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What Is a Social Entrepreneur?
By: Bill Drayton
Entrepreneurs have always been the drivers of progress. In the
business world, they act as engines of growth, harnessing opportunity
and innovation to fuel economic advancement. Social entrepreneurs, like
their business brethren, are similarly focused; they tap into vast
reserves of ambition, creativity and resourcefulness in relentless
pursuit of hard, measurable results. But social entrepreneurs seek to
grow more than just profits. Motivated by altruism and a profound
desire to promote the growth of equitable civil societies, social
entrepreneurs pioneer innovative, effective, sustainable approaches to
meet the needs of the marginalized, the disadvantaged and the
disenfranchised. Social entrepreneurs are the wellspring of a better
future.
Throughout history, such individuals have pioneered solutions to
seemingly intractable social problems, fundamentally improving the
lives of countless individuals, as well as forever changing the way
social systems operate. Among them are Florence Nightingale, who
transformed hygiene practices at hospitals, dramatically reducing death
rates; Maria Montessori, who created a revolutionary education method
that supports each child’s unique development; and, more recently,
Muhammad Yunus, who began offering microloans to impoverished people in
Bangladesh in 1976 to allow them to become economically
self-sufficient, a model that has been replicated in 58 countries
around the world. So while social entrepreneurship isn’t a new concept,
it is gaining renewed currency in a world characterized by a growing
divide between the haves and the have-nots.
Today social entrepreneurs are working in many countries to create
avenues for independence and opportunity for those who otherwise would
be locked into lives without hope. They range from Gillian Caldwell of
WITNESS, who uses video and communications technology to document human
rights abuses, to Amitabha Sadangi of International Development
Enterprises-India, who develops low-cost irrigation technologies to
help subsistence farmers survive dry seasons. They include Victoria
Hale of Institute for OneWorld Health, who taps existing but abandoned
pharmaceutical research to bring new drugs to the world’s poorest
people, and William Foote, who promotes a more equitable and
sustainable model of international trade for a range of commodities,
including coffee.
These individuals and other social entrepreneurs share a commitment
to pioneering innovations that reshape society and benefit humanity.
Whether they are working on a local or international scale, they are
solution-minded pragmatists who are not afraid to tackle—and
successfully resolve—some of the world’s biggest problems.
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Aaron Martirano
Kathy Hamilton