General+SE+Overview

Social Entrepreneurship

=The Definition of Social Entrepreneurship = Social Entrepreneurship focuses on the idea of creating change for the better by recognizing social problems and creating solutions to achieve social change. As Ana Marie Peredo states in “Social Entrepreneurship: a Critical View of the Concept,” “It is said that social entrepreneurship is emerging as an innovative approach for dealing with complex social needs especially in the face of diminishing public funding.” The idea of social entrepreneurship cannot be defined without explaining what an entrepreneur actually is. Jean-Baptiste Say, a 19th century economist, defines an entrepreneur as someone who “shifts economic resources out of an area of lower and into an area of higher productivity and greater yield” (Osberg, 5). Social entrepreneurs focus on what is wrong with society and strive to fix it through new systems, products, or businesses. They are driven by conflict and produce solutions to problems with creative thinking and compelling, rational and fresh ideas. Social entrepreneurs use the same concepts that a business entrepreneur uses. Social entrepreneurs use business tactics and “borrowing from outlook methods and market-driven enterprise” (Peredo, 1) to create social change.

Social entrepreneurs focus on economic and social equity, environmental issues, health care, human rights, peace and sustainability, and institutional responsibility. Social entrepreneurs should not be confused with social activists like Martin Luther King or Gandhi. Social entrepreneurs act on issues directly leading to a new equilibrium that is created and sustained. Social activists deal with issues indirectly that later lead to new equilibriums. This idea leads to a clear cut definition of a social entrepreneur: 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 (Osberg, 1)

=The History of Social Entrepreneurship = In //Citizen You: Doing Your Part to Change the World,// Jonathan M. Tisch defines social entrepreneurship as describing "the work of any individual, organization, or movement that develops and implements innovative ideas in an effort not merely to ameliorate social problems but to cure them" (Tisch 48). Although the term is still somewhat new, the idea of social entrepreneurship has existed long before Tisch came up with his definition. For example, looking back in history you will find that early social entrepreneurs included, among others, Susan B. Anthony, Eleanor Roosevelt and Florence Nightingale, who founded the first school dedicated specifically to nursing. What made these individuals early social entrepreneurs? It was their ability to develop and implement creative solutions in an effort to solve many of the pressing social problems of their time. They were not interested merely in donating their time and money, but were looking for practical solutions to the problems around them.

The term social entrepreneurship, however, was first promulgated in 1963 by Bill Drayton, who would later become the founder of one of the largest social enterprises in the world, Ashoka. While a student at Harvard, he spent time with Vinoba Bhave, the founder of India's Land Gift Movement and a social entrepreneur himself. This experience lead Drayton to become convinced that seemingly intractable social problems could be solved by applying creative and innovative thinking to market-based solutions (Tisch 48). As a result of the work of Bill Drayton and others, social enterprises today have begun to spread their influence throughout the world with the support of organizations such [|Ashoka], the [|Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship] and the[| Skoll Foundation]. The great success of social enterprises, such as Muhammad Yunus's Grameen Bank, has helped to draw attention to this promising field. "Because social entrepreneurship is still relatively new," Tisch states, "the place of the social enterprise in the broad economic system is still somewhat unclear" (Tisch 64). However, what is clear is that social entrepreneurship will continue to be one of the most promising developments of our time.

=Examples of Social Entrepreneurship Companies =

Grameen Foundation:
The Grameen Foundation is one of the most promising social entrepreneurship companies of its time. Its goal is to help people in poverty to have access to microfinance and technology to later improve their living conditions and beat the hardships of poverty. The mission of the Grameen foundation is to “enable poor, especially the poorest, to create a world without poverty.” Muhammed Yunus, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, shares the values of the Grameen Foundation and is making a difference across the world. The Grameen Foundation is a non-profit organization with its main head-courters in Washington D.C. The Grameen Foundation works in Asia, the Americas, the Middle East, North America, and Sub-Saharan Africa.

//An example of the Grameen's impact upon a woman living in Guana//: Ashoka sold pastries form door to door but, did not have the income to open up her own business. By applying for a microloan she was provided with the tools to open her own business.



The following video displays a social venture of the Grameen Foundation within Uganda. By allowing the people of the Uganda to have assess to certain technologies like cell phones, their quality of life is improved and better paves the road for social change and a world without poverty.

media type="youtube" key="DH-6u2Xbwps?fs=1" height="385" width="496"

** Ashoka: **
Ashoka is a social entrepreneurship company that was started by Bill Drayton in 1980. Ashoka embraces the idea of creating social change by investing in social entrepreneurs around the world who have solutions for social innovation that are both sustainable and replicable.Ashoka works on three levels. First, individual entrepreneurs are supported financially and professionally. Second, communities of social entrepreneurs are brought together to enhance their impact and focus on the most effective ways to create social change. Third, infrastructures and financial systems are established to support the growth of social entrepreneurship globally. Ashoka has established programs in over 60 countries and has offices all over the world.

//An example of Ashoka's social impact: // Ashoka helped to fund social entrepreneur Fabio Rosa who helped to cut rural electrification costs by 70-80% in Brazil. This brought electricity to the homes of over 1 million people.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 90%;">Citizen Schools: [[image:GroupGrady.jpg width="251" height="223" align="right"]]
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">Citizen Schools was founded in 1995 by Eric Schwarz and Ned Rimer in an effort to address problems plaguing public schools. As a social enterprise and non-profit organization, Citizen Schools matches volunteers with middle-school students in order to expand their out-of-school learning time (Tisch 51). The organization utilizes a model of apprenticeships, whereby students learn from real-world experts. Volunteers, known as Citizen Teachers, are real-world professionals drawn from the surrounding community who donate their time in order to mentor students in both academics and civic-education. Citizen Teachers can be professionals from the public, private or non-pofit sectors, but all that is required is a willingness to work with and teach middle-school students. Citizen Teachers meet with their students twice a week for 90-minute sessions. "Taught in 90-minute sessions twice a week for 11 weeks, these hands-on-learning projects emphasize the broad set of skills necessary for success in the modern economy: leadership, teamwork, oral communication and technology" (citizenschools.org). Students produce a final project to showcase to their fammily, friends and community. Currently, the organization operates programs at 37 different sites across the United States, has over 4,000 registered Citizen Teachers and has served 4,400 middle-school students (citizenschools.org). By helping to increase academic achievement for low-income students, Citizen Schools has proven to be a very successful social enterprise.

//<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">An example of Citizen Schools: // <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">An example of Citizen Schools is the program it operates at First Avenue Elementary School in Newark, New Jersey. Apprenticeships, taught by Citizen Teachers, are offered in multiple subjects, including law, music, journalism and martial arts. By expanding the learning time for students at First Avenue Elementary, Citizen Schools has helped to increase their academic performance.

=References=

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 90%;">1. Bornstein, David. How to Change the World: Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 90%;">This book describes the impact of influencial entrepreneurs arond the world including Bill Drayton. It also touches on how social entrepreneurship can affect social change throughout the world. The book gives a clear cut definition of what social entrepreneurs do, how they do it, and why they do.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 90%;">2. Osberg. "Social Entrepreneurship:the Case for Definition." Stanford Social Innovation Review. (2007): 1-13. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 90%;">"Social Entrepreneurship: the Case for Definition" focuses on what social entrepreneurship actually is. Throuh an in depth anlaysis the social entrepreneurship is defined. It gives specific examples of what social entrepreneurs do and how the idea of social entrepreneurship developped.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 90%;">3. Peredo, Anna, and Murdith Mclean. "Social Entrepreneurship: a Ciritical Review of the Concept." Journal of World Business. (2006): 56-65. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 90%;">This particular article was published in a very well known journal. Because social entrepreneurship is increasing in public awareness and popularity this journal focuses on the key aspects of entrepreneurial work and practice. It focuses on how social entrepreneurs use business tactics to promote their ideas for social change.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 90%;">4. Tisch, Jonathan M. "Citizen You: Doing Your Part to Change the World." New York: Crown Publishers, 2010. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 90%;">This book chronicles the work of several social entrepreneurs who have established ventures in order to address social problems. In the process, it gives great practical advice to readers who are interested in social entrepreneurship. Jonathan M. Tisch defines the term and highlights many successful examples of social enterprises.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 90%;">5. Grameen Foundation | Combining the Power of Microfinance and Technology to Defeat Global Poverty. Web. 09 Dec. 2010. [] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 90%;">This is the official website for the Grameen Foundation, which is a huge social entrepreneurship organization. The website talks about the effects that social entrepreneurship has had world wide, the values and mission statement of the foundation as a whole, and how to get invlolved with social entrepreneurship. The website gives specific examples of the Grameen Foundations inpact on people all over the world.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 90%;">//6.// Ashoka. Web. 09 Dec. 2010.[] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 90%;">This is the main website for Ashoka. Ashoka is one of biggest social entrepreneurship companies in the world. This website gives examples of the social entrepreneurs that Ashoka has funded and their impacts upon social change. The website displays mission statements, case studies, and resources for those interested in social entrepreneurship.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 90%;">7. Bill Drayton: Nothing More Powerful [Video]. (1987). //YouTube// Retrieved November 12, 2010, from .[] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 90%;">Ashoka was founded by Bill Drayton. Within this video Bill Drayton talks about how social entrepreneurship works.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 90%;">8.Grameen Foundation AppLab Uganda Launch[Video]. (2007) //YouTube.// Retrieved December 9, 2010, from. [] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 90%;">This video shows an example of how the Grameen Foundation uses technology to promote social change. By giving the people of Uganda assess to certain technologies they are improving their day to day lives. Grameen Foundation is one of the largest social entrepreneurship organizations and this video depicts some of the important feild work that the organization does.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 90%;">9."Citizen Schools : Help Us Re-Imagine After-School Learning." //Citizen Schools :: Home//. Web. 09 Dec. 2010. [] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 90%;">This is the main website for Citizen Schools, one of the many social enterprises Jonathan M. Tisch highlights in his book "Citizen You: Doing Your Part to Change the World." The website explains the purpose of Citizen Schools, gives advice on how to become a Citizen Teacher, and highlights several successful examples of the program.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 90%;">By: Carrie Gallaher and David Aragoni