What if we could utilize the power of business as a force for good? What would that make possible? Jay Coen Gilbert knows how to scale a business. As a cofounder of AND1, he grew the company from selling t-shirts out of the back of a car to a global basketball footwear and apparel brand…
069, Michael Pirron, Impact Makers | How to Scale a Social Enterprise
If you want to know how to scale a social enterprise, Michael Pirron of Impact Makers might be someone to ask. Not only is his company recognized as a “Best for the World” B Corporation, they are also on the Inc. list of Fastest Growing Companies for five years in a row. And, they have…
042, Neetal Parekh, Innov8social | An Easy Button for Social Impact
Social impact expert Neetal Parekh wants to make an easy button for social entrepreneurs. Neetal was born in Oklahoma City. Her parents had immigrated from India. She and her family moved frequently, about 20 times in 20 years. When Neetal and her family visited their family in India, she observed the gap between wealth and…
Social Entrepreneurship: An Introduction
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…
You Are a Changemaker
Do you have the feeling that you were put on the earth to do more than fill and empty your Netflix queue? When you think of the tens of thousands of hours in your lifetime that you’re going to spend at work, do you ache for your career to be more closely aligned to your…
030, Jeffrey Hollender, Sustain Natural | A Systems Thinking Approach to Greater Good
If Jeffrey Hollender’s name is familiar to you, it would not be surprising. As the cofounder of Seventh Generation, the author of a half dozen books, and a frequent speaker on using business to do good in the world, he’s a natural fit for a conversation with Social Entrepreneur. But he did not come on the…
025, David Reiling, Sunrise Banks | Empowering Underserved Communities
According to Sunrise Banks’ CEO David Reiling, “The culture of Sunrise Banks is all about mission and innovation.” If you pull his statement apart, you’ll notice three components: culture, mission and innovation. These are the magic ingredients that have allowed Sunrise Banks to be recognized as a “Best for the World” company. Sunrise Banks has…
My Journey
This is my journey. Care to join me? There is a lot in my story that would not predict success. I was born in Arkansas in fairly simple circumstances. In high school I graduated 250th of 259. I drove a truck and worked as a janitor. I did not obtain my college degree until my…
003, Luni Libes, Fledge | The Conscious Company Accelerator
At 37 years-old, Michael “Luni” Libes had just completed his fifth successful tech startup. Looking for a way to support his fellow entrepreneurs, Luni became a mentor-in-residence for Pinchot University’s MBA of Sustainable Business program. After watching graduates struggle to launch their mission-driven businesses, Luni founded Fledge, the Conscious Company accelerator. Each year Fledge runs…
000, Introduction, Social Entrepreneur | Episode Zero, My Journey to Social Entrepreneurship
For several months, I have been behind closed doors, creating the first episodes of this podcast. Since I knew nothing about podcasting, I have learned everything from scratch. The results are not perfect but as Reid Hoffman, the founder of LinkedIn has been quoted as saying, This is the “getting to know you” episode of the…