Social Entrepreneurs and Social Entrepreneurship: The New Face of Startups

Although social entrepreneurship is not a new practice, it is only in the last few years that the term “social entrepreneur” has emerged. Social entrepreneur is used to describe persons who establish enterprises primarily to meet social objectives rather than generate personal financial profit. Though specific definitions vary, social entrepreneurship essentially boils down to using entrepreneurial approaches to solve broad social problems.

William Drayton is the person most often credited for first using the term Social Entrepreneurship to describe entrepreneurial enterprises that exist for the purpose of bringing about greater social good. Drayton is founder of Ashoka, the world’s first organization devoted entirely to promoting social entrepreneurship. The story goes that he was inspired by the Vinoda Bhave’s “Land Gift Movement,” which sought to break the cycle of poverty among India’s most poor residents by persuading wealthier people to surrender their land for a more equitable redistribution to the less fortunate.

The actual concept of social entrepreneurship stretches much farther back, all the way to the 18th and 19th centuries. Industrialist Robert Owens was one of the earliest pioneers in the field of social entrepreneurship. His first efforts centered upon opening a company store for his mill workers. The store offered workers top quality goods and prices just above wholesale cost. The purpose of this venture was not to earn money but to improve the quality of workers’ lives and give them access to goods that would otherwise be unattainable.

Five Recognizable Social Entrepreneurs

There are many entrepreneurs that can be identified as social entrepreneurs. From the past and into the present. These are heroes in the entrepreneurial world. Here are a few of them:

1. Florence Nightingale. She’s the most prominent nurse in the world. During her time she fought for the betterment of hospital cleanliness and hygiene. More than that, she’s the first person to start a nursing school.
2. Margaret Sanger. She started the Planned Parenthood Federation of American. Promoting awareness in sexual reproduction and reproductive health issues especially for women.
3. Bill and Melinda Gates. After retiring from Microsoft, he started a foundation with the mission to eradicate malaria from the face of the earth.
4. Mark Zuckerberg. While his efforts in Facebook can’t be said to be social entrepreneurship, his initiative to bring free Internet to developing countries is a great project that could bring social change.
5. Scott Harrison. Lack of clean and accessible drinking water is sadly something that millions of people (some estimates put it at more than a billion) worldwide face every day. After a moment of clarity in Liberia, club promoter Scott Harrison decided to make it his mission to improve access to clean and accessible drinking water for some of the world’s poorest communities. Since launching his social venture, Scott has delivered clean drinking water to more than a million people in 17 different countries around the world.

Organizations with a Social Mission

Big organizations that help social entrepreneurs is nothing new. They were made to facilitate and promote businesses that are sustainable yet socially conscious. Here are a couple of them:

• Ashoka: With the motto “everyone a changemaker” the organization aims to help entrepreneurs under their banner to uncover patterns that lead to social development in various spaces.
• Schwab: They have a select community of social entrepreneurs in both regional and global scale. They aspire to push social entrepreneurship to spark progress and societal innovation.

Startups with a Social Mission

There are many startups in the non-profit space with a social mission. There are also many for-profit startups that aim to help create change in the world.

• Evaptainers. Cheap and portable refrigeration without electricity. Their mission is to reduce spoilage in developing countries.
• Pencils of Promise. They bring in school supplies to poor kids developing countries. They believe that all children should have access to quality education.
• Change.org. If you signed any worthy online petitions before, chances are you might’ve heard of them. This platform allows people to create petitions for causes they care about.
• Vote.org. A great startup that aims to improve voter turnout.
• Crisis Text Line. A helpline for troubled people. This New York based startup already processed about 20 million messages since 2013.

It’s great to earn money as a startup and prove employment to people. It’s an even greater goal to make a living and help change the world through valuable products and services.