What is a "Social Entrepreneur"?

Those of you who have read my blog, The Green Skeptic know that I have been searching for and sharing stories of people, organizations, companies, methods, and models for profound social change. You may have read my article on the subject here on gather or you may just be curious, a seeker of change like me. However you arrived here, I hope we can explore this subject together.

First, what are we talking about? Social Entrepreneurism is a fairly new term for a phenomena that has actually been around for quite some time. Many social innovators and change agents could be considered social entrepreneurs. Here are some definitions:

Daniel Bornstein in his book How to Change the World defines social entrepreneurs as "people with new ideas to address major problems who are relentless in pursuit of their visions, people who will not take 'no' for an answer, who will not give up until they have spread their ideas as far as they possibly can." Bornstein profiles a number of social entrepreneurs from around the world, individuals who have helped bring electricity to remote parts of their country, help low-income high school students get into college, or developed home-based care models for AIDS patients.

The Ashoka organization, founded by Bill Drayton, describes the "job of a social entrepreneur is to recognize when a part of society is stuck and to provide new ways to get it unstuck. He or she finds what is not working and solves the problem by changing the system, spreading the solution and persuading entire societies to take new leaps. 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."

Wikipedia's definition reads, a "social entrepreneur is someone who recognizes a social problem and uses traditional entrepreneurial principles to organize, create, and manage a venture to make social change."

J. Gregory Dees of Stanford University, in his 1998 article on the subject wrote, "The idea of 'social entrepreneurship' has struck a responsive chord. It is a phrase well suited to our times. It combines the passion of a social mission with an image of business-like discipline, innovation, and determination commonly associated with, for instance, the high-tech pioneers of Silicon Valley. The time is certainly ripe for entrepreneurial approaches to social problems. Many governmental and philanthropic efforts have fallen far short of our expectations. Major social sector institutions are often viewed as inefficient, ineffective, and unresponsive. Social entrepreneurs are needed to develop new models for a new century."

I share these definitions to help us arrive at a common understanding of what is a "social entrepreneur." There are other definitions and some misunderstandings we could also explore. For now, please feel free to share your thoughts on these definitions or offer your own definition. It will help us get on the same page in our dialogue.--Scott Edward Anderson