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While social entrepreneurs have emerged in every sector and nearly every market, they often lack the high-level business, management, and strategy skills that have propelled the private sector to its remarkable growth. We aim to leverage our expertise in management education and training to develop and deliver the world's best executive training for social entrepreneurs. Our pioneer ISEP program, launched in 2005 and running annually in both our Fontainebleau and Singapore campus, has established itself as the most valuable for program for leading social entrepreneurs and the entry ticket into a valuable life-long network of support and knowledge sharing. More fundamentally, we aim to organize our faculty and bring our academic expertise to bear upon the unique challenges faced by social entrepreneurs. Our research agenda aims to foster a two way dialogue: advanced management thinking is applied to the challenges of social entrepreneurs while the innovative approach of social entrepreneurs is leveraged back into business research and corporate practice. The social entrepreneurship initiative is housed under both INSEAD's Social Innovation Centre and the Rudolf and Valeria Maag International Centre for Entrepreneurship. The Social Innovation Centre is a premier hub for research and learning on the connection between business and society. The Maag Centre is the catalyst at INSEAD for innovations in entrepreneurship research, teaching and outreach.

The School for Social Entrepreneurs (SSE) exists to provide training and opportunities to enable people to use their creative and entrepreneurial abilities more fully for social benefit. SSE supports individuals to set up new charities, social enterprises and social businesses across the UK. The SSE runs practical learning programmes aimed at helping develop the individual entrepreneur and their organisation simultaneously: our approach, and belief, is that social change is people-powered, and that the most valuable assets and resources we have are human ones. Each programme combines specific elements designed to provide an intensive, complete package of support that meets the needs of social entrepreneurs. This person-centred approach has been independently proven to create sustainable, thriving organisations that provide significant, lasting social and economic impact. The school was founded in 1997 by Michael Young (Lord Young of Dartington), a social innovator who'd previously launched the Consumers' Association, the Open University and around 40 other organisations. Following successful Millennium Awards programmes around the UK, the SSE expanded outside its base in Bethnal Green, London, and the network of SSEs around the UK continues to grow. Over 500 SSE Fellows have completed programmes around the country. SSE is a registered charity (1085465) and a company limited by guarantee (3900741).

"This blog is about Social Enterprise and Social Startups, based on the things I'm learning through advising and working with charities and social enterprises. The posts cover topics related to Social Enterprise and Third Sector development, including Social Innovation, Sustainability, Collaboration, Tips for Social Startups, SROI and Social Trends."

Our mission is to ignite a national movement of young social entrepreneurs who align people, planet and profit. We are a community hub for young social entrepreneurs, and a grower of their social enterprises. Now two years in the making, YSEC was founded by a group of 20-somethings whose experiences as community organizers made it crystal clear that something needed to change. We saw young people in the social sector squeezed by huge expectations but sparse resources: no professional guidance, business education, access to funding, lack of credibility, and the list goes on. YSEC is our response. It is a front-door to the social sector - a hub for connections, education and support of young people in social enterprise.

"Social entrepreneurship involves the marriage of good business principles with the desire to solve social problems, improve the environment, and empower communities. It's all about creating double- and triple-bottom line companies that do well while doing good. In these Social Innovation Conversations educational podcasts, hear how pioneers and innovators from all regions and walks of life are helping our world through socially motivated businesses ranging from the smallest and most localized efforts to large and ambitious enterprises. Fuel yourself with inspiration and sophisticated advice as to how you can make social entrepreneurship a part of your own life."

The Academies for Social Entrepreneurship creates training and mentoring programs for sustainable, mission-based businesses. Our core program is Social Enterprise Academies. The Academies for Social Entrepreneurship plays the role of convener and catalyst, connecting the organizations and people needed to create, grow and celebrate social enterprises. SOCIAL ENTERPISE ACADEMIES ABOUT THE ACADEMY A Social Enterprise Academy creates an eco-system of support that nurtures entrepreneurship and innovation in non-profit organizations. Its goals are to: * Enable non-profit organizations to develop the skill sets and resources that will enable them to attract growth capital and increase revenue from earned, rather than donated income. * Build overall organizational capacity. Academies enable non-profits to improve organizational performance by applying business practices and analytical thinking to their everyday operations. * Create community-based change in the broader local non-profit marketplace by promoting convergence between the best practices of business and philanthropy. IMPACT OF THE ACADEMY To date, our unique combination of training, mentoring & "fast pitch" plan competition has: * Expanded capacity in 126 non-profit organizations; * Utilized the mentoring talents of more than 100 business men and women ; * Produced millions of dollars in new investment and earned income streams. 90% of those participating in one of our business plan competitions say that it had a significant positive impact and 65% have launched or expanded ventures which generate new income for their agencies within a year. Academies are currently planned or under way in OrangeCounty and Los Angeles and San Diego counties (California) and in Las Vegas.

"Green and Social Venture Capital One potential source of funding for green and social entrepreneurs is venture capital (VC). Venture capital firms generally make equity investments in enterprises beyond the seed stage of development. In addition to financial resources venture capital firms can provide business guidance and other resources to entrepreneurs. Many traditional venture capital firms now have dedicated funds and staff that focus on one or more aspects of environmental or social responsibility. In addition, some VC firms (sometimes known as "social venture capital firms") explicitly incorporate additional investment criteria, such as social or environmental benefits, in their mission and investing activities. This page also includes links to some relevant "angel investors." Angel investors generally provide capital at an early stage of an enterprise's development, prior to the period of investment by traditional venture capital firms."

"The mission of the NUST-SEECS Social Entrepreneurship Club is to create, organize, manage and capitalize the venture to make social change and to provide the students of SEECS with a platform to create awareness among the people especially our youth about the concept of social entrepreneurship and to link them with social organizations to resolve their issues and learn from these organizations the basic skills to make a positive social impact on individual level."

About SOCAP10 Today a new form of capitalism is arising that recognizes both the power and efficiency of market systems and the ability to direct them toward social and environmental issues leading to a more balanced set of "returns." Early efforts by social entrepreneurs and enlightened investors have given rise to "Social Capital Markets" that include affordable housing, clean technology, microfinance, fair trade and many other socially focused enterprises. SOCAP10 convenes the major players and emerging thought leaders in the field to discuss innovative ways to expand those markets and bring socially responsible investing and the channeling of capital to SMEs and grassroots business organizations into the mainstream. We want to talk about where private sector dollars can work at venture start up speed without being encumbered by laborious engagement with government structures who have complex theories of change. We'd like to bring funders to the table to talk about how they can co-invest and what restraints there are around the capital, including expectations and desired impacts. We'd like to bring NGO's and entrepreneurs to the table to talk to the ways they are working with government to make their programs more effective. We want to bring government to the table to talk about the channels they are opening for private and public partnerships. We need to change the way we do business, as individuals, organizations and government institutions. We want to prove that it is possible to do well by doing good.

"Entrepreneur Commons is a platform to support entrepreneurs through self-help groups and loans. The fund is managed by a not-for-profit social network of entrepreneurs - a support platform that can scale, and that also provides a way to screen deals, based on inclusion of every entrepreneur into the process rather than exclusion through a competitive process. It is especially useful to social entrepreneurs, for whom the regular funding processes do not really work. And it simplifies the investment decision for social investors because success can easily be measured - when the beneficiary businesses are social businesses and loans (with rates that can be benchmarked against market returns) are paid off, then the social investor can be satisfied that he has done his part."

"Green VC is developing a comprehensive resource of funding sources for entreprenuers working on socially- or environmentally-focused ventures. Please visit the pages below for some initial funding sources and feel free to send suggestions for additional sources to info [at] greenvc.org * Green and Social Venture Business Plan Competitions * Green and Social Entreprenuership Awards, Competitions, and Fellowships * Green and Social Venture Capital * Green and Social Venture Credit and Lending "

ELC Clients - Social Entrepreneurs & Non-Profits Individuals or groups who wish to build a non-profit business or charitable services organization, as well as those pursuing social entrepreneurship objectives, fit into this category. Most of these ventures will be generally eligible for ELC services. Well established non-profits with substantial endowments, as well as private foundations, will likely not be eligible for ELC services. Because of the emerging trend in social entrepreneurship for new ventures to demonstrate both low cost access strategies and profitable market strategies, ELC will consider providing services to founders who are not exclusively committed to forming a non-profit. In fact, ELC can help such founders think through the pros and cons of establishing non-profit vs. for profit organizations. Accepted clients will be assigned a team tailored to the needs of the proposed venture. In some cases this will be a full team consisting of different students and attorneys for review of: business planning, structure, and governance; intellectual property, particularly trademarks, trade secrets, copyright, and, if applicable, patents; employment law; business licensing; and tax planning and compliance. In other cases, a non-profit or social entrepreneurship venture will be assigned a team with a single student and supervising attorney. For example, a small co-op that needs to focus solely on governance and co-op organization law, or obtaining tax exempt status can benefit from the efficiencies of a single business and tax law trained student and supervising attorney team. The initial confidential legal and business audit report will assess the following areas, as applicable; additional legal services in these areas may also be offered upon mutual written agreement of the venture and ELC: * Business planning * Entity selection and registration * Differences between non-profit governance (including co-ops) and for profit governanc

"egg is a visionary marketing, brand development, and advertising agency for sustainable brands. We specialize in creating emotional connections between the conscious consumer and sustainable brands. Our proprietary research into and understanding of this rapidly-growing cultural movement provides us with the insights needed to create messages that inspire action and brand loyalty. As a leading visionary in the realm of marketing and brand development for economic, social, and environmental change, egg similarly believes in the need to reassess, redefine and renegotiate the corporate charter to serve a greater public need beyond solely private economic benefit. egg believes in this new effort to register "public benefit companies". Today, people expect more from brands and companies. They are searching for brands that share their values and priorities. They look behind the logo, often voting with their pocketbooks to ensure that their personal values are reflected in their spending. egg is a one-of-a-kind brand communications firm that specializes in helping these brands build lasting, meaningful connections with today's conscious consumer. The Change We Seek™ egg seeks to build brands for a better future. * Our strength is building connections between consumers and responsible brands. We understand today's conscious consumer, and we know how to communicate with them through traditional and non-traditional channels. Communicating about responsible brands requires a simple but transformational shift in thinking, both in the message and the medium. For example, responsible brands find little benefit from spin. Instead, they find success in a meaningful amplification of what they truly are - from authenticity. * We gear our brand-building toward the 7-70 consumer. 7% of the population is socially responsible to the core. And 70% are socially responsible in some way, but to a lesser extent. They are motivated by many different values and ideas, but

"cosi10 is a transformative event for social innovators, social entrepreneurs and their social ventures that's happening all over the world in the second half of 2010. * A simple, self-organizing face to face unconference event. cosi10 participants come together under the guidance of a local host who follows the cosi10 unconference event guide. Through that process, participants network and learn from each other in dynamic collaborative conversation (in their local languages) about impact strategies, sharing resources for developing our skills, and planning what it takes to build thrivable social innovations and revenue models. The participants co-create the story of what happened offline in the online event space at ned.com, where other cosi10 participants from around the world can respond, interact and connect around common purpose. Learn more about the cosi10 Unconference Format"

"Green and Social Venture Credit and Lending One potential source of funding for green and social entrepreneurs is through loans and credit. Some banks and other institutions that include a focus on supporting green and social entrepreneurs are listed below."

"Ashoka is the global association of the world's leading social entrepreneurs-men and women with system changing solutions for the world's most urgent social problems. Since 1981, we have elected over 2,000 leading social entrepreneurs as Ashoka Fellows, providing them with living stipends, professional support, and access to a global network of peers in more than 60 countries. With our global community, we develop models for collaboration and design infrastructure needed to advance the field of social entrepreneurship and the citizen sector. Our Fellows inspire others to adopt and spread their innovations - demonstrating to all citizens that they too have the potential to be powerful changemakers."

"The current African social entrepreneurship market is growing rapidly but it is still fragmented and opaque. Complication: Players active in the African social entrepreneurship space cannot find, learn and collaborate with each other. There are information asymmetries in the market. Solution: An online "living" platform created for members - by members. ASEN aims to provide Social Entrepreneurs with an opportunity to collaborate and access resources. "

"Neerja Raman Author and Research fellow in Digital Vision Program, Stanford University Focus: Social Entrepreneurship Neerja Raman is a recognized author and executive in management research. Neerja is former Director, Strategic Planning and Imaging Systems Lab, Hewlett Packard Labs and currently Senior Fellow at Stanford University where she is developing business and leadership models for social entrepreneurs. She is on the advisory committee for Cyber-Infrastructure, National Science Foundation and board member of several non-profits. She was inducted into the Women in Technology International Hall of Fame in 2005 for global leadership and was recognized with a Distinguished Citizen Award by Federation of Indo Americans in 2006. Neerja's book, "The Practice and Philosophy of Decision Making" was featured in the category "Books that Empower Women" by WITI. Her research at Stanford has been published in various conference proceedings and as chapter "Eco-Stacking: A Strategy for Success in Social and Business Agendas" in the summer 2007 book "Innovative Approaches to Reducing Global Poverty". Neerja is a graduate of the Kellogg Executive Program, Northwestern University, and has Masters degrees from S.U.N.Y Stony Brook, New York and Delhi University, India. Neerja is active in the community. She has been a United Way Chair at HP. She serves on the advisory board of Maitri, a women's self empowerment organization, is a member of Indian Business and Professional Women and executive director of IWE. Federation of Indo-Americans has recognized her accomplishments as an author and technologist with an award of distinction."

Dasra Social-Impact enables social entrepreneurs to sustainably scale their organizations, thereby dramatically accelerating and increasing their impact on some of the most marginalized communities in India.

About Culinary Collective Culinary Collective is an import and distribution company specializing in gourmet cultural foods that embody and promote their native culture and traditions. They work with small family and community companies that take pride in producing all natural foods using methods and recipes passed down through the generations. We became a B Corp because we believe that a truly responsible business serves itself, its employees, its stakeholders, and society's best interests by promoting social equity, environmental restoration, and sustainable economic development. All products are completely natural and free of preservatives or colorants. Organic certification is pursued whenever feasible. Products and ingredients are sourced using fair sourcing criteria to ensure that farmers and producers receive a fair price and that no communities are exploited in the trade process. We select our products to promote local traditions and food cultures. The Change We Seek® Through their purchasing practices Culinary Collective aims to raise the living standards for our producers and farmers while encouraging environmental stewardship and community investment. The two internal divisions of Culinary Collective, Matiz España and Zócalo Gourmet, share the Collective social, environmental, and financial principles. Matiz España specializes in locating and importing specialty gourmet food products from small producers in Spain. Zócalo Gourmet supports agricultural communities and traditions in Latin America through the importation of traditional native gourmet food. * Provide society with services and products that add meaningful value to our lives. These products and services provide society with utility or joy without harming human or environmental health at any point in their life cycle. * Contribute to the creation of self-reliant communities by subscribing to local business principles including the local sourcing of production materials, employees,