Relevance Is Vital For Social Entrepreneurship

Without a clear perspective of the relevance of the product or service and the readiness of the society to accept it, the chances of social entrepreneurship to succeed are difficult. Knowing the people to whom the venture or product is meant for is critical according to Kris Gopalakrishnan, Chairman, Axilor Ventures and Co-founder, Infosys. Talking at the UK-India Social Entrepreneurship Education Network (UKISEEN) seminar, he said innovating and scaled up follows.

Naveen Jha, Chief Executive Officer, Deshpande Foundation, stated that the relevance is missing in most of the social entrepreneurship, especially in the farming sector. Gururaj Deshpande, President, and Chairman, Sparta Group LLC attributed the success to funding, self-sustaining and profit-making.

Centre for Social Innovation & Entrepreneurship (CSIE), IIT-M and Social Impact Lab, University of Southampton came together for an initiative called Social Enterprise Education Programme (SEEP). UKISEEN is initiated by British Council.

Alumni of IIT-M, who shared their experiences and the challenges they faced while pursuing social ventures. Deshpande said “Technological innovations are all about coming up with an innovation that the world hadn’t seen before and had an impact. Social changes, on the other hand, deal more with relevance. The ideas you bring to solve the problem need not be patent-able or a new concept.”

Without bridging the gap between the entrepreneurs and people, the success would be elusive. The social change being dynamic process the purpose needs to change as per the needs of the people. The supply chain management would see the percolation of benefits is up to all levels of beneficiaries. Kris is of the opinion that rather than relying on the data, direct interaction with people would be more realistic. A good rapport and trust would be the key.

Stressing the need for proper funding, Deshpande concluded “In the non-profit sector, due to the lack of feedback, you could be developing a product that the people don’t necessarily require. The need of the hour is to bring execution excellence to the non-profit sector and compassion back into the for-profit sector,”.

Reference URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/relevance-is-vital-for-social entrepreneurship/article9479324.ece

Sixto Cancel, CEO, Think of Us

Sixto Cancel is the founder and CEO of Think of Us, a non-profit organization that aims at bridging the gap between technology and human welfare. It is a web and mobile life-coaching platform that helps foster youth navigate their transition to adulthood. The organization was incorporated in 2014, and since then, there has been no looking back!

Today, Think of Us is a team of volunteers, freelancers, and part-time staff. The team has engaged child welfare systems across the nation to accelerate integration. In less than two years, Think of Us has been able to co-ordinate with a pool of leaders in child development, and established cordial relationships with national agencies and philanthropies. Slowly and gradually, Think of Us has leveraged technology, data, and multimedia to improve outcomes for youth. It ensures that the youth is aware of all of the steps that are taken to navigate the foster-care system and are prepared to live independently once they enter adulthood. The organization sincerely believes that merely surviving to adulthood is not enough. Youth deserve the opportunity to become what they aspire to be. It envisages a future where communities are designed in a ways so as to maximize the development and wellness of maturing youth, leading them to healthy, stable, and thriving adults.

Sixto Cancel moved through several foster homes before entering college in 2011. As a young member at Jim Casey Youth Opportunity, Sixto had the opportunity to participate in the national conversations on how to improve outcomes for youth who leave foster care. In 2017, Sixto has been selected as Forbes “Top 30 Under 30 Social Entrepreneurs”. He has also been recognized by the White House as a “White House Champion of Change”. His goal is to help young people utilize the resources at their disposal.

https://www.forbes.com/profile/sixto-cancel/ & http://thinkof-us.org/

Glass Ceiling of Social Entrepreneurship is Being Smashed

Women are Rising to The Top

The sector of social entrepreneurship is now witnessing the rise of women’s involvement. The reality is that women are rising to the top of the field and they are actually smashing the glass ceiling which was previously set by other male majority entrepreneur pool. This trend of female domination in the field is giving a new dimension for innovative ideas along with the development of business ideas which can solve serious social problems.

The Vastness of the Business Field

Women as social entrepreneurs are venturing into such niches which were previously underestimated. Right from training the rats to the offering of microfinance facilities to the farmers in India, the field of social entrepreneurship led mostly by women are not just targeted at gaining profits but also in bringing meaningful social changes. The ultimate goal of business has now been set in improving the lives of the people who actually need them badly. The entire business planning is based on earning profit along with doing well for the society. So, it can be said that this women dominated world of social entrepreneurship aims at maintaining a healthy balance sheet and doing something really helpful instead of just charity work.

Status of Women’s Success and Reason for the Same

Recent survey reports reflect that the women are better equipped in management works. In the Philippines most active social entrepreneurs are women. Major European nation like the United Kingdom also shows the similar trend where 40% of the social entrepreneurs are women. The female force is extremely good at building strong networks with their respective communities. They aim at improving their own family conditions and thus their effort result in acceleration in the field they work in.

The Biggest Challenge

The major challenge faced by social entrepreneurs comes from the investors, governments, and the general public. Everyone consider social entrepreneurship business as charitable work and thus hesitate to lend their support and service. This is undoubtedly huge loss on the potential that can actually make the world a better place to live.

Reference URL:

http://www.huffingtonpost.in/entry/social-entrepreneurship-w_b_12043044

Start-up and Solution Building in Sweden

Stockholm Waterfront Congress is buzzing with activity for the forthcoming STHLM start up meet where entrepreneurship will reach new dimensions. The second most innovative country is reeling under fund crunch as well as refugee influx. Every month Hilton Hotel in Stockholm would witness a mini Tech Meetup. The American Tyler Crowley is the event manager to this prestigious meet. He can predict the pulse almost accurately.

In August 2016, the Hilton meet saw social start-ups for a change- Norrsken Foundation, Impact Invest, Zennström Philanthropies and Impact Hub Stockholm. At last, those social entrepreneurs are coming out changes other than their set domains-positive impact on lives, health, safety and sustainability. And of course, they venture to build the solutions.

He thinks Swedes are solving a lot of the wrong problems among many good ones. Social engineers have to wake up towards the climatic changes, natural disasters, water scarcity and sustainability. After all, Swedes are there to meet the global challenges and goals during the solution summit.

The visitors to the Solutions Summit are keen to explore the takeover tie-up, investment or even copying. Technically the event is based on a non-profit motive. The start-up is like regular start-ups, partners and investors event are working toward achieving the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.

The event manger has no hesitation in calling Bill Gates as a social entrepreneur. A seamless convergence of authorities, business and social causes is called. In other words, isolation of one aspect from other would impair the social uplift to a very great extent. But Sweden is known to follow the sound policies propagated by the Government without much of resistance. And obviously, the growth of technology, social engineering as well as start-ups in Sweden takes a faster kick- start pace comparatively. They believe in social spirit more as well. The Stockholm syndrome, the social apathy and sympathy of the hostage, is another social engineering. 

Keeping Food Chain Beneficial To Lower Strata

The Common Market mooted by social entrepreneur Tatiana Garcia-Granados is uncommon in many ways. She helps to provide healthy food to the lower strata of the society who cannot afford in the standard case. By doing so, this Entrepreneur from Philadelphia also help the local farmers to bypass the middlemen. Her innovative and inspiring way of approaching the problem has a bearing in her choosing her dwelling at Strawberry Mansion, affluent community. But the neighbourhood was far from appealing or likable. Dilapidated houses, spiraling crime rates, unclean and unhealthy living was the signature of the neighbourhood. It was occupied predominantly by poor Afro-American and Latin community. The food related diseases were predominant there. Healthy food, fruits, and vegetables were not in their reach.

Garcia-Granados, an MBA graduate, found out that nearby farms were producing healthy organic food, but the logic of distribution was missing. She rejigged entire regional food infrastructure and launched the non-profit Common Market. The common market acting as a wholesaler connects local farms to the user directly. The users include the downtrodden community as well.

The scalability was the hurdle. To overcome the lacuna of small quantity distribution, the Common Market roped in Sodexo, Aramark and Compass Group who supply the institutional buyers including schools, reaching 14,000 kids.

The scale of operation with infrastructure storage and distribution network with small profit margin was another bottleneck. By changing to the non-profit portfolio, this was solved. Soon grants started flowing in.

This year, the Common Market with 35-employee business expects to touch s $4.5 million turnovers. They are planning logical expansion beyond Philadelphia to Atlanta, New York, Chicago and the Central Texas area. The growth surpassed all and solved a national problem; she and the Common Market could redefine and rewrite the food system as a whole. The healthy and cheerful children numbering few thousands would certainly vouch for it.

Philanthropist Roles in Social Entrepreneurship

Philanthropists can contribute more on Social Entrepreneurship. We can reshape philanthropy’s way of considerably better promote sociable marketers. Philanthropists are able to create ongoing savings, believe greater danger as well as helpless popular tips than organizations or perhaps governing bodies. Philanthropy will likely be essential. In the past, philanthropic savings were treated as charity as well as picked in an often-capricious manner. The standard approach was to provide moderate one-year loans confined to precise use. The scenario has changed a lot. Philanthropists are increasingly involving Social Entrepreneurship by the donor with the organization on the receiving end and a method of financing similar to that of undertaking funds. On a high stage, philanthropy carries transferred from palliative to curative. This shift has involved seeking innovative ideas, concentrating on excellent performance social marketers, providing long-term capital along with managerial guidance and rigorously tracking results.

Many donors are giving multiple loans, regardless of whether through control talking to, lobbying help, enterprise strategy development, or similar function. Venture philanthropy, as well as social entrepreneurship, will dominate philanthropy in the twenty-first century. The limitations of the venture capital model for sociable entrepreneurs are that it must be not designed to help an enterprise once and for all. Long-term help is governing bodies, making earnings through sociable enterprise, or affected person capital revenue. Half of those proposed techniques in which philanthropy could redeploy assets to harness social internet marketers more effectively.

Social marketers engage more efficiently with businesses as well as governing bodies. Philanthropists are actually in a position to create a neutral area for making ideas also to catalyze the necessary trades between social marketers as well as policy makers and between social entrepreneurs as well as the enterprise field. Philanthropies have influence with educational facilities as well as the schooling program generally they might use to promote schooling and research on social internet marketers. They could offer training support to attract students to learn in the field. Foundations might help the creation of modern media websites to promote the sharing and exchange of knowledge. Foundations can also help programs for coaching baby boomers in social entrepreneurship to promote this grouping to modify makers in their encore professions.

Finally, philanthropy could help the progress of advisory services that allow sociable investors to create professional investment judgments. Philanthropies should be very clear whenever providing their advantages for finishing a relationship with a recipient organization, as well as companies should always do what they have been effective at. Foundations might be sure that failing or perhaps mediocrity leads to reductions or withdrawal of financing. The area of philanthropy could encourage social entrepreneurs to enroll together in firms, in which they share expertise, check suggestions, release undertakings and also provide consulting advice to bigger customers.

 

2017 Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship

On the 14th Annual Skoll World Forum, the 2017 winners were announced, and the Skoll portfolio touches a century mark of social entrepreneurs.

Essentially they are the leaders in the making. These leaders go a bit unconventional in making life sustainable for the society. The changes they bring to the world are significant. A spirit of status-quo breaking is seen in all of them. They have many things in common-  concern for the downtrodden, positive attitude towards life, determination for arriving at a solution. They all show optimism in their thinking and deeds. They give hope for more peaceful, prosperous, and sustainable future is within reach. These four awardees received US$1.25 million core support.

Kola Masha: Babban Gona

Half the young Nigerians are unemployed. Here is where ‘Babban Gona’ could come with an agricultural solution. The business model she presented was giving the youth self-supporting income. Kola Masha helped small farmers a lot. She helped them get training, finance credit, agricultural inputs, marketing support, and other vital services. ‘Babban Gona’ could prove a substantial increase in agricultural yield.

Dr. Elizabeth Hausler: Build Change

Dr. Elizabeth Hausler changed the design concept for buildings in places where natural disasters killed many people. The retrofitting disaster-resistant homes and schools, her organisation ‘Build Change’ increased the survival rate in nations which are vulnerable to earthquakes and typhoons. She roped in seismic engineers to produce low-cost solutions in disaster-resilient construction.

Dr. Rajesh Panjabi: Last Mile Health

‘Last Mile Health’ helps in reducing the infant mortality. Dr. Rajesh Panjabi is associated with Government in imparting training in maternal and child health, family planning, treatment adherence, and surveillance of epidemics. He also trains nurses for remote area services.

Bradley Myles: Polaris

‘Polaris’ run by Bradley Myles aims at reducing criminality and human trafficking by disrupting human trafficking networks.

Reference URL: https://probonoaustralia.com.au/news/2017/04/2017-skoll-award-social-entrepreneurship/

 

Social Entrepreneurship and Leadership Characteristics

The social entrepreneurship and leadership characteristics are integrated and cannot be isolated. The organisation’s long term goal is oriented around the active leadership implementation. The dynamic situation shall have to be acknowledged to meet the challenges in the balance of growth. The cost benefit ratio, often ignored, should be reworked with the accountability fixed without any ambiguity.

In the process of transformation of a successful social entrepreneurship, ten leadership qualities emerge. They are honesty, delegation ability, communication, confidence, commitment, creativity and ability to inspire. Besides, there is a 4E principle that is universally accepted. They, in turn, can be summarised as envision, energise, enable and empower. This is an equivalent of the 4P principle in management. One of the biggest problems faced in social entrepreneurship is that the people involved are full of vision and energy but no managerial exposure. Just zeal may not bring out the best organisation, but decisive leadership are called for.

This is particularly the case as business procedures need to be implemented, teams built and money earned to run a social enterprise successfully. The role model concept of the successful entrepreneurs shall be percolate down to the lowest hierarchy of followers and employees. Successful leadership is infectious. The follower’s urge to stick will vary with the geographical locations, the concept of teamwork, academic background, age, gender, etc. However, no hard and fast rule can be applied with ease.

The leadership qualities include self-development of the employee and mutually agreed on performance goals. This is the key to unleashing their followers’ potential, engagement and creativity. Managing the leader and the team members with a solid rapport, utilising a common vision and core values, are crucial. As a corollary, an autocratic leadership ill does not flourish beyond a certain extent. Empowering leadership includes aspects such as encouraging independent action, self-development of the employee and mutually agreed on performance goals and is the key to unleash their followers’ potential, engagement and creativity.

Reference URL: http://www.schwabfound.org/…/leadership_in_social_enterprise_2014.pdf · PDF file

http://www.forbes.com/sites/startupviews/2012/06/08/5-essential-qualities…

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