Social Entrepreneurship is front and center at Rio+20

Skoll Foundation tells us why they are there:

“Because a critical mass of people can surprise you: over 70,000 decision-makers and social change actors are in town. There really has never been more peer pressure for social change, showing the world scalable solutions to the world’s most pressing problems. And right here, on the peninsula outcropping between Copacabana and Ipanema beaches, Skoll and our close partners AVINA, Ashoka and the Fundaçao Roberto Marinho, are hosting the 3 day Forum on Social Entrepreneurship and the New Economy. It’s one of the most public events at Rio+20, celebrated on national TV in Brazil and included in Rio+20 agendas. Social entrepreneurship is front and center…”

Skoll Foundation at Rio+20: Why We’re There « Skoll Foundation.

#socent #rioplus20 #empreendeRio20

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What Exactly Is Social Entrepreneurship?

via NextBillion.net

From Forbes: What Exactly Is Social Entrepreneurship?

My comments: The for-profit and non-profit worlds are merging. For-profits see the monetary advantage of green practices and investing for social benefit. The fair trade market is a good example. Fair sells.

On the flip side, non-profits understand that they must not only be mission-driven, but also be able to demonstrate measurable returns– social returns– on their investments. The key words are impact, scalability, and sustainability.

So when it comes to the social entrepreneur, he’s, well, an entrepreneur like any other– mostly. The gist of it, according to the author of this Forbes piece, is that the social entrepreneur strives to operate by business standards while bringing the dual returns of profit and social outcomes.

Should social entrepreneurs focus on monetary profit as well as doing good? Can they do both well at the same time? What do you think?

What makes an entrepreneur social?

“Social entrepreneur” is a term with many definitions and one that keeps changing. But, in my own words, a social entrepreneur is a leader and someone who innovates to meet a need and solve human and environmental problems.

The Huffington Post has joined the Schwab Foundation to dedicate an entire page to social entrepreneurs. You can check it out, and follow it on Twitter, here:

HuffPost Social Entrepreneurship

One evolving change in the perception of social entrepreneurship has to do with profit. With the advent of social business and social venture capital, a venture can be for profit or nonprofit but in either case there needs to be a social return on investment.

Some continue to feel that social ventures have been traditionally nonprofit and should stay that way. They feel uncomfortable with “making money off of the poor”.

What do you think? Should an entrepreneur with a social venture make money?

Catch the Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship TODAY

Sadly, the Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship, March 28-30, 2012 at the University of Oxford, England,  is by invitation only. Sadly, I won’t be there. But I can live vicariously through the Internet!

Why have a world forum on social entrepreneurship? Because it matters! A lot.  By the way, this link is to Skoll Foundation CEO Sally Osberg’s post on the Huffington Post.  And Ariana Huffington is a featured speaker at the forum this year.

 

 

For those of us who can’t be in Oxford, video recordings of select presentations are available online and also in live stream. Here’s the schedule:

Hey, I’ve got some new shoes on…

Here is one of those inspiring stories about people making a difference with simple, yet powerful ideas.  Take a couple minutes to listen to this audio of an interview with Blake Mycoskie, founder of Toms Shoes.

It’s BOGO philanthropy! And I gotta love it.

Scratch-offs + cell phones = energy.

Read how this social entrepreneur is bringing a pay-as-you go system to provide the world’s poorest people access to solar energy:

1. Get a unique code from a scratch-off card.
2. Send a text with the code to a local service.
3. The service that will then credit the specified personal solar cell.

From the Sun (Bypassing the Grid) to the BoP Consumer.

Social businesses are reaching and improving the lives of the world’s poorest

The Impact of Social Media

Check out this video on TED.com. It is not that social media can change the world. It already has in profound ways.

How Social Media Can Make History

Remember when it was cool to have a cordless phone? Have things changed!