What is Social Entrepreneurship?

What is Social Entrepreneurship?

By Samantha Garner, GoForth Institute

 

Social entrepreneurs are all about creating new combinations of people and resources that significantly improve society’s capacity to address problems.

The most popular definition of social entrepreneurship was offered by Greg Dees, who is often referred to as the father of social entrepreneurship education. According to Dees, social entrepreneurs create new combinations of people and resources that significantly improve society’s capacity to address problems.

A social entrepreneur measures success by the impact that he or she has on society. Highly passionate, the greater good of the community is their primary interest. These entrepreneurs are also called non-profit or philanthropist entrepreneurs. Funding for social entrepreneurship typically comes from non-profit organizations, foundations, governments and non-governmental organizations.

Examples of social entrepreneurship businesses include Seventh Generation, which produces eco-friendly cleaning and personal hygiene products; charity:water, a non-profit organization "bringing clean, safe drinking water to people in developing countries"; and Embrace, which "works to improve healthcare in low-resource settings to help vulnerable newborns survive and thrive."

 

Samantha Garner is GoForth Institute's Director, Communications.  Contact Samantha by email: samantha@goforthinstitute.com