ABSTRACT
The ideals and spirit of the time we call the ‘sixties’ and the notion that the world can be dramatically changed for the better greatly influenced a number of individuals who had a material impact upon society in the closing decades of the second millennium. Some of these people were particularly highly motivated and exceptionally talented and chose to operate within the system to effect social change. They built organizations that have today revolutionized the way in which we think and, in particular, the way we consume. These first generation of social entrepreneurs (SEs) created businesses with a core social purpose, and often very successful ones at that. Importantly, they laid the foundations for today's generation of social entrepreneurs, whose business acumen is now matched by an intriguing array of funding and investment mechanisms.
