Social Entrepreneurship

Social Entrepreneurship is the use of business practices and strategies to address social issues and build social progress. It is a term that is increasingly being used to describe people, organizations and initiatives that use market based practices to create social and environmental value.

Social entrepreneurs combine the creativity, risk-taking and innovation of a typical entrepreneur with the ability to recognize social problems, come up with potential solutions, and identify and coordinate resources to implement them. In essence, social entrepreneurs seek to challenge culture, status quo or conventional wisdom to create value for the greater society as a whole.

Social entrepreneurship can be also applied to both for-profit and non-profit entities. For-profit social entrepreneurs address a social problem through the sale of goods and services, while non-profit social entrepreneurs pursue social ends through traditional non-profit, charitable outlets. In either case, the core principles of social entrepreneurship emphasize the need to focus on creating meaningful, measured social change, using innovative approaches to problems that exist within society.

Examples of social entrepreneurial activities include launching a eco-friendly business, engaging in fair trade, starting a program to address poverty or providing education for underprivileged populations.

One example of a social entrepreneurship venture is Greyston Bakery, a bakery in Yonkers, New York, which has a goal of empowering its local community. In addition to producing delicious baked goods that are sold to consumers, the bakery also hires employees from the local community and offers free job training and placement to disadvantaged individuals in the area. This venture both adds value to the local area, and helps to provide meaningful employment to people in need. Greyston Bakery is an example of using business principles and investments to create social value and meaningful change.