Social entrepreneurship is the work of a social entrepreneur. A social entrepreneur is someone who recognizes a social problem and uses entrepreneurial principles to organize, create, and manage a venture to make social change. Whereas business entrepreneurs typically measure performance in profit and return, social entrepreneurs assess their success in terms of the impact they have on society. While social entrepreneurs often work through nonprofits and citizen groups, many work in the private and governmental sectors. For the computer game previously called Entrepreneur, see The Corporate Machine. ... It has been suggested that Social development be merged into this article or section. ... For the computer game previously called Entrepreneur, see The Corporate Machine. ...

History

The terms social entrepreneur and social entrepreneurship were first used in the literature on social change in the 1960s and 1970s ^[1]. It came into widespread use in the 1980s and 1990s, promoted by Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Bill Drayton the founder of Ashoka, ^[2], and others such as Charles Leadbeater ^[3]. From the 1950s to the 1990s Michael Young was a leading promoter of social enterprise and in the 1980s was described by Professor Daniel Bell at Harvard as 'the world's most successful entrepreneur of social enterprises' because of his role in creating over 60 new organizations worldwide, including a series of Schools for Social Entrepreneurs in the UK. The introduction of this article does not provide enough context for readers unfamiliar with the subject. ... William (Bill) Drayton (born 1943) is an American social entrepreneur and environmentalist from New York City. ... Michael Young, Baron Young of Dartington (August 9, 1915, Manchester - January 14, 2002) was a British sociologist, social activist and politician. ... Daniel Bell Daniel Bell (born 10 May 1919) is a sociologist and professor emeritus at Harvard University. ...

However, although the terms are relatively new social entrepreneurs and social entrepreneurship can be found throughout history. A list of a few historically noteworthy people whose work exemplifies classic "social entrepreneurship" might include Florence Nightingale, founder of the first nursing school and developer of modern nursing practices, Robert Owen founder of the cooperative movement, Vinoba Bhave (founder of India's Land Gift Movement), and Shri Hedgewar (founder of Rashtriya Swaymsevaka Sangh). During the 19th and 20th centuries some of the most successful social entrepreneurs successfully straddled the civic, governmental and business worlds - promoting ideas that were taken up by mainstream public services in welfare, schools and healthcare. Florence Nightingale, OM (12 May 1820 – 13 August 1910), who came to be known as The Lady with the Lamp, was a pioneer of modern nursing, and a noted statistician. ... Robert Owen (May 14, 1771 – November 17, 1858) was a Welsh socialist and social reformer. ... Vinoba Bhave, born Vinayak Narahari Bhave (September 11, 1895 - November 15, 1982) often called Acharya (In Sanskrit and Hindi means teacher), is considered as a National Teacher of India and the spiritual successor of Mahatma Gandhi. ...

Current practice

One well known contemporary social entrepreneur is Muhammad Yunus, founder and manager of Grameen Bank and its growing family of social venture businesses, who was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize in 2006.^[4] The work of Yunus and Grameen echoes a theme among modern day social entrepreneurs that emphasizes the enormous synergies and benefits when business principles are unified with social ventures. ^[5] In some countries - including Bangladesh and to a lesser extent the USA - social entrepreneurs have filled the spaces left by a relatively small state. In other countries - particularly in Europe and south America - they have tended to work more closely with public organizations at both the national and local level. Dr. Muhammad Yunus (Bengali: , pronounced ) (born June 28, 1940), is a Bangladeshi banker and economist. ... The Grameen Bank (Bangla: গ্রামীণ ব্যাংক) is a microfinance organization and community development bank started in Bangladesh that makes small loans (known as microcredit) to the impoverished without requiring collateral. ... Lester B. Pearson after accepting the Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize is the name of one of five Nobel Prizes bequested by the Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel. ...

The George Foundation's Women's Empowerment program empowers women by providing education, cooperative farming, vocational training, savings plan, and business development. In 2006 the cooperative farming program, Baldev Farms, was the second largest banana grower in South India with 250 acres under cultivation.^{[citation needed]} Profits from the farm are used for improving the economic status of the workers and for running the other charitable activities of the foundation.^{[citation needed]} The George Foundation (TGF) is a non-governmental organization (NGO) established in 1995 with head office in Bangalore, India. ...

Some have created for profit organizations. A recent example is Vikram Akula founder CEO of SKS Microfinance, the McKinsey alumni started a microlending venture in villages of Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Though this venture is For - Profit but already initiated a sharp social change amongst poor women from villages. Vikram Akula is the founder of SKS Microfinance a company that offers microloans on plastic cards in India. ...

There are continuing arguments over precisely who counts as a social entrepreneur. Some have advocated restricting the term to founders of organizations that primarily rely on earned income – meaning income earned directly from paying consumers. Others have extended this to include contracted work for public authorities, while others still include grants and donations. This argument is unlikely to be resolved soon. Peter Drucker, for example, once wrote that there was nothing as entrepreneurial as creating a new university: yet in most developed countries the majority of university funding comes from the state. Peter Ferdinand Drucker (November 19, 1909–November 11, 2005) was an Austrian author of management-related literature. ...

Today, nonprofits and non-governmental organizations, foundations, governments and individuals promote, fund, and advise social entrepreneurs around the planet. A growing number of colleges and universities are establishing programs focused on educating and training social entrepreneurs. A non-profit organization (often called non-profit org or simply non-profit or not-for-profit) can be seen as an organization that doesnt have a goal to make a profit. ... A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an organization which is not a part of a government. ... Foundation may be: the founding of an institution. ...

Organizations such as Ashoka: Innovators for the Public, the Skoll Foundation, the Omidyar Network, the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurs, Echoing Green, UnLtd, the Manhattan Institute, the Draper Richards Foundation and Civic Ventures among others, focus on highlighting these hidden change-makers who are scattered across the country and globe. The North American organizations tend to have a strongly individualistic stance focused on a handful of exceptional leaders - while others in Asia and Europe emphasize more how social entrepreneurs work within teams, networks and movements for change. The Omidyar Network was founded in June 2004 by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar and his wife Pam in Redwood City, California. ... Echoing Green is a non-profit organization founded in 1987 and operating out of New York City. ...

Youth social entrepreneurship is an increasingly common approach to engaging youth voice in solving social problems. Youth organizations and programs including Youth Venture, International Youth Foundation, Youth Social Enterprise Initiative (YSEI) and others promote these efforts through a variety of incentives to young people. Youth voice is a fairly common neologism to refers to the distinct ideas, opinions, attitudes, knowledge, and actions of young people as a collective body. ... A Youth organization is a formal organization aimed at children and adolescents for education and socialization. ... For Youth, the record producer and musician in the band Killing Joke, see Martin Glover. ...

There remains a vast social terrain that continues to go largely unreported in most news, though the recent exposure of Google.org may start changing our society's awareness.

Fast Company Magazine annually publishes a list of the 25 best social entrepreneurs which they define as organizations "using the disciplines of the corporate world to tackle daunting social problems."^[6] Fast Company magazine is a full-color monthly magazine that reports on the technology industry. ...

References

1. ^ For example, the phrase was used as a description of Robert Owen in J Banks, The Sociology of Social Movements, London, MacMillan, 1972
2. ^ The Social Entrepreneur Bill Drayton. US News & World Report (10-31-2005). Retrieved on 2006-11-03.
3. ^ 'The Rise of the Social Entrepreneur, Demos, London, 1996
4. ^ The Nobel Peace Prize 2006. Nobel Foundation (2006). Retrieved on 2006-11-02.
5. ^ Business-Social Ventures Reaching for Major Impact. Changemakers (11-2003). Retrieved on 2006-11-03.
6. ^ 25 Entrepreneurs who are changing the world. Retrieved on 2006-10-15.

Robert Owen (May 14, 1771 – November 17, 1858) was a Welsh socialist and social reformer. ... U.S. News & World Report is a weekly newsmagazine. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... November 3 is the 307th day of the year (308th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 58 days remaining. ... The Nobel Foundation was created by Lord Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, to manage his estate and award prizes for academic achievement in several areas: physics, chemistry, medicine, literature, and peace. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... November 2 is the 306th day of the year (307th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 59 days remaining. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... November 3 is the 307th day of the year (308th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 58 days remaining. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... October 15 is the 288th day of the year (289th in leap years). ...

See also

• Category:Social entrepreneurs
• List of social entrepreneurs
• Social innovation
• Social enterprise
• Impact maximization

This is a List of social entrepreneurs - people who engage in social entrepreneurship. ... Social Innovation refers to new strategies, concepts, ideas and organisations that meet social needs of all kinds - from working conditions and education to community development and health - and that extend and strengthen civil society. ... Social enterprises are organizations which trade in goods or services and link that trade to a social mission. ... Impact maximizing companies endeavor to make the greatest positive impact on society, much like profit maximizing companies, according to the economic theory that defines the term, theoretically work to maximize profit. ...

Further reading

• David Bornstein, How to Change the World: Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas, Oxford University Press (and others) ISBN 0-19-513805-8
• Charles Leadbeater, The Rise of the Social Entrepreneur' Demos, 1996, available free of charge from www.demos.co.uk

External links

Publications

• SocialEdge - By Social Entrepreneurs, For Social Entrepreneurs
• Innovations: Technology|Governance|Globalization, MIT Press

Articles

• Everyone a Changemaker: Social Entrepreneurship's Ultimate Goal, Bill Drayton

Marketplaces

• Kiva
• Compassion Growers
• Youth Social Enterprise Initiative