The Real Problem Solvers: Social Entrepreneurs in America - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0804774412 ISBN 13: 9780804774413

Verlag: STANFORD BUSINESS BOOKS, 2012

Inhaltsangabe

Today, "social entrepreneurship" describes a host of new initiatives, and often refers to approaches that are breaking from traditional philanthropic and charitable organizational behavior. Nowhere is this more true than in the United States-where, from 1995-2005, the number of non-profit organizations registered with the IRS grew by 53%. But, what types of change have these social entrepreneurial efforts brought to the world of civil society and philanthropy? What works in today's environment? And, what barriers are these new efforts breaking down as they endeavor to make the world a better place?

The Real Problem Solvers brings together leading entrepreneurs, funders, investors, thinkers, and champions in the field to answer these questions from their own, first-person perspectives. Contributors include marquee figures, such as Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus, Ashoka Founder Bill Drayton, Jacqueline Novogratz, Founder of the Acumen Fund, and Sally Osberg, CEO of the Skoll Foundation. The core chapters are anchored by an introduction, a conclusion, and question-and-answers sections that weave together the voices of various contributors. In no other book are so many leaders presented side-by-side. Therefore, this is the ideal accessible and personal introduction for students of and newcomers to social entrepreneurship.

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Ruth A. Shapiro is the Principal of Keyi Strategies, a consulting firm specializing in creating broader networks, understanding, and business ventures between individuals and companies in Asia, Europe, and the United States. She is Social Entrepreneur in Residence at the Commonwealth Club of California. Shapiro was the founder of the Asia Business Council where she is now Senior Advisor.

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THE REAL PROBLEM SOLVERS

SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURS IN AMERICA

Stanford University Press

Copyright © 2013 Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-8047-7441-3

Contents

Acknowledgments.........................................................................................................................................................................xiList of Contributors....................................................................................................................................................................xv1 Introduction..........................................................................................................................................................................12 Investing in Microfinance Premal Shah, President, Kiva...............................................................................................................................193 Dollars, Sense, and Dignity Conchy Bretos, Founder, Mia Senior Living Solutions......................................................................................................304 The Power of an Economic Niche Mary Houghton, President and Co-Founder, ShoreBank Corporation........................................................................................385 Building on Faith Louise Burnham Packard, Founder and Executive Director, Trinity Boston Foundation..................................................................................496 The Entrepreneurs: A Conversation.....................................................................................................................................................597 The Power of Social Entrepreneurs Sally Osberg, President and CEO, Skoll Foundation..................................................................................................698 A Hybrid Approach to Supporting Social Entrepreneurs Matt Bannick, Managing Partner, Omidyar Network.................................................................................819 Harnessing Entrepreneurial Energy William Foote, Founder and CEO, Root Capital.......................................................................................................9210 The Strength of Business in Sustainable Change Jacqueline Novogratz, Founder and CEO, The Acumen Fund...............................................................................10211 Funders and Investors: A Conversation................................................................................................................................................11112 A Community Committed to Social Entrepreneurship Christopher Gergen, Founder and CEO, Forward Ventures..............................................................................12313 Social Entrepreneurship and Social Innovation: What's New, and Why Is It Important? Kriss Deiglmeier, Executive Director, Stanford Center for Social Innovation.....................13214 The Blended Value Imperative Jed Emerson, Founder, Blended Value....................................................................................................................14115 The Thinkers: A Conversation.........................................................................................................................................................15116 Collaborative Entrepreneurship: The Way to the "Everyone a Change-Maker" Society Bill Drayton, Founder, Chairman, and CEO, Ashoka...................................................16317 Building Social Business Muhammad Yunus, Founder, Grameen Bank......................................................................................................................17718 The Champions: A Conversation........................................................................................................................................................18719 The New Thinking about Social Entrepreneurship.......................................................................................................................................199Bibliography and Suggested Resources....................................................................................................................................................215Index...................................................................................................................................................................................219

Chapter One

INTRODUCTION

The term social entrepreneur and the field of "social entrepreneurship" are not universally agreed-upon constructs. In fact, they are complex, contested, and changing, with definitions, methods, and fields of engagement often as unique and varied as the individuals themselves who are innovating in this field.

My own foray into this work began in 1997, the year of the crash of the bhat in Thailand and the start of the Asian economic crisis. During my doctoral work comparing American and Japanese international development assistance, I had become a believer in the power of business in economic development. I did not go so far as to side with the "trade not aid" mantra, but I do believe that business has to be an integral part of any country's economic development strategy and tool kit. During the Asian economic crisis, Asian companies were facing new challenges that had not heretofore been part of their world. Many Asian companies, weaned within the cozy confines of their home economy, had become regional and begun to face new and important competitive challenges, including the need to compete without the support of their home governments, the realities of differing cultural expectations, and, in 1997, exposure to volatile capital markets and currency fluctuations caused by the crisis. Massive downsizing coupled with the lack of a social safety net in many Asian economies increased the political and social turbulence in the region. It became clear that companies needed to think through not only the specific challenges of responding to the crisis but also the larger question of what the role of the corporation was in society.

In response to this need, I felt it was my role to help them with this conversation and ideally to help provide the tools for them to be engaged corporate citizens. I decided to create the Asia Business Council, a membership organization of primarily Asia-based CEOs, to help them think through what the role of the corporation is in society and what it means to be an Asian firm today. I raised all the start-up capital, built the organization, recruited the members and the staff, put into place programs that had never been part of the Asian landscape, and pioneered a new type of CEO membership organization in the region. It was innovative and bold, and the Council became an important player in the nascent world of business–civil society intermediary organizations of Asia.

In the meantime, the emerging field of social entrepreneurship was continuing to grow and develop. The attributes of a social entrepreneur that I read about, such as the ability to see and seize an opportunity, unwillingness to cede defeat, tenacity, and the ability to reconfigure a strategy when approaching a dead end, were all characteristics that had allowed me to successfully create and build the Council. My family and I moved to Hong Kong in 2003 so I could continue to build up and run the Asia Business Council. When I came back to the United States, it was not immediately clear whether I could become a "serial social entrepreneur" as well as build on my own...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: STANFORD BUSINESS BOOKS
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2012
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 0804774412
• ISBN 13: 9780804774413
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 226
• Herausgeber: Shapiro Ruth A.
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Mare Nostrum Group B.V.; gpsr@mare-nostrum.co.uk; ; Doelen 72; Breda; 4831 GR; Niederlande