PJ, something else to consider. The most notable is Greg Mortenson's work with building schools in Pakistan. I'd like to determine a way to incorporate them into our nation-building, reconstruction, and COIN operations. For example, if you want to do micro-grants, then hire the leading dude in micro-grants to do it right.

Social entrepreneurship is the work of a social entrepreneur. A social entrepreneur is someone who recognizes a social problem and uses entrepreneurial principles to organize, create, and manage a venture to make social change. Whereas a business entrepreneur typically measures performance in profit and return, a social entrepreneur assesses success in terms of the impact s/he has on society. While social entrepreneurs often work through nonprofits and citizen groups, many work in the private and governmental sectors.

The main aim of a social entrepreneurship as well as social enterprise is to further social and environmental goals. Although social entrepreneurs are often non-profits, this need not be incompatible with making a profit. Social enterprises are for ‘more-than-profit,’ using blended value business models that combine a revenue-generating business with a social-value-generating structure or component.



1. David Bornstein, How to Change the World: Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas, Oxford University Press (and others) ISBN 0-19-513805-8

2. Ashoka: Innovators for the Public is a nonprofit organization supporting the field of social entrepreneurship. Ashoka was founded by Bill Drayton in 1981 to identify and support leading social entrepreneurs though a Social Venture Capital approach with the goal of elevating the citizen sector to a competitive level equal to the business sector. The organization currently operates in over 60 countries and supports the work of over 2,000 social entrepreneurs, elected as Ashoka Fellows. Ashoka also creates mosaics of best practices that map the commonalities and intersections of key principles that guide Fellows’ individual solutions. [1] Ashoka’s initiatives include Changemakers, Youth Venture, and Full Economic Citizenship.

v/r

Mike