Social Entrepreneurship
Social entrepreneurship involves either businesses serving social ends, or social programs run in the manner of businesses.
Description
"Social entrepreneurship involves either businesses serving social ends, or social programs run in the manner of businesses. The idea is to leverage business' unparalleled ability to get things done in order to serve needs which have traditionally been addressed solely through charity and governmental entitlements. Critics charge that this blurring of the boundary between profit- and change-making enterprises leads many funders and investors to commit category errors when judging social enterprises, often demeaning the true goals (poverty reduction, public health, etc.) when those goals prove resistant to business-modeled fixes, but such approaches have also, quite clearly, worked in a number of cases." (http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/006704.html)
Key Books to Read
- How to Change the World: Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas (2004). David Bornstein
The book that helped launch “social entrepreneurship” into the mainstream, “How to Change the World” provides fundamental background on the evolution of the field by profiling a number of innovative social entrepreneurs and the organizations like Ashoka that support them.
- The Power of Unreasonable People: How Social Entrepreneurs Create Markets that Change the World (2008). Pamela Hartigan and John Elkington
In some ways a natural evolution from the earlier How to Change the World, this work focuses more on the way that social entrepreneurs are tapping into the financial potential of the worlds poorest to create both economic and social value.
- The Blended Value Map: Tracking the Intersects and Opportunities of Economic, Social and Environmental Value Creation (2004). Jed Emerson and Sheila Bonini
This essential and indispensable work situates social entrepreneurship and enterprise in the larger context of a growing conversation and collaboration between the traditional for-profit and nonprofit sectors.
- Just Another Emperor? The Myths and Realities of Philanthrocapitalism (2008). Michael Edwards
Even the most ardent supporters of social entrepreneurship shouldn’t be intimidated by critique, and Edwards’ work – particularly on the potential negative consequences of viewing social
List from: http://socialentrepreneurship.change.org/blog/view/top_reads_in_social_entrepreneurship
More Information
- Video: PBS New Heroes series on Social Entrepreneurs
- Socialedge.org and Changemakers.net are online communities dedicated to social entrepreneurship with interactive discussions, written features, and more.