5 Strong Concepts for Global Transformation from Social Entrepreneurs

Social entrepreneurship unites the head and heart of business, creating creative solutions to some of the world's most pressing challenges. These five strong concepts from leading social entrepreneurs give you a glimpse of how you can bring about change in society:

1. Partnerships for Scale:

Martin Burt, founder of the Poverty Stoplight, emphasizes that no one person can solve large social issues on their own. Through putting business, government, and nonprofits together, however, change at the systemic level is possible. In Paraguay, for example, the Poverty Stoplight helps governments and companies to work together to create more adequate housing for slum workers. The lesson: leverage the power of partnerships to scale up.

2.Focus and Flexibility:

Mark Ruiz's Hapinoy initiative illustrates how adaptability can be employed for social entrepreneurship. Building on the infrastructure already in place, like small convenience stores known as sari-sari stores, Ruiz and co-founder Bam Aquino established a distribution platform to deliver core services like mobile banking to rural communities. His advice to future social entrepreneurs: remain firm in purpose, but be adaptable in approach.

3. Design and Distribution Matter:

D-Rev and d.light both demonstrate that design innovation, alone, is not enough to generate sustainable impact. Krista Donaldson of D-Rev and Ned Tozun of d.light both highlight distribution as the secret to getting products to those who need them most. Both D-Rev's prosthetic limbs and d.light's solar lanterns are going after low-income markets, and both companies stress that success is as much a function of getting products in front of users as it is the product itself.

4. Technology as an Instrument of Transformation:

Bridge International Academies, founded by Shannon May and Jay Kimmelman, attained scale through technology. In utilizing technology throughout the learning experience—from testing students to sending lesson plans—Bridge has scaled its model to serve thousands of students in Africa. They have a straightforward message: technology can be a transformative instrument for changing education, especially in poor communities.

5. Scaling Solutions, Not Organizations:

Elizabeth Hausler, founder of Build Change, and Sébastien Marot, founder of Friends-International, both demonstrate how scaling the solution instead of the organization can produce more extensive and sustainable impact. Hausler's open-source earthquake-resistant house design has been adopted by a number of relief organizations, and Marot's market-based approach is being replicated by 51 partner organizations in 11 countries. Rather than expanding their own companies, these entrepreneurs are most excited about replicating their solutions and allowing others to implement their approaches.

These entrepreneurs are challenging us to be brave, to cooperate, and to expand solutions that make a difference. By combining empathy with innovation, social entrepreneurs are teaching the world how to create long-lasting, good change.

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