header

Social enterprise combines the best of private initiative with public purpose. It is a methodology for doing great work, not an industry. A way of looking at the world that is bigger than self, but successful none-the-less.

Social entrepreneurs are people who lead social enterprises, and they come from the public, private and non-profit sectors. They are people who believe that being socially responsible — in their work and their life — is a business imperative in the 21st century. Social entrepreneurs believe that old-world practices are obsolete and must be redesigned through innovation, entrepreneurship and an eye toward sustainability.

The evolution of the "organization" in the 21st century is being lead by this emerging group of leaders. They are interested in doing good while doing well and use entrepreneurial thinking and innovative practices to do their everyday work. They aren’t different from any other business-person, executive director or public official except that they do share a common point of view: They believe that if we think, if we try, if we care, we cando good without doing harm, we can stay strong without taking advantage of the weak, and we can leave the planet in better shape than when it became ours to care for.

Becoming a socially entrepreneurial organization starts with becoming aware, aware of the lasting effects that the organization has on its people, its customers, the economy, the environment and the world as whole. From small non-profits to mega-sized multi-nationals, CEOs, Executive Directors and public officials are finding that some of the old ways just aren’t cutting it anymore — especially for the new breed of thinkers poised to lead us into the future.

In these innovative, socially responsible organizations, management becomes leadership, command and control becomes teamwork and consumption become reclamation. In these organizations the heart and the head work in tandem leading to long-term strategies instead of short-terms gains. In these organizations success is measured in years not quarters, in effect not effort, and in a bottom line that takes into account not just dollars, but sense.