The M.A.P. Maker

Social entrepreneurship: Video inspiration from Skoll Foundation

One of the things that I'm over-the-moon inspired about is the cumulative potential for positive change that comes as more of us start asking the question, "What kind of difference do I feel called to make?" and incorporating the resulting insights into our career choices. (See What is meaning? for more on how I see that playing out)

From a making-a-difference perspective, it has been uber-exciting to watch the social entrepreneurship movement that has been building over the last few years. Here is a good short video (9 minutes) from Skoll Foundation that takes a look at the social entrepreneurship trend and its potential to make the world a better place.

If that sparks your interest, spend some time watching the other videos that Skoll Foundation offers. They're short and compelling. You might even want to make a habit of watching one first thing in the morning to set the right tone for your day.

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by Curt Rosengren, Passion Catalyst

Bill Gates: We need more creative capitalism

When I look around at the world, one of the things that gives me great hope is the fact that more and more people are waking up to the fact that business, the markets, capitalism, etc. has the potential to be a force for tremendous good. Social entrepreneurship, corporate social responsibility, socially responsible investing, etc., all have the potential to make a significant positive impact.

So it was interesting to find an article in Time magazine by Bill Gates, talking about that very thing. His phrase for it is "creative capitalism." He notes that, while capitalism has had a substantial positive effect on the lives of many, far too many others have been passed by completely. One billion people live on less than a dollar a day, lacking nutritious food, clean water, and electricity.

As Gates sees it, for real change to occur, creative capitalism needs to be part of a whole system that includes government and non-profits.

...the world will make lasting progress on the big inequities that remain — problems like AIDS, poverty and education — only if governments and nonprofits do their part by giving more aid and more effective aid. But the improvements will happen faster and last longer if we can channel market forces, including innovation that's tailored to the needs of the poorest, to complement what governments and nonprofits do. We need a system that draws in innovators and businesses in a far better way than we do today.

Speaking of things that give me hope, Gates has this to say about the new generation of people in the work force...

There's another crucial benefit that accrues to businesses that do good work. They will find it easier to recruit and retain great employees. Young people today — all over the world — want to work for organizations that they can feel good about. Show them that a company is applying its expertise to help the poorest, and they will repay that commitment with their own dedication.

The piece that appeals to me most about all of this is, as Gates points out, the fact that positive change has the potential to "happen faster and last longer" when paired with the power of the markets.

Doing well by doing good fuels its own positive progress.

[hat tip to The Huffington Post's James Boyce for the link]

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Time for a career change? Launch it with...
The Occupational Adventure Guide:
A Travel Guide to the Career of Your Dreams

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by Curt Rosengren, Passion Catalyst

What is a social entrepreneur?

I've been having a lot of conversations lately about social entrepreneurship (not least because I've been talking to a lot of social entrepreneurs). I'm really psyched about the positive potential as more and more people explore the possibilities i n that arena.

While the idea has gotten a lot of play in the media of late, I've also found that there is no single tidy definition of it. With that in mind, it was interesting to find this collection of social entreneur definitions over on PBS' Enterprising Ideas site. They give their own definition first:

A social entrepreneur, in our view, is a person or entity that takes a business approach to effectively solving a social problem.

They then go on to offer definitions from a variety of organizations:

Social entrepreneurs...

Are individuals with innovative solutions to society's most pressing social problems.
Ashoka

Act as the change agents for society, seizing opportunities others miss in order to improve systems, invent and disseminate new approaches and advance sustainable solutions that create social value.
  PBS "New Heroes" Program

Are driven by a social mission and a desire to find innovative ways to solve social problems that have been neglected by either the market or the public sector.
  Kauffman Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership

Are pioneers of innovation that benefit humanity.
  The Skoll Foundation

Use the disciplines of the corporate world to tackle daunting social problems.
  Fast Company

Recognize a social problem and uses entrepreneurial principles to organize, create, and manage a venture to make social change.
  Wikipedia

Social entrepreneurship is...

The art of "simultaneously pursuing both a financial and a social return on investment (the double bottom line)."
Institute for Social Entrepreneurs

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Curt Rosengren, Passion Catalyst ^TM