Good Fortune: Doing Good and Doing Well
Sydney 2008: Advertisements for British Petroleum (BP) in proud green and gold, boast the company’s investment in renewable energy. Apparently, Talk stopped long ago. A banner above a watering-hole on George Street makes it known that the establishment has now become ‘carbon-neutral’: a phrase that seems to have edged its way into the vernacular. In supermarkets, organic, fair-trade and ethical products are creeping in amongst the usual suspects upon the shelves.
Today’s general public is one that has been shaken by environmental doomsday films from Al Gore and Leonardo DiCaprio. It is a public that have listened to sermons on eradicating poverty delivered by rock-star gurus. It is a public that are more aware, socially and environmentally, one would hope. Today, philanthropy exists alongside advanced capitalism; consumer culture can be conscientious, and the role and potential of the pragmatic visionary is becoming increasingly relevant. So who are these pragmatic visionaries? Enter the social entrepreneur.
The definition of a social entrepreneur is at best varied (and at worst overly inclusive). The most popular definition comes from Bill Drayton, the founder of Ashoka, a global non profit association geared toward supporting social entrepreneurship. Drayton says of the social entrepreneur, “Social entrepreneurs are not content just to give a fish, or teach how to fish. They will not rest until they have revolutionized the fishing industry.”
A similar definition comes from Sally Osberg and Roger Martin who distinguish the social entrepreneur from social activists and social service provision in that the activities of the social entrepreneur are those of direct action in which the outcomes create a “permanent new equilibrium” i.e. real social change. As the Skoll Foundation, another organisation devoted to celebrating the social entrepreneur concludes, these are, “Leaders who have identified sustainable solutions to social problems that have fundamentally changed society.” A hybrid of sorts: Mother Teresa meets Richard Branson.
A roll call of prominent social entrepreneurs might yield the names of Muhammed Yunus, the founder of Grameem Bank (GB), who reversed conventional banking practice providing credit to the financially crippled of rural Bangladesh and in turn redressing poverty at large. Or, Harish Hande, the managing director of SELCO, the Solar Electric Lighting Company, who provide sustainable energy services in India to underserved households and businesses and in doing so create social and environmental benefits for customers and stakeholders.
These are people who solve social problems through innovation and the capitalist system. As Gina Vega and Roland Kidwell note, “They are risk takers who balance social activism with some degree of business savvy.” Individuals doing well and doing good.
Gina Vega, Roland E Kidwell. (2007, October). Toward a Typology of New Venture Creators: Similarities and Contrasts Between Business and Social Entrepreneurs. New England Journal of Entrepreneurship, 10(2), 15-28. Retrieved January 22, 2008, from ABI/INFORM Global database.
Roger L. Martin and Sally Osberg. (2007, Spring). Social Entrepreneurship: The Case for Definition. Stanford Social Innovation Review. Retrieved January 22, 2008, from http://www.skollfoundation.org/media/skoll_docs/2007SP_feature_martinosberg.pdf.
Popularity: 3% [?]
