A New Sector for a New World: The Rise of Social Entrepreneurship
Is it really possible to do well by doing good? The meteoric rise of social entrepreneurship in America, Europe and the developing world has breathed new life into the elusive goal of running a financially successful organization that uses business principles to contribute to the public good. Although the sector has been growing for over twenty-five years, social entrepreneurship has only recently become abuzz word in financial circles. At Echoing Green, the non profit organization where I work, our mission is to identify and support emerging social entrepreneurs. When I mention the concept to motivated young people today, I am more likely to be met with an “ah-ha!” look of recognition and excitement then with a confused stare. Indeed, more and more college and graduate students are enrolling in courses on social entrepreneurship and developing their own socially responsible organization.
It’s current, it’s relevant and everyone is talking about it. So, what exactly is it?In a nutshell, social entrepreneurs are innovators who develop andimplement new solutions to solve social problems. They can work through a range of models including private sector companies, government and nonprofit organizations. However, they are united by a common desire to work for social change and measure their profits by the impact they have on society.Today, the boundaries of the field are being challenged and defined in classrooms and boardrooms around the world. For example, take a look at the diverse views offered on the SocialEdge web discussion thread. One thing is for sure, there is no “average” or “stereotypical” social entrepreneur. Indeed, the field has opened the formerly walled-off business world and given a voice to young people, women and minorities.For example, a recent internet search of the term “social entrepreneur”turned up results as wide-ranging and diverse as locally producing and distributing mosquito nets in Africa, renting kitchen space to low-income women in the food service industry and training seeing-eye dogs in prisons.The field is rapidly expanding and gaining recognition. Microfinance entrepreneur Mohammed Yunus of the Grameen Foundation has been a pioneer in social entrepreneurship, and brought widespread attention to thefield when he won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006. Articles on the phenomenon have appeared in major publications such as The Wall StreetJournal and The Economist. An increasing number of financial institutions are offering grants to this new breed of entrepreneur, including the Soros, Schwab and Skoll Foundations. The Fast Company has created an annual award focused on high performing entrepreneurial nonprofits. Each of the top ten business schools in the United States has at least one course dedicated to the field. Panel discussions on the subject at the World Economic Forum at Davos were standing room only.But what I think is most relevant for emerging social entrepreneurs andtheir supporters is that there is a renewed energy and commitment to working together to make the world better than we found it. Social entrepreneurship has created some incredible and unlikely synergies across sectors – from politicians, like New Orleans’ Lt. Governor Mitch Landrieu opening up the Office of Social Entrepreneurship; to business titans, like former Goldman Sachs partner Check Harris founding the social entrepreneurship scale-up firm Sea Change Capital Partners; to young people who are moved to action, like Craig Kielburger, who founded the organization Free the Children. The message is clear – we all have arole to play in solving social problems and there are more ways thanever to get involved.
Contributed by Lara Galinsky, VP of Echoing Green.
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