Social Entrepreneurship Revisited

At the risk of rambling and knowing this is no bully pulpit - we save that for face to face sessions. Be forewarned and move on, if so inclined.

Paul C. Light's item in SSIR - see above for link - continues from a previous piece, Reshaping Social Entrepreneurship, Aug 06. The August item essentially calls for a "big tent" with greater inclusivity. Given the trepidation among funders/investors and the professionals engaged by civil society and non-governmental organizations toward "social entrepreneurs", perhaps a big tent was comforting.

That was then, and Paul currently writes,

I have drilled through hundreds of articles and books on social and business entrepreneurship, and I have surveyed 131 highly, moderately, and not-too-entrepreneurial organizations. And I discovered that many of the assumptions that I rejected in 2006 turned out to be true after all. Whereas I once believed that virtually everyone could become a social entrepreneur, I am now convinced that there are special sets of attitudes, skills, and practices that make social entrepreneurs and their work distinctive from more traditional public service. As a result, I have become much more concerned about how we can identify potential social entrepreneurs, give them the training and support they need, and increase the odds that their work will succeed.

I shudder considering a dark future where some game-changing b-school unveils a new degree programme ... the MSIb (Master of Social Innovation in Business), the lowercase "b" ... 'cause it's social innovation via business - baby.

I have nothing against training, skill enhancement, or any other device to sharpen mental acuity; however in the case of social entrepreneurs, success hinges on resilience, near term clarity, story-telling, and the acceptance of uninformed - from the social entrepreneurs viewpoint - scrutiny.

These behaviors allow the social entrepreneur to attract resources that refine and advance the undertaking instead to diffusing the raison d'etre of the enterprise.

The eco-system that supports the current dis-equilibrium (as perceived by the social entrepreneur) will persist. Why? That eco-system is supporting, invariably a "good solution" based "on the resources available". The social entrepreneur's "great solution" will be trumped by the "good solution" unless a new eco-system, one fashioned by the social entrepreneur, can be introduced.

And ... ya can't train that!
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Interested in learning more about social enterprise? Take a browse through the Vancouver Social Enterprise Book Store (Vancouver | United Kingdom | United States) and see what other social entrepreneurs recommend reading.

Tags for information about: for:vsef, Social Entrepreneur, Nonprofit, Social Innovation

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[Worth Hearing] Finding Philanthropy's New Sweet Spot: What Is The Future Of Venture Models?

If you follow the Stanford Social Innovation Review you already know about the March 20th event, Finding Philanthropy's New Sweet Spot: What Is The Future Of Venture Models?

If you don't read it, here's a good reason ...

At the forum, Finding Philanthropy's New Sweet Spot, the focus was on philanthropy's role in the evolving landscape of how donors can achieve social change. Some familiar names highlighted lessons learned from existing philanthropy models and offered perspectives on a rapidly changing landscape.

The best part ... there's audio. Enjoy courtesy of SSIR and Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors.

Keynote — Venture Models: Past and Future — Katherine Fulton, President, Monitor Institute (44:48 minutes)

Katherine Fulton looks back over a decade of rapid change in the field of philanthropy, and she challenges foundations to find the new sweet spots that will enable them to deliver social change in an ever-changing world.

Thought Leader Response to Keynote — Matthew Bishop, Chief Business Writer/American Business Editor, The Economist (12:49 minutes)

Matthew Bishop, author of The Economist special survey supplement "The Business of Giving" looks at the industrial revolution taking place in philanthropy and reacts to Katherine Fulton's remarks about the past and future of philanthropy.

Thought Leader Response to Keynote — Clara Miller, President and CEO, Nonprofit Finance Fund (15:14 minutes)

Clara Miller shares her views on the limitations of venture philanthropy today and reacts to Katherine Fulton's remarks about the past and future of philanthropy.

Thought Leader Response to Keynote — Kim Smith, Co-Founder, NewSchools Venture Fund (12:34 minutes)

Kim Smith shares her organization's approach to delivering impact and comments on Katherine Fulton's remarks on the past and future of philanthropy.

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Tags for information about: for:vsef, Social Enterprise, Nonprofit, SSIR

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[Recommended Read] Social Entrepreneurship: The Case for Definition

The Spring 2007 issue of the Stanford Social Innovation Review (SSIR) features the paper Social Entrepreneurship: The Case for Definition. It's worth a read.

Here's a snippet:

Social entrepreneurship is attracting growing amounts of talent, money, and attention. But along with its increasing popularity has come less certainty about what exactly a social entrepreneur is and does. As a result, all sorts of activities are now being called social entrepreneurship. Some say that a more inclusive term is all for the good, but the authors argue that it’s time for a more rigorous definition.

Here's a little about the authors of the paper.

Roger Martin has served as dean of the Joseph L. Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto since 1998. He is director of the school’s AIC Institute for Corporate Citizenship and serves on the board of the Skoll Foundation. In 2004 Martin received the Marshall McLuhan Visionary Leadership Award, and in 2005 he was named one of Business Week’s seven “Innovation Gurus.”

Sally Osberg has served as president and CEO of the Skoll Foundation since 2001. Before joining Skoll, Osberg was executive director for the Children’s Discovery Museum of San Jose. She sits on the boards of the Oracle Education Foundation and the Children’s Discovery Museum. Her essay on philanthropy’s changing landscape is included in Social Entrepreneurship : New Models of Sustainable Social Change, published in 2006 by Oxford University Press.

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Interested in learning more about social enterprise? Take a browse through the Vancouver Social Enterprise Book Store (Vancouver | United Kingdom | United States) and see what other social entrepreneurs recommend reading.

Tags for information about: for:vsef, Social Enterprise, Nonprofit, SSIR

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