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By Ashoka: Innovators for the Public
According to Ashoka: Innovators for the Public, social entrepreneurs demonstrate a commitment to a big, new, bold idea and show communities, governments, and institutions that partnerships, collaborations, and creativity are contagious forces for change. Social entrepreneurs share qualities traditionally associated with leading business entrepreneurs. These qualities include vision, innovation, determination, and long-term commitment. However social entrepreneurs are committed to systemic social change in their fields, in society, and changing the systems and patterns of society. Social entrepreneurs find what is not working and solve the problem by changing the system, spreading the solution, and persuading entire communities and societies to join in their vision.
Identifying and solving large-scale social problems requires a social entrepreneur. Only the entrepreneur has the committed vision and inexhaustible determination to persist until they have transformed an entire system. Ashoka elects emerging social entrepreneurs to an international fellowship of their peers. The Ashoka Fellows have employed entrepreneurial qualities to change countless lives around the world: Veronica Khosa instituted the concept of “home care” in South Africa after becoming frustrated that physicians and hospitals would not admit patients with HIV. The government adopted her plan and through the recognition of leading health organizations, the idea is spreading beyond South Africa. Darell Hammond founded KaBOOM In order to address the need for safe places for children to play in low-income neighborhoods in the United States. This was accomplished by leveraging partnerships between local communities and corporations to organize, raise money, and recruit volunteers to build playgrounds. KaBOOM has built 600 new playgrounds and improved 1,500 playgrounds since 1995. Nicole Rycroft, founder of Markets Initiative, enlisted 41 U.S. and 71 Canadian publishing companies, including the publisher of the latest “Harry Potter” installment, in using alternative printing materials, helping preserve more than 70,000 ancient forest trees. Ashok Rau launched the Freedom Foundation in Bangalore, India, to provide desperately needed services for people living with HIV/AIDS. Freedom Foundation’s HIV/AIDS center in Bangalore has served patients throughout India, as well as Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka.
If you believe you possess the qualities of a social entrepreneur and are looking for resources to assist you in developing and spreading your innovative solution to a large-scale social problem, you should contact Ashoka or one of the other growing number of organizations and foundations that support social entrepreneurs.
www.ashoka.org www.changemakers.net
Copyright © 2007 Christian Association for Prison Aftercare. All Rights Reserved.
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