Social Enterprise
What is Social Enterprise?
Social enterprise can be challenging to define, in large part because the concept has been evolving rapidly in recent years and increasingly blurs the lines of the traditional business, government and non-profit sectors.
Social Enterprise Alliance suggests the following basic working definition:
Organizations that address a basic unmet need or solve a social problem through a market-drive approach.
Spectrum
In recent years, traditional non-profits have become more entrepreneurial and interested in generating earned revenue to supplement charitable contributions, while traditional businesses have begun to integrate greater levels of social responsibility and sustainability into their operations. The growth of social enterprise is a reflection of this convergence and helps fill the void between traditional approaches that have focused singularly on creating either social impact or financial returns.
Is Social Enterprise New?
Yes and no. There are examples of social enterprise that are more than 100 years old, but social enterprise is relatively new as a growing sector of activity in the U.S. and beyond.
For example, Goodwill Industries pioneered the notion of “a hand up, not a handout” in 1902 when they began employing the poor to mend and repair used goods that could then be resold to the general public or provided for free back to the poor. Still today, Goodwill aims to provide economic self-sufficiency and in 2014 created employment and job training opportunities for more than 2 million people while generating more than $4.6 billion in revenue – 86% of its total budget – through retail sales and other earned income sources.
In recent years, social enterprise has become more prominent, with growing interest and attention from investors, consumers, universities, media and policymakers. The rise of “impact investing” and “conscious consumerism” are reflective of social enterprise’s development as a field, as are the growing number of university courses, the attention from Forbes and other mainstream media, and government support through the White House’s Office of Social Innovation and Social Innovation Fund.
What Is the Role of Social Enterprise in Addressing the World’s Problems?
Social enterprise is not a silver bullet, but it is a promising approach to fulfilling unmet needs and fostering genuinely “triple-bottom-line” organizations. It’s certainly not the only solution, but it is most definitely a solution.
For traditional non-profits, social enterprise can be a powerful complement to other activities when it advances the social mission and the financial sustainability of the organization.
For new start-ups – non-profits and for-profits – social enterprise gives entrepreneurs the ability to bake social impact and financial sustainability into the organization’s DNA from its outset.
For traditional businesses, social enterprise initiatives enable a company to integrate social impact into business operations and prioritize social goals alongside financial returns. To learn more about for-profit social enterprise, check out our article on B corps and public benefit corporations.
One of the most interesting and exciting aspects of social enterprise’s evolution is the growing variety of issues being addressed by social enterprises. Today, social enterprises are disrupting markets across every industry and tackling social challenges throughout every corner of the world. A few representative examples include:
Grameen Bank, which makes small loans to the poor for small business development and other uses. Since its inception in the 1970s, Grameen has provided $10 billion in loans to more than 10 million people, and has proven the need and viability for financial services to the poor. Grameen received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 as a reflection of its efforts and success.
Greyston provides the homeless employment in a bakery that makes brownies for Ben & Jerry’s ice cream. As Greyston says, “we don’t hire people to bake brownies, we bake brownies to hire people.”
D.Light designs affordable solar-powered devices that provide an option to people that lack access to reliable energy sources. In its eight-year history, D.Light has sold more than 10 million solar lamps, improving the lives of 50 million people.
What is Social Enterprise?
Social enterprise can be challenging to define, in large part because the concept has been evolving rapidly in recent years and increasingly blurs the lines of the traditional business, government and non-profit sectors.
Social Enterprise Alliance suggests the following basic working definition:
Organizations that address a basic unmet need or solve a social problem through a market-drive approach.
Spectrum
In recent years, traditional non-profits have become more entrepreneurial and interested in generating earned revenue to supplement charitable contributions, while traditional businesses have begun to integrate greater levels of social responsibility and sustainability into their operations. The growth of social enterprise is a reflection of this convergence and helps fill the void between traditional approaches that have focused singularly on creating either social impact or financial returns.
Is Social Enterprise New?
Yes and no. There are examples of social enterprise that are more than 100 years old, but social enterprise is relatively new as a growing sector of activity in the U.S. and beyond.
For example, Goodwill Industries pioneered the notion of “a hand up, not a handout” in 1902 when they began employing the poor to mend and repair used goods that could then be resold to the general public or provided for free back to the poor. Still today, Goodwill aims to provide economic self-sufficiency and in 2014 created employment and job training opportunities for more than 2 million people while generating more than $4.6 billion in revenue – 86% of its total budget – through retail sales and other earned income sources.
In recent years, social enterprise has become more prominent, with growing interest and attention from investors, consumers, universities, media and policymakers. The rise of “impact investing” and “conscious consumerism” are reflective of social enterprise’s development as a field, as are the growing number of university courses, the attention from Forbes and other mainstream media, and government support through the White House’s Office of Social Innovation and Social Innovation Fund.
What Is the Role of Social Enterprise in Addressing the World’s Problems?
Social enterprise is not a silver bullet, but it is a promising approach to fulfilling unmet needs and fostering genuinely “triple-bottom-line” organizations. It’s certainly not the only solution, but it is most definitely a solution.
For traditional non-profits, social enterprise can be a powerful complement to other activities when it advances the social mission and the financial sustainability of the organization.
For new start-ups – non-profits and for-profits – social enterprise gives entrepreneurs the ability to bake social impact and financial sustainability into the organization’s DNA from its outset.
For traditional businesses, social enterprise initiatives enable a company to integrate social impact into business operations and prioritize social goals alongside financial returns. To learn more about for-profit social enterprise, check out our article on B corps and public benefit corporations.
What Are Some Examples of the Problems Social Enterprises Are Tackling?
One of the most interesting and exciting aspects of social enterprise’s evolution is the growing variety of issues being addressed by social enterprises. Today, social enterprises are disrupting markets across every industry and tackling social challenges throughout every corner of the world. A few representative examples include:
Grameen Bank, which makes small loans to the poor for small business development and other uses. Since its inception in the 1970s, Grameen has provided $10 billion in loans to more than 10 million people, and has proven the need and viability for financial services to the poor. Grameen received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 as a reflection of its efforts and success.
Greyston provides the homeless employment in a bakery that makes brownies for Ben & Jerry’s ice cream. As Greyston says, “we don’t hire people to bake brownies, we bake brownies to hire people.”
D.Light designs affordable solar-powered devices that provide an option to people that lack access to reliable energy sources. In its eight-year history, D.Light has sold more than 10 million solar lamps, improving the lives of 50 million people.
Dispensary of Hope aggregates prescription medications that are nearing their expiration date and redistributes these drugs to free clinics in low-income communities. Clinics pay Dispensary of Hope a monthly subscription fee that covers basic expenses, and drug manufacturers save money by avoiding costs associated with destroying expired products.
TerraCycle upcycles packaging and other non-recyclable consumer waste, keeping it out of landfills and turning it into new products. Today, Terracycle has established a recycling network of more than 31 million consumers and 100 major corporate brand partnerships, resulting in more than 3 billion units of garbage averted from landfills and transformed into new, 100% recycled products.
Benetech develops and uses technology to create positive social change. One of Benetech’s signature programs is Bookshare, the largest literacy resource for people with disabilities. Before Bookshare, only 5% of printed materials were accessible to people with disabilities. Today, Bookshare’s more than 330,000 subscribers have access to more than 300,000 titles in a variety of accessible formats.
Warby Parker sells fashionable eyewear to customers in developed markets, and makes a contribution to VisionSpring for each pair sold that enables access to affordable prescription glasses to people in developing countries who are otherwise functionally blind. So far, this partnership has distributed nearly 2.5 million pairs of glasses to those in need.
These are just a few of the tens of thousands of social enterprises that today are addressing important social needs with an approach that has the potential to be efficient, effective and financially sustainable.
What is a Social Entrepreneur?
Social entrepreneurs work to solve critical social problems and address basic unmet needs through innovation. Their entrepreneurial endeavors create system change, improving the lives of underserved or marginalized groups.
Despite the increased attention that social entrepreneurship has received in recent years, there is no precise definition. Various organizations describe social entrepreneurship differently:
Ashoka defines social entrepreneurs as “individuals with innovative solutions to society’s most pressing social problems” who “find what is not working and solve the problem by changing the system, spreading the solution, and persuading entire societies to move in different directions.”
The Skoll Foundation calls social entrepreneurs “society’s change agents, creators of innovations that disrupt the status quo and transform our world.”
In the Stanford Social Innovation Review, Roger L. Martin and Sally Osberg offer a more rigorous definition. A social entrepreneur is “someone who targets an unfortunate but stable equilibrium that causes the neglect, marginalization, or suffering of a segment of humanity; who brings to bear on this situation his or her inspiration, direct action, creativity, courage, and fortitude; and who aims for and ultimately affects the establishment of a new stable equilibrium that secures permanent benefit for the targeted group and society at large.”
What are Some Examples of Social Entrepreneurs?
There are social entrepreneurs all across the world, creating impact in areas as diverse as education, health, technology and more. Examples of social entrepreneurs include:
Muhammad Yunus, who founded Grameen Bank in 1983 to provide micro-loans to the poor in his native Bangladesh and beyond.
Becca Stevens, the founder of Thistle Farms, a social enterprise that treats, supports and employs women who have survived prostitution, trafficking and addiction.
Jim Fruchterman, CEO of Benetech, who uses technology to address unmet social needs frequently overlooked by Silicon Valley.
How Can I Learn More About Social Enterprise and Social Entrepreneurship?
Social Enterprise Alliance is the national membership organization for social enterprise in the U.S., serving as the voice and key catalyst for the social enterprise movement. To learn more about our organization, click here. Get involved in our efforts to support and advance social enterprise by accessing:
Hundreds of articles and studies about social enterprise in our online knowledge center.
Monthly updates on social enterprise sector news, stories, events and more by subscribing to our newsletter.
Connections to hundreds of individuals and organizations involved in the social enterprise ecosystem in our online organization and member directory. A growing network of local, grassroots chapters. Local, regional and national social enterprise opportunities posted in our online events portal and job board.
A national platform highlighting social enterprise products and services in our online marketplace.
To learn more about becoming part of our national social enterprise community, review our membership page. Social enterprise is an idea whose time has come. Are you interested in staying on the forefront of our growing field? Join the movement!
To learn more about becoming part of our national social enterprise community, review our membership page. Social enterprise is an idea whose time has come. Are you interested in staying on the forefront of our growing field? Join the movement!
Social entrepreneurship essentially refers to enterprises that implement techniques to develop, fund and incorporate solutions that benefit or positively impact social, cultural and environmental issues. Here, Top 10 of Malaysia shares its list of the top 10 Malaysian women who share a fierce passion and will in bringing about a positive social change for the better through their entrepreneurial efforts.
Yasmin Rasyid
A marine biologist by profession and an environmentalist by passion, Yasmin founded EcoKnights in 2005. Yasmin spearheaded the world’s first intranasal vaccine against pneumonia for livestock at Profound Vaccine Sdn Bhd which she joined upon leaving WWF-Malaysia. Today, she advocates for environmental sustainability with EcoKnights by speaking at talks like the 14th Science Council of Asia (SCA) International Conference. Mentoring the Entrepreneurship Accelerator Program at MaGiC, she co-founded PopTani recently, an agricultural start-up focusing on aquaponics. Her awards include the Best NGO Leader Award under the Golden Globe Tiger Summit Awards for Excellence 2016 and the Comfori’s Greenman Award 2016.
Nurfarini Daing, myHarapan Youth Trust Foundation
Nurfarini Daing
Nurfarini Daing co-founded myHarapan or the Youth Trust Foundation in August 2010 which has engaged over 25,000 Malaysian youths and funded over 120 social initiatives thus far as it provides conditional grants for youth-led initiatives or enterprises with social impact, replication and scalability. As CEO, Nurfarini brings with her 17 years of experience with startups and, having won the Social Innovation Leadership Award 2015, she has been a speaker at The Global Social Business Summit (GSBS) 2012 in Vienna, among others. Moreover, Nurfarini is a member of the Social Return on Investment network, Asian Venture Philanthropy network and an Alumnus of the INSEAD Social Entrepreneurship Program.
Su Seau Yeen
Su Seau Yeen used to drop by shelters to pass extras to the children after supplying her cakes and pastries to clients. Su realised that 80% of them are raised by single parents or come from broken families and she thought that these parents should be able to work from home, just as she does with her daughter, if given the opportunity. Thus, she formed Simply Cookies in 2014 for single mothers to have the opportunity to do baking and she also conducted culinary classes for children. Su also formed Junior Nutri Chef (JNC), a social enterprise, to educate children on preventing diseases that can be spread through food. JNC is one of the top 6 finalists of Mercy Excellence Award and Simply Cookies won first-runner up for IYRES Hope Award.
Abbie Hosanna
Empowering the people from her hometown in the rural areas of Sarawak has always been Abbie Hosanna’s dream. Upon graduating, Abbie, along with friends Daniel, Suresh and Dawson, initiated The Backyard Tour Guide project to conduct tour guide trainings and connect travellers with the people. It transited into a social enterprise called Backyard Tour under the MaGIC Accelerator Program in 2015 and has grown since. Aiming to be the leading responsible and sustainable tourism provider in Sarawak, it has helped the community bring in the dollars and cents to raise living standards whilst perpetuating the culture of the people.
Nisha Muhammad Faizal
Nisha Muhammad Faizal co-founded Ecocentric Transitions with Lymun in 2010. Workshops are cinducted for youths to explore environmental sustainability by discussing environmental activities that can be done daily. Two years later, they initiated edible garden programmes and the positive reception led them to forming Garden Gym opportunities for corporate partners to volunteer in creating the gardens. Shifting the focus on socializing urban sustainability through consulting, designing and programming, they now provide ecoliteracy modules, garden build packages and consultancy. Past collaborators include the Malaysian Environmental NGO coalition where Nisha has been National Secretary and board member since 2014, associations, developers, international brands and foundations starting to incorporate environmental sustainability.
Dr June Ngo & Jacqueline Fong, Tanoti Sdn Bhd
Dr June Ngo & Jacqueline Fong
The ladies behind Tanoti, privatized in 2012, are Dr June Ngo who acts as technical and creative director for the award-winning songket atelier and Jacqueline Fong, who runs day-to-day operations. Tanoti’s mission is to empower women, preserve heritage and elevate rural communities. At Tanoti House in Kuching, young girls learn songket weaving the purist way where every process of producing songket is undertaken by hand. More recently, Tanoti has incorporated this concept with rattan craft development amongst Sarawak’s Penan tribes. Still semi-nomadic, most have no proper access to income and Tanoti aims to change this by developing their craft potential, paving their way to a wider audience.
Sasibai Kimis, Earth Heir
Sasibai Kimis
Sasibai Kimis left a successful career in finance to start the award-winning social enterprise, Earth Heir in 2013. Earth Heir began with an appreciation for craftspeople and to empower them to achieve sustainable livelihoods. Each piece of craft exemplifies distinctive, personal and cultural narratives and whilst dedicated to the creation and preservation of heritage crafts, it also focuses on sustainability as 10% of revenue is reinvested into the development of artisans, reforestation and animal conservation. In 2015, Earth Heir won the British Council and Arthur Guinness Projects Social Enterprise Award and Sasibai was an Eisenhower Fellow in the Women’s Leadership Program focusing on socio-entrepreneurship issues and preserving heritage craftsmanship skills.
Amalina Arip
Amalina Arip
Amalina Arip co-founded award-winning Catama Borneo in 2014 as a social enterprise and design house based in Sarawak that empowers rural artisans to craft contemporary design pieces for sale to create a sustainable livelihood. Through trainings, Catama ensures youth continue to learn traditional crafts and produce designs showcasing the expertise of Sarawak’s rural artisans. Planning to launch its first complete collection of handbags, accessories and interior design products into the international market, it aims to develop a strong platform for rural artisans to achieve economic security. Having seen the positive impact of its work, Catama Borneo hopes to further enhance its impact on communities.
Anja Juliah, Bluebear Holdings Sdn Bhd
Anja Juliah Abu Bakar
As founder and CEO of Bluebear Holdings Sdn Bhd, Anja Juliah Abu Bakar sells Athena, reusable sanitary and maternity pads that help reduce garbage in landfills. Her Girl Empowerment Project aims to educate girls on hygiene and address the issue of girls missing school due to menstruation. Some cannot afford pads and they stay home or resort to unhygienic alternatives like old clothes. Made from eco-certified fabric which is absorbent, non-irritant and easy to wash, the pads are sewn by housewives, refugees and disabled people in the Klang Valley. Aside from trying to sponsor a girl’s education for each sanitary pad sold, Anja’s achievements include being the only Asian woman selected to attend the Social Enterprise Forum in Stockholm last year.
Kiew Boon Siew
Founded in 2011 by Kiew Boon Siew, Heart Treasures serves the underprivileged and disabled using skills development and employment as training disabled youths to make handcrafted products using recycled materials serves as a form of physical therapy. Each product incorporates elements of local culture and trainees are given allowance and after training. They are employed if they make the grade. Heart Treasures currently collaborates with a company in Kuala Lumpur to make products to order and its range of products include paper-bead jewellery, gift packaging, batu seremban sets, customized corporate gifts, customized DIY sets, eco-friendly products, graphic design and souvenirs. It also does thematic product designs for events and sells the affordable products through direct orders, exhibitions and roadshows.
Yasmin Rasyid
A marine biologist by profession and an environmentalist by passion, Yasmin founded EcoKnights in 2005. Yasmin spearheaded the world’s first intranasal vaccine against pneumonia for livestock at Profound Vaccine Sdn Bhd which she joined upon leaving WWF-Malaysia. Today, she advocates for environmental sustainability with EcoKnights by speaking at talks like the 14th Science Council of Asia (SCA) International Conference. Mentoring the Entrepreneurship Accelerator Program at MaGiC, she co-founded PopTani recently, an agricultural start-up focusing on aquaponics. Her awards include the Best NGO Leader Award under the Golden Globe Tiger Summit Awards for Excellence 2016 and the Comfori’s Greenman Award 2016.
Nurfarini Daing, myHarapan Youth Trust Foundation
Nurfarini Daing
Nurfarini Daing co-founded myHarapan or the Youth Trust Foundation in August 2010 which has engaged over 25,000 Malaysian youths and funded over 120 social initiatives thus far as it provides conditional grants for youth-led initiatives or enterprises with social impact, replication and scalability. As CEO, Nurfarini brings with her 17 years of experience with startups and, having won the Social Innovation Leadership Award 2015, she has been a speaker at The Global Social Business Summit (GSBS) 2012 in Vienna, among others. Moreover, Nurfarini is a member of the Social Return on Investment network, Asian Venture Philanthropy network and an Alumnus of the INSEAD Social Entrepreneurship Program.
Su Seau Yeen
Su Seau Yeen used to drop by shelters to pass extras to the children after supplying her cakes and pastries to clients. Su realised that 80% of them are raised by single parents or come from broken families and she thought that these parents should be able to work from home, just as she does with her daughter, if given the opportunity. Thus, she formed Simply Cookies in 2014 for single mothers to have the opportunity to do baking and she also conducted culinary classes for children. Su also formed Junior Nutri Chef (JNC), a social enterprise, to educate children on preventing diseases that can be spread through food. JNC is one of the top 6 finalists of Mercy Excellence Award and Simply Cookies won first-runner up for IYRES Hope Award.
Abbie Hosanna
Empowering the people from her hometown in the rural areas of Sarawak has always been Abbie Hosanna’s dream. Upon graduating, Abbie, along with friends Daniel, Suresh and Dawson, initiated The Backyard Tour Guide project to conduct tour guide trainings and connect travellers with the people. It transited into a social enterprise called Backyard Tour under the MaGIC Accelerator Program in 2015 and has grown since. Aiming to be the leading responsible and sustainable tourism provider in Sarawak, it has helped the community bring in the dollars and cents to raise living standards whilst perpetuating the culture of the people.
Nisha Muhammad Faizal
Nisha Muhammad Faizal co-founded Ecocentric Transitions with Lymun in 2010. Workshops are cinducted for youths to explore environmental sustainability by discussing environmental activities that can be done daily. Two years later, they initiated edible garden programmes and the positive reception led them to forming Garden Gym opportunities for corporate partners to volunteer in creating the gardens. Shifting the focus on socializing urban sustainability through consulting, designing and programming, they now provide ecoliteracy modules, garden build packages and consultancy. Past collaborators include the Malaysian Environmental NGO coalition where Nisha has been National Secretary and board member since 2014, associations, developers, international brands and foundations starting to incorporate environmental sustainability.
Dr June Ngo & Jacqueline Fong, Tanoti Sdn Bhd
Dr June Ngo & Jacqueline Fong
The ladies behind Tanoti, privatized in 2012, are Dr June Ngo who acts as technical and creative director for the award-winning songket atelier and Jacqueline Fong, who runs day-to-day operations. Tanoti’s mission is to empower women, preserve heritage and elevate rural communities. At Tanoti House in Kuching, young girls learn songket weaving the purist way where every process of producing songket is undertaken by hand. More recently, Tanoti has incorporated this concept with rattan craft development amongst Sarawak’s Penan tribes. Still semi-nomadic, most have no proper access to income and Tanoti aims to change this by developing their craft potential, paving their way to a wider audience.
Sasibai Kimis, Earth Heir
Sasibai Kimis
Sasibai Kimis left a successful career in finance to start the award-winning social enterprise, Earth Heir in 2013. Earth Heir began with an appreciation for craftspeople and to empower them to achieve sustainable livelihoods. Each piece of craft exemplifies distinctive, personal and cultural narratives and whilst dedicated to the creation and preservation of heritage crafts, it also focuses on sustainability as 10% of revenue is reinvested into the development of artisans, reforestation and animal conservation. In 2015, Earth Heir won the British Council and Arthur Guinness Projects Social Enterprise Award and Sasibai was an Eisenhower Fellow in the Women’s Leadership Program focusing on socio-entrepreneurship issues and preserving heritage craftsmanship skills.
Amalina Arip
Amalina Arip
Amalina Arip co-founded award-winning Catama Borneo in 2014 as a social enterprise and design house based in Sarawak that empowers rural artisans to craft contemporary design pieces for sale to create a sustainable livelihood. Through trainings, Catama ensures youth continue to learn traditional crafts and produce designs showcasing the expertise of Sarawak’s rural artisans. Planning to launch its first complete collection of handbags, accessories and interior design products into the international market, it aims to develop a strong platform for rural artisans to achieve economic security. Having seen the positive impact of its work, Catama Borneo hopes to further enhance its impact on communities.
Anja Juliah, Bluebear Holdings Sdn Bhd
Anja Juliah Abu Bakar
As founder and CEO of Bluebear Holdings Sdn Bhd, Anja Juliah Abu Bakar sells Athena, reusable sanitary and maternity pads that help reduce garbage in landfills. Her Girl Empowerment Project aims to educate girls on hygiene and address the issue of girls missing school due to menstruation. Some cannot afford pads and they stay home or resort to unhygienic alternatives like old clothes. Made from eco-certified fabric which is absorbent, non-irritant and easy to wash, the pads are sewn by housewives, refugees and disabled people in the Klang Valley. Aside from trying to sponsor a girl’s education for each sanitary pad sold, Anja’s achievements include being the only Asian woman selected to attend the Social Enterprise Forum in Stockholm last year.
Kiew Boon Siew
Founded in 2011 by Kiew Boon Siew, Heart Treasures serves the underprivileged and disabled using skills development and employment as training disabled youths to make handcrafted products using recycled materials serves as a form of physical therapy. Each product incorporates elements of local culture and trainees are given allowance and after training. They are employed if they make the grade. Heart Treasures currently collaborates with a company in Kuala Lumpur to make products to order and its range of products include paper-bead jewellery, gift packaging, batu seremban sets, customized corporate gifts, customized DIY sets, eco-friendly products, graphic design and souvenirs. It also does thematic product designs for events and sells the affordable products through direct orders, exhibitions and roadshows.
successful entrepreneurship
Social entrepreneurship essentially refers to enterprises that implement techniques to develop, fund and incorporate solutions that benefit or positively impact social, cultural and environmental issues. Here, Top 10 of Malaysia shares its list of the top 10 Malaysian women who share a fierce passion and will in bringing about a positive social change for the better through their entrepreneurial efforts.
No comments:
Post a Comment