasizes a difference between social entrepreneurship and charity. She highlights that in a social entrepreneurship, the owner cannot solely depend on donations in order to maintain the business plan and model to a profitable amount. She makes this distinction because all social entrepreneurships create profit, whereas charities, specifically non-profit organizations, do not.

Ms. Riccobono had her opinion about the meaning of Social Entrepreneurship, in which she thought that it is not charity at all. She stated that making money is the desired outcome, while as compared to charity it is also stable and/or sustainable. She wanted to clarify the actual difference between the two, explaining it through the expression of her own opinion.

-Fiorella Riccobono believes that it is not charity because, she is trying to tell the reader that social entrepreneurship is not a charity, as a charity is not sustainable, because you can’t control the influx of money. She means that social entrepreneurship can last over a long period, and has to be sustainable in order to help the most people possible.

-Malala and Muhammad inspire the world. Malala inspires women to be educated, even in countries where women are not educated. She wrote a book about the injury that she had injury, when she was shot by an Islamic group. Muhammad inspires young leaders globally. Also, he won a Nobel Peace Prize for his work on social entrepreneurship. Another social justice champion that I admire is Oprah. She broke barriers by being one of the first black female millionaires in the United States. She also established an empire.

-I do believe social entrepreneurship is the future. It allows to have a business that is self sustainable and driven to help the community/planet without having this motivation for self gain.

Fiorella Riccobono stresses that social entrepreneurship is not charity. What does she mean by this? Why does she make this important distinction? She wants the distinction to be clear that social justice in businesses for employees isn’t a charity, and that it’s an obligation for workers to be treated/paid fairly. She strives to make a community where social justice is a priority. Using the “Related KWHS Articles” and “Related Links” tabs, find out more about Malala Yousafzai and Muhammad Yunus. How have they made an impact on the world? Can you think of any other social-justice champions whose missions inspire you? Malala aimed for the education of all women in the world, even in countries where they aren’t educated. Muhammed inspired young entrepreneurs around the world. Fiorella says, “I believe social entrepreneurship is the future of business and policy making.” Do you agree? Why or why not? I agree, social justice calls for fairness in business with helping the homeless, being able to assist those in need, and policy wise making work better/ more efficient for employees/

I agree with Florella in believing that social entrepreneurship is the future. Social entrepreneurship is a useful tool to help the community while still making money in the proccess. Being a social entrepreneur allows said entrepreneur to help the people with less money while being able to maintain profit in the proccess.

Fiorella stresses a good point about social entrepreneurship because the businesses that are focused on being run like this are also making an enormous impact on different societal issues while benefiting as a business as well. That being said, theses businesses are definitely not like charities. She makes the distinction between the two because i’m sure the first thing many people think of when they hear about “social entrepreneurship” is charity. Social entrepreneurship is definitely going to take over in the future because it is a great way for businesses to thrive while also having a positive impact on society and the world.

Fiorella Riccobonno stresses the fact that social entrepreneurship is not charity because she wants the reader to understand the difference between social service and social entrepreneurship. Social entrepreneurs are also businessmen and run a business that also helps others.

Social Entrepreneurship is not a charity. It is not a charity because the business still makes money. They do help the community, but making money is the main/top reason. This is an important because she needs to continue stressing the fact that the business still needs to make money. Fiorella helped the people because she paid them more than what they were getting paid.

When Fiorella Riccobono stresses that social entrepreneurship is not charity, she means that the business cannot rely on donations. It would obviously help the business if donations come to them, but the business model cannot be built by just donations. Charity is not sustainable, which means that a certain business can’t survive on donations. Social entrepreneurships are meant to solve societal issues and that is what she is trying to do.

I believe social entrepreneurship is the future of business and policy making because the world is becoming more and more social. Whether it is through social media or just talking to people, people get ideas from other people who get ideas from other people. Nowadays so many people believe they want to be an entrepreneur and its possible because there are so many places to start a business.

Fiorella Riccobono stresses about social entrepreneurship not being charity and that it is not going to be able to launch a business solely based from donations. This is not able to support a fully working business. The charity people give is meant to last a bit, but it does not have the ability to make a business work or last for a long period of time. She makes this important distinction so readers can see the difference between a business that can support itself vs a business that runs on charity.

Fiorella Riccobono stresses that social entrepreneurship is not charity. What does she mean by this? Why does she make this important distinction? She means that she believes a business is not sustainable by donations. On the other hand, charities are 100% sustained by donations. A business is very costly and it cannot be held by a thread or sustained by chance or luck. Starting a business, one wants to know that his or her business has an opportunity of thriving and growing. When one finds out someone is donating, the donation most of the time arrives that same day. In businesses, one has to know where the next dollar is coming from ahead of time. If a business is failing a backup plan needs to be formed, it cannot just sit around and hope for a miraculous donation.

I agree that social entrepreneurship is the future of business because it is a great way to give back to the people that are struggling financially, and it builds a good reputation which is very important for a business.

When Fiorella stresses that social entrepreneurship is not charity, she means that charity is not sustainable, because the influx of money isn’t not controllable, and a social entrepreneurship has to be sustainable so most involved benefit. I agree with Fiorella that social entrepreneurship is the future of business, and where relationships are built while making profit.

Fiorella stresses the difference between social entrepreneurship and charity. A business model can’t be made in a charity, due to charities not being sustainable. Both of these help the community in many ways but you can make money also in social entrepreneurship as it is sustainable.

Fiorella says,”I believe social entrepreneurship is the future of business and policy making” I agree with this statement because I believe that people now a days are trying there best to make this world a better place so being a social entrepreneur is not only helping yourself but also helping your community.

I really find this idea of “social entrepreneurship” to be very defining because this allows people with somewhat experience with the business world to get to experience real life. Many people don’t think business is that hard but this thought of having social entrepreneurship I feel will actually make the image of the business world easier to understand. Social Entrepreneurship is the future and is actually happening already, the reason is because being able to interact with customers and consumers will allow the buyers to have more confidence in the product. Interactions also allows the business to have good credit and good credit to a company means that they are worth more and are recognized as a company that has good stuff. Another reason why social entrepreneurship is the future is because it is easier to start than that of an actually big name company, so I predict that there will be more social entrepreneurs than companies trying to sell small products (that is the job of a social entrepreneur).

Fiorela Riccobono stresses that social entrepreneurship because it is still a business even though it helps people in need. People know the charities are basically just giving money to people and that is not what social entrepreneurship is about. Social entrepreneurship is a business so it still makes a profit but it also helps people. These businesses are all about making a profit while still maintaining a social message. They follow business plans and make a sustainable business while still making an impact with the social sector of the world.

Fiorella Riccobono states that social entrepreneurship it’s not charity. Social entrepreneurs run a business from which they want to take profit while they are contributing to society. She states that they practically show emapthy and use society to make money, which in a way, making money or not, at the end they are still helping people.

Fiorella Riccobono stresses that social entrepreneurship is not charity. She wants to show that social entrepreneurship isn’t charity because it isn’t to get things for people in need. Social entrepreneurship is to develop, fund and implement solutions to social, cultural, or environmental issues. She makes this important distinction because social entrepreneurship uses techniques and has ideas behind funding solutions to social culture, while charity is to do for the good of the people in need. Also social entrepreneurship looks to find solutions for issues, when charity just helps a certain cause.

I believe strongly in the idea of Social Entrepreneurship and the benefits it can bring to many people. I think that is great for college campuses to have social entrepreneur ship clubs so that college students can be exposed to all of the problems that the world has, I love how the article stresses how its important to be open minded and expose your self to new experiences because the world changes every day and it is key for young people to know that because they are the ones who have the most power to change things for the better

Fiorella strongly stresses that social entrepreneurship is not charity. This means that it is still business, that means that it is for profit. I think this is a good thing because the best way to support social programs is by money from companies that still have profit. Fiorella also must believe this because she is sure to emphasize the fact that social enterprises are making money and not bankrupting themselves for their programs or relying heavily on inconsistent and unreliable donations like a charity.

Riccobono emphasizes that charity is different from social entrepreneurship by expressing that charity works with donations and social entrepreneurship handles profits. She makes this distinction to help realize that everyone can win; farmers receive just payment for their goods and vendors of these goods can make a profit. This has definitely made an impact on the world by allowing almost any person attain a fair an income at little to no expense. I don’t completely agree with Fiorella’s belief because today many giant corporations, such as Monsanto, benefit greatly at others’ expense and won’t easily change. Yes, it is a great concept and should be adapted all over but it doesn’t seem like something that will truly happen.

What Fiorella Riccobono means by social entrepreneurship not being a charity is that they are totally different concepts. She makes this important distinction because a charity depends on people donating money for their cause. While social entrepreneurship do accept donations, they don’t rely on it. They use a business model to plan it out like a business.

3: I don’t necessarily disagree or agree with the statement that social entrepreneurship is the future of business and policy making, because there are many other business fields that can have a larger effect on society, for example, the economy keeps the world turning by trading goods to other nations and providing everyone with the funds they earn. The economy also provides storage units known to most as banks, to store any earned money that was not to be spent, this being the opposite of in-wallet or in-pocket money.

But, social entrepreneurship is a very crucial business, and as time goes by, this will get more important. In addition, social entrepreneurship is interconnected with the economics, because with social advantages, one might have a vast connection, thus leading to a higher chance of getting advertised, hired, or partnered with another company.

Firoella Riccobono stresses that social entrepreneurship is not a charity. Social entrepreneurship is a business that is profitable and is indeed not a charity because then it wouldn’t be sustainable. Instead it is comprised of individuals who want to make the world a better place.These individuals try to make the world a better place by using business tactics to try to create solutions to some of the societal issues that we face today, like poverty, climate change, and pollution. So, not only is it not a charity, it is profitable and at the same time it helps make the world a better place.

1.Fiorella Riccobono stresses that social entrepreneurship is not charity even though they receive donations, they can’t create a business model, charity is not sustainable. 2.Malala Yousafzai fights for gender equality, and Muhammad Yunus help the poor and poverty worldwide. This inspires me to leave my mark on the world and change the world for the better. 3.I agree when Fiorella said ” I believe social entrepreneurship is the future of business and policy making.” Because this will help the poor and raise charity.

Fiorella says, “I believe social entrepreneurship is the future of business and policy making.” I agree with Fiorella because it will help give back to those who do not have the resources that they need. It will not only make provide good reputation to the business, but it will give you such a good feeling to know you are being involved in the community and helping others.

Fiorella Riccobono stresses that social entrepreneurship is not charity, because it’s not possible to create a business model based on donations, because charity is not sustainable. Malala inspires the education of all women in the world, even in countries where they are not educated. Muhammed inspires young leaders globally, and he has also won a Nobel Peace Prize. I agree that entrepreneurship is the future of business and policy making, because it gives hope to those who need help.

What Fiorella means when she says that entrepreneurship is not a charity is that in the business you have to know when your money is coming not just to wait around for a donation, which is what charity does. I do agree with Fiorella when she says “I believe social entrepreneurship is the future of business and policy making” because it helps keep the community going to a better place.

She means that you still make profit off of social entrepreneurship, as it is what is desired because charity is not sustainable. She makes this important distinction to show that social entrepreneurship is not charity and needs to have a constant influx of cash to help as much people as you can. I do agree because it is a good way to help people who are less fortunate with their situations.

Fiorella Riccobono affirms that all related with social entrepreneurship is not charity, by that you can extract that corporations or business don’t live related with donations or charity. Business must grown from experience, hard working and good ideas and not from donations. Donations can surely help, but a business concept doesn’t not relate to that.

Malala and Muhammad had a big participation with the world. While Malala made the education available for womens she wrote a book that affected the globally society. Muhammad inspired young leaders over the world. He won a Nobel Peace Prize for his social entrepreneurship, which had successful results. I agree with her when saying that the social entrepreneurship is the future of business, because the social entrepreneurship allows a business that self-survive to help the good causes without having this motivation for self gain.

What Fiorella Riccobono means when she says that social entrepreneurship is not a charity is that it does not involve raising money for a cause. Charities also do not have enough money to sustain them for a long period of time without donations. Social entrepreneurship aims to solve problems while still having the ability to make profit, although they do accept donations. It is a business that at the same time makes a huge impact on society.

When Fiorella says that social entrepreneurship is not charity she means that social entrepreneurship is its own thing. She recognizes it as being something that can help many people, in many different places, for many different causes. As opposed to charity which is something that helps one cause, or raises money for something in specific. She makes this important distinction because she also realizes that the topic could be confusing for some who do not necessarily know the exact difference between the two.

When Fiorella Riccobono stresses that social entrepreneurship is not charity, she means that social entrepreneurship is not focused on raising or donating money. Social entrepreneurship is a business that benefits when money is used. Of course you are going to need to raise money from somewhere, but the purpose of social entrepreneurship is to run a business not to collect money. Clearly, Fiorella makes this important distinction because she wants to show the readers that social entrepreneurship and charity are two separate things.

Fiorella Riccobono stresses that social entrepreneurship is not charity. When Fiorella said this, she meant that a social entrepreneurship does not just base solely on donations. Of course, donations can help, but a social entrepreneurship thrives from people working hard to help others. In addition, a charity, unlike a social entrepreneurship, is not sustainable She shows that it is more about creating a work place than a place just collecting money.

When Fiorella Riccobono says it is not charity she means that these companies are not run on donations and not ran by volunteers in their free time. She is saying these companies are real businesses that have to compete in the real world. They too have the goal of making money however, they also make businesses that help a society as well as protect the environment. She mentions this because often times they have no idea where there next check is coming from and when. This is a important distinction because these are people who are interfering with their career or salary to make the world a better place and not doing it on extra time.

Riccobono emphasizes that social entrepreneurship isn’t charity. The difference between a charity and social entrepreneurship is that in a charity, funds received are dependent on the contributions of donors. Profit generated from social entrepreneurship are directly correlated with the economic aspects that entrepreneurs find themselves confronted by, such as competition as well as supply and demand. Because of this, the defining aspect at the core of social entrepreneurship is that success is defined by the financial decisions that entrepreneurs choose to make within the current state of the market in which the entrepreneur operates. Au contraire, running a charity would rely on sporadic donations that prove to be a less reliable source of money than the profits and economic stimulus caused by small businesses and lower-class workers.

Fiorella Riccobono stresses that social entrepreneurship is not charity because even though some social entrepreneurs do rely on some charity to start their business, social entrepreneurship aims to solve problems and create a sustainable business that doesn’t rely on others to make profit.

1.I believe that Fiorella Riccobono had the need to express that social entrepreneurship is not charity, rather that relies on donations because she felt the need for the individuals that read the article to understand that this project is so innovative and new that the majority of the people don’t really know about it. Charity is defined as an organization that wants to help and raise money for those in need. Instead, what Fiorella Riccobono is doing relies on donations because although she is helping the needed and businesses, she needs resources and wants to improve the ideas she has for individuals to take on their business as soon as she sets them up for success with her unique innovated plan. This makes an important distinction because it may not always be for free that Riccobono may be doing her job, rather to create a change with an imaginative job that helps improve the world.

3. When Fiorella says, “ I believe social entrepreneurship is the future of business and policy making.” I somewhat agree with what she said. Due to the fact, that her job might be one of the ones that may help a large amount of people as it has economic and balanced strategies to make a business start or grow exponentially. However, I don’t coincide with it being the essential future of business rather social entrepreneurship taking on a branch. As it will only help an specific business that are in certain conditions. In addition, it may be a good and productive job, but not the overall future.

Fiorella Riccobono stresses that social entrepreneurship isn’t charity to emphasize that it isn’t an organization that runs on donations. Social entrepreneurs create real businesses that make a profit. Although their objective is to improve issues in society and assist people, their goal at the end of the day is also to earn a profit. I think Fiorella makes that important distinction to show that although social entrepreneurs are there to help people in need, they also create thriving business. It shows that there’s a lot more to social entrepreneurship than most people are aware about and how it’s different from any other non-profit organization.

Malala was shot by a takin when she was 14 years old, since then she fought for the rights of young women to study and gender equality. She became the youngest nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize and won it in 2013. Muhammad Yunnus created the Grammen Bank, it researched to study how to design a credit delivery system to provide banking services to the rural poor, he won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006. Another social-justice champion is Martin Luther King Jr, he is best know for his role in the advancement of civil rights using nonviolent civil disobedience based on his Christian beliefs. On October 24, 1964, King received the Nobel Peace Prize for combating racial inequality through nonviolence.

Malala Yousafzai is a Pakistani women’s right and children’s activist, who is also the youngest-ever Nobel Prize laureate. Muhammad Yunus is a Bangladeshi social entrepreneur ans economist, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for founding the Grameen Bank, in which he developed a micro loans and credit system that helped poor Bangladeshis ‘borrow’ small amount of money. Paulette Meyers mission inspired me because she founded and chaired the Women’s Initiative for Self Employment in San Francisco, for 15 years, which helped to train and finance low-income women to start their own businesses.

Fiorella Riccobono is saying that social entrepreneurship is not a charity because they are very different. For instance, charity needs people to donate money to succeed while social entrepreneurship does not rely on donations even though they do accept money to help their concept. Instead, they use innovative business tactics to create solutions to social issues.

Fiorella says “I believe social entrepreneurship is the future of business and policy making.” I believe this statement is very accurate to the future of the business landscape as large corporations are increasingly searching for ways to give back and help out society. Social entrepreneurship also opens up new possibility to those who enjoy philanthropic work while still utilizing their business skills. Through creating self-sustaining businesses that help out society, more individuals will be open to the idea of entering a field which help people as it eliminates the feeling of charity and volunteer work.

Fiorella Riccobono stresses that social enterpreneurship is not charity because although enterpreneurs may rely on donations they can’t really create a business model based on it. She makes this important distinction because people may think thet enterpreneurship is based on charity and donations when they really are basically innovactive business tactics to create solutions to social issues.

Fiorella Riccobono stresses that social entrepreneurship is not charity because charity is giving to those in need with nothing in return, which is similar to social entrepreneurship in the helping side but social entrepreneurs are looking for a profit and the thing that differ them from most of the entrepreneurs is that besides a profit they are looking to help, they are trying to make an impact in their community for the good. Making an impact is clearly really important to her and that’s why she distinct what social entrepreneurship to encourage people to also make an impact and show them they can make a profit out of something that will benefit the social sector.

Social entrepreneurship IS the future of business and policy making. The world is full of hunger, poverty, pollution, etc. What would be more successful than making a profit while helping to make this dirty filthy world a better place?

I agree with Fiorella Riccobono’s statement that social Entrepreneurship is the future of business and policy making. Based on the information her article is giving us, the goal of social entrepreneurship is to help fix the world’s issues or problems. To her, instead of a simple solution, social entrepreneurship can also finds ways to transform the conflict into an opportunity for economic growth.

Fiorella says, “I believe social entrepreneurship is the future of business and policy making.” Do you agree? Why or why not? I don’t think it is the future, yes it is helpful to the world and is good and helps people in need, but this can not be the future of business. If a business wants to be successful in the world they can’t be nice, they can’t just go around helping. A business needs to make a profit, needs to be able to pay all its employees, and all its assets. If a business ever hopes of progressing in this world it has to be heartless, or it will be taken advantage of. It cant have a soft spot it it will be open and it will be used. I understand why she would say this but that is in a dream world, but the business world is far from a dream. It is ruthless and has no heart, its all about the money.

Hi Sebastian. Fiorella, the writer of this essay, read your comment and wanted to respond. Here are her thoughts:

Although I do agree that a business needs to make a profit, I disagree with you on the point that the only value a company can generate is revenue. That is an outdated perception of the value modern day corporations and financial institutions are trying to generate. Social entrepreneurship does not exist to be charitable, it exists to create systemic social impact at the core of it’s day- to- day operations, while simultaneously generating profit.

The modern business structure is steering away from a profit-driven model, to a strategy that systemically addresses the triple bottom line. This is not a dream world perception, but rather the new trend and business models of all corporations are trying to adapt in order to stay competitive. But, you do not have to take my word for it, let’s use a modern-day example of investment banking. The young individuals who are entering the banking industry are increasingly making investment decisions that focus on sustainable growth. In order to learn more about impact investing, a form of social entrepreneurship, I have attached an article recently published by Morgan Stanley:

https://www.morganstanley.com/ideas/sustainable-socially-responsible-investing-millennials-drive-growth?cid=sm_smsp_LINKEDIN_MorganStanley_20170831

This generation is demanding socially minded products and companies are responding to this in order to stay competitive and relevant.

When Fiorella says that social entrepreneurship is the future of business and policy making I could not agree more. Many people in this generation are empowered to make a change in there society and around the globe. Social entrepreneurship is a great way for both a way to make a lot of money , and help the change that you want in the world. Also, social entrepreneurship is a great way to gain customers, because people that believe in your platform will want to buy your product and goods. Social entrepreneurship is a great way to not only help yourself succeed but also a great way to help other succeed and get through there struggles.

2- Muhammad Yunnus founded the Grammen Bank and pioneered the concepts of microcredit and microfinance. He gave loans to entrepreneurs too poor to qualify for traditional bank loans. by this Yunus and Grameen Bank have shown that even the poorest of the poor can work to bring about their own development.

Malala Yousafzai is an activist for female education. She is known for human rights advocacy, especially education of women in her native Swat Valley in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Yousafzai opened a school in the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon, near the Syrian border, for Syrian refugees. The school offers education and training to gils aged 14 to 18 years.

A social enterprise is not a charity because is organization that applies commercial strategies to maximize improvements in human and environmental well-being. They basically combine business with social concerns; they ensure that the society can have access to opportunities to grow in the business environment and be able to sustain themselves.

Fiorella Riccobono stresses that social entrepreneurship is not charity. What Fiorella means by this is that entrepreneurship is not runned by money or even sustained by money like a charity is. Although she says that here and there money will be involved but really and truly its not based on donations at all. Her making it a important distinction lets everyone know that its a innovative business.

Fiorella states that social entrepreneurship isn’t a charity. She emphasizes that is not a business that simply runs on donations, which is similar to a charity. Social entrepreneurs create certain businesses to make profit. These businesses do not rely on others to make profit. An important distinction made is that charities are run totally on donations. Real businesses simply can not last on just donations. Social entrepreneurs have actual businesses that make money that is used for social, cultural, or environmental issues. The important distinction is that charities are run on donations while social entrepreneurs create businesses that make money.

When Fiorella says that social entrepreneurship is not charity she means that social entrepreneurship is its own thing. She recognizes it as being something that can help many people in need, in many different places, for many different causes. As opposed to charity which is something that helps one cause, or raises money for something in specific. She makes this important distinction because she also realizes that the topic could be confusing for someone who does not necessarily know the exact difference between the two.

Freshman need to join college already thinking of a way to change the world. By being innovative in the beginning, it opens your mind to greater things in the future. By joining entrepreneurship clubs, you can discover a whole new world of chances to help homeless people and poor communities. These people are in the need of a shelter and income, and if you somehow can manage to help those communities, they may even increase their business, earning well deserved money, and help other communities too.

I agree with Fiorella that, social entrepreneurship is the future of business and policy making because, to start a business people have to have technics and know how to talk face to face with other company CEO’s or to talk to banks so they know they will get a profit off you if they lend you their money. Those are the reasons why people have to be socially ready.

I agree when Fiorella says that she believes social entrepreneurship is the future of business and policy making. In a growing age where successful businesses are known for their high rates of pollution, many advocate for business techniques that are more environmentally friendly. Not only does social entrepreneurship promote profit while keeping detrimental environment effects to a minimum, but it also reaches out to the community to aid and improve the lives of those in need. Business thrives off high profit and the ideals behind social entrepreneurship (such as eco-friendly techniques and public aiding) are essential to good policy making and an excellent community of people. Thus, future business and policy making would greatly benefit from this.

Fiorella Riccobon stressed about social entrepreneurship not being a charity so much since the idea of a social entrepreneurship does not want to be labeled as a charity, because their approach to the problem can be very different. Charity solely depends on donations and uses the money the get to first have their business then give back. This distinction is very important since what social entrepreneurship wants to do is give back and make sure their purpose is directly served and is not based off on only donations.

Fiorella stresses about social entrepreneurship not being charity because it is not an organization that runs in donations, social entrepreneurs create real business that make a profit although there goal is to improve the issues in society and help people but at the end of the day there goal is to make a profit out of there business, I think that fiorella makes that important distinction, to show that social entrepreneurship is there to help people in need, and create a working business that are able to create profit at the end of the day.

I think what Fiorella meant by social entrepreneurship not being charity was that people actually have to put a lot of work in to their business and not just rely on donations. She states, ” charity is not sustainable.” Which means that entrepreneurs should not run a business if they do not know who is giving them money; especially off of donations.

Fiorella Riccobono stresses that social entrepreneurship is not charity. Social entrepreneurship is not charity because you cannot create and run a business in which you, the entrepreneur, do not know when or where the donations to your business are coming from. Social entrepreneurship is also not charity since it is a business, and the entrepreneur and his or her business earns a profit while helping others. Fiorella makes this important distinction so that people do not think that a social entrepreneur’s business is a charity to the homeless, it is a business that earns a profit while helping the community and the homeless.

Social entrepreneurship is indeed not a charity. While a charity is reliant on donations, a social entrepreneurship cannot create a stable business model without having a stable source of income. Instead, a social entrepreneurship finds an underlying problem such as pollution or poverty and then creates a business model that does not only solve the underlying problem, but also makes the business model profitable. Fiorella Riccobono stresses the distinction between a charity and a social entrepreneurship in order to highlight the fact that a charity only helps people, whether it be through financial or material means; while a social entrepreneurship continuously helps people by creating a profitable business model that not only solves a social issues, but also creates a profit. The distinction between a charity and a social entrepreneurship can be seen in the analogy where, “If you give a man a fish he will be fed for one day, if you teach that man how to fish and he’ll never be hungry.” A charity can be seen as simply giving a man a fish, while a social entrepreneurship can be seen as teaching a man how to fish.

Fiorella is right/wrong when she claims that entrepreneurship is not charity even though some business do help our community. Most of the business have a goal of making money and benefiting themselves, that’s the main goal of most entrepreneurship, they are sometimes too ambitious and don’t care about society. On the other hand some do care about our society and help our community by investing on something using their profits that will benefit not only them but everyone else in the community. She makes that important distinction because charity relies on donations and money support for those in need, she is trying encourage more people and other business that thrive in order to be more charity and help those in need.

When Fiorella Riccobono stresses that social entrepreneurship is not charity she means that you can’t create a business model based on donations, because charity is not sustainable. She says this to make it clear that it is not a charity.

Fiorella Riccobono stresses that social entrepreneurs is not charity and I agree. She means that social entrepreneurs create a business and make profits. They can’t create a business on donations. Social entrepreneurs create solutions to societal issues. She makes this important distinction because she wants people to understand that social entrepreneurs is not about donations, it’s about assisting and helping ours and your community.

I do not agree with Fiorella when she says, “I believe social entrepreneurship is the future of business and policy making.” Although social entrepreneurship will continue to grow and thrive in western businesses, saying it will be the future of all business is impossible. In places like the United States and other similar countries people generally have more money than those in third world countries, so when people start businesses they are more likely to have enough money to use sustained practices to create there products.we have also seen a shift in what consumers want. More and more consumers are looking for ways to make themselves feel like they are helping society in what they buy, so shifting to social enterprise might actually benefit your business more. Although this is true for first world countries in most other second and third world countries this business method would not work. In these countries people make a much smaller income than they would in first world countries so when consumers are looking for products to buy they will most likely pick a cheaper product that does not give back to society rather than spending more money for the same product with the difference this one will give back to society. These business also have less start up money making it harder for them to produce products in a sustainable manner. For reasons like this social enterprises will grown in first world countries or rich people but is no a viable option for people of lesser income. this is why I do not believe social enterprises will be the future business of the world but rather of the first world.

Fiorella Riccobono stresses that social entrepreneurship is not charity even though it has some analogous needs and events. For example, social entrepreneurship may need to rely on donations to launch their endeavors. However, like charity is not sustainable, it is futile to create a business model. It is crucial to express that social entrepreneurs try to solve societal issues by combining government, nonprofit, and traditional business practices.

Social Entrepreneurship is an emerging concept and, as any concept that is new, some people don’t really know what it means. Although it relies sometimes on donations, a business can’t sustain itself just by charity. Social Entrepreneurs main purpose is to help needed business to succeed and creating innovative plans in order to do that.

I believe that social entrepreneurship is the future of business and policy making due to a great deal of social entrepreneurs looking toward the future and building business models that favor our environment. These innovative minds see harsh problems like global poverty and world hunger as a new slate for growth in areas like economy or cultural growth. In the end, the positive minds of social entrepreneurs will be those of the future in business and policy making.

Fiorellla Riccobono is constantly stressing that social entrepreneurship is not similar than charity, because both overlap in many things. But what people don’t realize is that compared to charity social entrepreneurship is a business looking to make profit. Malala Yousafzai is a Pakistani activist for female education and the youngest to ever to receive a Nobel Prize, also survived a shot to the head once and is now a bounty. Muhammad Yunus is a Bangladeshi social entrepreneur who was awarded the Noble Peace Price for founding the Grameen Bank and pioneering the concepts of microcredit and microfinance. I agree seeing the benefit of social entrepreneurship just as many others.

Fiorella says, “I believe social entrepreneurship is the future of business and policy making.” Do you agree? Why or why not?

I disagree with her. I found social entrepreneurship a very respectable cause and i loved the idea, but i don’t think it is the future of business because since now there weren’t social entrepreneurship, so entrepreneurs can create their company without that help.

I agreed with what Fiorella Said about the future or entrepreneurship. I think that these newer generations are more biologically aware of what is going on with our planet and communities, specially with the current science they have more knowledge and a better understanding of the problems on this world. So judging by the way these generations are more aware and having more knowledge they would lean more towards businesses that can help the world and our communities.

“Fiorella Riccobono stresses that social entrepreneurship is not charity. What does she mean by this? Why does she make this important distinction?”

She means that its not a charity because a charity is not sustainable. She make the important distinction because a lot of people confuse it for a charity. She wants to make sure that they know the definition of social entrepreneurship is.

Fiorella is making points that social entrepreneurship can make a difference in people’s lives. Social entrepreneurship can help build of jobs and businesses. It also is helping other people that aren’t working in those businesses and improving their community around them. She wants to make a difference in this world I think that this is the key to change the future and what is soon gonna be the next generation of entrepreneurs.

When Fiorella said “I believe social entrepreneurship is the future of business and policy making.” I agree because social entrepreneurship is very important in the business world. People have to be able to communicate with people face to face. In todays millennials everyone uses phones and in the future could have a hard time communicating with people face to face. So I think that social entrepreneurship will be very important in the future.

Fiorella stresses that using social entrepreneurship isn’t just a charity and it is a way to make money. Even though it isn’t charity way of working it can contribute to the advancement of others or addressing problems injustice in the world. The social side promotes it to which the business can grow off the help of others it needs a source of revenue like any other business to thrive. Though the company’s can take in donations to work and run this helps things and what they need and to do at the same time promoting problems.

I agree with Fiorella. Social entrepreneurship is the future of business and policy making. As time goes on, more and more people are becoming aware of the state of our world and the people who live in it. Social entrepreneurship finds the source of a problem, and not only fixes it, but helps to make the world a better place in the process. I believe that this generation, as well as generations in the future, will want to help our world and people in need. More people are wanting to leave the world in a better state than we found it, and some people are already trying.

Fiorella Riccobono is saying that the Social Entrepreneurship is not a charity at all. The whole Social Entrepreneurship point is to help fix the worlds problems but making money is still a priority for the Social Entrepreneurship.This idea still finds ways to transform the issues for an economic growth. So Fiorella basically wants us to know that they’re not a charity that donates all their money.

Yes I do agree with Fiorella, social entrepreneurship is the future of business and policy making and the idea of it, is a great idea to help young entrepreneurs that are lost in the world of business, this would be a very good and helpful tool for them, and we can’t escape from that, because the technology is growing every second of our lives so i wouldn’t be a surprise if technology take over the world of business, many companies are successful and they did it without that help, but now it can be a very good addition for young kids with great ideas this can help them start and i believe they can be very successful with their projects and new businesses

Fiorella Riccobono stresses that social entrepreneurship is not charity. What does she mean by this? Why does she make this important distinction? she means its not charity because it cant create a business model, based on donations, because charity is not sustainable, because charity is mot sustainable. you cant build a business when you don’t know where your next dollar is coming from or when.

I agree with what Fiorella thinks about social entrepreneurship. The program is related to charity but is not the same thing as she had stated in the article. This program has a potential strong base for jobs in the future. The course deals with societal problems by matching them with economy issues as well as financial issues like a business. This sets it as a powerful candidate for future employments and jobs in my opinion as it has an extravagant amount of potential.

I agree and believe social entrepreneurship is the future of business and policy making because one of its main purposes is to make the environment and future businesses successful and better.

I agree with Fiorella because it’s true that in the future we need to socially communicate with different people. Some people are working and are not getting paid enough for the work that they are doing. It’s good that she and other people are making a change to this problem in the world. With the homeless Fiorella and other people are trying to make a difference helping the people that are in a finacial crisis or are in need of help

I agree with Fiorella. I find that social entrepreneurship does a good balance between profit and helping the community. They are not dependent on outside source like charities and are not focused on massive profit like the big enterprises. I believe that more of those kind of business will start to appear and be successful on the near future.

Fiorella Riccobono stresses that social entrepreneurship is not charity. What does she mean by this? Why does she make this important distinction? Fiorella means that social entrepreneurship is forced to donate and charity is your choice to donate money to charity.

Social entrepreneurs can only do so much to help people out. Being a social entrepreneur cannot be anything like a charity because you need to guide yourself and get yourself out there. Like she said, we all want to leave the world a better place than it was before yourself, so yes you can help out but if you just keep helping someone, they are constantly going to keep asking for help. Give a man a fish and he can eat that day but teach a man to fish and he can now provide for himself. She makes this important because people need to understand it, too many people guide others around and can help them for that time but not later on in life. It’s similar to the first 18 to 20 years in your life, your parents provide for you with food and a roof over your head but they cannot support you forever.

I agree with Fiorella. No person, for their entire lifetime, is going to want to be bossed around by someone. Everyone eventually wants to become their own boss and be the founder or CEO of their own company. Everyone can do it, and there are many opportunities down the road, whether you’re getting right out of college (or even high school) or you’re in your later years and have some money to work with and want to make a change in today’s society.

As Fiorella Riccobono said, Social Entrepreneurship is not a charity. It is easy to think that, however it is important to recognize the difference between the two. A Social entrepreneurship is financial and business organization that combines aspects of a running business while helping social problems in the world advance.

I agree with Fiorella because Fiorella wants to make a charity to help homeless people and I think that’s great because she understand that Homeless people needs help and I like to help people that needs help.

Fiorella says, “I believe social entrepreneurship is the future of business and policy making.” I agree with her because as people grow up they are starting to realize the real world and businesses and businesses techniques are changing

The student explained what social entrepreneurship is. She explained that it is not a charity and that it is made to last. In social entrepreneurship you have to think how to make the idea work so the idea doesn’t fall apart and you give money for specific things which will help the idea to develop.

Fiorela has stressed that social enterprise is not at all a charity, it makes money. She means that it is not a charity because then it doesn’t sustain itself well at all. It cannot create a good business model with donations, or nothing at all. She wants people to know that they are not a charity that donated all their profit away.

Fiorella Riccobono is correct because social entrepreneurs is a business. In social entrepeneurs people is more empathetic because of their helping the social sector by solving global and humanitarian issues, they ask what is the problem and then base on that they plan their business around that. They make a money while helping the society.

Social entrepreneurship is truly the future in my opinion because of business and policy making, it is a business enterprise not only with a focus in profitable gains and societal claims. Its meaning is reflected on the demand of clients for business to have grater social goals or targets.

When Riccobono thinks “social entrepreneurship is the future of business and policy making”, I support her opinion. For me, I think as young adults develop, they establish beliefs on how they can have a positive impact on the Earth. Of course, one of these ways is by social entrepreneurship. With young innovative minds, they can think of things they can create. These people need passion and commitment. They also need to develop skills that persuade other passionate and committed people to join their cause. Social entrepreneurship is about helping the world, and an increasing number of people are constantly trying to do that. As a result, global issues, like poverty, will decrease.

A social entrepreneurship is not a charity because all of the proceeds do not go to other organizations. A part of the revenue goes towards organizations but some goes towards the business to keep it running. A social enterprise is sort of a hybrid between profit business and non-profit charity. What she means to say is that the social enterprise’s goal is not to just give away money but instead to create money for its own needs while giving money to organizations that need it. She has to make this difference clear because many people know about charities and often do not want to donate, but since this is a charity/business in disguise it generates money while also providing a service and good.

Yes I agree that social entrepreneurship is the future of business and policy making. I believe that social entrepreneurship can do a lot of good in the world and benefit people both the ones being helped and the ones helping. It will open many doors for many people that need help.

1.Fiorella Riccobono stresses that social entrepreneurship is not charity because it makes profit and it is not a situation where someone receives money once, and slips back into trouble. When profit is made, the organization is clearly no longer a charity and social entrepreneurship helps people get back on track. This is an important distinction because it helps people realize that unlike a charity, this organization makes profit and helps people at the same time.

2. Malala Yousafzai has made an impact on the world by advocating for young girls to go to school, and Muhammad Yunus has made an impact on the world by providing small loans to the poorest people in the world. The most inspirational social justice hero to me, is Mahatma Gandhi because he liberated an entire country from England in peace and in friendship.

3.I do not believe social entrepreneurship is the future of business and policy making, because there are certain businesses that this won’t work with (Ex: car companies) and there are many people in the corporate world that will not support this type of organization.

Fiorella Riccobono stresses that social entrepreneurship is not charity because while both aims to aid those in need, social entrepreneurship makes a profit. Charities may give money to those in need, but unless these people are able to regain an income, they will return to their original conditions. It is impossible for charities to keep on giving money to support these people for the rest of their lives since charities relies on donations and the people working in charities also needs an income to support themselves and their own families. Social entrepreneurship tries to address the root of the problem and create a solution. As Fiorella Riccobono has mentioned, instead of giving small coffee farmers money, they bought their coffee for a fair price and sold it at their trucks. This not only helps the farmer, but also helps the people running the business to keep going and continue making contributions to the world.

I do agree that social entrepreneurship will be the future of business and policy making. Social entrepreneurship helps develop, fund, and implement solutions to many different social and environmental issues around us. With different aims and sizes of this concept, it can apply to almost any organization or job. So it can pretty much help out others who work in different industries.

1. Fiorella Riccobono is stressed that entrepreneurship is not charity because they are both different from each other, entrepreneurship helps us make the world a better place by making ideas. Charity is people helping others by giving them money to be successful in life.

2. I agree that entrepreneurship can be helpful in our future because of how helpful it can be for the country and for us living a better and healthy life style. It can also impact others and convince them too work for entrepreneurship to help our grow even bigger then it was suppose to be.

Fiorella Riccobono stress es that social entrepreneurship is not a charity, because charities are not sustainable and can not control the influx of money, in the contrary, social entrepreneurship is a business that is expected to make a profit and relies on more than just donations. Although social entrepreneurship is not a charity, it was also invented in order to help people, businesses and helping make the world a better place. Social entrepreneurship is the future to business and policy making and it is supposed to make enough money to keep the business going, with profits included, and help other businesses that may need financial help.

I think it was very wise for Fiorella Riccobono explain to us that social entrepreneurship is not charity because it makes us understand that you can do the right thing and still get revenue from your work. I think that now I understand way more about social entrepreneurship and I think is a great thing. I feel that It helps the community to improve in many ways. I’m glad she wrote this, I think she may have changed the point of view of a lot of people about entrepreneurship that thought it was like a charity.

Firoella Riccobono explains that social entrepreneurship is not charity because since its just emerging as an idea, she thinks that charity is not sustainable enough to do the job. You can’t build your business on not knowing when or how much money you are gonna receive from charity. They combine government, non-profit, and traditional business in order to create a sustainable business. These innovators create large sustainable models by addressing an issue in the world like poverty, pollution etc.

Fiorella says, “I believe social entrepreneurship is the future of business and policy making.” I agree with her statements beacuse I think that future and presents Entrepreneurs are thinking in ways to make the world a better place. This impacts lots of people by the fact that they are attracted to make the world a safer and healthier place for everyone, especially for the people in need, like the homeless. While lots of people are getting involved in business, the majority will want to start their own social Entrepreneurship campaing which gives a high income and helps the world to be a better place.

I agree with Fiorella because the next generation of Entrepreneurs are trying to find new ways to make the world a better place. This has a huge affect on people today, For example the more unfortunate people.Now a days everyone want their own business where they can do something for money. But Fiorella addressed social entrepreneurship is like a charity where you get a profit from. This is another way we are trying to develop something new to make the world a better enviroment to live in.

I forgot to add that either most or all charities don’t profit, and that this is why she talks about the topic this way.

Fiorella Riccobono stresses that social entrepreneurship is not charity because for the business to thrive and grow it must have a stable amount of money behind it. The business can use help from donations but it cannot purely be charity. If it were to rely only on donations, it would not be sustainable over a longer period of time. Social entrepreneurship is for the benefit of important causes like the homeless. Having financial support ensures they can do their job.

When Fiorella Riccobono stressed that social entrepreneurship is not charity, she meant that social entrepreneurship although helping people, helps the person who made it generate income, while charity is straight up giving people or organizations money or aide without getting profit. This is an important difference because charities rely on donations and volunteers more than anything, and you never know how much you’ll get over relying on others. In a social entrepreneurship, you are responsible and you make money.

1. Fiorella Riccobono explains that social entrepreneurship and charities are different from one another: A charity is a nonprofit action that is made to see some sort of change in the world, for the better. However, it is made quite clear that social entrepreneurship is a business. Even though it receives donations, it is a business that generates some sort of profit; but, nevertheless, a business with a goal in mind, one that is to make the world better than how we found it. It’s important to make the distinction because a social entrepreneurship is better able to maintain itself without having to purely rely on external sources and donations.

When Fiorella states that social entrepreneurship is not charity work, I attatched that to the fact that it is strictly enterprises for a social change. The business owners in the social enterprise industry understand that they are not being given money for a cause nor are they raising awareness. Social enterprises are not charities because charities are given donations by others. Social enterprises on the other hand can be funded, but can not be donated to. This is a important distinction to make so that other do not get confused and make mistakes when they are starting their own businesses. It is crucial to make this distinction for the sucess of other businesses to come.

When Fiorella says that social entrepreneurship is not charity, she means that if you want to start a business, you have to have stable money behind it to produce it. Social entrepreneurship is a business that makes profit. In charities, you only get money for volunteers, not knowing if you will make lots of profit. Fiorella expresses this because she wants people to know that in entrepreneurship, you have to work or your business and get profit, not getting money from charities.

When Fiorella state that social entrepreneurship is not a charity, she is referring to the fact that charity relies only on founds specific for one cause, which may not be sustainable for a long enough time. Mean while social entrepreneurship, focusses on founding multiple things like homeless, and is not exclusive to one major cause, but is open to a variety of major causes.

What Fiorella means when she says that social entrepreneurship is not charity is that charity is when you raise money or objects for a cause or for a specific person or place. It for people and places that are less fortunate and cant afford a lot fo things. A social entrepreneurship is when you are making a profit out of something. You also focus on many different thing, not just one cause.

i agree because a lot of people don’t know the difference of social entrepreneurship and charity the difference is that in entrepreneurship you gain money in charity you donate money which means you’re losing money.

I agree with Fiorella’s statement on how social entrepreneurship is the future of business and policy, I agree with it because it is changing the way by how people see things. For example, the article states, “People are no longer seeing global poverty as a call for charity, but as a place of economic and cultural growth.” New students will exposed to social entrepreneurship and soon enough, there will be plenty of individuals who will use innovative business tactics to create solutions.

Yes, I agree with what Fiorella states. It is the future of business and policy making because you need to “promote your mission” and find funding for it, all while getting other people involved in whatever you may be promoting. These are essential paarts of growing your business.

I do agree that social entrepreneurship is the future of business and policy making. Many people in the world have the desire to make it a better place for everyone; however, they don’t know how or where to start. With social entrepreneurship, the goal is help and contribute while still making a profit. By doing this, both sides have the ability to grow and prosper. The best part is that you are making the world a better place.

I agree that social entrepreneurship is the future of business and policy making because companies would have a steady flow of income to them instead of a charity which will have money coming in for one specific cause. Social entrepreneurship will be successful considering how many young minds we have for the future, bringing it to a new level and presenting fresh new ideas into the social entrepreneurship world, changing it completely, allowing success. This is the successful future we have.

I believe that it is stressed that social entrepreneurship is not charity because the organization does not only depend on donations to succeed, they have had a stable amount of money behind them in order to strive as the organization they are. Unlike charities, social entrepreneurship make a profit. This is important and stressed because social entrepreneurship’s need to work for their money and sell instead of relaying on donations and charity events to become a better organization. Social entrepreneurship’s are businesses; they do not depend on donations and they also make a profit. The business also can not be continued if they are not making money on their own.

When Fiorella states that social entrepreneurship is not charity, she means that when you volunteer for charity, you only give. There is no economic balance if you always give, and don’t get anything back. We need to do charity when there is crisis. If not, the economic balance would go down. What Firorella states, makes a lot sense because social entrepreneurship has a economic balance circle that goes around and you make profit in one way or another, but charity does not have a profit if you only give.

When Fiorella states that social entrepreneurship is not a charity, she means that social entrepreneurship is a force used to help people. She states that charity is not a sustainable money flow for a business. Social entrepreneurship, however, is something that people use to (not exclusive to) helping the homeless, sustaining the planet’s resources, and finding ways to make profits for a business. She makes this important distinction because she wants to differentiate between between charity and the work that her and social entrepreneurs do. Charity is an unsustainable source of business, and that is not the goal for social entrepreneurs; social entrepreneurs work to aid people in growing a sustainable economic system.

When Fiorella Ribccobono says that a social enterprise is not charity, she believes that an entrepreneurship that seeks to gain a profit, fails to create a sustainable charity. Therefore, a social enterprise uses specific causes to aid in its operations. For example, rather than giving coffee farmers a percentage of the profits, the coffee food truck buys its coffee beans from farmers who use sustainable methods of farming. This allows the farmers to get a profit and be able to live off their work rather than relying on charity. This distinction helps Fiorella argue the benefits of being a social enterprise for the business and the cause, rather than the charity that does not allow the cause, in this case the farmer, to grow at all. Charity promotes a stagnant, one-way economy that has no advances of any kind. Although charity is important in a crisis or catastrophe, a social enterprise is beneficial in aiding the economic growth of two bodies of work.

when Fiorella says that social entrepreneurship is not charity, she means that if you want to start a business, you have to make stable money behind it to produce it. Social entrepreneurship is a business that makes profit. In charities, you only get money for volunteers, not knowing if you will make lots of profit. Fiorella expresses this because she wants people to know that in entrepreneurship, you have to work or your business and get profit, not getting money from charities.

In the article, the author, Fiorella Riccobon, stresses that social entrepreneurship is not a charity. She uses two important distinctions to explain this. The first is that it’s a more stable business format. Charities rely on donations for their income and funds. Social entrepreneurship sells goods and uses the profit to help others. The second is the way they help. Social entrepreneurship teaches people to support themselves by getting fair wages like the Haitian coffee farmers. Charities give money or food which only helps people when they are there.

It is important, social entrepreneurship is more than just a charity. Even if the businesses your talking about or involved in a nonprofit business, it will sustain its self better than a charity. All charities come to a soon end. you must have a bullishness plan when it comes to whatever your collecting profit for. Charity does not have a foundation like a businesses does. An innovative business will help you make a better profit.

Fiorella is stating the social entrepreneurship is not like charity. Shes saying the for charity it doesn’t last for a long time, entrepreneurship is not on one major thing. Malala has won the Nobel prize inspiring woman and helping the communit

Giancarlo amazing statement

I believe that when Fiorella mentions social entrepreneurship isn’t charity that she is referring to the fact that charity is something that is done for the sake of a devastating event or in other words a single reason but on the opposing side of things , she is saying that social entrepreneurship is for a diversity of necessities including for example as one of the subtitles in the article says “helping the homeless.”

The details given by Fiorella in the article on what a social entrepreneurship does and its functions is truly brilliant. The new level that these social entrepreneurship are achieving is remarkable as they create a business that benefits small businesses, helping in the community, and produce a profit. It’s a truly beneficial business for all aspects included.

As far as the article goes, Fiorella did a really good job distinguishing between charity and social entrepreneurship. Before reading this article, they were both the same thing in my mind. She makes this distinction for exactly this reason, so people are more educated about social entrepreneurship and her business. The way I see it, social entrepreneurship is an equilibrium between charity and the economy. Charity isn’t a sustainable lifestyle, but a social enterprise is. In my opinion, a social enterprise uses the efficiency of the United States economy to benefit the person in charge of the business and others.

When Fiorella said that social entrepreneurship is not a charity, she is stating that charity relies on other founds for only one cause. When you start a business, you need some money to put behind it to support the business. Charity relies on other people to give money. With a business, there is an economic flow of money. Even though donations are involved in a business, its gains some sort of profit. You cannot build your business not knowing where or when your money is coming from. Charity doesn’t generate profit, this is why she said it that way.

I agree with Fiorella, that social entrepreneurship is not charity. What she means by that is charity is when you give to a cause if there is something horrible occurs, such as hurricane Harvey, you would give money to charity to give the people of Houston. But in this case, social entrepreneurship is when you teach someone how to do stuff like make their own food by people teaching them how to farm or raise cattle so they won’t need to be so dependent for others to give them money.

Fiorella stresses that social entrepreneurship is not charity. Even though social entrepreneurs and charity both rely on donations and are similar, social entrepreneurs can’t create a business of it because charity is not sustainable. She wants readers to understand the difference between social entrepreneurship and social services because most people think they are similar.

When Fiorella Riccobono says that social entrepreneurship is not a charity she means that charity is just giving away without gaining any profit out of it. A social entrepreneurship is different because social entrepreneurship makes a profit; it helps a community in some ways but it also benefits the entrepreneur in other ways. There’s a saying that Ms. Zocco said “Give a Man a Fish, and You Feed Him for a Day. Teach a Man To Fish, and You Feed Him for a Lifetime.” This saying explains much about what social entrepreneurship. An example of a social entrepreneurship is, you put a business in a poor town, you teach all the poor people in that town how to do the job and hire them. You pay them a wage that is going to allow them to live comfortably and they are good. An example of a charity is going to a poor town and just give them money. That will only help them for some time. She makes this important distinction because social entrepreneurship is much better than charities. It helps the people, it makes them work, and it helps the entrepreneur make a profit. Charity helps society but it doesn’t improve society as much as social entrepreneurship. This is important to know because the more people make social entrepreneurship, the less poverty will be in the world.

When Fiorella states that social entrepreneurship is not charity, she is referring to the fact that charity relies only on founds and specific for one cause.

It’s not the same because , although social entrepreneurs may need donations to launch their endeavors, they are not going to be able to create a business based on donations. Charity is not continuous. Just imagine building a business when you don’t know where your next dollar is coming from or when, you can’t. This is actually important because social entrepreneurs are individuals who draw on innovative business strategies to create solutions to societal issues. So, this is what I think.

Fiorella stresses that social entrepreneurship isn’t a charity because it isn’t. In order to start a business and have it flourish you need more than just donations to do that. Even though the two have their similarities (meaning they both rely on donations), they are different. You can’t just base your business on a “maybe”, because there’s no 100% that there will be more donations. That’s worry-some for your clients and yourself. Entrepreneurs may use the donations to start off but later own they’re going to have to make better decisions so they gain money instead of receiving it form anonymous or known doners.

When Fiorella Riccobono stresses that social entrepreneurship is not a charity, she’s referring to the fact that a charity is when people give without getting anything out of it. Rather, she wants people to understand that in social entrepreneurship, the entrepreneurs are helping with societal issues but they are building a business not a charity.

When Fiorella said that social entrepreneurship is not charity, charity rely on donations for only one cause but charity isn’t sustainable. All charities will help for some time and come to a soon end. But social entrepreneurship is an equilibrium between charity and economy because makes people work and help the entrepreneur make profit and improve de community. Malala Yousafzi and Muhammad Yunus are positive and influential contributions to de society. Malala advocates for women education and Muhammad created the concept of microfinancing. I agree when Fiorella says, “I believe social entreneurship is the future of business and policy making.” Because the more people who make social entreneurship with innovative business tactics the more solutions to social issues.

When Fiorella Riccobono stresses that social entrepreneurship is not donated, she means that social entrepreneurship is not focused on raising money. Social entrepreneurship is a business that benefits when money is used. Of course you are going to need to donated money from somewhere, but the purpose of social entrepreneurship is to run a business not to collect money. Clearly, Fiorella makes this important distinction because she wants to show the readers that social entrepreneurship and donating are two separate things.

Florella says “I believe social entrepreneurship is the future of business and policy making”, which I have to totally disagree on. I’m surprised that no one has talked about Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), which is mandatory in many countries, as a % of the net profits made by the firm. Why are firms doing this? Well, if they make a difference (e.g. build a school for a rural place in a country), they gain good publicity. As consumers are getting richer now, they may choose to buy a good or service from a firm with good reputation. By enacting CSR, firms have a better brand image as they are seen to be kind, caring, and giving back to the community. Is this the truth? No. Firms are doing this for more profits and revenue. They can gain more demand and consumer loyalty by CSR.

Now back to social entrepreneurship. This is different from CSR as CSR can be donating money to a major firm. Right now, businesses focus on whether their acts are moral and ethical, as they may be creating lots of external costs e.g. pollution which decreases health of the labour force. Most businesses are for profit – only non-profits will focus on social entrepreneurship. Trust me, it isn’t highly profitable.

I have a social enterprise myself, from the club I created. I’ll talk about the club and distinguish between social entrepreneurship and donating / charities. They are different, but are similar in some respects. Both need money to operate. How do charities get money? They ask people to donate, which is usually tax deductible if they are a 501c3. How do social entrepreneurs get money? They have to get it themselves, which is a very proactive process. Most people get investors. However, I’m only 15, so I gain money by starting a business and profiting. I use those profits to operate my social enterprise.

Florella continues with “Social entrepreneurs do not have an idea and then apply it. Instead, they go directly to the source of the issue and ask what is needed. Based on that answer, they build their business plans. Social entrepreneurs are often empathetic, bold, open-minded and tenacious”. I totally agree on this, but as I am a student, I’m working with a 501c3, and together we are developing a model on how to alleviate poverty and hunger in a part of rural China. We’re working on small ‘life packages’, containing different proportions of food, sanitation, clothing, etc. and we’re finalising the model. Our solution is very meaningful and may bring a whole village out of the absolute poverty line. However, similar to a charity, we need funds to operate and purchase the food packages. I am the social entrepreneur, while the 501c3 is the charity. The charity of course has more funds as they are tax deductible, and a trusted organisation. On the other hand, I have less funds because I’m gathering it myself, but together we make a good group to help fight against the 1st and 2nd UN SDGs!

Finally, I’d like to comment on Malala, a true inspiration. There is a club at my school based off Malala’s vision, providing more education for girls. Although we live in a rich district in the metropolis Shanghai, there are rural places in China (places which need food packages) where girls don’t go to school. Malala’s story has made the whole world realise how inequality still exists, and keeps reminding us to fight against it. I’m so happy that service learning has just been approved at our school as a mandatory academic subject :).

Also, commenting a little more on Malala – her life has a “conveyor belt” image, as she was brought up in an elitist family who trained her to be the voice for many women. Her success would not have been possible without her father. Of course, she was very determined herself as she was stronger than before after being shot and fortunately surviving. Malala wasn’t a social entrepreneur, but more like a political ambassador / representative. Her Noble Peace Prize win raised more awareness of the issue of inequality, to empower women for education.

In the mere chance anyone stumbles by my post nearly 1.5 years ago, I’d like to make a correction after learning much more about impact investing and creating a business with impact. My previous viewpoints still remain the same (well, CSR is mutually beneficial for both the firm’s publicity and those who are supported by the received money/projects – it’s a win win!). However, social enterprises can be for profit. There are many impact investing firms, mostly venture capitals that invest in businesses that will both generate profits and a positive societal impact. Hence, social enterprises can definitely be profitable.

Also, update to the social enterprise I founded. Co-organised event with Rise Against Hunger where 220000 meals were packaged and distributed in Oct 2018!

Great. This article is excellent. I have read many articles with this topic, but I have not liked. I think I have the same opinion with you. ATTITUDE QUOTES

As stressed by Fiorella Riccobono, Social entrepreneurship is different than charity. I feel the same here as charity is merely done for compassion towards humankind and measured by the donations acquired, social entrepreneurship is done for social change and welfare.

When Fiorella says, “I believe social entrepreneurship is the future of business and policy-making”, I completely agree. The concept of innovative thinking is lacking in this world and by social entrepreneurship, such skills are highlighted.

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91 Social Entrepreneurship Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

🏆 best social entrepreneurship topic ideas & essay examples, 📃 simple & easy social entrepreneurship essay titles, ⭐ interesting topics to write about social entrepreneurship, ❓ research questions about social entrepreneurship.

• Independent Entrepreneurship, Intrapreneurship, and Social Entrepreneurship This paper examines the similarities and differences of independent entrepreneurship, intrapreneurship, and social entrepreneurship. When it comes to the process, intrapreneurship and entrepreneurship are similar in terms of value creation and undertaking risks.
• IKEA Company’s Social Entrepreneurship One of the potential benefits to IKEA for operating a joint partnership is that it serves to integrate the resources of the partnering business entities, which in turn results in production and cost efficiencies.
• Social Entrepreneurship: Khan Academy Project In addition, in the context of the rapid growth of technology and lifestyle changes, entrepreneurship is also dynamically changing depending on the emerging opportunities and threats.
• The DopePlus Social Entrepreneurship Majeed and Hwang contended that the importance of data-driven decision-making will grow as the world continues to navigate the challenges of the unprecedented crisis.
• Sun Tzu’s Social Entrepreneurship and Organizational Performance Thus, one of the primary reasons to study competition in an attempt to gain a distinctive competence is to log all the successes and failures of the closest rivals.
• Social Entrepreneurship Causing Change in Society Therefore, considering the stages of the social problem, it is argued that the appearance of social entrepreneurship belongs to the alternative stage when people attempt to bring change outside of the system.
• Aspects of Social Entrepreneurship Orientation The study conducted by Halberstadt et al.aimed to research the influence of social entrepreneurship orientation on the social entrepreneurial performance of startups and established firms.
• Social Entrepreneurship Definition Such a point of view allows social entrepreneurs to take more active control of the problem, especially if the effect of entrepreneurs trying to solve the problem is more detrimental than its absence.
• Essence and Examples of Social Entrepreneurship In this respect, Saudi social enterprises can contribute to Vision 2030 in the following way. Finally, it is possible for women to be leaders of social entrepreneurship in the Middle East.
• Social Entrepreneurship: Supporting Philanthropic Organizations The program attempts to provide a solution to the needy in underdeveloped countries. The program will be helpful to both the volunteer and the needy children.
• Social Entrepreneurship: Al Radda Program for Prisoners The Al Radda program focuses on improving the welfare of prisoners and former prisoners by equipping them with valuable skills and resources that help them to engage in different economic activities.
• Social and Eco-Entrepreneurship for Environment Social entrepreneurship is a field that deals with the recognition of social problems in society and using entrepreneurial concepts, operations, and processes to achieve a social change.
• Social Entrepreneurship and Corporate Responsibility They evaluated the second half of the 20th century and came to the conclusion that high-growth environments presuppose the presence of structure and strategy.
• Social Entrepreneurship in the New York City The process of social entrepreneurship and its strategic goals for improving social welfare of the society harnesses a variety of capacities across different sectors which helps facilitate the initiation and maintenance of the activities.
• Social Entrepreneurship and Successful Entrepreneur To access it easily, one has to design the program in a way that compels the legions of imitators and replicators.
• Contemporary Issues Facing Social Entrepreneurship As a result, many organizations in the industrial sector have been made aware of the basic ways to facilitate efficiency and sustainability in resources use to enhance better performance both in the short-run and the […]
• Social Entrepreneurship Ethical Issues Most social enterprises are geared towards uplifting the poor in society to earn a living that can give them a more decent lifestyle Economists define Bottom of the Pyramid as the lowest level of the […]
• Social entrepreneurship: What Everyone Needs to Know by Bornstein and Davis Social Entrepreneurship is Bornstein’s and Davis’ masterpiece that should interest anyone willing to create a social change in the society. Social entrepreneurship is all about creating a social change in the society.
• Taking Social Entrepreneurship Seriously The current social and environmental conditions in the world demand that the level of social entrepreneurship to be improved as it is yet to get to the desired level.
• Innovation and Profit Motivations for Social Entrepreneurship: A Fuzzy-Set Analysis
• Linking Social Entrepreneurship and Social Change: The Mediating Role of Empowerment
• Corporate Social Entrepreneurship Specific to Knowledge Economy With a Focus on the Romanian Economic Context
• Applying the Social Entrepreneurship Concept of Commerce
• Kicking off Social Entrepreneurship: How a Sustainability Orientation Influences Crowdfunding Success?
• Organizing for Commons-Enabling Decision-Making Under Conflicting Institutional Logics in Social Entrepreneurship
• Chao Guo and Wolfgang Bielefeld: Social Entrepreneurship
• Social Entrepreneurship Competencies of Managers in Social Entrepreneurship Organizations in the Healthcare Sector
• Entrepreneurship Innovation and Uncertainty of Social Entrepreneurship Commerce
• CSR and Social Entrepreneurship: The Role of the European Union
• ‘Changing the System’: Compensatory vs. Transformative Social Entrepreneurship
• The Effect of Social Entrepreneurship, Co-decision, and Co-creation on the Embrace of Good Sustainable Development Practices
• Cultural Leadership Ideals and Social Entrepreneurship: An International Study
• Setting the Stage for Paradigm Development: A ‘Small-Tent’ Approach to Social Entrepreneurship
• How Can Social Entrepreneurship Solve the Problems in New Zealand?
• Academic Leadership and Social Capital in Universities Through Social Entrepreneurship
• Responsible Management Education: Active Learning Approaches Emphasising Sustainability and Social Entrepreneurship
• Boosting Social Entrepreneurship and Social Enterprise Creation in the Republic of Serbia
• Bricolage, Effectuation and Causation Shifts Over Time in the Context of Social Entrepreneurship
• Collective Social Entrepreneurship: Collaboratively Shaping Social Good
• Inequality and Marginalisation: Social Innovation, Social Entrepreneurship, and Business Model Innovation
• Enabling the Original Intent: Catalysts for Social Entrepreneurship
• Organized Chaos: Mapping the Definitions of Social Entrepreneurship
• Social Entrepreneurship and Socio-Economic Development Analysis
• Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship in Tourism: A Potential for Local Business Development
• Indigenous Social Entrepreneurship: The Gumatj Clan Enterprise in East Arnhem Land
• Addressing Development Through Social Entrepreneurship
• Corporate Social Entrepreneurship vs. Social Intrapreneurship: Same Idea, Different Trajectories
• Building Social Capital for Social Entrepreneurship
• Navigating Challenging Fitness Landscapes: Social Entrepreneurship and the Competing Dimensions of Sustainability
• Where Design Thinking Meets Social Media and Creates Civic Engagement and Social Entrepreneurship?
• Connecting the Dots for Social Value: A Review on Social Networks and Social Entrepreneurship
• Measuring Social Entrepreneurship and Social Value With Leakage: Definition, Analysis, and Policies for the Hospitality Industry
• Counting Our Losses: Social Entrepreneurship, Refugees and Urban Transformation in Turkey
• Differences Between Social Entrepreneurship and Traditional Business
• Conceptualizing Social Entrepreneurship: Perspectives From the Literature
• Islamic Gift Economy Vis-à-Vis Waqf (Endowment) As Vehicles for Social Entrepreneurship
• Social Entrepreneurship From an Institutional Perspective
• Full Employment Through Social Entrepreneurship: The Nonprofit Model for Implementing a Job Guarantee
• Can Social Entrepreneurship Researchers Learn From Family Business Scholarship?
• What Is Social Entrepreneurship and Why Is It Important?
• What Are the Benefits of Social Entrepreneurship?
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• What Are Examples of Social Enterprises?
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• Who Is Best Example of Social Entrepreneurship?
• What Is the Vision of Social Entrepreneurship?
• How Do You Identify a Social Entrepreneurship?
• Do Social Entrepreneurship Make Money?
• Why Do Social Entrepreneurship Fail?
• What Are the Disadvantages of Social Entrepreneurship?
• How Can Social Entrepreneurship Change the World?
• What Is the Main Goal of Social Entrepreneurship?
• How Do Social Entrepreneurship Help the Community?
• What Does Social Entrepreneurship Focus On?
• How Do Social Entrepreneurs Identify Opportunities?
• Can Social Entrepreneurship Survive Without Profit?
• What Are the Challenges Social Entrepreneurs Are Facing?
• How Can Social Entrepreneurs Become Successful?
• Can Social Entrepreneurship Solve Social Problems?
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50 Inspiring Examples of Social Entrepreneurship in Practice

by Cory Ames

If you’re looking for a comprehensive introduction and explanation of social entrepreneurship, download our Social Entrepreneurship 101 Guide before you dive into our conversations with leaders in the space.

In early 2019, we launched  The Social Entrepreneurship & Innovation Podcast,  where each week we release an episode featuring both established and emerging leaders in the social impact and  socially responsible business  space. 

We’ve covered a variety of topics with social entrepreneurs and innovators from a wide range of industries—tour companies, medtech, agencies, hospitality, and many, many more. 

Each conversation provides our Grow Ensemble team with endless discussion of new information and interesting viewpoints we glean from our guests. In this post (and the two-part podcast episode that goes along with it) we want to highlight (a few) of those lessons and insights.

Whether you want to hear from the CEOs of some of the world’s most successful  sustainable businesses , small business leaders making massive waves in their industry, or Executive Directors from entrepreneurial nonprofit organizations influencing widespread positive change, the gang’s all here!

The  businesses you’ll see (or hear) here aren’t just running a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program to check the boxes on “social good.” These businesses and business people have integrated positive social change and impact into their core of how they do business and how they show up in the world. 

Their business methods and philosophies are inspiring for the change-maker and entrepreneur alike, making it clear that not only are those two identities compatible, but they should be inextricably entwined. What a pleasure it’s been to sit down with so many generous and successful social entrepreneurs and innovators thus far! 

Watch on YouTube

Excited for many more inspiring conversations and connections to come.

What is Social Entrepreneurship?

Before we jump into a list of some of our favorite social entrepreneurs, it’s worth a brief mention of what social entrepreneurship is in the first place.

Social entrepreneurship, as a movement and term, is moving aggressively into the mainstream. And with this rise in popularity, more and more change agents are racing to the scene, as well as racing to define what social entrepreneurship is and who social entrepreneurs are. 

In brief, social entrepreneurs are business people who use their business to create social value. These do-gooders are not funneled into the public sector, but in fact make up an increasing portion of the private sector. In addition to earning a profit, and equally, if not more importantly, their businesses respond to social issues or social needs they see in the world around them. 

When the status quo isn’t good enough, these change-makers take action and show us (and the world) that when businesses understand social value creation as central to their company’s purpose, that can lead to large-scale solutions to local and global problems.

Check out our Social Entrepreneurship 101 Guide for a more comprehensive definition of social entrepreneurship where you’ll get a more in-depth look at how a few different people are defining it, where social entrepreneurship came from, and what its role in society might be now and in the future. You can also take a loot at our list of  social entrepreneurs books  for more resources.

Clothing & Fashion

1. alex husted, founder & ceo of helpsy, on the consumer’s role in the sustainable future of fashion.

As informed by Alex and the Helpsy team, 95% of all clothing, shoes and other textiles can be given a second life. Sadly, over 85% just ends up in the trash! 

In our podcast recording, Alex dove deeper into this issue, reducing, reusing, and recycling textiles and clothing, and explained how the consumer can and should be making an impact on this massive waste issue. 

“The R’s come in order for a reason, right? So reduce is first because that’s the best thing you can do is just use less and then, reuse and recycle. Reuse is kind of where we do the playing, we’re trying to get as much reuse as possible, and then, recycle what can’t be reused.  So for folks like you [or your listeners] who I can’t tell to go to one of our bins and drop their old stuff in there, find someone close by that will take them. Any place you put it other than the garbage can is a whole lot better than putting it in the trash because if the life of those things gets stretched out in a number of ways that most people just don’t realize.  Everybody thinks that I don’t want it, so why would anybody else want it? I never want to see this pair of jeans again, I’ve worn them a hundred times. Why would anybody else want to wear this pair of jeans? It’s just not true. We’re trying to get that across.” 

Want to hear more from Alex on Helpy’s vision for a sustainable future of fashion? Listen here.

2. Manish Gupta, Co-Founder & CEO of Matr Boomie, on Empowering Communities Through Trade

Manish Gupta and the Matr Boomie team have been able to connect and empower over 20,000 artisans in 40 partner communities in India since their founding in 2006. 

It was Manish’s goal in starting Matr Boomie to use the power of trade to empower these Indian communities, provide them with resources and  sustainable living , and hopefully, move the needle on lifting many of these communities out of chronic poverty. 

“I have seen firsthand how powerful trade is and anything that we want is available to us. That’s quite amazing. Things from around the world are at our fingertips and that’s an amazing system. But at the same time I’ve seen how if trade is not done responsibly, it can exploit communities.  We’ve all heard examples of challenges in Bangladesh and small communities where there is so much chemical pollution that is ruining their rivers and farming. So we all know how trade, if it’s irresponsible, can exploit communities. But I also believe that if trade is done responsibly, it can empower communities.  It truly has the potential to eradicate poverty in the world. And that’s what I want to do is use trade as a tool for positive change.

To hear more from Manish about Matr Boomie and their continued mission to empower Indian artisans, listen here.

3. Hannah Davis, Founder & President of BANGS Shoes, on Advice for the First Year Social Entrepreneur

Hannah Davis’ and the BANGS Shoes team sell shoes to invest in entrepreneurs all over the world. And this was the mission that Hannah set out with when starting BANGS shortly after starting college. 

A young entrepreneur, the start of her company seemed to revolve around all hustle, with little of the “success” she was seeking. However, with some significant personal development and key turning points, the growth of BANGS completely changed with BANGS now getting closer to a decade old, Hannah shared her advice for a social entrepreneur who might find themselves in their ‘year one.’ 

“I would say to relax a little bit. I think that’s a big thing to not overreact with emotion when things appear to not be going well, but just again, [think] what are your options and solve the problem.  And the other thing I would say…is don’t try to reinvent the wheel. It’s very, very rare that anyone has an extremely 100% unique idea. Look for somebody that’s done what you’re doing, but maybe a little bit better and possibly slightly differently and get their feedback and use technology to do the work for you because there’s so many apps and different resources and I just would encourage people to take advantage of those.  [I]t takes research and patience to understand what the possibilities are. But it is a really wonderful, beautiful time to be an entrepreneur.”

For more from Hannah on tips from her (and BANGS’) entrepreneurial journey, listen here.

4. Colleen Clines, CEO of the Anchal Project, on Building a Social Enterprise Success Story

The Clines sisters, Maggie and Colleen, have built a thriving  social enterprise  in the Anchal Project. What started in 2011 as a nonprofit being built and run out of their parents’ basement, now employs over 150 artisans throughout India and the Clines’ hometown of Louisville, KY. 

In our episode with the sisters, we dove into their now nine-year trajectory from humble beginnings and hustle, to what is now a clear social enterprise success story. 

Colleen shared a little insight into how, even with few resources, the Clines sisters still managed to build the confidence to continue in the early years of Anchal: 

“A real turning point for us was one, the confidence we built through those first few years, but really the impact, it’s about taking action regardless of whatever you don’t have.  Once we had a few years, two years I’d say of artisans that we had been working with, seeing the little impact that we had in their daily life at the time, and then products to show for it. That’s when people started slowly getting on board.”

For more from Colleen & Maggie on the building of a social enterprise from the ground up, listen here.

5. Laura Wittig, Founder of Brightly, on the Importance of Closeness with Your Customer to Move Conscious Consumerism Forward

Laura Wittig and the Brightly team have created a centralized platform for consumers to engage with ethical fashion, beauty, and home goods brands. They’ve created a great alternative to Amazon for these products!

What started as a desire to facilitate the search for sustainable fashion brands, Laura had this idea for Brightly to be the one-stop-shop for the  conscious consumer  to find sustainable clothing brands and connect with others interested in the same. 

In our episode, Laura shared how her experiences in Amazon, Google, and Adobe as a product manager influenced the modern and open culture she’s driven to create with Brightly. 

“[I]n order to [project manage], to successfully do that, you have to make sure that you are adequately convincing people across the company as to what you’re doing. So you do a lot of pitching, you do a lot of negotiations across teams to make sure that you’ve got the resources that you need.  And for me it’s been trying to understand, as I’m growing this team is how do I make sure that I am always fostering a culture of openness, mindfulness, and then also a culture of being really, really connected to our customer.  Because that is what always sticks out in product development at least, is the closer you are to the customer and to the actual problem, the better off you’re going to be.” [14:17 – 15:30]

For more from Laura on the influences that brought her to creating an ethical shopping marketplace, listen here.

Food & Drink

6. allison gibson, from paintbox catering & bistro, on a b corporation business culture that puts its people first.

I first connected with Allison at the 2018 B Corporation Champions Retreat in New Orleans.

From the moment we met, it was wildly clear Allison had a passion both for the work she did and the community she and the Paintbox team had cultivated in Regent Park, a historically disadvantaged neighborhood in Toronto. 

Allison was generous enough to join me for a recording to talk more about this culture at Paintbox, with a specific example of how that culture allowed her to lean on her team when she had to manage the challenging personal experience of a parent passing. 

“I’m super, super grateful for the team that I have and for the opportunity to work for and with a business that puts its people first. Had I been working anywhere else, I definitely would have been fired or laid off…Despite going through what I was going through with my mom, my personal needs did not change, my rent was still due the first of the month, all of the people that depended on me still depended on me…  I needed to really trust my team and give people more opportunities. So at that period when I was away, I would take certain servers from the restaurant and ask, “I know you don’t normally do bar inventory for example, but can you please do that while I’m gone?” And, they would rise to the occasion and do an amazing job.   So I really took away that if you challenge your team or give them opportunities and they rise to the occasion, great—keep giving them responsibilities, keep going to them to help problem solve. I also really, really valued that I work at a business that cared because it wasn’t just that they sent me cards, they were sending food to my house, people would just call me, come by. I would come home to flowers on my doorstep almost daily. It was insane.”

For more from Allison, and a business culture that creates community, click here to listen.

7. Yoni Medhin, CEO of Grain4Grain, on the Desire to “Give Back” with Business

Almost serendipitously, Yoni and I connected at a local farmer’s market here in San Antonio. Using his spent grain pancake mix, Yoni was flipping cakes for passers-by, and I, a sucker for a good “one for one” model (and a free pancake), was drawn to hear more about their work. 

This struck a friendship and an ensuing podcast interview from the comfort of my San Antonio living room, where Yoni shared with me his motivations and values in starting Grain4Grain with his friend and business partner, Matt Metchly. 

“Really the taste came when I went overseas to Poland to teach English. And then in college, I went to Nicaragua to help build an orphan home for kids that suffer with addiction… But essentially that kind of feeling that I had, and purpose, of just giving somebody my all, somebody that I did not know, a stranger, and then them actually receiving something of value, because we always hear about all these companies that just give money and kind of wipe their hands and say, “Hey, we did our thing.”  But for us, it was…and for me, personally, this is something that’s just true to my heart—building company that intimately gives back. This just has flourished into now what is Grain4Grain.”

Want to hear more about Yoni & Grain4Grain’s “give back” model? Click here to listen.

8. Paul Hargreaves, CEO of Cotswold Fayre, on the Only Reason to be “in Business”

Paul Hargreaves is a leader and staunch advocate within the certified B Corporation community in the UK and Europe. In March of 2019, Paul published his book,  Forces for Good: Creating a better world through purpose-driven businesses . 

In it his book and our interview he elaborated on his journey through purpose-driven business, from starting a nonprofit organization in inner-city London to now leading Cotswold Fayre, one of the founding B Corporations in the UK and leading specialty food and drink wholesale distributors in the region. 

Paul’s passion for using business as a force for good is starkly clear, and that shines through in his perspective shared throughout his book and our conversation. It seems to all boil down to one point for Paul:

“If people are happy and fulfilled working for me, then I’ve done my part to make the world a better place. It’s the whole reason I’m in business.”

For more from Paul on the culture of Cotswold Fayre and the power of business as a force for good, listen here.

9. Max Rivest, CEO & Co-Founder of Wize Monkey, on Why Passion Creates the Persistence to Succeed

Max Rivest is the CEO and Co-Founder of Wize Monkey, a Vancouver-based tea company that “resurrected” a coffee leaf tea, which helps stabilize the coffee industry for long-term socio-economic growth. 

His business plan, which started as a master’s thesis in business school, became a social enterprise business model. Max & Wize Monkey have created a need for year-round work for coffee farmers (and those who harvest the berries) who have previously been victims to seasonality. 

Max, a very passionate and creative entrepreneur, came on the podcast to elaborate on his pursuit of his own passions and his recommendations for others doing the same.

“If you’re working on something that you don’t care about, you’ll never be good at it because you just won’t have an innate instinct to just get better at it. And it’s just irrelevant to you if you keep forcing yourself to do that. No one ever wants to learn something by force. No one ever wants to do something by force. It doesn’t work like that.  Humans, especially, millennials now because we’re kind of in a different mindset than prior generations, we really have to find what we care about and try to break into that space and carve out your own niche within that space. Eventually, once you get good enough at it, you’re going to bring value to somebody and that’s when you start getting a paycheck.”

For more from Max, the Founding of Wize Monkey, and pursuing passion, listen here.

10. Paul Bain, Tea Captain (& CEO) of Justea, on the Impact Equity Can Make in Their Family Owned Tea Business

Paul and the JusTea team, based in Vancouver, B.C., have partnered directly with Kenyan tea farmers to provide ethical, antioxidant-rich, and sustainably produced fair-trade tea. 

What started with a 2012 trip to Africa with his Dad has turned into over 200 jobs for women and young people in rural Kenya and the founding of the first-ever small-scale, farmer-owned artisanal tea factory in the country. 

On the podcast, Paul shared much to the ‘story behind the tea,’ with a particularly striking story as to the impact this sense of (and literal) equity had on the community of Kenyan farmers. 

“We were doing these trainings on how to handcraft teas [in Kenya]. So at the very simple level of just using hand picked leaves, hand rolling, and then sun drying. And when we first tasted this tea we thought, “Hey, this is an amazing cup of tea.” It was really delicious and not like other teas that we’ve had from Kenya before.  When these farmers tasted it, they were really excited and we didn’t know why. We thought it was just because of the taste, but then they started just chatting in Swahili to each other and so I asked someone who was taking us around, “What are they saying?”  And he said, “They’re so excited because this is the first time they are tasting the tea that they grow.” So they’ve been growing this tea for decades, and they never actually tasted it…from the weighing station to the factory, to the broker to the auction, they never got a taste of the tea that they’d been bending their backs over, trying to pick every day for their whole life.  And so when they finally tasted, it was such a great sense of ownership and pride and really special moment for us and them.”

For more from JusTea’s Tea Captain, Paul, and the using trade versus aid to support developing countries, listen here.

11. Mark Cuddigan, CEO of Ella’s Kitchen, On Redefining What “Great” in Business Means

Mark Cuddigan is the CEO of Ella’s Kitchen, the number one baby food company in the United Kingdom. He’s also the Head of Sustainability for the Hain Celestial Group and a staunch advocate of using business as a force for good as a member of the UK’s B Corporation Community. 

On the podcast, Mark shared why it isn’t enough for a business to be “great,” and that “great” in business isn’t what it always was. 

“It’s not good enough now to say you’re a great company. It’s not acceptable. I don’t think a CEO can get away with saying, “I run a great company.” My thought would be, “Great, what you want? Do you want a medal? Do you want a pat on the back?” No. Your responsibility if you’re running a great company is to inspire other companies to follow your lead.  We’re in a whole world of trouble, literally, with global warming. We’re not going to get out of it by people being selfish or looking after themselves. We need to help other companies and we need to inspire other companies.”

For more from Mark on redefining business greatness and the importance of a social mission, listen here.

12. Logan Christopher, Founder of Lost Empire Herbs, On The Power of Seeking Impact Partners

Logan Christopher is the Founder of Lost Empire Herbs.

On our podcast recording, Logan shared with me the “why” behind his decision to enroll Lost Empire Herbs in the 1% for the Plant commitment and what it’s meant thus far. 

“Glad to have made the decision. When I came across 1% for the Planet, I thought, “That’s just an amazing thing, we should definitely do that.” It was kind of a fast decision… We’re proud to be part of that. We support a number of different charities through doing that. One of which that I’ve worked with personally, the Pachamama Alliance. I ended up traveling down to the Amazon rainforest with them. It’s been great to really dive into that world and understand the bigger picture of all these other things going on. The planet’s not going anywhere, but if things keep continuing the same direction with where we are going, we could end up going somewhere else. So being able to find the charities that can really make a strong impact in these different areas is important.”

For more from Logan & Lost Empire Herbs’ commitment to the planet, listen here.

Home, Health, & Lifestyle

13. thomas querton, ceo & co-founder of atlasgo, on why you don’t need all the answers .

Thomas Querton is a young, hungry entrepreneur from Belgium, now based in San Francisco, CA working with the AtlasGo team as they cultivate a community of ‘sweaty change-makers.’ 

In our recording, Thomas shared a lot of wisdom, despite his relatively recent development into an entrepreneur. He discussed the importance of having a clear focus, strategy, and taking time away to analyze successes/failures, as well as the truly critical component of reminding yourself you don’t need all the answers. 

“As a Founder, especially if you read Steve Jobs’ biography and you’re kind of naive and stupid like I am, you think that you need the answers to everything, right? You think you need to have the vision, right? People talk about this vision that you have to have. And that puts so much pressure on you.  [Often] you’re just a kid and you don’t know too much…but you really need to ask good questions. And then, with that ability to ask, it’s really simple, right?  Asking your users what they want, asking your clients what they want and really paying attention to what they say and continuously asking more questions. They have the answers. So it makes everything easier, right?”

For more from Thomas on learning as a young entrepreneur & AtlasGo’s mission to move and make change, listen here.

14. Kate Jakubas, Founder of Meliora Cleaning Products, On Business as a Tool to Solve Social & Environmental Problems

Kate Jakubas is an environmental engineer by trade. Growing up as one of the kids who had a “rock collection” instead of a lemonade stand (as she put it), she hadn’t considered herself at any point destined to be a business person. 

However, with her care for the environment and her engineering drive to solve problems, she became inspired to determine what potential toxic and environmentally harmful chemicals she could remove from her own personal consumption. This then turned her onto household products and led to the founding of Meliora Cleaning Products, which she runs with her husband, Mike. 

Kate came on the podcast to talk zero-waste production and shared how she found the connection to business as a tool for good from her engineering background.

“As engineers we solve problems. It’s basically everything that engineering is, you find something that’s broken and you fix it or you find something that you think you could make better and you make it better. And that’s ultimately what I like to do.  …As I got more work experience, I noticed that, it’s not just a hammer, it’s not just a piece of duct tape that you can use to solve a problem. You can actually use business itself as a tool. And that was really interesting to me. …I really liked the idea of using business as a tool and focusing it on a social problem or an environmental problem.”

For more from Kate & using her business as a tool to solve the environmental problem of wasteful and toxic household products, listen here.

15. Dave Spandorfer, CEO of Janji, On Using Running to Start a Business that Affects Positive Change

Dave Co-Founded Janji in 2012 when he was a college student with one of his teammates on the cross-country team. Reflecting on the fulfillment each of these two had received from the sport of running, they wanted to start a business that kept them connected with the sport and shared the joy they’ve received from it with others. 

With the risks involved in starting a business, both Dave and his Co-Founder believed they might as well do something bigger to make it worth it: make an impact. They decided to take a chance on creating a business that seemed truest to them and with the greatest integrity. 

Now one of the producers of the “Best Running Shorts of the Year,” as they were named by Runners World, Dave came on the show to share with me this journey with Janji and some of his thoughts early on as they were formulating the business’s ‘do good’ DNA.

“You see all these stats of the rates of failure for people who start businesses. If we are going to start something, we knew we had to do something that would affect positive change in the world. We wanted to find a way to use running as a power to make the world a better place because it had been this power to make our own lives better.”

For more from Dave on the origins of doing good through Janji, and their success and growth trajectory, listen here.

16. Jim Osgood, CEO & President of Klean Kanteen, On The Importance of Being Clear on Your Mission & North Star 

Klean Kanteen has been a model of a “triple bottom line business” since the beginning, with their focus being on creating and offering solutions to eliminating single-use plastics. It was in 2011 when Jim Osgood joined the ‘Klean Team’ to help elevate that mission to the next level. 

In Jim’s time with the Klean Kanteen team, Klean Kanteen became a certified B Corporation in 2012, and they have continued to make massive contributions to  1% for the Planet , all the while tripling sales and dramatically increasing profits. 

Jim attributes this largely to Klean Kanteen’s focus on maturation as an organization with a key element of that growth being their commitment to strategic planning and getting clear on their “why.” 

Since our chat, Jim has embarked on a new business adventure, but as CEO of Klean Kanteen, he provided great insight into Klean Kanteen’s emphasis on mission and strategic planning.

“Being clear on your North Star, clear on your mission, clear on the fundamentals, they key priorities, [that] makes [strategic] decisions pretty easy when you’re true to your values, true to your ethos.  …When you are true to your values, true to your ethos, the big, gnarly decisions actually become easy. It’s the little knick-knacky things that we get wound up on every day that are pretty inconsequential.”

For more from Jim on Klean’s strategic planning and ambitions to rid the world of single-use plastic, listen here.

17. Peter Dering, Founder & CEO from Peak Design, on the Formula for Balancing Business Growth with Environmental & Social Sustainability

Peter Dering launched Peak Design nearly a decade ago through Kickstarter with a product called the “ Capture Camera Clip .”It became the second most funded project on Kickstarter of all time. Since then, Peter and the Peak team have continued on with one major Kickstarter campaign per year, and in 2019 they were on pace to do $100M in sales when we spoke for the podcast. 

But, a conservationist at heart, Peter has made sustainable practices and environmental action a core to the way that Peak does business. And, Peter shared with me Peak’s “formula” for giving back and mitigating their environmental impact to combat climate change. 

“Here’s our formula. We’ve joined 1% for the Planet. 1% of sales is frankly a totally arbitrary amount of money, right? It doesn’t look at profitability, it doesn’t look at what type of business you’re in. It’s just this arbitrary line in the sand that says “1% of sales.” It happens to be for us a both reasonable and meaningful amount of money to give. So we start there and from within that budget we then figure out how to best affect positive change. …Then you’ve got to look at your supply chain and the most important things that you can do are reduce what you can, right? Use the least carbon-intensive protocols you can. It starts there, but you’ve got to understand full well that changing the entire worldwide  supply chain  is not going to happen over night. So while you absolutely should take vigorous efforts to reduce your carbon footprint, be very well aware that you’re going to have a lot left over. Secondly is to adopt social policies specifically in the factories where you’re doing the majority of your work that allow for happy and healthy and satisfied lives of the people who are doing that very, very hard work. That is another rung, right? Thirdly is don’t choose materials and processes that are chemically unsafe, like be as conscientious as you can. …And then the last step is offsetting that carbon footprint. And this is a whole other very big conversation, but we went through that journey of measuring our entire footprint all the way back to the extraction of raw materials to produce aluminum and refine it. All of that. We found our footprint was 20,000 tons in 2017 we also found that the average cost of a carbon offset at that time was three bucks a ton. So for one fifth of our 1% for the planet budget, we were able to offset the entirety of our carbon footprint. And that is both interesting and really begs the question of — if carbon offsets are that cheap right now, shouldn’t everybody be offsetting their entire carbon footprint as a baseline for responsibility?”

Learn more from Peter, Peak Design, and their commitment to creating high-quality products and environmental conservation.

18. Madeleine Shaw, Founder of Lunapads & Nestworks, On How to Find Your Entrepreneurial Counterpart 

Madeleine Shaw is best known for founding the extremely successful mission-driven company Lunapads (now Aisle), which specializes in providing reusable and sustainable solutions for periods. Madeleine has since been extremely active as a social entrepreneur and member of her Vancouver community, founding an event series for adolescent girls called G Day and now a parent-friendly co-working space called Nestworks. 

Madeleine was quick to admit that her success as a social entrepreneur would have not been remotely possible without her counterpart and business partner, Suzanne Siemens. 

Madeleine shared how other entrepreneurs might be able to find a “Suzanne” of their own.

“The way you find them is you tell them a great story about what you’re trying to create. Then they fall in love with it. You’re super nice to them, and you’re respectful of them, and you listen to them. You make them part of it, and you allow them to be part of it, and you build it together.”

Want to hear more from Madeleine on social entrepreneurial success and work life integration? Listen here.

19. Chris Chancey, CEO of Amplio Recruiting, On the Power of “Playing a Part” in a Compelling Story

Chris Chancey is the CEO of Amplio Recruiting, a staffing agency that places refugees into jobs with U.S. companies. Chris started Amplio after he and his wife moved to a refugee community outside of Atlanta, GA, and familiarized themselves with the stories of their new neighbors. 

Hoping to find a way to help, in a means that would be sustainable, Chris’ staffing agency, Amplio Recruiting was born. 

While the success of Amplio thus far could be surely attributed to providing an excellent solution to U.S. companies’ chronic problems (finding good people), Chris also believes that Amplio’s growth can be attributed to them being a part of such a compelling and engaging story given the issues that are facing us locally and globally. 

“As people learn more about what’s happening in the world around the refugee crisis, and especially as the U.S. and our government make certain policies that in the case right now are not very beneficial, not very in favor of the refugee community, there are companies that are now educated about who a refugee is, their legal status, and their ability to work. Companies call us, saying, ‘We would love to be a part of their story.”

Want to hear more from Chris and Amplio’s innovative solution to finding work for resettling refugees? Listen here.

20. Casey Ames, Founder of Harkla, On Why His Company Seeks Out to Make Mistakes

Casey Ames, my brother, is the Founder of Harkla, an e-commerce company that manufactures and sells products that support families with children who are living with special needs. Three years since its founding, Harkla hit over $1M in revenue—achieving extremely rapid growth. 

In our episode, Casey dove deep into his and Harkla’s systemic approach to building their company and how that approach influences their thoughts on making mistakes. 

“I always try and instill the mindset in my employees that it’s perfectly okay to make mistakes, but we can’t make the same mistake twice. It’s only an issue if we don’t learn from the mistake. And so we make mistakes all the time and it’s perfectly fine because they’re fail-safe.  We try and do pre-mortems before we do a big experiment of how could this go terribly. And then we try and cap our downsides.  But while we are systematic, we’re always trying to make mistakes and then go back and fix the system. So [we ask ourselves], “Where did this break down? What didn’t work?” It’s taking a scientific method approach to your company— coming up with a hypothesis, then let’s test it.”

For more from Casey and Harkla’s approach to building a company serving those living with special needs, listen here.

21. Henry Burgess-Marshall, Director of Marketing with Canniloq, On Where a Call to Influence Change Comes From

Henry Burgess-Marshall and the Canniloq team manufacture high-end stash containers for the safe consumption and storage of cannabis. At the core of Canniloq’s operations is the social mission of righting what seems to be the moral wrongs grossly revealing themselves as marijuana is legalized throughout the United States. 

This was the impetus for Canniloq’s “Unloq the Truth” campaign, where they are dedicating themselves to raising awareness, support, and resources for those who have suffered or are suffering from antiquated drug laws while a newly legal industry booms. 

In our podcast recording, we talk about the origins of Henry’s interest and care for this issue of drug incarceration and the clear discrepancy, as this issue affects people of color disproportionately more than others. 

“The real catalyst [for me] was getting informed and educated. Some people have read the book, the new Jim Crow, maybe they’ve seen the Netflix documentary, 13th, about the 13th Amendment and the mass incarceration of people of color in this country. I was working at an addiction treatment center here in Seattle, and it was for youth boys ages 13 to 18.  It was really a deferment from youth jail. They go through the four month treatment and if they make it through there, they don’t have to serve any time for whatever drug charges they had. I saw a lot of people of color and not very many white people. I knew from growing up, that white people were using drugs at very similar, if not more often rates.  That really got me thinking, as I was learning all this information too. I was applying it to what I was seeing. And then I was not always the perfect standup citizen, and as I made mistakes, I kept getting let off the hook and given second chances in life while people who didn’t look like me weren’t.”

For more from Henry and consciousness in the cannabis industry, listen here.

22. Andy Freedman, Co-Founder of Miles4Migrants, On the Need & Approach for Smart People to Solve Massive Problems

Andy Freedman is the Co-Founder of Miles4Migrants, a nonprofit that takes donated airline miles and flies migrants and refugees wherever they need to go to be reunited with their families. 

What started as a one-time project with some airline miles enthusiasts has turned into the full-blown nonprofit that you see with Miles4Migrants. As of the end of 2019, the Miles4Migrants team has booked over 2,000 flights to reunite refugees with their families—with many more to come. 

Andy gave us some guidance on how others can go about finding “their problem to solve.”

“For me, it was supporting refugees and asylum seekers, but I think whatever the passion is, there is a need for smart people to be thinking about these massive problems.  My other advice is to not try to solve the entire problem, because you will fail miserably. There is a reason they [these problems] are massive.  And so find, a piece of the problem that you feel like you are best suited for or have an idea that you think could help and start there.”

Want to hear more from Andy on how Miles4Migrants is playing their part in refugee resettlement? Listen here.

23. Andrew Glazier, CEO & President of Defy Ventures, on Why Social Justice Movements Must Start with Connection

Andrew Glazier and the Defy Ventures team offer entrepreneurship and job training programs for currently and formerly incarcerated men and women in seven states across the United States. They have enrolled over 5,000 EITs (entrepreneurs in training) in prison and in their post-release program. 

This work has led to phenomenal results, with a one-year recidivism rate at 7.2% compared to the national average of 30% and their employment rate for post-graduates of their program is at 82%. 

In our podcast recording, Andrew talked about the success of Defy, and the successes (although with a long road ahead) of this social justice movement as a whole. 

“I believe that no social justice movement can be successful without person-to-person interaction and people having that human experience. And that’s why we work really hard at making this issue accessible to people, particularly in the business community, to come with us and see what we’re doing.  And more importantly, sit across from somebody who is incarcerated or formerly incarcerated and recognize that we’re not that different.  And when you’re able to make those connections and cut through that sort of fear and emotion, you can start to have a rational conversation about it to say, “look, if someone’s completed the Defy program and they’ve gone through seven months of work and 1200 pages of curriculum in 10 to 15 hours a week, and at the end of it they were able to stand up in front of volunteers and pitch their business.  That’s hard to do.  And maybe we should be thinking about what a fair chance looks like for somebody who has really shown the wherewithal to turn their life around and transform themselves.”

Listen to Andrew to learn how Defy Ventures is addressing the issue of mass incarceration and  reducing recidivism .

24. Lindsey McCoy, CEO of Plaine Products, on How Their ‘No Plastic’ Personal Care Business has Taken Off 

Visit Plaine Products’ home page and you’ll be greeted with the phrase, ‘Personal Care Without All The Plastic.’ Founded in 2017, by Lindsey McCoy and her sister Alison, Plaine Products offers shampoos, conditioners, and more in refillable containers to keep single-use plastic out of your bathroom. 

At the time of our initial podcast recording, Plaine Products were on pace to hit over $2M in sales and divert over 100,000 plastic bottles from landfills—in 2019 alone! 

Lindsey was gracious enough to join me for a recording and share with the Grow Ensemble listeners what she felt has contributed to their rapid growth. You can also check out our Plaine Products review for even more insight into the company.

“I think, one, is that we are legitimately solving a problem for some people, we were able to move into a space where providing a convenient alternative to single-use plastic with good quality products, there’s just not a lot of people doing it so I think that has helped. There’s not a lot of people searching for refillable shampoo, or at least there wasn’t when we got into it. But for sure, having something that sets us apart from our competitors has been helpful.  Having a mission has been helpful. I think people are much more willing to help us spread the word, tell their friends about us because we have a purpose and because we’re trying to do good.  We really have not had a lot of funds to put into marketing. We’ve had incredible word of mouth…”

Want to hear more from Lindsey and how Plaine Products has made the impact it has? Click here to listen.

25. Liza Moiseeva, CMO & Co-Founder of GlobeIn, on Focusing on Building a Community to Scale the Good Your Business Does

Liza Moiseeva is the Chief Marketing Officer and Co-Founder of GlobeIn, a social business that offers a monthly subscription “artisan” box that specializes in fair trade and ethical products to empower artisans in the developing world. 

Originally from Russia, collegiate swimming brought Liza to the United States. She’s continued to channel that competitive spirit for her appetite and ambition to use business not just make money but also solve significant social problems.

Liza is very generous and open with her insights and advice for other ethical brands and shared her expertise on our podcast urging new brands to focus on building a community around their niche. 

“If I were a new brand, and this is what I tell new brands right now, start building a community before you start selling.  That’s how all of the big successful brands’ stories are, like Glossier, it started as just a blog. You build a community, you build your expertise and then you sell it.  Maybe you don’t want to be an influencer yourself, But [in whatever way, on whatever platform] even before you have a product, start building a community of followers…So when you have a product you already have someone who will be interested in that.”

For more from Liza on launching a new ethical brand & scaling impact, listen here.

26. Tim Lara, Owner of Hawaiian Paddle Sports, on How Guides Can Turn Tourists into Advocates

Tim Lara is the Owner of Hawaiian Paddle Sports, an Eco-Tour certified B Corporation located on the island of Maui. Tim has a tremendous passion and respect for the natural life, and culture of Maui as well as an engine that just won’t stop. 

Tim listed the many activities he’s involved himself in, in Maui, in our podcast, as well, he shared what seems to be both an opportunity and duty for his guides as they take visitors on tours of the natural areas in Maui.  

“We have this captive audience, if you will, where we have them for a period of time. And so if we can use that time to help them have a deeper appreciation and understanding of the marine world and Hawaiian culture, then that’s really what we’re looking to do.  Jacques Rousseau said people protect what they love, right? And so if we can help people fall in love with these things, then they’re going to grow up and help protect them.”

To hear more from Tim on running an Eco-Tour company & advocating for the environment, listen here.

27. Adrianne Chandra-Huff, of Bodhi Surf + Yoga on the Need for Environmental Stewardship in the Tourism Industry

Bodhi Surf + Yoga is a  certified B Corporation  based in Uvita, Costa Rica. They teach their guests how to surf, practice yoga, and help them learn about their local area in Costa Rica. 

Adrianne, who I connected with at the B Corporation Champions Retreat in 2018, joined me for an episode where she shared the trajectory of Bodhi’s growth and evolution as a model for sustainable tourism and her understanding of the obligation all businesses in the tourism industry have to mind and preserve the local region they benefit from…

“As a tourism company, you are benefiting from the very resources that draw people to you in the first place. So, that’s to say, if it were to become super polluted down here, people probably won’t come anymore.  So we have, I think, a moral and fiduciary imperative to take care of those very entities that we benefit from. But also, I just think it’s cool that we do, you know, because we live here and we’re benefiting from it more than just as individuals, we’re benefiting from it as a business.”

For more from Adrianne on the obligations of the tourism industry (and more) click here.

Professional Services

28. russ stoddard, founder of oliver russell, on success in social entrepreneurship & the sense of urgency to do good.

I first came across Russ through his book  Rise Up: How to Build a Socially Conscious Business , where he introduces the concept of social enterprise and social entrepreneurship. In late 2018, I visited Russ at his office in Boise, Idaho for a podcast recording. Russ’ wisdom, generosity, and advocacy for the sustainable and social business model shined throughout our chat. 

Russ explained why a positive impact is more appropriate compensation than just a paycheck and shared how he manages his ever-growing portfolio of business and impact involvement.

“I guess some of the compensation I derive from the business is actually the meaning I’m able to create through it. Whether it’s with the folks who work here at Oliver Russell, whether it’s in the community with stakeholders, for me it’s just like earning a paycheck, making money is not enough for me. And making money is actually for me, kind of a consequence of doing good in the world, I wanted to create a business that would actually make our community a better place and do that intentionally so.” [As for managing priorities]: Constant challenge. Focus. Some days I’m good at it, other days I’m not, I kind of operate with the universe in mind. Oftentimes it creates opportunities that come up very opportunistically and I will jump into those not unlike creating Oliver Russell. So, I wouldn’t necessarily say I’m the best at managing my own time, I feel a sense of urgency to accomplish a lot and hopefully be an initiator or co-collaborator where I can and leverage other people’s efforts in the world.  A co-founder of a benefit corporation here in town, it’s funny, a couple of weeks ago, we’re both in the bathroom together, standing at the urinals and he said, “Russ, how in the hell do you get everything done that you tackle?” I said, “Not very well…” So you know, I’m not regimented in many ways. I get up at four, I go to hard until nine some days I’m, as I said, I’m focused and other days I’m kind of scattered. I’ll take action over just thoughtful planning any day, that’s what I’m built for.”

Want to hear more from Russ on his social entrepreneurial success? Listen here.

29. Jessica Kellner, from Bark Media, on Building Community & Support Around Your Organization Through Authentic Storytelling

I briefly connected with Jessica at my first B Corporation Champions Retreat in New Orleans.

Jessica and other folks from leadership on the Bark Media team hosted a wonderfully insightful breakout session where they shared strategies for other B Corporations to get started telling their own stories and collaborate with others in the B Corp community to do so. Luckily for us, following this social impact conference Jessica joined me for an early episode of the podcast. 

Jessica dove deeper into these topics of storytelling and community-building and connecting with “your” people in our chat, 

“We really believe in authentic storytelling and we believe that the way to build a community, to build support around yourself as an organization or as a movement is to tell that authentic story. And frankly, that only works if you have an authentic, interesting story to tell. …there are a lot of people out there in the world that want to support work that is  making a difference , that want to support companies that are running themselves in certain ways that want to support movements to improve our world. It’s telling your authentic story so that you can find the right people who are going to support you because they’re out there. It’s just that they don’t know about you right now.”

Want more on authentic storytelling and community building? Listen to Jessica’s episode here.

30. Chris Hutchinson, CEO of the Trebuchet Group, on the Rewards of Personal Development

My conversation with Chris was inspiring—a true example of a self-aware, reflective leader.  Chris and the Trebuchet Group are deeply committed to personal development and expanding the leadership capacities of individuals and organizations and that came through in our recording. 

We talked about leaders who create other leaders, the self-awareness that’s required to be a leader, and Chris’ experience writing his complete leadership “playbook,”  Ripple: A Field Manual for Leadership that Works .

Early on, Chris opened up about the rewards of focusing on developing yourself.

“Working on yourself first is the most rewarding work you’re going to do. Not only for you, but for everyone around you.”

Want to hear more about developing leadership skills & self-awareness? Listen here.

31. Dave Fortson, CEO of LOACOM, on the Importance of Passion & Persistence to “Stay in the Game”

Dave, his business partner Eric, and the entire LOA team, have a true passion for the work they do, and they have a good time doing it. LOACOM is an agency in Santa Barbara, CA with expertise in building movements. They support organizations who want to improve the world to develop better products, services, and fully express their mission. 

I’ve had the great privilege to partner with these folks, working to amplify the mission of better businesses like All Good Products, and they’ve continued to impress with their passion, strong and flexible company culture, and commitment to serve their client partners. 

On our podcast, Dave revealed some of the core ethos of LOA as a company by sharing some reflections as to how LOA initially survived, and now thrives with a specific position in the social business market space. 

“Passion for what you do will pull you through the worst times. If you love it, it really doesn’t matter if the economy tanks or if you’re having a bad week or if you lose a client or your product sucks or whatever. You’ll just keep innovating and creating until you find the groove that’s best for you. But that is defined by passion.  Persistence, I think is in the same vein as passion. You’re going to run into a bunch of walls and you’ve got to go around, above, below or through…Sometimes you’ve got it and sometimes you don’t. Similarly, I think it’s related to both passion and persistence is that, a lot of times, it’s who’s left.  And if you really love what you’re doing, and you continue to believe in your work and you continue to innovate and evolve and be open to that, then oftentimes you’ll be the last person standing and you’ll see kind of market growth around what you do just because of that.”

Hear more about this passion, persistence, and how you can build a movement around your brand by clicking here.

32. Ryan Honeyman, Partner at the LIFT Economy, on Why Our Work Should Focus on the Most Marginalized to Make Systemic Change

Ryan Honeyman is a Partner & Worker/Owner at the LIFT Economy, an impact consulting firm based in San Francisco. In April of 2019, in partnership with Dr. Tiffany Jana (from TMI Consulting), Ryan released  The B Corp Handbook, Second Edition: How You Can Use Business as a Force for Good . 

Ryan joined me on the podcast to chat about the new inclusions in the book and this new determined focus members of the B Corporation and social innovation and social business communities should take towards focusing their work on the most marginalized people if we want to actually effect systemic change. 

“If you center the most marginalized people in your work, then everyone benefits, because if you are always thinking about how does this affect the most marginalized, then inherently you’ll be considering all the folks above the most marginalized.  And so we’ve been putting this question to ourselves, if we focused on benefiting low income communities of color with our work, what would that change about how we do consulting, how we think about business, and I think that’s a question that’s going to be spreading more in our space. If we’re not centering folks who are part of the most marginalized communities in the U.S. and globally, then we’re always going to be doing something that’s not quite as effective at meeting those people’s needs or everyone’s needs.  I think with B Corps, that’s one conversation we’re trying to bring in as how can we really center these groups in all of our decision making and bringing them into the decision making process. Otherwise, we’re just going to be guessing what people might want and the impacts will be marginal as compared to what could be.”

For more from Ryan on the writing of this second handbook and what businesses can do to make the greatest impact, listen here.

33. Emily Lonigro, President & Founder of LimeRed, on Doubling Down on Community to Succeed with Purpose-Driven Business

Emily Longiro Founded LimeRed with a dedication to use her skills and expertise in design for good. And, now 15 plus years in business, she and the LimeRed team have done just that. Serving not just nonprofits, but social enterprises, and mission-driven businesses of all kinds, they strive to use design to make tangible change. 

But, of course, that’s not easy for anybody. Business and impact pose an inherent greater challenge than just business, right? For Emily, it’s been community that’s allowed her to be a part of “writing this new rule book” of purpose-driven business since 2004.  

“A few years ago when I was at a retreat for  conscious business  leaders, that was something that came up a couple of times[, the added stress of integrating purpose in your company]. We were not talking about our own mental health and the stress we put on ourselves to do this thing that is so nebulous without rules, and we are all here writing this rule book together.  …And the only thing that I’ve ever figured out so far to do, is to really double down into my community and get really involved and to make really, really true and honest relationships with other business owners…So yeah, it’s a different experience and I think that we’re all trying to figure out how to do it together and well, and I don’t think we’ve quite figured that out yet. But. I am very optimistic.”

To hear more from Emily on community and using design to make an impact, listen here.

34. , CEO of Mightybytes, on How Digital Agencies Can Think About Making Positive Change

Tim Frick and his Certified B Corporation Digital Agency, Mightybytes, are exemplars of what it means to be an “agency of change” (a term Tim coined in some of his writing featured on the B the Change blog). 

From tools to measure the environmental impact of your website to their list of better brand and nonprofit clients, Mightybytes has built an exceptional portfolio of examples where they’ve influenced positive change. While this may look easy, it’s not—and we were grateful when Tim joined me on the show to talk about this “balancing act” of finding what is the good you can do, at a sustainable clip. 

“We learned through the B Impact Assessment what we could do with it and got super excited. For example, you’re asked a lot of questions about your supply chain as an agency. Your supply chain [as a digital agency] is pretty much pixels and people so you have to really rethink what that means. …right around that same time we were learning that the internet had a larger environmental impact than the airline industry. And that was the thing that we built for a living. And so because of that, it was really eye opening to say, “Okay, all websites require electricity to run and the majority of our electricity in the United States doesn’t come from renewable sources. So what can we do at least for one step to find green hosting?” And so we started experimenting with a bunch of different green hosting providers. Turns out that wasn’t easy. And that ended up taking like four or five years of us going through a bunch of different hosting providers and seeing if we could find the right fit.  …every one of these things is a little bit of a balancing act of doing what you can do with your resources and trying to spot as many potential red flags as possible while also staying focused on providing good work. You’re only as good as your last project in our world. So making sure that your last project was as awesome as it could be is always a challenge.”

For more from Tim on Mightybytes’ and their agenda for change, listen here.

35. Sarah Woolsey, Founder of The Impact Guild, on the Importance of Small Celebrations on Your Way to Manifesting a Vision

Very grateful to have connected with Sarah Woolsey and The Impact Guild community in my current city, San Antonio. A co-working space I’ve periodically called my office, The Impact Guild is a beautiful community space that Sarah founded with the intent to orient around ethical and sustainable community development. 

In our podcast recording, we talk about the origin story for Sarah’s community space, from the inception of the idea to opening the doors, and everything in between. While they’ve made significant progress, in our chat Sarah reminded us of the importance of celebrating small “wins” on your way to manifesting your much larger vision. 

“I can tend to look at that 10-year vision and see the gaps of everything that hasn’t happened yet and live way more in that space, which puts this internal pressure to go, go, go.  And that is one wonderful takeaway I think of doing this thing in community, and in the community that we’re building, is other people pointing out and saying, “Hold on, pause, celebrate this thing, this goal, this outcome, this thing that was a part of the vision that has been achieved. And yeah, there’s more and that’s going to be great and wonderful but slow down for a second and sit in the space to look back and be reflective. And that is a practice that I am learning right now and it is really fun to see.”

For more from Sarah and her experience building a community of change-makers in San Antonio, listen here.

36. Amy Looper, Co-Founder & COO of One Seventeen Media, On Endurance & Passion In The Social Entrepreneurial Journey

Amy Looper, and her partner Beth Carls, run One Seventeen Media, a Certified B Corporation in Austin, TX, deep in the world of Artificial Intelligence Medical Technologies. 

Together, they’ve created reThinkIt!—an app that helps kids process difficult emotions in real time. reThinkIt! Has been responsible for preventing a school shooting, boosting school attendance, saving schools precious budgetary resources. An experienced entrepreneur, Amy reflected on the virtues and successful characteristics of her impact-focused entrepreneurial career. 

“We know there’s a lot of opportunity that we want to take advantage of and I think it’s been a slow burn. And, this is just part of the entrepreneurial journey, right? With all of us that are about solving an impact problem, whether it’s social, emotional, or environmental, it is going to take a little bit longer burn rate to some extent. But it is really true if this is your passion ,  if you find something that you’re passionate about and you can lock on it and stay with it, because there’s certainly been days when we’ve wanted to question, “What are we doing?” Somebody the other day said, hey gosh, this is really cool. You guys are getting ready to take off. And I was like, “Yeah, it’s been a 19-year overnight success!”

Want to hear more from Amy on the “Social Entrepreneurial Journey?” Listen here.

37. Michèle Soregaroli, Founder & CEO of Transformation Catalyst, on How Your Values & Vision Differentiate You in the Marketplace

Michèle Soregaroli is a business coach with a specialty in differentiation, based in Vancouver B.C., helping entrepreneurs and business founders discover greater value, purpose, and mission in their work in efforts to separate them from their competition in the marketplace. 

In our podcast episode, we covered Michèle’s origins into differentiation coaching, the importance of learning as an entrepreneur through trial and error, and business as a force for good. Michèle shared some of her secrets normally reserved from clients, on the keys to differentiation in the marketplace: 

“The key to differentiation was not just about making noise and being loud and getting noticed, but the opportunity for a business to differentiate is the same way a human being would differentiate in terms of what’s important to that business and why it’s in business and what its mission is and what its vision of a better future would be.”

Want to hear more from Michèle on differentiation and the importance of values in business? Listen here.

38. Chris Sparks, Founder of The Forcing Function, on Pushing Forward Every Single Day

Chris Founded the Forcing Function with the objective to empower the next generation of entrepreneurs. Through coaching, resources, and retreats, Chris helps entrepreneurs to prioritize, become more effective in their day to day, and achieve significant professional and personal goals. 

In our episode, Chris shared what he believed to be the most important message for anyone listening in.

“If I could give anyone a message from this, find some way to make some amount of small progress every single day… Understand what is important. Make sure that it happens regularly. Protect it. Have a way to track if what you are doing is leading to the results you want. If it’s not, change course.”

For more from Chris on Productivity & the Next Generation of Entrepreneurship, listen here.

39. Claire Booth, Founder & CEO of Lux Insights, on Values Being a “Guiding Light”

Claire Booth is the Founder & CEO of Lux Insights, a market research agency based in Vancouver, B.C., and the author of  Achiever Fever Cure  a book about the balance between seeking healthy achievement and achievement that fills an emotional void. 

In our podcast recording, both Claire and the President of Lux Insights, Hanson Lok, joined to talk about the culture they’ve created which led to Lux receiving the 2019 Best Employer Award from British Columbia’s Small Business Awards. Claire drew the focus to their values.

“Our values were decided upon based on who we are as people. When we hire people who align with our values, they align with us, which is what allows us to deepen those relationships. We also find clients who align with those values tend to be the deepest relationships and the long-standing accounts we have been able to hold on to over the years.”

For more from Claire and Hanson on Creating an “Award-Winning” Culture, listen here.

40. Tara-Nicholle Nelson, CEO of Soul Tour, on Giving Yourself Permission to Not Do Something

Tara-Nicholle Nelson is the Founder & CEO of SoulTour, a company that focuses on spiritual growth for entrepreneurs, specifically high-achieving women running purpose-driven organizations. 

Tara considers herself to be “deeply obedient to the callings of her soul,” and encourages her clients to be the same. Our podcast recording was enlightening, and the clarity with which Tara operates and understands herself is compelling. 

In speaking to the true clarity we all have already within us, Tara calls it an issue of permission…

“People are less confused about what they don’t want to do than they give themselves permission to be.”

To hear more from Tara and the importance of paying attention to your own callings, listen here.

41. Julia Chung, CEO of Admin Slayer, On Managing Your Emotional Health for the Sake of Team Success

Julia Chung is the CEO of two companies (yes, TWO companies), Spring Financial Planning and Admin Slayer. In asking Julia how she happens to manage all that, she’ll humbly tell you: relationships, relationships, relationships. 

And in our podcast recording together, Julia dove into just that, how critical the key relationships and partnerships have been in her success both personally and professionally, and how she goes about managing both herself and those relationships in a healthy manner. 

“Every piece of baggage that you have not only gets carried into your personal relationships, but it also comes to work with you. If you can’t figure out what’s going on in here, you will be absolutely pointless and useless to your team.”

For more from Julia on the relationship between your emotional health and the success of your team, listen here.

42. Giselle Waters, Content Strategist with Mad Fish Digital, On Why Work Can’t Exist Without Purpose

Giselle Waters is an expert content strategist with Mad Fish Digital, a Certified B Corporation marketing agency in Portland, OR. Giselle championed the B Corporation certification for Mad Fish and has been passionate about using her skills and energy for impact before she joined their team. 

On the podcast, Giselle and I talked about business and work with purpose and how it’s been an essential piece to how she exerts herself professionally:

“I felt like I need to love what I do and love where I work every day and I need to love it for more reasons than just, you know, a paycheck or even the people I’m working with. Like I need to feel like what I do has meaning and impact beyond myself.”

For more from Giselle on B Corporation Certification & Building a Content Strategy, listen here.

43. Becci Gould, Associate Director at Kin&Co, On Why All Employers Need to Take Well-Being Seriously

Becci Gould and the Kin&Co team are award-winning culture and behavior change consultants located in the United Kingdom. A Certified B Corporation as well, these folks have become thought leaders and sit on the cutting edge for reinvigorating organizations with a thriving company culture and purpose. 

From shorter workweeks to Wednesday “ofternoons,” the Kin&Co team and Becci are running experiments on everything that can positively affect employees’ well-being and thus their performance on the job. 

In our episode Becci talks about this topic with urgency, stressing all employers need to give their staff’s well-being focus. 

“I think every employer should be doing something to maintain the wellbeing, the work-life balance, and prevent burnout of its staff. But it depends on what works for that organization.  I’ll also say, as I said before, you don’t need to go and roll this out across the board from day one, test a few different initiatives, see which ones work and then roll them out from there.  You don’t have to commit fully to everything straight away, but have a go and even if you’re just testing a few of these things, the message that sends to your employees is really strong because it shows that you really do care about this aspect of their lives and want to improve things for them.”

For more from Becci Gould on creating a thriving company culture, listen here.

44. Amanda Munday, Founder of The Workaround, On the Parenting & Professional Life Crossover

Amanda Munday is the Founder of The Workaround, a parent-friendly co-working space located in Toronto. In our podcast recording, Amanda dove deep into the dual identities of the professional and the parent, challenging us to think that just because you are one doesn’t mean you can’t as well be the other. 

With her co-working space, Amanda is challenging our assumptions about what possibilities exist, what possibilities must exist, for the professional parents. 

“What I challenge with it is we can run dual identities at the same time. And that’s at the core of what the workaround is doing is saying we are parents and we are professionals and we have other parts of ourselves outside of if you identify as mom or dad, we can have that life before. It’s not over because we’ve moved into parenting.”

Want to hear more from Amanda on evolving to a more parent-friendly workforce? Listen here.

45. Bernie Geiss, Founder of Cove Continuity Advisors, on a Philosophical Alignment that Led Him to the B Corp Movement

Bernie Geiss is the Founder of Cove Continuity Advisors, an award-winning financial services firm based in Vancouver, British Columbia. Before getting into financial services, Bernie spent multiple years traveling the world and learning, practicing meditation and yoga. It was those deeply impactful experiences that Bernie brought with him into his approach to starting his own business. With enough time, it seemed fitting that Bernie played an extremely active role in B.C.’s passing of the benefit company legislation. 

In our episode, Bernie talked about how, with the help of a business coach (Michele Soregaroli, another podcast guest!), he came to align his philosophy with his business. 

“We went through a very extensive deep search about what our commitments are, what our purpose is, and we came to the purpose of, that we want to lead a fundamental shift from unconscious entrepreneurial-ism to enlightened continuity.  And that was a way for us to integrate the philosophical side of what we all deeply believe in with what was going on in the world. That there’s this unconscious entrepreneurial-ism, which is this desire to earn profits and to save money and to consolidate and concentrate wealth in the hands of a small group of people to the exclusion of many people who are working for those people.  It was through Michelle and that evolution of rebranding that we discovered the B Corp movement.”

For more from Bernie and the transition from traditional business to a social enterprise, listen here.

46. Doug Lessing, Founder of Phin, On Using Unstructured Time to Create Flow

Doug Lessing is the Founder of Phin, a soon-to-be Certified B Corporation startup that connects great companies with great people and causes. Doug opted to take the social entrepreneurial leap, leaving a company he “grew up in” to build a startup with social good at its core. 

The impetus for this startup, Phin, came from something of a sabbatical that Doug took as a moment away from his previous job to create space and time to think and process what his next career move might be. 

It’s this prioritizing of space that Doug has kept with him now in his day-to-day of building this social impact-focused business in Phin.

“That unstructured time actually became the one thing that I hold onto now, as the one thing that I really learned, and that’s that when we give ourselves some space, the magic really begins to happen.  The creativity begins to flow, energy begins to flow, the ideas begin to flow.”

For more from Doug & his approach to social entrepreneurship, listen here.

47. Austin Buchan, CEO of College Forward, Listening & Responding to Feedback to Scale Impact in the Nonprofit Sector

College Forward is a nonprofit in Austin, Texas that helps what would be first-generation college students get to and through college. Joining CEO (and my brother-in-law) Austin Buchan in the College Forward office for a recording, Austin reflected on how College Forward has been able to develop the powerful programming for students that they have (through what would now be called Human-Centered Design). 

He also got into how College Forward is taking that intimate understanding of what their students need to begin to look at how they continue to serve students, but at a much larger scale. 

“Going back to just mission and money as the two things that we’re thinking about within the overarching lens of scale, there are 1.7 million students in college in Texas alone, and we’ve got to think differently if we want to see these numbers [low-income student access] move. And you know, sadly I think this is kind of tragic in some ways, but the outcomes that we care about, looking at the number of low-income students getting into college, persisting and graduating, that number has actually gone down since we started this work even in our local community. Those inequity gaps are growing every single year. And even though for the fortunate students who kind of stumble into our program by chance, we’re leveling the playing field… How we take what’s worked for 13,000 students and scale it to 130,000 over the next year, 1.3 million the year after…those are the questions that we need to be designing programs and business models around to make sure that we can do it at scale. And when I say scale, I really mean scale. Not how do we open up another office in San Antonio to serve 200 students, but how do we really design a model that could reach hundreds of thousands if not millions now over the next 10 years?”

For more on Scaling Impact and Earned Revenue Models in the Nonprofit space, listen here.

48. James Christie, Founder of SustainableUX, Footprints in the Digital World & Taking Passion Projects to Full Blown Enterprises

James Christie Founded Sustainable UX in 2016 with the hopes that this online conference “for UX, front-end, and product people who want to make a positive impact—on climate change, social equality, and inclusion” would attract 40 visitors. It brought 400 to attendance. 

Since then, Christie knew this topic had concern and traction, and alongside his full-time work as a Director of UX with Mad*Pow, Christie and his SustainableUX team have continued the conference drawing over 1,000 attendees over the last two years. 

James joined me on the podcast to talk both digital footprints and challenges of taking this passion project and turning it into something much greater.

“All the challenges are basically personal. This is a spare-time project and it’s a passion project…there are a lot of competing priorities. [One strategy is] to de-distractify [my] life, to focus on what matters, to prioritize beyond the noise. I’m getting way more focus and able to unblock myself there. It’s definitely a work in progress.”

Want to hear more about the footprint of the internet and how James created this online event around sustainable design that attracts thousands? Listen here.

49. Yasmine Mustafa, CEO of ROAR for Good, on the Power of Personal Stories to Forge Persistence

Yasmine Mustafa is a wildly talented and inspirational social entrepreneur. Being forced to flee Kuwait with her family to the U.S. during the Gulf War, Yasmine’s determination has led her through challenge after challenge. Whether it was completing Temple’s social entrepreneurship program while working two part-time jobs, or now pivoting her company ROAR last year, when faced with product/market fit challenges. 

Yasmine joined us on the podcast to share what has kept her going with this company, and ROAR specifically.

“At every event, no matter what, someone would approach us with their personal story. That’s what ultimately drives you…I would actually go and re-read testimonial emails as motivation any time I got down. It’s the impact of the people she’s working with that keeps Yasmine going, she also makes sure to focus on that which drives her, and that which doesn’t:  “I take stock of things that drain me and things that energize and do more of the latter. Whatever’s draining, I try to eliminate that.”  [32:04 – 32:15]

For more from Yasmine on her determination & development as a social entrepreneur, you can listen here.

50. Frederick Hutson, CEO of Pigeonly, On the Talent of the Formerly Incarcerated That’s Largely Overlooked

Frederick Hutson is the CEO of Pigeonly, which is a service that makes it easier and more affordable for families to connect with their incarcerated loved ones. The idea for Pigeonly was a highly personal one for Frederick. At the age of 23, Frederick was sentenced to five years in federal prison for the illegal distribution of marijuana. 

Once settled into his prison sentence, he obsessed about imagining a better life for himself when he was out. Always an entrepreneur, Frederick thought about how he could leverage this personal experience of incarceration and his intimate understanding of the prison system to provide a useful and valuable service. It was in 2012 while living in a halfway house when the idea for Pigeonly was born. 

On the show, Frederick shared his thoughts on this segment of the population that’s highly talented but being largely overlooked.

“We have returning citizens in every single department of our company. I’m not saying just put people in customer service. I’m not saying we just put people in our fulfillment department that handles all of our shipping and printing.  We have returning citizens that are in engineering, we have them in marketing, we have fulfillment, we have them in customer service, we have them in operations.  What I’ve found and what I know to be true just from my own experience, is that there’s an incredible amount of talent in the U.S. prison system by virtue of the criminal justice system here being largely out of control. And I look at the number of people being incarcerated and the laws that aren’t really designed around rehabilitation…there’s a lot of talent that is being released.”

Want to hear more from Frederick and the evolution of Pigeonly and his entrepreneurial ambitions? Listen here.

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What Is a Social Entrepreneur?

• Role and Goals
• 6 P's of Social Entrepreneurs
• Other Social Concepts

The Bottom Line

Social entrepreneur: definition and examples.

Adam Hayes, Ph.D., CFA, is a financial writer with 15+ years Wall Street experience as a derivatives trader. Besides his extensive derivative trading expertise, Adam is an expert in economics and behavioral finance. Adam received his master's in economics from The New School for Social Research and his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in sociology. He is a CFA charterholder as well as holding FINRA Series 7, 55 & 63 licenses. He currently researches and teaches economic sociology and the social studies of finance at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

A social entrepreneur is a person who pursues novel applications that have the potential to solve community-based problems. These individuals are willing to take on the risk and effort to create positive changes in society through their initiatives. Social entrepreneurs may believe that this practice is a way to connect you to your life's purpose, help others find theirs, and make a difference in the world (all while eking out a living).

Widespread use of ethical practices—such as  impact investing , conscious consumerism, and  corporate social responsibility  programs—facilitates the success of social entrepreneurs .

Key Takeaways

• A social entrepreneur is interested in starting a business for the greater social good and not just the pursuit of profits.
• Social entrepreneurs may seek to produce environmentally-friendly products, serve an underserved community, or focus on philanthropic activities.
• Social entrepreneurship is a growing trend, alongside socially responsible investing (SRI) and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing.
• The four primary types of social entrepreneurs are community social entrepreneurs, non-profit social entrepreneurs, transformational social entrepreneurs, and global social entrepreneurs.
• Social entrepreneurs design their thinking around the six P's of launching an idea: people, problem, plan, prioritize, prototype, and pursue.

Investopedia / NoNo Flores

Understanding Social Entrepreneurs

While most entrepreneurs are motivated by the potential to earn a profit, the  profit motive  does not prevent the ordinary entrepreneur from having a positive impact on society. In his book The Wealth of Nations , the economist  Adam Smith  explained, "It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own self-interest."

Smith believed that when individuals pursued their own best interests, they would be guided toward decisions that benefited others. The baker, for example, wants to earn a living to support their family. To accomplish this, they produce a product—bread—which feeds and nourishes hundreds of people.

A social entrepreneur might also seek to address imbalances in such availability, the root causes behind such social problems, or the social stigma associated with being a resident of such communities. The main goal of a social  entrepreneur  is not to earn a profit. Rather, a social entrepreneur seeks to implement widespread improvements in society. However, a social entrepreneur must still be financially savvy to succeed in their cause.

Types of Social Entrepreneurs

Community social entrepreneur.

A community social entrepreneur prioritizes the needs of a small geographical region, usually the community they live in. This type of social entrepreneur is less concerned about the specific nature of their endeavor; the primary purpose of their entrepreneurship is to benefit their local area.

This type of social entrepreneur often builds strong relationships in their community, taking advantage of relationships to leverage how resources flow within their town. Community members, local organizations, and the community social entrepreneur work together to make sure the needs of the community are met and partnerships that make sense are created.

Non-Profit Social Entrepreneur

Non-profit social entrepreneurs are the more common type of social entrepreneur where the entity has a broadly stated goal that benefits someone but not necessarily their direct community. With the introduction of remote or online social entrepreneurship, it is now easier to create entities with broader mission-driven purposes.

Non-profit social enterprises usually operate very similarly to a business. The primary difference is that the net profits of the non-profit enterprise are often returned back to the entity for further development of the program. Instead of there being investors to make money, a non-profit social entrepreneur strives to spend as much money as it can towards its mission.

Transformational Social Entrepreneur

As a start-up non-profit social enterprise grows, it often shifts into becoming a transformational social entrepreneur. As local non-profits grow, so can their mission. A transformational social entrepreneur looks to scale an operation from a single program to benefit various areas. For example, consider the broad reach of Goodwill; what started as a small non-profit social enterprise transformed into a much richer, broader entity with many more rules and regulations.

Global Social Entrepreneur

Sometimes, social entrepreneur endeavors aren't limited by borders or geography. Sometimes, people may try to solve overarching social concepts such as poverty, depression, or lack of living conditions.

Usually, the social entrepreneur may try to solve an issue in a specific region. However, these deep-rooted issues are often not specific to a region. Many of the solutions discovered in one area may be attributable to another.

These types of organizations easily have the greatest reach. For example, consider the breadth of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation . Their endeavors to find vaccinations for various diseases impacting those around the world are a clear example of global social enterprises.

Social entrepreneurship continually evolves; what may be a local communal non-profit one year may model into a global social enterprise the next.

6 P's of Social Entrepreneurial Enterprises

As social entrepreneurs embark on turning their ideas into successes, they often work through the following six areas. Each of these categories has different resources, roadblocks, or stages a social entrepreneur must often encounter.

Most social entrepreneurs start their endeavors by identifying what people they want to benefit. Sometimes, this is the people in their specific geographical region. Other times, this is people within a certain demographic (i.e. people with low income). Without a clear definition of who the social entrepreneur wants to serve, they will face difficulty in appropriately defining the scope of their enterprise. This puts the yet-to-be-created entity at risk of not having a clear vision.

Social entrepreneurs try to fix problems. More specifically, social entrepreneurs identify a problem that the people in the previous section face. Usually, during the brainstorming phase of an entity, the social entrepreneur will link the two together. For example, social entrepreneurs may try to defeat homelessness in their region. A social entrepreneur in this situation tries to help certain people (low-income individuals) with a problem (lack of available housing).

With the people and problems identified, a social entrepreneur must devise a plan to solve the problem. Social entrepreneurs not only strive to create a business plan to operate an entity, but they must also determine how this type of entity will receive funding and remain financially sustainable. The social entrepreneur must also evaluate how external parties can help it achieve its social goals.

One of the largest challenges for a social entrepreneur is a lack of available resources to tackle the problem they wish to solve. Whether that means not enough money, not enough specialized knowledge, or external forces that cannot be controlled, social entrepreneurs face many constraints. This means they must prioritize what they try to solve, how they go about operating, and what expansion looks like.

Because resources are limited, social entrepreneurs often test out solutions in small markets before expanding. This means creating prototype products, services, or processes. It also tests out how different funding and resources can help it achieve its goals. Though this stage may not foster trust in those who have provided an upfront investment with the social entrepreneur, other upfront investors may appreciate seeing a minimum viable product or prototype.

With the test case down, social entrepreneurs identify what went well and what didn't go well. It often surveys those who helped put the solution together as well as those receiving the benefit. This last step closes the full loop of activity, though a social entrepreneur should periodically evaluate each aspect and continually monitor for ways to better make their social change.

Social Entrepreneur vs. Other Social Concepts

Social entrepreneurship is related to socially responsible investing (SRI) and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing. SRI is the practice of investing money in companies and funds that have positive social impacts. SRI has also grown in popularity in recent years.

Socially responsible investors will often eschew investments in companies that produce or sell addictive substances (like alcohol, gambling, and tobacco). They may also seek out companies that are engaged in social justice, environmental sustainability, and alternative energy or clean technology efforts.

Socially conscious investors screen potential new investments for environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria. This set of standards considers how a company performs as a steward of nature, how it manages relationships with employees, suppliers, customers, and the communities where it operates, and how it treats its company’s leadership, compensates its executives, and approaches audits ,  internal controls , and shareholder rights.

According to ZipRecruiter, the average annual salary as of May 2024 for a social entrepreneur was just above $40,000 per year.

Examples of Social Entrepreneurship

The introduction of freshwater services through the construction of new wells is another example of social entrepreneurship. A social entrepreneur may have the goal of providing access to communities that lack stable utilities of their own.

In the modern era, social entrepreneurship is often combined with technology assets: for example, bringing high-speed internet connectivity to remote communities so that school-age children have more access to information and knowledge resources. Another example is microfinance institutions that provide banking services to unemployed or low-income individuals or groups who otherwise would have no other access to financial services.

The development of mobile apps that speak to the needs of a particular community is another way social entrepreneurship is expressed. This can include giving individuals ways to alert their city administrations to problems such as burst water mains, downed power lines, or patterns of repeated traffic accidents. There are also apps created to report infractions committed by city officials or even law enforcement that can help give a voice to the community through technology.

Other examples of social entrepreneurship include educational programs and helping children orphaned by epidemic disease. All of these efforts are intended to address unmet needs within communities that have been overlooked or not granted access to services, products, or basic essentials available in more developed communities.

How Do You Become a Social Entrepreneur?

You can become a social entrepreneur by considering who you want to help and what problem you want to solve. Once you have a targeted idea, it's often best to gather resources, understand where your limitations are, and decide what external parties you want to help craft the enterprise.

How Do Social Entrepreneurs Make Money?

Social entrepreneurs raise capital for their enterprises by connecting with other members of the community. "Community" does not necessarily need to mean physical location, as some enterprises may collaborate around the world for a common social cause. A social entrepreneur may collect grants, upfront donations from major donors (in exchange for public recognition), or use personal capital.

Do Social Entrepreneurs Pay Taxes?

It depends. Social entrepreneurs are usually not personally exempt from paying taxes. This means that almost all individuals are taxed on the income they make, regardless of whether or not the enterprise they work for is a social enterprise. On the other hand, most social entrepreneurs incorporate their enterprises as non-profit entities so their enterprises can operate tax-free.

Some people craft a business to make a lot of money. Other times, people start an enterprise for social good. The latter type of individual is called a social entrepreneur, and they often start by identifying the people and problems they want to help. Though there are many similarities between a social venture and a full-for-profit enterprise, the core difference is that a social entrepreneur prioritizes the good it creates for its community or recipient base.

Adam Smith. "An Inquiry Into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations," Pages 6-7. Harvard University, 1827.

Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. " Adam Smith (1723—1790) ."

ZipRecruiter. " Social Entrepreneur Salaries ."

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Social Entrepreneurship: Definition, Types and Examples

Social Entrepreneurship can be defined as doing business for a cause. This form of entrepreneurship combines business and social issues…

Social Entrepreneurship can be defined as doing business for a cause. This form of entrepreneurship combines business and social issues in a bid to improve the lives of people. Apart from altruistic motives, one possible reason behind such a move is that if society progresses well, businesses will also become more profitable. This article will take you through the definition, types, and examples of Social Entrepreneurship. 

What Is Social Entrepreneurship?

How do we define social entrepreneurship, examples of social entrepreneurship, types of social entrepreneurship, business entrepreneurship and social entrepreneurship, characteristics of a social entrepreneur, a social entrepreneur needs a vision, what is social entrepreneurship .

Social Entrepreneurship is when an individual or a group of people take up the responsibility to solve the prevailing problems of society. It could be a low-key affair or a large-scale drive that involves the masses. What matters is that the activity or initiative solves a problem and brings about a positive change in someone’s life.

But who can be a social entrepreneur?

Anyone and everyone can come up with a solution to a problem and become a social entrepreneur, be they organizations or individuals. Strong willpower, the intention to do good and a suitable approach are the driving forces.

Read on to know more about the definition of social entrepreneurship and the types of social entrepreneurship , backed by a few examples of social entrepreneurship.

In the words of Bill Drayton, a social entrepreneur, author and founder of Ashoka: Innovators for the Public, “Whenever society is stuck or has an opportunity to seize a new opportunity, it needs an entrepreneur to see the opportunity and then to turn that vision into a realistic idea and then a reality and then, indeed, the new pattern all across society. We need such entrepreneurial leadership at least as much in education and human rights as we do in communications and hotels. This is the work of social entrepreneurs.”

Journalist and author David Bornstein, while defining social entrepreneurship, says, “What business entrepreneurs are to the economy, social entrepreneurs are to social change.”

As per American professor Greg Dees’s definition of social entrepreneurship , “Social entrepreneurs are a ‘special breed’ of leaders.”

Social entrepreneurs cannot be defined in a single sentence. They are changing the world in different ways every day. If we look around, we’ll find several examples of social entrepreneurship that have affected monumental change.

Here are some great examples of social entrepreneurs who have brought about tremendous change in India:

Anshu Gupta, Founder of Goonj: Anshu, a media professional, wanted to provide proper clothing to the underprivileged. He started collecting old clothes to upcycle them and distribute them among the poor.

Santosh Parulekar, Founder of Pipal Tree: Focusing on one of the most underrated segments, jobs in rural India, this organization is the best example of social entrepreneurship . Pipal Tree was established to help youth from rural India find suitable jobs.  

Urvashi Sahni, Founder and CEO of SHEF (Study Hall Education Foundation):  Set up to educate girls in rural India, SHEF has transformed more than 1,000 schools, trained tens of thousands of teachers and impacted nearly 5 million students’ lives in UP and Rajasthan.

Harish Hande, CEO and Founder, Selco: India’s first solar funding program, Selco aims to provide sustainable energy in the country’s rural areas.

Trilochan Sastry, Founder of ADR (Association for Democratic Reforms): Trilochan, a professor at the Indian Institute of Management,Bangalore, began his journey as a social entrepreneur by filing a PIL against some political leaders in Delhi High Court. He formed ADR in 1999, which now reviews election procedures to strengthen democracy in India.  

These were just a few well-known examples of social entrepreneurship in India. Not all attain the same levels of popularity, but they still have considerable impact on society. These examples prove that you don’t need a degree to be a social entrepreneur. An idea and the drive to see it through are what make you a social entrepreneur.

Many people have ideas. But how do they execute them? To understand this, let’s review the different types of social entrepreneurship .

 There are various types of social entrepreneurship . Here we’ll look into four types of social entrepreneurship:

1. Community Social Entrepreneur: Community social entrepreneurs are small-scale changemakers. A community social entrepreneur can be a young individual teaching underprivileged kids in a town, a group of college students running sanitation and plantation drives in a city or one or more organizations working for social good.

Community social entrepreneurs work in specific geographies and communities but for a wide variety of causes. From hygiene and sanitation to employment and food distribution services and from plantation and environment safety to providing employment to deserving ones, they do it all.

These types of social entrepreneurs are the ones who bring about instant change and strive for more.

2. Non-Profit Social Entrepreneur: These social entrepreneurs believe in reinvesting profits. So, along with the initial cost, they put their profits into the cause.

For instance, if the initial project was to educate kids from underprivileged backgrounds and they received more funds than required to facilitate the initiative, they will utilize the surplus to educate women and expand their portfolio.

People who have a business-oriented mindset prefer this type of social entrepreneurship. Not just that, but companies and organizations chose non-profit social entrepreneurship to utilize their social goodwill for the cause.

3. Transformational Social Entrepreneur: These entrepreneurs focus on establishing a business that can solve a purpose that government initiatives and other businesses can’t.

Transformational social entrepreneurship is more like running an organization where you hire skilled people, think of newer ways to stay relevant in the market, follow the guidelines issued by governments and do everything that an enterprise does.

The larger picture for transformational social entrepreneurs includes a collaborative set-up of multiple businesses serving society collectively and individually.

Some examples of transformational social entrepreneurship are CRY (Child Rights and You), Goonj and JusTea.

4. Global Social Entrepreneur: Global social entrepreneurs think on a larger scale and focus on changes required at the global level. They put social responsibility above profits.

They usually collaborate with organizations working on similar causes in specific regions/countries. One of the most relevant examples of this type of social entrepreneurship is the Make A Wish Foundation. Headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, it actively works in around 50 countries, fulfilling the wishes of critically ill children.

 Having covered a few types of social entrepreneurship , let’s see how social entrepreneurship differs from business entrepreneurship.

Social Entrepreneurship requires people to have the following traits:

• Leadership: You can’t meet your goals without a highly motivated team assisting you. A good, inspirational leader is a must for every cause. They can influence opinions as well as physical outputs.
• Emotional Balance: Social work requires both empathy and a practical approach at the same time. A highly emotional person might get overwhelmed, but an emotionally balanced person will handle difficult situations better.
• Vision: Visionaries come up with the best solutions to social problems. Why? Because they’re thinking of long-term, permanent resolutions.
• Ability To Multitask: Entrepreneurship and multitasking go hand-in-hand. Only an exceptional manager can juggle meetings, pitches, on-site activities, sourcing, production and whatnot.
• Decision-making: Social entrepreneurs must prioritize and make sound decisions as they affect the lives of people in need. They need to think of a situation holistically and make a sound and rational decision.
• Open To Collaboration: Social entrepreneurship cannot be done in isolation. Entrepreneurs need to be open to collaboration and partnerships. Every project needs people with a different expertise and skill set. A social entrepreneur needs to work with a wide range of people to achieve their vision.

There are many social entrepreneurs in the world today and millions of problems that need to be heard and solved. From educating children to providing them with nutrition, from environmental issues to women’s safety, from unemployment to mental well-being, the list goes on.

Social entrepreneurs need to have a clear vision to make things happen. To set goals, make a timeline to achieve the goals, and galvanize a team to work towards them, a compelling vision is needed. Many organizations drift to obscurity because they do not have an image of what they want the future to look like.

The visions of social entrepreneurs must be bigger than just alleviating the current conditions. They should aspire to change the equilibrium itself. They need to thoroughly understand the system they work in fully and then make a systematic and specific approach towards achieving their visions.

The youth of the world want to work with entrepreneurs who want to make the world a better place.  If you want to become a social entrepreneur, you will find many capable people who will want to work with you to achieve your goals. 

Do you want to see how you could become a social entrepreneur and work toward a cause close to your heart? Harappa’s Leading Self program will help you develop into an effective leader, problem-solver and changemaker.

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North terrace campus - trimester 1 - 2017, course details, course staff.

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Program Director Contact Details: Entrepreneurship & Innovation Name: Prof. Paul Steffens Email: [email protected]

Teaching Staff: Name: Dr Sharon Zivkovic Short Bio: Sharon Zivkovic is the Principal Facilitator at Community Capacity Builders. Community Capacity Builders is a for-profit social enterprise that has developed a project based, trans-disciplinary education program that combines citizenship education and leadership development. Sharon is also the Cofounder of Wicked Lab, a new technology start-up that is developing enterprise software which will assist communities and governments to address complex social policy problems. Prior to establishing Community Capacity Builders, Sharon held positions in the non-profit, private and public sectors.   Sharon’s qualifications are a PhD, Bachelor of Accountancy, Graduate Diploma in Education (Education and Training of Adults), Master of Entrepreneurship, Graduate Certificate in Research Commercialisation and a Vocational Graduate Certificate in Education and Training for Sustainability. For her doctoral research, Sharon investigated the scaling of a social innovation from a complexity theory perspective. In 2001 Sharon received the Enterprising Woman of the Year Award in recognition of her contribution towards creating strong and enterprising communities. She received the Award for Best Overall Paper at the 2012 International Social Innovation Research Conference for her paper ‘Government’s role in social innovation: Balancing unplanned exploration and planned exploitation’. In 2015 Sharon received the Pank/University of South Australia School of Management Prize for Entrepreneurship and in 2016 received a Fresh Scientist Award for her work in addressing complex social policy problems with complexity science. Email: [email protected]

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