How to Become a Social Entrepreneur

One well-known contemporary social entrepreneur is Muhammad Yunus, founder and manager of Grameen Bank and its growing family of social venture businesses, who was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize in 2006.[10] The work of Yunus and Grameen echoes a theme among modern day social entrepreneurs that emphasizes the enormous synergies and benefits when business principles are unified with social ventures.[11] In some countries - including Bangladesh and to a lesser extent, the USA - social entrepreneurs have filled the spaces left by a relatively small state. In other countries - particularly in Europe and South America - they have tended to work more closely with public organizations at both the national and local level.

In India, a social entrepreneur can be a person, who is the founder, co-founder or a chief functionary (may be president, secretary, treasurer, chief executive officer (CEO), or chairman) of a social enterprise, which primarily is a NGO, which raises funds through some services (often fund raising events and community activities) and occasionally products. Rippan Kapur of Child Rights and You and Jyotindra Nath of Youth United, are such examples of social entrepreneurs, who are the founders of the respective organizations. Jay Vikas Sutaria of Bhookh.com is a social entrepreneur who is leveraging the power of the Internet to fight hunger in India.

Another excellent example of a non-profit social enterprise in India is Rang De [1]. Founded by Ramakrishna and Smita Ram in January 2008, Rang De is a peer-to-peer online platform that makes low-cost micro-credit accessible to both the rural and urban poor in India. Individuals get to directly invest in borrowers from across India, track their investments online and receive regular repayments, with a token 2% pa. ROI.

Today, nonprofits and non-governmental organizations, foundations, governments, and individuals also play the role to promote, fund, and advise social entrepreneurs around the planet.[12] A growing number of colleges and universities are establishing programs focused on educating and training social entrepreneurs.[13]

In the UK in 2002 seven leading nonprofit organisations established UnLtd - The Foundation for Social Entrepreneurs. It holds a £100 million endowment especially to invest in social entrepreneurs in the UK. UnLtd provides individuals with cash awards and practical support that includes coaching, training, and networking opportunities to help develop community projects. UnLtd Ventures is the in-house consultancy division of UnLtd and focuses on a number of outstanding social entrepreneurs, providing them with business support and helping them to scale up or replicate their organisations or get investment ready. Another of their operations, UnLtd Research, is becoming the world's primary source of evidence and thinking around social entrepreneurship. Its central purpose is to lead the global business, public policy, and academic debates