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?

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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.

What’s your bright idea?

Okay, I stole that line from the campaign for the 2012 IDEAS Energy Innovation Contest.  The contest launched yesterday on 2/15/2012 and is co-sponsored by the Inter-American Development Bank.

If you have the best idea(s) for access to renewable energy and energy efficiency in Latin America and the Caribbean, you may be awarded up to $200,000! Feeling inspired yet?

Of course, the $200k is to fund implementing your idea and comes with technical and business support to make your bright idea happen.

The deadline for applications is April 30, 2012.

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!