ABSTRACT
In this chapter, you will learn how to do the following: 1 Identify and learn from model programs as benchmarks for excellence2 Use online resources as sources of information and competency development3 Start a center for community service and social entrepreneurship education4 Review ideas for a social entrepreneurship curriculum and workshop5 Consider the challenges of a variety of social entrepreneurship ideas 6 Practice social entrepreneurship skills by responding to cases and exercises
In your reading of this book, we hope you have learned how to do the following: 1 Define, identify, and evaluate leadership skills and/or abilities in yourself and others2 Identify and participate in ways to improve the local and global community around you through civic engagement, community service, and service-learning opportunities3 Formulate and communicate a vision of goals and methods to others4 Motivate volunteers and participate cooperatively and constructively to develop and accomplish individual and team goals5 Evaluate the effectiveness of your actions while identifying ways to improve
6 Identify leadership and service resources that would support your personal and professional social service endeavors
Many organizations sponsor competitions and give awards and funding to social entrepreneurship ventures. Consider competitions sponsored by business schools and the BBC. Business School Social Entrepreneurship Competition
Only a decade ago, there were virtually no business school courses or student projects on social entrepreneurship. Today, most top business schools have both (Tyson, 2008). They recognize that social entrepreneurs can prosper as they help others and that social entrepreneurs are driven by a social mission, a desire to find innovative ways to solve social problems that are not being or cannot be addressed by either the market or the public sector. Such an emphasis has emerged in the Global Social Venture Competition, which originated at the University of California at Berkeley School of Business and cosponsored by the Columbia Business School, London Business School, Indian School of Business, and Thammasat University, Thailand. Students submit proposals for the competition that project both a financial rate of return and a social rate of return. Business models that simultaneously generate sound financial returns and demonstrable social returns are enticing to socially minded business school students and investors (Tyson, 2008). Following are some examples of recent winners (https://entrepreneurship.berkeley.edu/business_competitions/gsvc.html).EcoFaeBrick from the Prasetiva Mulya Business School, Indonesia, produces high-quality, low-price bricks by using the abundant cow dung to solve the hygiene problem created by such waste and reduce unrenewable clay. The product is manufactured with cow dung methane biogas in place of firewood. This lowers production costs and is environmentally friendly. The venture empowers rural citizens as partners and provides a sustainable solution that can be copied in other emerging countries beyond Indonesia.Dartmouth University business students created mPedigree Logistics to provide pharmaceutical companies with robust anti-counterfeit solutions that work in emerging markets. Leveraging the power of 4 billion cell phones worldwide, consumers can check the source and quality of their drugs before use with a simple text message. This allows genuine manufacturers to avoid millions of dollars of
lost market share and the potential for increasing sales with targeted information at point of purchase. SolarCycle, from George Washington University, manufactures low-cost reflective material from used plastic bags and the interior of metalized chip bags to replace mirrors in solar collectors used in developing countries. The product helps poor urban Africans turn a local trash problem into a low cost, green, and revolutionary product for solar cooking and water pasteurization in poor rural areas. The material can purify water for an entire village for 10 years for only $350.BrightMind Labs, from the University of Auckland, New Zealand, creates computer games that young people with psychological needs actually want to play. The immersive games can help youngsters with depression, anxiety and posttraumatic stress disorder, for instance. The first game teaches autistic children to recognize and respond to emotions. BBC World Challenge
Starting in 2005, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has sponsored the annual World Challenge-“a global competition aimed at finding projects or small businesses from around the world that have shown enterprise and innovation at a grass roots level” (https://www.theworldchallenge.co.uk/). The competition seeks innovative projects or ideas that demonstrate an entrepreneurial spirit working for the benefit of the community while adopting a responsible approach. Grants are awarded to the winners. A recent World Challenge Winner was Plan Bee. This Pakistani project helps female beekeepers earn additional income by selling their top-quality honey in luxury hotels. Another project winner was Escuela Agricola (Agriculture School) in Paraguay. This self-sufficient school educates students in sustainable agriculture. For instance, students have their own compost piles and garden plots and learn to use a green protocol. All fertilizers and insecticides are made on site, and students run their own store. Graduates receive a one-time stipend to start their own farm crop for their own profit and to provide quality food for the citizens in their hometowns.Shanti Sewa Griha, meaning “Peace, Help and Home,” in Nepal is a self-sufficient commune society for leprosy victims and other social outcasts. It offers employment through tailoring, handicrafts and organic gardening.Similar to Ashoka-sponsored projects (see Chapter 1), these examples have a global focus with ideas that can be extended beyond
a single location. They empower the participants and give them opportunities for their own economic and psychological sustenance. These enterprises were started by entrepreneurs who perceived a need, created potential solutions, and implemented their ideas, usually with little resources. Online Resources
The field of social entrepreneurship is exploding in cyberspace. Organizations such as Ashoka are paving the way for aspiring entrepreneurs interested in profiting from socially responsive products and/or services (https://www.ashoka.org). There are many consulting organizations on the Web that are more than willing to provide social entrepreneurs with assistance. We’ve mentioned several throughout this book. The prominent examples follow: • The Advocacy Institute (https://www.advocacyinstitute.org/) helps people with disabilities; the website offers considerable generic material. • The Institute for Sustainable Communities (https://www.iscvt.org/) and its partner, the Advocacy and Leadership Center (https://www.advocacy.org), provide a wide range of educational services to help people improve their advocacy and social entrepreneurship skills. • Socialaction.com (https://www.socialaction.com/advocacy/advocacy.shtml) offers advocacy tips, guidelines for legislative visits and writing letters to legislators and editors, and additional resources such as a search engine to identify and connect with elected officials at the federal and state levels. • Civic Ventures (https://www.civicventures.org/) is a think tank and an incubator, generating ideas and inventing programs to help society achieve the greatest return on experience. • Triple Pundit (https://www.triplepundit.com) focuses on integrating people, planet, and profits into today’s businesses. Their Web site has thousands of readers who are sustainability decision makers, consultants, entrepreneurs, corporate change agents, MBA students, and others who seek to create a better world through the power of business. • US AID microLINKS (https://www.microlinks.org) is a knowledge-sharing set of applications and tools to improve the impact of micro-enterprises. The site provides access to information on micro-enterprises including best practices, proven approaches, examples of partners and practitioners, a library of documents,
reports and tools, and a broad array of strategies. The site includes a range of seminars, blogs, and enterprise development resources.
