Social Entrepreneurs Archives

Wrap-up of Season Two and Kick-Off Season Three of Social Entrepreneur

November 30, 2020

We tell positive stories from underrepresented voices, focused on solutions. In season two, we’ve been telling stories of a just and equitable transition to a clean energy future. The Coronavirus is a wakeup call. If you don’t know by now, the way we’ve been living isn’t working for the earth. Most of all, it is not working for the poorest inhabitants of the earth. Climate change, extreme weather, hurricanes, floods, droughts, melting glaciers, rising sea level , wildfires, degraded food supplies, tick-borne diseases, mosquito-borne diseases, climate refugees, political instability – these are just a few results of our current way of living. The way we produce, transmit, and store our…

A Catalyst for Caring and Building Community, with Rose McGee, Sweet Potato Comfort Pies

June 26, 2017

Rose McGee reminds me of that quote from tennis legend Arthur Ashe. “Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.” Rose calls sweet potato pie “the sacred desert of black culture.” She grew up with her grandmother and great-grandmother in Jackson, Tennessee. As an adult, Rose decided that she wanted to make sweet potato pie. She called her grandmother and got the recipe. “Nothing was written down,” she says. “It was a pinch of this and a handful of that.” Rose’s first experiments with making sweet potato pie did not turn out. But she kept baking. Soon, friends were requesting her pies. And after a while,…

Experimenting within an Ecosystem, with Eric Sannerud, Mighty Axe Hops

June 26, 2017

Mighty Axe Hops is using experimentation to create an ecosystem within an ecosystem. Eric Sannerud approaches life like a scientific experiment. He tries small experiments, gathers feedback and then adjusts. For example, in 2013, he was graduating from the University of Minnesota. At the same time, he had several irons in the fire. He was part of a team that launched Twin Fin, an innovative urban farm start-up, growing fish and greens in a city warehouse. At the same time, he was involved with the Famers’ Legal Action Group (FLAG). He was also working with Urban Oasis, the winner of a $1 million Forever Saint Paul Competition to create a…

Turn Emotions into Action

January 20, 2017

What will you do with your emotions today? Can they be channeled for social good? President Obama has left the White House after eight years and the man who is taking his place could not be more different. No matter your political affiliation, this inauguration day is a day of strong emotions. Emotions are important. By paying attention to what evokes strong emotions in you, you learn something about your values and your life’s purpose. By Noticing Your Emotions, You Understand Your Purpose For you, what creates a sense of love, empathy, injustice, disgust or moral outrage? What kind of news stories evoke your emotions? Is it poverty? Gender equality? Income…

12 Most Popular Podcast Episodes of 2016

12 Most Popular Podcast Guests of 2016

December 28, 2016

These are the most popular podcast guests of 2016, measured by the number of downloads. If you have been listening to the podcast Social Entrepreneur, you’ve had a chance to meet some amazing changemaker. If you want to find someone like you who is making a difference in the world, you should be able to see yourself among these 140+ guests. Their diversity is breathtaking. They have come from every continent, except for Antarctica. Some have achieved breakthrough results, while others are just beginning their journey. Some started young and some started in mid-life. Half were women. They are working across all 17 of the Sustainable Development Goals. Popular Podcast Guests…

We Need You…to be a social entrepreneur

August 14, 2016

The world is filled with global grand challenges and worthy causes. Business as usual cannot meet these challenges. These challenges are so large, they require all of us. It requires you. But doing what? The answer is social entrepreneurship, businesses with both a profit and a purpose. There are barriers that can keep you from starting. We’re here to overcome those barriers. The Problems That Demand Social Entrepreneurship We’re all familiar with the challenges faced by developing countries. We struggle with poverty, hunger and disease. There is a lack of opportunity for education, especially for girls and women. Climate change is creating extreme weather, including drought. This exasperates youth unemployment and…

Social Entrepreneurship: An Introduction

January 28, 2016

Social entrepreneurship is, in its simplest terms, the utilization of business practices to fundamentally change the most intractable issues of our time. Having said that, I feel like I should quickly add, “But wait! There’s more!” In recent years, entrepreneurs of all types have profoundly altered the marketplace. Companies like Dropbox, Airbnb and Red Hat have transformed their industries. What if we could utilize the incredible power of startups to permanently change the landscape of social and environmental issues such as climate change, food security and access to clean water? That’s what social entrepreneurship does. Definition of Social Entrepreneurship Bill Drayton, Ashoka founder and CEO seems to have coined the term social entrepreneur. According…

Our Top 12 Downloads of 2015

January 1, 2016

What a rush! The podcast, Social Entrepreneur launched on November 8, 2015. In the last two months of 2015, we featured 25 interviews with a wide array of social entrepreneurs and thought leaders. I spoke with founders from Peru, Nigeria, Sri Lanka, Uganda, India, Rwanda, Malaysia, South Africa, Australia, Kenya, Indonesia, Canada, and the United States. They ran for-profit, nonprofit, hybrid organizations and university programs. Some ran incubators and many came through an accelerator program. They made me laugh, surprised me (I’m looking at you, Carrie Rich!) and always inspired me. Social Entrepreneur Organizations In this article, I’ll tell you a little about twelve of them and invite you to hear…

Two Change Makers Who are Tackling Hygienic Sanitation on #WorldToiletDay

November 19, 2015

One third of the world’s population does not have access to a basic toilet. On #WorldToiletDay, they are telling us, #WeCantWait. Isabel Medem and David Auerbach are doing something about that. November 19 is World Toilet Day. Why? Because globally, about 2.4 billion people, about one-third of the world’s population, do not have access to a basic toilet. Sanitation-related illnesses kill over a thousand children per day. This problem is compounded by the concentration of informal housing in urban setting. This week I spoke to two change makers who are doing something about hygienic sanitation, David Auerbach of Sanergy and Isabel Medem of X-Runner Ventures. Social Entrepreneurship Ideas Sanergy David’s…

Social Entrepreneurs

Social entrepreneurs utilize startup methodologies to address pressing social problems. They combine the best of business and philanthropy into a single business model.

Wrap-up of Season Two and Kick-Off Season Three of Social Entrepreneur

We Need You…to be a social entrepreneur

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