Social Entrepreneurs Want to Change the World
Social entrepreneurs are the equivalent of true business entrepreneurs but they operate in the social, not-for-profit sector building 'something from nothing' and seeking innovative solutions to social problems
- Their aim is to build ‘social capital' and ‘social profit'
to improve the quality of life in some of the most 'difficult' and 'excluded'
communities
- Their work reaches the parts of society other policy initiatives do not
touch
- They identify unmet social need and generate solutions based on a close
reading of the views of those most directly affected
- They normally work in creative partnership with central and local government,
business, the churches, charities and other local and national institutions,
and they are skilled at constructing such partnerships
- They have frequently achieved ambitious projects and far-reaching change,
in the most unpromising circumstances and with minimal resources
- They recognise, encourage and employ skills from different faiths, cultures,
traditions and backgrounds, bringing them together in new and creative
ways to address practical problems
- They are skilled at re-directing, using and regenerating under-used, abandoned,
redundant or derelict human and physical resources (skills, expertise,
contacts, buildings, equipment and open spaces)
What they do
- Find innovative solutions to society's most pressing problems
- Bring to life a strong sense of community in an alienating environment
- Identify under-used resources - people, buildings, equipment - and use
them to satisfy unmet social needs
- Create ‘a different kind of value' - creating and investing in
social capital, the network of relationships and shared values on which
economic activity depends
- Help people take charge of their lives - many social entrepreneurs help
to create jobs
- Spot gaps in provision
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