I want to be a Social Entrepreneur when I Grow Up

LAUREN GARDNER, Chief Operating Officer

 

You don’t hear a lot of elementary school kids saying they want to be social entrepreneurs when they grow up -but more and more you are hearing this desire from college students, MBA candidates, mid-career professionals and retirees.  

 

Of course if you asked someone to define social entrepreneurship a few years ago very few people (including me) would have been able to.  Greg Dees of the Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship (CASE) at Duke’s Fuqua School of Business defines it as:

“Social entrepreneurs play the role of change agents in the social sector, by:

• Adopting a mission to create and sustain social value (not just private value),

• Recognizing and relentlessly pursuing new opportunities to serve that mission,

• Engaging in a process of continuous innovation, adaptation, and learning,

• Acting boldly without being limited by resources currently in hand, and

• Exhibiting heightened accountability to the constituencies served and for the outcomes

created”

As the Chief Operating Officer of the Emily K Center I get to put these characteristics to work every day and see how they are changing the lives of our students.  I also get to see a whole generation of college students engage with an organization where they see that this approach can cause real change – and they want to be a part of it.  I won’t be surprised if in a few short years, our elementary school students will list it was one of their “dream careers”.  When that day comes, here is my personal list of entrepreneurial organizations I would recommend they check out: 

• Teach for America (TFA): An innovative model whose real power lies in its alumni network and the multiplicative effect it has had across education, business, and policy
• Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP): An example of the TFA network in action and a powerful model that is changing the paradigm of what is possible in K-12 education
• Grameen Bank: Nobel prize winning Muhammad Yunus shows what happens when an idea (microfinance) becomes more than about building an organization but building a movement
• City Year: An example of the power that corporate involvement can have in increasing the impact of volunteer organizations
• U.S. Peace Corps: The program that made me want to be social entrepreneur so it has to make this list!

September 17, 2008 at 9:16 am | Our Movement | No comment

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