The Rise Of The Young Social Entrepreneur

[ 9 ]. Susan B. Anthony: Woman’s Suffrage Pioneer, About.com, http://womenshistory.about.com/od/anthonysusanb/a/anthony.htm, accessed, November 13, 2011, pg 1

John Mackey, founder of Whole Foods once said "Business social responsibility should not be coerced; it is a voluntary decision that the entrepreneurial leadership of every company must make on its own." (Mackey, 2005) In today’s society it is increasingly common for businesses to actively identify and become directly involved in the country and the global social issues and needs. It is now common

Social entrepreneurship which has been applied in so many different ways by so many different analysts that it’s depth of vast complexity is still being unraveled and it seems it is still in infancy. It is a multi-interpretable concept and although the use of the term is widespread its use is either overrated or misused. Hence, it is important to firstly understand what social entrepreneurship really is.

People know Susan B. Anthony as one of the leading women's suffrage activist but how did who was she before the fame? How did she get inspired to take action and give women a voice? Anthony’s full name is Susan Brownell Anthony. She was born on February 15th 1820 in Adams Massachusetts [Women's Hall of Fame]. Her family lived on a cotton farm which failed in the early 1830’s which caused them to move to Rochester, New York. In the 1840’s Anthony found work being a teacher in the “Abolition State” of New York. Living in New York inspired Anthony to want to share her opinion with others. Anthony eventually met Elizabeth Stanton and they worked together on many occasions. Unfortunately people would not listen to Anthony’s

Susan B. Anthony contributed and expedited many campaigns that were organised to help push the women's drive further. By Anthony's extreme involvement with all her movements, helps to justify why the history of the world has been greatly added to by the actions of women such as Susan B. Anthony. Anthony created a paper called 'The Revolution', which was first published in 1868, promoted an eight-hour working day and equal pay for equal work amongst all men and women. It also covered a outlined policy made for purchasing American made goods and encouraging immigration to rebuild the south and settle the entire country. With the publication of this paper in New York, it brought her into contact with the women in the printing trades, helping her

Today, if women are asked about how they gained their full rights including the right to vote, most would recognize Susan B. Anthony, a leader of the women’s rights movement that never gave up. Born and raised in an outspoken Quaker household, Anthony believed from a young age that all should be treated equally despite their gender. She took after her father, who had radical views on issues such as temperance and slavery. Susan B. Anthony, a leader for most of her life, fought endlessly in a battle against those of ignorance and unfair views pertaining to the rights of women. She was a very important asset during the Women’s Suffrage Movement while revolutionizing American History. Reaching out to organizations pertaining to the Temperance Movement, Women’s Labor, and Abolitionism to help her own cause, Susan supported the Women’s Rights Movement day-in and day-out no matter where she went. Her works as a leader and suffragist predicted and inspired the future for the rights of women; eventually her successors earned the Susan B. Anthony Amendment, or the 19th Amendment. Susan B. Anthony’s efforts greatly effected the Women’s Rights Movement.

"Better World Books" is a good example of a successful social entrepreneurship venture. Founded by X.Helgessen, C.Fuchs, and J.Kurtzman, its mission is to maximize the value of every book out there and to help promote literacy around the world. It attributes its success to using "triple bottom line" model, caring about profits, and the social and environmental impact of everything they do.

Michelle Ellena, MA in Social Entrepreneurship and Change, Graduate School of Education and Psychology, Pepperdine University. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Michelle Ellena at mellena@pepperdine.edu

Every reformation requires a leader—someone to set an example for them, to remind them what they are fighting for, to be the first person to stand up for their cause. Each leader represents every individual in their movement and they have to be willing to sacrifice everything for the cause of their movement. As entrepreneur Bo Bennet said, “Without initiative, leaders are simply workers in leadership position.” In the women’s rights movement, there was someone who defied all standards set up for women in the 1800s and took chances for the cause of suffrage and equality—Susan Brownell Anthony. Born into a Quaker family in New York, Anthony grew up under the notion of social equality and pursued independence as a young woman. This led her to pursue several imperative movements such as temperance, abolition and her most profound and recognized reformation—women’s rights. Susan B. Anthony played a critical role in changing the direction of the women’s rights movement and its success by demonstrating her authority as a leader and breaking the standards of society for women.

Andrew Carnegie once claimed that “No man becomes rich unless he enriches others.” Carnegie, alongside other captains of industry, such as Cornelius Vanderbilt, pioneered the pairing of entrepreneurship and philanthropy, through inspiring leadership. He witnessed the poverty and destitution of the time and led both the business and philanthropic communities, alike, in the effort to better society. He was an entrepreneurial and philanthropic leader due to his commitment to his vision and his continual recognition of the potential he had to thwart society’s injustice and misdeeds. Consequently, with an undying commitment to one’s endeavors, as well as constant recognition of what one can do in order to combat the wrongs of the world, true, impactful leadership can form at the intersection of philanthropy and entrepreneurship.

Senior Business Information Systems Major Jenna Shenk said, “I was really inspired by the wide range of examples of social entrepreneurship they had, and how simple it could be.”

Social entrepreneurship is gaining such strong interest in nonprofit world because of the economic challenges that have plagued this sector with cuts in philanthropic and government funding. According to Nash (2010) not only are there cuts, there are many organizations vying for the limited funding. Studies support, the attitudes in capitalistic America, and the ease of nonprofits to embrace this concept; evidenced by their ability to sell their once free services, to meet the demands of the consumer. According to the IRS (2010) nonprofits have increased their selling power on unrelated business income, to the tune of 184% increase, in a sixteen-year time frame. This writer, believes these numbers are evidence which support this trend is

In other words, serving a social need doesn't necessarily mean the company is giving money to nonprofits that feed the homeless; it means the company invests in the future by innovating products and services that meet social needs and also happen to be profitable. Companies

After reading the first two chapters of Building Social Business, I was moved. I was inspired. Yunus opened my eyes to another side of business which in his words was selfless. And indeed it was selfless. Social business is truly selfless because it focuses on helping others and earning profit comes second. By reading this book and reflecting, I realized it is better to be part of the solution than be part of the problem. By looking at my community, at my environment, and at my experiences in life, there are problems that will need solutions and I firmly believe that having a social business is the solution. By my observation, slow public utilities, expensive medicine, and empowering marginalized sectors are problems that can be solved by putting up social businesses. By combining entrepreneurial mindset and experience, social awareness, and creativity, the ideal social business can be done. But what makes a social business truly a social business is the

For more than five years I had been participating in many social works, focusing on helping people start their own business and become entrepreneurs by giving them tools in how to start and manage their business. Through that time, I didn’t see this type of approach was effective, as many NGO’s and Government were doing similar activities in helping them. Many NGO’s mostly depend on donors and foundation for charity-like of approach which is hard to be sustained.