Social Entrepreneurship

Note: Below content summarizes, or is directly excerpted from, The Unofficial Student Guide to Social Entrepreneurship at Harvard and Beyond, 2008-2009 (284KB pdf).

What is a Social Entrepreneur?

Social entrepreneurs are challengers of social inequities and  forgers of a "new, stable equilibrium" that opens up a  more promising future to marginalized individuals and communities. Most  social entrepreneurs start by isolating one solution specific to a social dilemma and then mobilize, creating a transformative enterprise as remedy. They tend to measure success with more than one bottom line, such as financial profit in tandem with social or environmental impact whereas traditional organizations tend to be more single-minded and just consider monetary gain.

In contrast to social activists (those who take indirect action) and social service providers (those who work within the system), social entrepreneurs use new and improved methods to provide a product or service that "disrupts" rather than"changes" the status quo.

More calling than career, social entrepreneurship is a driving vision that compels one to a particular social outcome.  Five main character traits distinguish entrepreneurial leaders:

• Agent of Change Guided by a passion for what they do, social entrepreneurs use uncanny insight to create innovative solutions to social problems.

• Creativity Uninterested in doing what is already being done but in a better way, social entrepreneurs strive for solutions that make predecessor methods obsolete.

• Direct Action While others waste time waiting, discussing, evaluating, convincing others, social entrepreneurs act. They come up with products or services that directly meet needs and bring them to market.

• Courage Even though they face risks and failure repeatedly while pursuing their objectives, social entrepreneurs rarely take "no" for an answer.

• Fortitude Relentlessly focussing on measurable results, social entrepreneurs never tire of working through obstacles. They push the market into innovative ways to meet needs.

Is Social Entrepreneurship a Realistic Path for HGSE Graduates?

Education professionals are ideally suited to social entrepreneurship. Many HGSE graduates make major contributions to this growing field. Some collaborate with alumni from other schools at Harvard University. A sampling of organizations founded or co-founded by HGSE alumni include:

• Eric Schwartz, Citizen Schools, Boston, MA
• Eric Dawson, Peace Games, Boston, MA
• Geoffrey Canada, Harlem Children's Zone, New York, NY
• Jon Schnur, New Leaders for New Schools, New York, NY
• Jennifer Anastasoff, Building Blocks International, San Francisco, CA

What Resources are Available?

There are a slew of resources available to alumni pursuing social entrepreneurship.  Many university and external resources  support this career path.

Networking Activities

• Forum for Social Entrepreneurs (Boston University)
• HKS Careers in Social Change Fair
• Hauser Center "Craft" Workshops on Nonprofit Start-Ups

Business Plan Competitions

• HBS Business Plan Competition: Social Enterprise Track
• MIT $100K Competition
• Tufts $50K Social Entrepreneurship Business Plan Competition

University-Sponsored Resources

• Harvard Kennedy School Center for Public Leadership
• Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations at Harvard University
• Harvard Business School Social Enterprise Initiative
• MIT Legatum Center for Development and Entrepreneurship
• Harvard Alumni Entrepreneurs
• Philips Brooks House Association at Harvard College
• Stanford Business School Center for Social Innovation
• Duke Fuqua Center for the Advancement of Social Enterprise
• Oxford Said Business School Skoll Center for Social Entrepreneurship
• Columbia Business School Research Initiative on Social Entrepreneurship

Funding and External Support Agencies

• Ashoka
• Echoing Green
• E M Kauffman Foundation
• Endeavor
• Lemelson Foundation
• Institute for Social Entrepreneurs
• NESsT
• New Profit
• New Sector Alliance
• Omidyar Network
• Root Cause
• Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship
• Skoll Foundation
• Social Enterprise Coalition
• TIE Boston
• World Bank Development Marketplace

Helpful Websites

• Accelerator
• Frontline World Social Entrepreneurs Series
• Guidestar
• Oxford Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation
• Social Enterprise Alliance
• Social Enterprise Associates
• Social Enterprise Initiative (HBS)
• Social Enterprise Initiative Business Plan Contest
• Social Enterprise Knowledge Network
• Social Enterprise Reporter
• Social Venture Network
• Stanford Social Innovation Review
• Startingbloc
• TED: Ideas Worth Spreading

Recommended Reading

• Life Entrepreneurs: Ordinary People Creating Extraordinary Lives, by Chris Gergen and Gregg Vanourek (2008)
• Forces for Good: The Six Practices of High-Impact Nonprofits, by Leslie Crutchfield (2008)
• How to Change the World: Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas, by David Bornstein (2007)
• Entrepreneurship in the Social Sector, by Jane Wei Skillern, James Austin, Herman Leonard, and Howard Stevenson (2007)
• The Power of Unreasonable People: How Social Entrepreneurs Create Markets that Chanage the World, by John Elkington and Pamela Hartigan (2007)
• Social Entrepreneurship: New Models of Sustainable Social Change, by Alex Nicholls (2006)
• Strategic Tools for Social Entrepreneurs: Enhancing the Performance of Your Enterprising Nonprofit, by J. Gregory Dees (2002)