Christopher Gray, the Social Entrepreneur, CO FOUNDER – SCHOLLY

Here is a little advice from Scholly’s Christopher Gray to Budding Social Entrepreneurs. Christopher Gray had to undergo much financial hardship during his stint at college. His endeavor to get any scholarship did not materialize. He wrote articles, essays and desertions on leadership and community service, he could manage to raise $1.3 million. Later while doing his course at Drexel University in Philadelphia, he started a social enterprise. That app is known as called Scholly that ‘matches students with a personalized list of scholarships’ that touched the top on iPhone. With this app, students could raise more than $50 million.

He also won the prestigious Forbes’s “30 under 30” award. He is just 25 now but is the right candidate to advise the new enterprises

He wanted to be a technical entrepreneur. His siblings were toddlers when he went to college, and they were children of a single mother. He wanted to help his siblings and many others through Scholly. He got a picture of students struggling financially.

A mentor is a basic necessity to start a social enterprise. But a lot of persuasions is needed to get them involved. Your friends could help in locating one. Students needed the need direction and guidance in completing their studies.

Christopher Gray’s first seed capital came from Cupid’s Cup of $75,000 followed by $32,000 in an incubator competition. He urged students and entrepreneurs to look forward in improving their skills in fulfilling their dreams. He urged “Leverage your University” which included a shout out to his Alma mater, Drexel. He stressed that there is inexpensive way to complete education.

Scholly initiative, which seeks educational institution and corporates by offering students and employees access to the scholarship-tracking platform, is unique in many ways. The very reason why seven institutions of higher learning and many corporates signing up so far is a classic example of the movement.

Gray will also be receiving the Smithsonian American Ingenuity Award for Youth Achievement soon.

Reference URL: http://technical.ly/philly/2016/11/09/scholly-christopher-gray-nyt-advice/

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/06/education/edlife/christopher-gray-on-how-to-be-a-social-entrepreneur.html

A Students Pathway to an I &E Certificate Through Social Entrepreneurship

A student in senior public policy major with innovative mind, Shelby Wailes, attended a programme jointly offered by DukeEngage and Duke I&E made a sea change in the energy scenario

And the social entrepreneurship in her was kindled with the DukeEngage Detroit programme. That programme allows students to have dedicated service experiences in organizations using social innovation to tackle some of the city’s greatest challenges.

Then she returned to Duke and pursued the certificate course. That was instrumental in exploring her how to merge what innovation and entrepreneurship in a better way. She joined McKinsey after graduation as a consultant. But her dream of becoming a social enterprise went more compelling day by day.

NextEnergy was an energy accelerator the first internship under DukeEngage Detroit that Shelby Wailes took up. She was fascinated by the new avenues in energy scenario like different energy efficient utilities and making them work for the society. Her second internship was at a children’s hospital in Washington, D.C., in making affordable paediatric medical devices. She could see a link between health and energy, though they are unrelated.

The idea of making innovation work for social benefits was instilled in her, and she could see the prospect of commercialisation in these industries.

Wailes learned in her public policy classes how the government mechanism helps to provide resources and help society. Also how social entrepreneurship can have a complimentary role in a private sector and public association venture. That certificate was given her broader aspects in decision-making and problem-solving. The innovation and entrepreneurship can be useful in any ventures one can plunge into is what she learned from these courses

She said that it would be giving you the incentive to think about things in different perspective. It will give an insight of how to get things done.

“What’s been most exciting for me, as someone with a lot of various passions in different things, is being able to get these tools to use innovation and entrepreneurship in a bunch of different fields.” she said.

Reference URL: https://today.duke.edu/2017/02/students-pathway-ie-certificate-through-social-entrepreneurship

 

Qaiser Highlights Potential of Social Entrepreneurship

Pakistan needed it very badly – social enterprise to boost the national economy. It was as endorsed by Qaiser Ahmad Sheikh chairman of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue. During a seminar organised by Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), he said that Government is taking all possible steps to make this a reality. Changes in fiscal policy are called for making the entry and operation of social entrepreneurship hassle free. These are required to bring down the cost of doing social business for the welfare of the downtrodden.

It is likely that the laws governing social entrepreneurship would come forth before the budget itself. The Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue was working on various ideas to simplify SECP laws and facilitate this sector. The missing link of the definitions and needs shall have brought out to assist the legal remedy and entity to entrepreneurship.

Dr. Vaqar Ahmad, deputy executive director of SDPI also stressed on this factor, seeking government support and legal stature. Some provincial planning departments shall be beneficial than a large centralized set up in supporting the social enterprises (SEs) very much.

The social entrepreneurship is lagging behind in self-sustainability due to the missing identity. This is the opinion expressed by Omar J Ghani; South Asia regional director at ENCLUDE the supportive legal framework is a must to attain this goal.

The forthcoming budget could provide additional support to start-ups and social entrepreneurship towards capacity creating a business model suitable for building the necessary infrastructure for sustainability.

The banks can come forward in disbursing the required seed capital. They can also correct wherever the lacuna exists. The federal and provincial governments could also come forward in distributing necessary steps in public procurement of goods and services.

The British Council is also taking an interest in the development of the SE. The Social Entrepreneurship & Equity Development (SEED) is hopeful that social enterprise was going to contribute significantly to the economy of the country.

Reference URL: http://nation.com.pk/business/03-Feb-2017/qaiser-highlights-potential-of-social-entrepreneurship

Social Entrepreneurship in the Middle East: Old Practice, New Concept

The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region—including Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, and Algeria— have something in common. The social entrepreneurship spirit is high. These countries are branded as underdeveloped countries.

The Social Enterprise Outcome is essentially on the road to progress within the constraints of Governmental apathy, economic outlook, and cultural background on the societal needs of each country. The profit motive is taking a back seat when the social concern towards the underprivileged is becoming the priority. An innovative solution a social entrepreneur can offer is a viable business model, production, and distribution aspects.

Social Enterprise Governance is the optimal legal frameworks facilitation growth for the social enterprises. Naturally, the financial sustainability and its governance are complementary. But this factor can vary from country to country pretty widely.

Social Entrepreneur Agency, the critical aspect of transparency, dependability, and accountability may not be instantaneous within the existing social framework of mindset. Or for that matter, it may take years to get the necessary mutual trust.

A social enterprise shall have to take into account of ethical values as well as in environmental standards to formulate the ideal business model to practice. The growth potential of a social entrepreneurship shall have a bearing on the history of the regions. That includes corruption, nepotism, racism and tolerance.

The motive force that protects social entrepreneurs and allows them to become the new agents of change in their countries has to be implemented with caution.

The social and civic responsibility in these regions is not that well streamlined and hence, any radical change will meet initial resistance. In translating the social commitment to a sensible move with solidarity takes time and effort. To save the MENA region from falling into greater poverty, corruption, and sectarian violence should be the ulterior motive.

The famous Lebanese proverb ‘Aljar label altar’ (Your neighbour before your family) though find bit hypothetical may be the answer for MENA’s problem- education, healthcare, and clean water. A new conceptual thinking of legal frameworks, the contextual definition of social innovation, social entrepreneurs as agents of change, and solving discrimination is indeed evolving.

Reference URL: https://ssir.org/articles/entry/social_entrepreneurship_in_the_middle_east_old_practice_new_concept