How Changing Careers Lead Four Social Entrepreneurs Change the World

Problem solving has helped humans build and preserve civilizations throughout the ages. A person is inclined to take steps to fix something that is broken. But there are few who go the extra mile and influence or create positive change in society and the world through entrepreneurship. These people are the social entrepreneurs.

But did you know that some of these social entrepreneurs started out in a very different path? Some of them even had to make the drastic move of leaving a stable occupation and comfortable life in order to answer the call of helping solve society’s problems.

Here are four notable social entrepreneurs who bravely turned away from the comfortable life and became who they are today:

Patrick Struebi

Struebi founded Fairtrasa after he left his successful executive position, sold all his belongings and went to straight to Mexico. It was here when he encountered many small-scale farmers who struggled with production and keeping up with the global market. He then built Fairtrasa (Fair Trade South America) by 2005 to help these farmers. The company continues to grow internationally ever since, helping more farmers as it does.

Scott Harrison

Who would have thought that a commercial promoter from New York could become a social entrepreneur? In search for a deeper calling, Harrison left New York and travelled with the humanitarian organization Mercy Ships in providing medical aid to poverty stricken countries. This enabled him to create charity:water, an organization that provides clean and safe water to poor communities around the world.

Suzanne Ma

It’s not every day that your spouse will go full support on a crazy startup idea but this is what happened to Suzanne Ma. She was on her way to bigger success as a journalist in New York but she left it all and went to China. While there, she started her own research without much support except form her parents and husband. Her study yielded the Routific, a startup company that optimizes delivery fleet routes in order to help reduce greenhouse gases and decrease waste. Her husband jumped right in and left his job as a banker. The couple has never been fulfilled all their lives.

Karen Aiach

Lysogene was founded by Karen Aiach due to desperation in finding a cure for her daughter’s rare neurodegenerative disease. Prior to this, she had zero knowledge of biotech. Now, Lysogene pioneers therapies for brain disorders aside from being a biopharmaceutical company.

Irish Social Entrepreneurs Doing Well by Doing Good

In Reuben Street in Dublin, inside the 11-meter tall geodesic dome amidst rows of brick buildings grows lettuce hydroponically. And that is happening in Ireland where conservatism was the way of life. All thanks to the social entrepreneurship, a growing wave of capitalism trend catching up there. Like the lettuce sprouts, Ireland is coping up with the newly sprung up social entrepreneurs innovating better ways to do well. They all have a mission to fulfil socially with the spirit of entrepreneurship to encourage innovations.

Like Pace, Social Enterprises sells planter boxes employing released jail birds. The ex-offenders are fully engaged, and the repeat offense is reduced.

Grow Dome, hires young men in the neighbourhood teaching them new skills in gardening and cultivation.  The hydroponic systems of lettuce farming reduce the power bill drastically. A sustainable community garden both environmentally and financially is the aim of Grow Dome. The profit is used to have committed workforce in the pay roll.

Camara Ireland refurbishes and sells donated computer equipment to schools in Ireland and around the world. They are convinced that ‘sustainability is one of the advantages social enterprises have over charities.’ This is an ecologically viable motive as well.

Take the case of House of Akina produces fashionable bow ties and accessories with profits supporting migrant women through education and employment.

ReCreate goes one step further by utilising surplus materials from companies for art projects. The Green Kitchen, a cafe that hires people with disabilities is another innovation. CoderDojo teaches children about computer languages. And MobilityMojo is helping disabled travelers. Frontend, a Dublin-based start-up helps immigrant labourers.

FoodCloud who won the ThinkTech award recently started with an app to let grocery store managers’ alert nearby charities when they had excess food that would go to waste. The have provided the equivalent of 2.5 million meals to date to the needy.

Ireland is changing in social entrepreneurship in an accelerated way.

Reference URL: http://www.irishcentral.com/business/startups/irish-social-entrepreneurs-doing-well-by-doing-good

Fighting Skin Cancer with UV Detection Stickers

Nanotechnology students Derek Jouppi, 25, and his two cofounders Martinko and Sweeting, founded Suncayr to help people detect skin cancer. Without any social background, these budding engineers plunged into social entrepreneurship.
They found that skin cancer is prevalent and can be prevented. People try sunscreens but do not know when to reapply. They came out with a changing color indicator to tell the user when the effect of the sunscreen faded. Suncayr is a smart UV indicating sticker that changes color with UV light, letting youknow when your sunscreen need be reapplied.
Surprisingly, the project was overwhelming accepted with over $700,000 in capital and 47 grants and pitch competitions. Their first invention was a pen to draw the ink on your skin, but that was a flop. Safety was the major deterrent. After two years they came out with a viable product -the UV SPOT sticker. The market acceptability was slow but promising.
The market feedback was the driving force for them to develop something useful and viable. This validation is critical in product development, according to the founders. Not the answer they wanted to hear but something critical and factual.
Identification of the customer’s constraints acceptability and priority concerns should be given prime importance, for example, the safety of the child is very important in using the product which the parents would not compromise.
As Suncayr encountered child safety concerns, there are many external factors that could affect a customer’s willingness to buy into your proposed solution. By identifying the problem areas that customers are most concerned about. The acceptability has also bearing on the privacy and security of the users. The cost and health issues are the next serious concerns.
The color change is reversible, can last all day, leaves no tan line, and is removable at the end of the day. It can be applied anywhere you want and is very water-resistant.

Reference URL:https://www.forbes.com/sites/under30network/2017/09/20/how-these-founders-are-fighting-skin-cancer-with-uv-detection-stickers/#7a7c70596317