Social Entrepreneurship

The content in this article on the tension between various definitions of career success, which came out in Sunday's New York Times, is part of the reason why we wrote Be Bold. Be sure to check it out!

Who are rising social entrepreneurs? What motivates them? What can we learn about them that will inform those who care about positive change?

The leadership development pipeline is currently an issue that has received a lot of attention in the nonprofit world. Last Monday, some of the most accomplished thought leaders in the field gathered to discuss their views on what we need to do to attract and develop new talent in nonprofit organizations.

For me, opening the New York Times lately has felt a lot like Christmas morning. Two weeks ago, the New York Times Magazine “Money Issue” focused entirely on philanthropy and the recent trends in social change. Today, “Thoroughly Modern Do-Gooders,” an editorial by David Brooks, discusses social entrepreneurship and how these pioneers are on their way to forever changing the way we think about social service.

photo credit: TED.com

On Wednesday night, I had the opportunity to attend a lecture titled "The Education of a Patient Capitalist" from Jacqueline Novogratz, CEO of the Acumen Fund.  She spoke to a standing-room-only crowd of students, professors, and other social entrepreneurship enthusiasts as a part of NYU's Reynolds Program Speaking Series.  It was quite a welcome for the "powerhouse and principle innovator" behind Acumen Fund.

An article in this month's Inc magazine features the explosion (slight exaggeration) of funding vehicles to support the growing number of for-profit companies with an explicit social mission. Among the recipients of this boom is 1993 Echoing Green Fellow Priya Haji, who started World of Good, a marketplace for fair-trade crafts. Although Priya won awards from business plan competitions, she was flatly rejected from receiving a line of credit from a bank.

If you are steeped in the world of social entrepreneurship as Echoing Green is, you actually jump up and down when someone as notable as New York Times journalist Nicholas Kristoff writes an opinion piece on the field.

So, if you missed the "forward this article" craze, be sure to read it here.

A must have resource for anyone on the social entrepreneurship track is Enterprising Ideas, a program launched by PBS and NOW.  The site features case stories about the paths of people who are creating change and how you can get involved. 

Our friends over at SocialEdge.org have some exciting news. They are partnering with the Global Social Benefit Incubator (GSBI), a two-week residential program at Santa Clara University focused on scaling the work of social entrepreneurs. This year, up to twenty full scholarships will be offered, which includes includes tuition, room, and board for the 2008 summer program and it’s valued at $20,000.

In June 2006, Bill Gates announced he was stepping down from his full-time role at Microsoft and shifting his focus to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. When the world's richest entrepreneur decides to take a step in the nonprofit direction, he may be onto something.

In the last decade, a generation of social entrepreneurs has become increasingly visible by creating self-sustaining businesses.