Civic Life Today // Social Entrepreneur #5 // Points of Light

Social Entrepreneur MAY 2021

CIVIC LIFE TODAY | ISSUE #5

CIVIC LIFE TODAY // SOCIAL ENTREPRENEUR // POINTS OF LIGHT

Table of Contents Civic Life Today

3

What Is Social Entrepreneurship?

4

Taking a Deeper Dive

5

Interview with Celina de Sola Beyond Band-Aid Solutions

8

Did You Know?

9

Innovation Requires Context

10,11

Social Entrepreneurship Around the World

12,13

Interview with Caleb Smith

14,15

Finding Your Role in Changemaking

16

How to Change the World and Pay the Bills

17

Interview with Daniela Papi-Thornton What Does That Mean?

18-19 20

Learning Library

21

Youth and Family Corner

22

Continue the Conversation

23

Personal Action Plan

2

6-7

24-25

Appendix

26

Civic Circle

27

CIVIC LIFE TODAY // SOCIAL ENTREPRENEUR // POINTS OF LIGHT

Civic Life Today At Points of Light, we believe that the most powerful force of change in our world is the individual — one who makes a positive difference.

The value of individual actions, no matter how small, can have an impact and change a life.

Together, our collective actions are a force that transforms the world.

We live in extraordinary times. The 21st century has already seen sweeping change led by the power of people. The advancement of technology accelerates our experiences. Yet, the challenges facing our world are great and complex: • Inequality rooted in systemic racism is front and center, and the demand for social justice is strong.

• A global pandemic exposed a variety of system weaknesses triggering public health and economic crises.

• Climate change remains the highest concern of Generation Z. • Global conflict, instability, poverty, and lack of opportunity has created the largest migration crisis in human history.

• New and old systems are being built, dismantled and rebuilt in real time, often creating instability.

We are witnessing a significant shift in our civic culture, a revolution against apathy, marked by events and movements that have altered the way we connect with and engage in our communities and our world. But what does this connection and engagement look like?

When we think about civic life today, we know that people want to live an integrated life that reflects their values. People who “do good” or want to “create change” don’t necessarily assign themselves traditional labels like “volunteer” anymore.

Today’s engaged person may express their desire to do good through the purchases they make, in what they share on social media, where and how they choose to work and what nonprofit organization to support as a donor, or of course, a volunteer. Doing good comes in many forms.

We believe we are at the dawn of a new era that we are calling the Civic Century, an age when people become the driving force that transforms our world. When future generations look back on this time, they will see an era of sustained, meaningful civic engagement, fueled by a global community of people ready and willing to do good.

3

CIVIC LIFE TODAY // SOCIAL ENTREPRENEUR // POINTS OF LIGHT

What Is Social Entrepreneurship and Why Does It Matter?

Has a social issue ever made you feel restless? Has something ever caused a deep sense of urgency in you to be a part of creating change? These are common characteristics of a social entrepreneur.

There are several definitions of a social entrepreneur, but, put simply, it is an individual or group who identifies a need that has not been met by traditional structures around them. The government, companies, and nonprofits are not solving a problem they see. They use creativity to develop innovative solutions with the primary purpose of making a positive social impact, often at the system level.

Social entrepreneurship shares commonalities with, and is often mistaken for, business entrepreneurs or even socially-conscious businesses, but each has its own distinguishing factors. Social entrepreneurs are defined by their resourcefulness and their relentless pursuit of innovative solutions to get to the root cause of complex problems.

Business entrepreneurs undoubtedly develop new ideas and innovative solutions, but their focus is usually much narrower and may have certain interests in mind as compared to a social entrepreneur. For example, Steve Jobs was a compelling business entrepreneur who created revolutionary products that changed the telecommunications industry, but his Apple products were built with a primary goal of maximizing their financial value to shareholders.

More than this, not every person that helps society is automatically a social entrepreneur.

A CEO can have a strong corporate social responsibility component of their business, but without a broader business mission rooted in solving a social problem, they aren’t social entrepreneurs. There are also many people who sell products or services in order to raise funds for a cause. These individuals are needed in a collective effort to make a difference in the world, but their efforts are not enough to be considered a social entrepreneur.

A social entrepreneur has a distinct make-up.

They still have to raise funds to finance their initiatives, but their work centers on creating effective solutions to society’s most pressing issues above anything else.

It might seem like you’d find a social entrepreneur only once in a generation, but they are ordinary people who create extraordinary solutions to complex problems and have been around for centuries. The term “social entrepreneur” has only become popular in the last few decades. In the early 2000s, social entrepreneurs collided with the growth of the internet and social media to generate a more widely recognized impact.

It’s perhaps to be expected then that social entrepreneurship is becoming more attractive to younger generations as youth become increasingly involved in social issues around the world. Points of Light research found that Gen Z already demonstrates higher rates of civic

The Privilege of Being a Social Entrepreneur

Convo Photo

Social entrepreneurship is about more than sharing your discretionary time and resources. It involves dedicating a part of your life to solving a problem.

Because of that, not everyone is in a position to disrupt their income and personal life to address problems at their root cause the way you need to when you become a social entrepreneur. Being a social entrepreneur requires both innovative thinking and an environment that allows someone to cultivate that innovation.

This environment might include everything from access to education to opportunities for funding.

Both of these are more challenging for Black, Indigenous and people of color to access. Similarly, social entrepreneurs need a robust ecosystem of support, whether through family, friends, or other social capital, to help them navigate this way of life.

People who have a strong support system will always have a quicker pathway to impact.

By understanding these privileges, we can better understand how to support the social entrepreneurs in our community.

4

CIVIC LIFE TODAY // SOCIAL ENTREPRENEUR // POINTS OF LIGHT 24

“Social entrepreneurs are not content just to give a fish or teach how to fish.

They will not rest until they have revolutionized the fishing industry.”

– Bill Drayton

engagement than older generations.1 In fact, a Nielson study reports 54% of Generation Z say they desire to own their own company.2 The deeply ingrained inequalities in our society, like wealth and education gaps, are more and more difficult to overcome and require increasingly complex solutions. We need a generation committed and equipped to affecting change.

If there’s one thing we know, real social transformation only happens when people recognize and act on their power to make change. While not everyone can be a social entrepreneur, we all have a role to play in looking at the world through the lens of one; we can all work together to solve complex issues that impact our communities.

The DNA of a Social Entrepreneur Risk Tolerant It takes courage to risk financial wellbeing in the hope of solving or easing the problems and imbalances in modern society. Social entrepreneurs are willing to step out of their comfort zone to advance their ideas.

Innovation Minded Striving for change is one of the defining characteristics of a social entrepreneur. They are willing to challenge the status quo, think outside the box, and disrupt systems.

Business Savvy A social entrepreneur must navigate the challenges of a business environment and understand its mechanisms, hence the word “entrepreneur.”

Social Impact Motivated Financial resources come and go, but people and their fundamental needs are at the center of a social entrepreneur stage.

Collaborative Social entrepreneurs understand the importance of creating allies and partners to advance a cause. They know it “takes a village,” and real change only happens when there is collective effort and collaboration.

Resourceful Social entrepreneurs optimize existing resources, they actively expand their resource pool through collaboration with others.

Scrappy Social entrepreneurs commit to a result at all costs, doing whatever it takes to get that result.

There is no reward for checking off a list of menial tasks accomplished. There is only a reward for getting a big, meaningful result.3

Adapted from: The Anatomy of a Social Entrepreneur | Online Business UMD

Taking a Deeper Dive Social entrepreneurship may seem simple enough, but understanding its particular meaning can help us differentiate between doing good deeds and large-scale societal transformation. As the social entrepreneurship field grows, definition and terms are actually anything but clear.4 Social entrepreneurship doesn't follow traditional for-profit business models and is not the same as every day volunteerism. A social entrepreneur’s initiative can be profitable or nonprofitable, but the financial sustainability is only a means to an end. Profits are secondary to the problems they are trying to solve. As our world faces issues like climate change, income inequality, systematic racism and injustice, social entrepreneurs are showing up to drive change through creativity and an unshakable commitment to restoration from the ground up.

Although the field and its terms are growing rapidly, there’s no reason to feel intimidated by social entrepreneurship. You don’t have to be deterred from doing good if you can’t be a social entrepreneur.

In this issue of Civic Life Today, we’ll take a closer look at what makes a social entrepreneur, the challenge of systemic problems, and how everyone has a role to play in solving these complex issues and changing the status quo.

5

CIVIC LIFE TODAY // SOCIAL ENTREPRENEUR // POINTS OF LIGHT

Walking the Walk:

An Interview with

Celina de Sola

6

CIVIC LIFE TODAY // SOCIAL ENTREPRENEUR // POINTS OF LIGHT

As the co-founder of Glasswing International10, Celina Del Sola is forging partnerships across institutions and people to empower youth, mobilize action, and build community resilience to addresses the root causes and consequences of poverty, violence, and migration in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Q. There are many ways someone can support a cause, from using their voice to raise awareness, to volunteering their time to donating their resources. Why did you decide to go beyond and create Glasswing International?

A. While volunteering with kids in schools in Central America, and learning from them, we realized that the challenges and adversity they were facing were not only extreme, but also complex. We wanted to address the root causes of the challenges they were facing, like violence, and we knew that we would need to bring together and mobilize different people and institutions (across sectors) if we really wanted to have a deep impact. We knew that each of us alone – government, companies, and nonprofits – would not address this in isolation of each other and that we needed to join efforts. We also felt that it was essential to have a strengths-based approach that would build on existing community resources and strengthen existing systems, like public schools, to achieve more long-term change. We started Glasswing because we wanted to ‘convene and catalyze,’ building partnerships to develop and implement community and youth-centered, trauma-informed programs that could be replicated and scaled. In this context, volunteerism formed the basis of Glasswing from the beginning as key to enhancing engagement, empowerment, understanding, and trust.

Q. What does it take to be a social entrepreneur?

A. This is a tricky question because there are many different kinds of social entrepreneurs. I didn’t even know what that was until I learned about it in a course I took. Even though it is becoming much more common, I believe many social entrepreneurs in the world wouldn’t necessary call themselves that because they are unfamiliar with the term.

For us, starting a nonprofit social enterprise was incredibly challenging. It required being willing to take risks, a lot of flexibility and adaptability, and being aware that we might very well fail. It was and has continued to be, important to ask the communities we work with (our ‘clients’) many questions to understand their priorities and ensure that we always hold ourselves accountable ultimately to those we work with. Like most challenges in life, I also think it takes a lot of determination and resilience; there were so many days where I remember wanting to give up.

It can be frustrating and disheartening because sometimes it is hard for people to understand your vision and idea.

Q. As a Latin American woman, what do you think are the unique challenges people of color and women face working as social entrepreneurs?

A. Unfortunately, having lived experience and local expertise with the challenges you seek to address may not be enough to realize your vision if you are a woman of color trying to impact your community. It is much easier to become a successful social entrepreneur if you have the networks that can provide access to people and resources, support, and mentorship. This means that those closest to the challenges and solutions may not be able to address them, even though they may be the best-equipped to do so. Inequity and social exclusion create barriers to social impact. I believe that to amplify possibilities for individuals to become social entrepreneurs, power dynamics need to shift. In Skoll Foundation’s 2021 annual letter from the CEO, they underscored that they “trust those closest to the challenge to lead the change” and they “believe diversity is a strength and difference is a teacher.” It is this kind of thinking from key actors in the social entrepreneurship ecosystem that can help bridge aspiring and existing social entrepreneurs with what they need to positively impact their communities Q. To create social change, an entrepreneur needs to develop a robust support system. Tell us more about who inspired and supports your work.

A. Ayesha Siddiqi said: “Be the person you needed when you were younger.” I love this quote and remember how my seventh-grade teacher inspired me to volunteer and harness my frustration with social injustice to do something about it. At the beginning, we were not able to get initial financial support beyond close friends and family that were willing to take a risk on us. I am lucky that my family and friends have been an incredible source of support for Glasswing, the organization we co-founded with my husband and my brother. At the end of the day, I think that what has enabled us to achieve impact is the incredible commitment of our team members and volunteers. Social entrepreneurship is not about the person or people who start a venture but about the power of collective action to engender transformational change.

7

CIVIC LIFE TODAY // SOCIAL ENTREPRENEUR // POINTS OF LIGHT

Beyond Band-Aid Solutions: We Need Systemic Change Systemic issues can be overwhelming. But a change to a structure, organization or policies in a system has the potential to alleviate disparities5, and this is where social entrepreneurs come in.

Social entrepreneurs challenge the status quo – rules, norms, practices, power dynamics, relationships and allocation of resources – by connecting dots that were not connected before, building creative collaborations, and designing innovative solutions.

Social entrepreneurs focus not only on the problems that impact society, but also removing the root causes of the issues. In other words, they don’t want to focus on treating the symptoms, alleviating the side effects, or covering wounds with a band-aid, they’re motivated to diagnose the source of the disease and develop plans for treatment.

We understand the societal version of diseases as systemic problems. Systemic problems are not the result of an isolated factor. They are interconnected and interdependent and affect a large number of people. Poverty, for instance, is a systemic problem. In communities overcome by poverty, there tends to also be barriers to education. And in areas where there are barriers to education, there also tends to be a lack of access to quality healthcare, which can prevent individuals from working, thereby contributing to poverty.6 Disrupting systems, whether those as large as poverty or localized like access to books in a school, require social entrepreneurs to break through the layers in order to effect meaningful change.

Examples of Social Entrepreneurs Wangari Maathai7, the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize, founded Green Belt Movement in 1977 to solve the vicious cycle of environmental destruction and poverty in Kenya.

Poor families would often turn to their surroundings to meet basic needs, but those resources would inevitably run out, leaving the poor still poor and the environment around them destroyed. The Green Belt Movement offered a more sustainable alternative - planting trees to generate an income. The organization is grown to 30 countries, planting over 45 million trees in Kenya alone.

Vera Cordeiro was a doctor in one of Rio de Janeiro’s largest public hospitals. She witnessed poverty as a systemic issue firsthand and its impact on children’s healthcare in a repeating and never-ending cycle. Children were returning to the hospital because they lacked vital necessities.

Vera and a volunteer coalition formed what is now known as Instituto Dara8. These volunteer doctors and nurses, psychologists, lawyers, and homemakers provide patient families with the support they need in order to create the best environment for discharged children. In doing so, they make it possible for children to obtain necessities and escape the cycle of return and decline. Throughout the years, Vera’s organization has directly impacted the lives of more than 75,000 socially vulnerable people in Brazil and indirectly affected more than 1,000,000 people across four continents.9

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”

– Margaret Mead

8

CIVIC LIFETODAY TODAY////SOCIAL SOCIALENTREPRENEUR ENTREPRENEUR////POINTS POINTS LIGHT CIVIC LIFE OFOF LIGHT

Did You Know?

3.2% OF THE WORLDS POPULATION HAS STARTED SOCIAL VENTURES

5.75% OF THE TOTAL U.S. POPULATION IS INVOLVED IN SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN SOME WAY

SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURS ARE ON AVERAGE 1.7 TIMES MORE LIKELY TO HAVE A HIGH LEVEL OF EDUCATION COMPARED TO COMMERCIAL-ONLY ENTREPRENEURS 24

18-24 IS THE AVERAGE AGE RANGE OF A SOCIAL ENTREPRENEUR, AN AGE GROUP THAT ACCOUNTS FOR ALMOST 16% OF THE GLOBAL POPULATION

44% OF SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURS ARE FEMALE

24% OF THE WORLD’S SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURS HAVE RECEIVED FINANCIAL SUPPORT FROM FAMILY MEMBERS

44% OF GEN Z BELIEVE THAT OWNING THEIR OWN BUSINESS IS THE KEY TO SUCCESS.25 FURTHERMORE, A REPORT SUGGESTS THAT THIS GENERATION WILL HAVE APPROXIMATELY 17 DIFFERENT CAREERS IN THEIR LIFETIME.26

9

CIVIC LIFE TODAY // SOCIAL ENTREPRENEUR // POINTS OF LIGHT

“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”

– Albert Einstein

Innovation Requires Context

10

Social entrepreneurs are defined by their drive to solve systemic issues, and their solutions are grounded in innovation. But innovation can be understood in many different ways.

countries and territories around the world.12 Although innovation can stem from novel ideas, it might also derive from an idea that was successful in a different context.

It’s easy to be intimidated by the idea of innovation; it sounds like every idea has to be built from the ground up and completely new from any other idea that came before. But innovation does not have to be completely original. In fact, originality and innovation can be achieved by moving an ‘obvious’ idea from one context and applying it in another.11 For instance, crisis hotlines have been around since the 1950’s, originating in England. When witnessing the challenges of children living on the streets of India, Jeroo Billimoria recognized that this established technology could be used as a solution to provide access to support like police assistance, healthcare, and follow-up services.

Her program Childline is run by children living on the street and connects 24-hour emergency services to others that might need support. Today, the organization has 168 members from 139

Context is a critical part of innovation and social entrepreneurship. Like any other area of civic engagement, understanding the community you are working with is an integral step before taking action. Social entrepreneurs push themselves to solve root problems because, many times, they experience the root problems themselves. More than this, they understand the challenges better than someone who comes from another context with its own distinct problems, and they know there’s no one-size-fits-all solution for the problems we face today.

Innovation is a powerful tool, but equally critical for social entrepreneurs is understanding the needs and work already being done in a community. Necessity is the mother of invention, and innovative solutions only flourish when they’re intentionally designed to meet a community’s need.13

CIVIC LIFE TODAY // SOCIAL ENTREPRENEUR // POINTS OF LIGHT

11

CIVIC LIFE TODAY // SOCIAL ENTREPRENEUR // POINTS OF LIGHT

Social Entrepreneurship Around The World Yeshimabeit Milner Data for Black Lives / USA

Huriye Goncuoglu Akdeniz Koruma Derneği / Turkey

Yeshimabeit Milner is building a movement of data scientists and community changemakers to transform the role that data typically plays in our lives from a tool of control to a powerful force for social change.

Huriye and her team are working with fisherwomen to disrupt the rooted gender roles in the Turkish aquaculture sector.

Through trainings, education and advocacy, Huriye is alleviating the marginalization of women in the workforce, protecting coastal ecosystems and empowering women to be changemakers in their communities.

Daniela Maudeth Valdivia Gutiérrez Huellas & Futuro / Bolivia

Thiago Mundano Pimp My Carroça / Brazil

In a country with the highest rate of femicides and sexual abuse in Latin America, Daniela is giving men a prominent role in reducing gender-based violence by redefining masculinity and the woman’s role in Bolivia.

12

Created Pimp My Carroça, a movement that uses graffiti, art, and viral social media to give visibility and dignity to garbage collectors in Brazil, who are essential but marginalized recycling agents.

CIVIC LIFE TODAY // SOCIAL ENTREPRENEUR // POINTS OF LIGHT

“When faced with a challenge, look for a way, not a way out.”

– David Weatherford

Muhammad Yunus Grameen Bank / Bangladesh

David Yeung OmniPork / Hong Kong

Muhammad Yunus is the founder of Grameen Bank, the pioneering Dhaka-based organization that spread microcredit and microfinance globally.

David Yeung is seeking to mitigate the impact on the environment and climate change caused by vast consumption of beef, poultry and pork by offering consumers in Greater China and East Asia easy ways to reduce meat in their daily diet and shift to a more sustainable plant-based choice in diet.

Naomi Solanke Community Healthcare / Liberia

Luke Terry White Box Enterprises / Australia

Naomi has designed a system where women in local communities can improve their livelihoods by developing sustainable solutions to their problems. She has built an industry out of simple, low-cost health care solutions to solve some of the most pressing health challenges that women face.

Luke Terry is focused in transform Australia’s youth employment system using social enterprise as the tool. White Box Enterprises is building, replicating and supporting large-scale, work-integrated social enterprises that fill clear market gaps and can employ 50+ people.

13

CIVIC LIFE TODAY // SOCIAL ENTREPRENEUR // POINTS OF LIGHT

Rescuing Rabbits and Helping Humans:

An Interview with

Caleb Smith

At age 8, Caleb Smith decided to follow his dream to train endangered and rescued rabbits to become therapy animals. Today, 16-year-old Caleb is an entrepreneur who owns and operates a private 22-acre Mississippi River sanctuary called Peacebunny Island.14

14

CIVIC LIFE TODAY // SOCIAL ENTREPRENEUR // POINTS OF LIGHT

Q. What problem were you trying to solve when you started?

A. My first shark tank pitch to my parents was to ask for funding for a lemonade stand which, by the way, was a disaster because there were no cars on the street, my friends drank all the product and my workers still demanded payment.

Disaster. My second formal pitch came after I made a spreadsheet to record the online options for a new pet rabbit and my heart broke when I found 362 rabbits on Craigslist right after Easter.

Reading posts saying they were “done” with their pets, I realized their unfair expectations and figured some timely information while fostering first could help prevent the pet abandonment cycle better than building more shelters. Then when I saw comfort dogs in action after the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary, it all connected in my brain: we would rescue rabbits and they could help “rescue” those processing tragedy, loneliness and grief.

Q. Tell us about your journey from pitching your idea to creating a thriving nonprofit and for-profit business.

A. My parents committed to help me if I could figure out a sustainable plan – that’s why they joke, “Be careful what you promise your kids or you might find yourself on an amazing adventure.”

Starting small, I just treated people how I would want to be treated, then created a values page about treating people and animals with kindness.

Over time we accepted invitations to birthday parties and egg hunts which created ongoing leads and income streams. These in turn paid for more feed and business expenses.

Sir Isaac Newton said things in motion stay in motion and this bunny business is perfect proof.

I’ve been boot-strapping expenses from bunny parties since age 9, and now at 16 I own several Mississippi River islands for training comfort rabbits. If you do things the right way with the right motives consistently, and you take calculated risks and make sacrifices, and you work hard behind the scenes so you’re ready for when an opportunity might come, then when all that preparation turns into success people will applaud and say you’re lucky. HA! I’m blessed and so grateful for the people who took a chance on a kid business and took the time to invest in me as a person even when they didn’t yet understand the power of presence the comfort rabbits could provide.

Q. How did you fund your project initially?

A. How do you guarantee financial sustainability?

Bringing bunnies to that first party grossed $120 cash and I’d never sell lemonade again. People loved the program and donated. Over time we added some merchandise to our website.

We had enough manure that gardeners began requesting fertilizer by the bag – so I became an entre-manure by age 11. I found a buyer for the Angora rabbit wool as a new microbusiness to supplement the budget and we’ve slowly added new comfort rabbit units which means we can serve more people. The biggest boost however is the book deal with 100% of my 2021 royalties funding the vision.

Q. Having an enterprise is not easy. What are the biggest challenges and obstacles you’ve faced?

What keeps you going every day?

A. I’m ultimately responsible for providing feed and water, if it’s -30 degrees outside or so warm I’d rather be swimming. The physical challenges of my young body repeatedly lifting 40-pound feed bags and hay bales have only made me stronger over the years. Similarly, the discipline of daily care for the rabbits has taught me time management, life balance and the beauty of delegation while preparing me for new challenges.

To keep moving, I often sing during chores which drowns out the negative mental chatter. My biggest outward obstacles have come from entrenched system thinking, so I just need to keep smiling, serving, expecting the best out of people and trusting that kindness is never wasted.

Q. What advice would you give for a social entrepreneur who identifies a community need not being met by traditional structures?

A. Get ready for the ride of your life as you invest your creativity, energy and optimism to bring change. Know that not everyone will appreciate your passion nor support your ideas. Some people feel safer while stuck in a hole and can’t fathom sticking out their heads or climbing out. Some may even question your motives. Dream big, work hard, do good anyway.

Q. What is the next chapter in your social entrepreneur journey?

A. We’re accepting offers to create hubs in new regions that will add sites operated by senior home/hospice/heath care parent companies that we already serve in Minnesota. The demand far exceeds our ability, so we’re finding how to scale responsibly make our organization sustainable while we share hugs, hope and hoppiness.

His book, Peacebunny Island: The Extraordinary Journey of a Boy and His Comfort Rabbits, and How They're Teaching Us about Hope and Kindness is available today.

15

CIVIC LIFE TODAY // SOCIAL ENTREPRENEUR // POINTS OF LIGHT

Finding Your Role in Changemaking If you want to be a social entrepreneur, you can start by identifying a social problem in your community, then taking a deeper dive into understanding the causes of that problem, brainstorming creative solutions to solve it, and inviting people to join you.

If you are already a social entrepreneur, it’s always worth asking whether you are truly working with the community you are trying to serve. Ask yourself whether the solution you’ve come up with is meeting a real need. Do your research to make sure your innovation doesn’t already exist and, if it does, why is yours necessary? Are you focused more on the job title than the job itself?

Many people are drawn to the idea of founding their own organizations. That’s what a social entrepreneur does, right? This phenomenon actually has a name – heropreneurship. This is the idea that the highest value in social entrepreneurship comes from being at the top or founding an organization.27 Founding an organization is not an innately bad thing. Many social entrepreneurs rightfully do found their own organizations. But not only is this path not feasible for everyone, it may also do more harm

16

than good to the communities a person aims to serve. It’s easy to have a good idea. It can be hard to set aside egos and do the real work of changemaking.

Social entrepreneurs need an ecosystem for success. Their innovations cannot take place in a vacuum, and it takes many different roles to execute their vision. Maybe you have some discretionary income and can donate or leverage your purchase power to support a social entrepreneur. They might need volunteers to activate within a community. Perhaps getting the word out and using your voice would be an effective way to boost their efforts. The Civic Circle is built on the idea that we all have a role in creating change for good. You can have a role in making sure a social entrepreneur who has an innovative idea isn’t prevented from benefiting their community because they lack the resources to do so.

Whether you’re a social entrepreneur or you simply want to support one, there’s a need for everyone – just make sure it’s the right place for both you and your community.

CIVIC LIFE TODAY // SOCIAL ENTREPRENEUR // POINTS OF LIGHT

How to Change the World and Pay the Bills Regardless of the size of the community or scale of the problem, social entrepreneurs need funding to convert their visions into reality. In fact, funding can be one of the biggest hurdles that social entrepreneurs face. Typically, funding sources are motivated by profits, which is not the main goal for a social entrepreneur. However, one of the positives of social entrepreneurship becoming more popular is the increase in opportunities for funding.

A few examples of funding sources are:15 Angel Investor - Investing in an organization based on ideological considerations, angel investors provide financial aid to start-ups.

The amount of capital invested is relatively small, which means the risk for the angel investor is low.16

more potential donors than traditional forms of fundraising.18 Pitch competitions - A contest where entrepreneurs present their business concept to a panel in the hope of winning a cash prize or investment capital.19 Incubators - A collaborative program for startup organizations — usually physically located in one central workspace — designed to help startups in their infancy succeed by providing workspace, seed funding, mentoring and training.20 Accelerators - A short-term growth program that promotes a few years of growth in the span of a few months. Think of accelerators as boot camps in market-readiness and investment development.21

Impact Investor - Investments made with the intention to generate positive, measurable social and environmental impact alongside a financial return.17

Grants - Funds given by an entity – frequently, a public body, charitable foundation or specialized grant-making institution – to an individual or another entity (usually, a non-profit organization, sometimes a business or a local government body) for a specific purpose linked to public benefit.22

Crowdfunding - A way to raise money for an individual or organization by collecting donations through family, friends, friends of friends, strangers, businesses and more. By using social media to spread awareness, people can reach

Bootstrapping - A venture is bootstrapped when it is funded by an entrepreneur’s personal resources or the company’s own revenue. Self-funded founders and start-ups are often referred to be bootstrapping.23 17

CIVIC LIFE TODAY // SOCIAL ENTREPRENEUR // POINTS OF LIGHT

The Many Roles for Social Change:

An Interview with

Daniela Papi-Thornton

18

CIVIC LIFE TODAY // SOCIAL ENTREPRENEUR // POINTS OF LIGHT

Daniela Papi-Thornton is an educator whose work focuses on systems-led social interventions.

Daniela has served as a lecturer at Yale School of Management, Watson Institute and Oxford's Saïd Business School where she was the deputy director of the Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship.

Q. You coined the term "heropreneurship" when you talk about our need to rethink social entrepreneurship. Why is this important?

A. I am concerned that many people seem to be teaching about social entrepreneurship as if it simply meant starting a social business and that we are valorizing the role of Founder over the many other roles necessary for social change.

Many of the most impressive social impact leaders I have met are people who deeply understand a problem and are contributing to changing the system, holding that problem in place through a range of methods, not simply through running a social business. They might be contributing to changing policy and power dynamics, sharing information to fill knowledge gaps, working to change mental models, or any number of other systems change contributions outside the role of a social enterprise. We can't expect that "we" each of us as individuals or our individual organizations - can "change" a system, but we can contribute to changing a system. Changing our mindset from "We are going to solve it!" to "We are going to contribute to solving it!" is key.

Doing so means being more humble and collaborative in our thinking.

Understanding the ecosystem of an entrenched social or environmental problem requires28: Learning about the problem itself: Who or what is affected? What is holding the current broken system in place and who stands to benefit from or lose out if the problem is solved?

What are the related and interconnected issues that are causing or impacted by this problem?

What are the historical and future trends of the problem?

Learning about current and prior solution efforts: What has already been tried? What has worked and what hasn't? How are these solution efforts connected?

Identifying the gaps and lessons learned: Where are the gaps in the landscape of the solutions? What is missing? What parts of each model are working, and which are not? What would be needed to create a better collective outcome from all of these solution efforts?

What lessons can be learned and built upon?

Q. Why do you think it is essential to focus on understanding and defining the problem before developing the solution?

A. It's common sense, but not common practice, that if you wanted to solve a problem, you'd first want to understand the problem before trying to design a solution. What are the numbers? What is holding the problem in place? How is this problem connected to other problems? What's the history of the problem and projected future impact?

Many people jump into designing a solution before they really understand the context of the problem. Hackathons valorize that approach and design thinking courses ask you to "get in the shoes of your customer." The problem is, you are assuming from the start that you have a "customer." Before we decide we are going to offer up products or services to solve a problem, we should more deeply explore the problem, as by doing so, we might find that the initial gap we were looking to fill in a system is actually connected to many other gaps, and that our skills, experience, and interest might make us a better fit to focus on a different area.

19

CIVIC LIFE TODAY // SOCIAL ENTREPRENEUR // POINTS OF LIGHT

What Does That Mean?

Changemaker

Social Return on Investment (SROI)

A term coined by the social entrepreneurship organization, Ashoka, meaning one who desires change in the world and, by gathering knowledge and resources, makes that change happen.29

A form of stakeholder-driven evaluation blended with cost-benefit analysis tailored to social purposes. It tells the story of how change is being created, places a monetary value on that change and compares it with the costs of inputs required to achieve it.35

Disruption Also known as disruptive innovation. Innovation or technology is disruptive when it “disrupts” an existing market by doing things such as: challenging the prices in the market, displacing an old technology or changing the market audience.30

Heropreneurship A founder who is greatly admired, as if a hero, and viewed as the main actor in social progress.

This person might start an organization and then overemphasize their role as founder, overshadowing teamwork, collective impact and building upon the ideas of others.31

Social Enterprise A business that has specific social objectives that serve its primary purpose. Social enterprises seek to maximize profits while maximizing benefits to society and the environment. Their profits are principally used to fund social programs.32

Social Impact All forms of significant change experienced by individuals and communities. This includes income and labor market impacts, education impacts, social inclusion and relationship changes, mental and physical health effects and overall impact on quality of life and well-being.33

Social Innovations New social practices that aim to meet social needs better than the existing solutions, resulting from - for example - working conditions, education, community development or health.

These ideas are created to extend and strengthen civil society.34

20

Systemic Change A term suggesting that change has to be fundamental and affects how the whole system functions. Systemic change can mean gradual institutional reforms, but those reforms must be based on and aimed at transforming the fundamental qualities and tenets of the system itself.36

Systemic Problem A problem that is a consequence of issues inherent in the overall system rather than due to a specific, individual, isolated factors. Contrast with pilot error, user error or mistake. A change to the structure, organization or policies in a system could alleviate a systemic problem.37

Systems Thinking A way of helping a person to view systems from a broad perspective that includes seeing overall structures, patterns and cycles in systems, rather than seeing only specific events in the system.38

Wicked problem A social or cultural problem that is difficult or impossible to solve for as many as four reasons: incomplete or contradictory knowledge, the number of people and opinions involved, the large economic burden, and the interconnected nature of these problems with other problems.39

CIVIC LIFE TODAY // SOCIAL ENTREPRENEUR // POINTS OF LIGHT

Learning Library Tools and Resources:

Ashoka

Schwab Foundation

Skoll

Global Social Entrepreneurship Network

Be The Change

Learn More: Social Entrepreneurship 101 (acumenacademy.org) Opinion | Everyone a Changemaker - The New York Times (nytimes.com) Rethinking the Impact Spectrum | Ashoka U Home - Tacklingheropreneurship Welcome to Ashoka's Systems Change Crash Course | Ashoka | Everyone a Changemaker Social Entrepreneurship Revisited (ssir.org)

What to Watch: The New Breed Reclaiming Social Entrepreneurship | Daniela Papi Thornton | TEDxBend - YouTube Michael Porter: The case for letting business solve social problems | TED Talk Harish Manwani: Profit’s not always the point | TED Talk William Kamkwamba: How I harnessed the wind | TED Talk

Podcasts: Impact Boom (MS) 21 Social Enterprise Podcasts That Will Inspire You To Impact The World (Updated) 15 podcasts for social entrepreneurs | by Kendall Park | Social Enterprise Alliance | Medium

The Book Nook:

Systems Thinking for

The Social Entrepreneur's

How to Change the World

Social Entrepreneurship

Getting Beyond Better

The Power of

Social Change

Playbook

David Bornstein

Ian C. MacMillan James D. Thompson

Roger L. Martin Sally R. Osberg

Unreasonable People

David Peter Stroh

David Bornstein Susan Davis

These resources are being provided as a convenience and for informational purposes only; they do not constitute an endorsement or an approval by Points of Light of any of the products, services or opinions. Points of Light bears no responsibility for the accuracy, legality or content of the external site or for that of subsequent links. Contact the external site for answers to questions regarding its content. If there are questions or concerns about the inclusion of a particular resource, please contact info@pointsoflight.org.

John Elkington Pamela Hartigan

21

CIVIC LIFE TODAY // SOCIAL ENTREPRENEUR // POINTS OF LIGHT

Youth and Family Corner When we see an issue in our community that needs to be solved, young people or families can connect with an organization that is already addressing that issue by serving as volunteers, raising donations, or using their voices to share more about the cause. What happens when you encounter a unique or complex problem that doesn't have a readily available solution that you can support?

Social entrepreneurship might be the answer.

There are a few questions you should ask before embarking on social entrepreneurship: Am I solving an immediate problem or a long-term, systemic issue? Social entrepreneurs, for example, think about reducing the use of single-use plastics rather than doing a local park clean-up.

Will this focus on helping the community or helping me earn some extra money? The idea should be focused on advancing the greater good and not only on financial return.

While the goal is not to gain a considerable profit, do I have a way for the project be sustainable? The project should be appropriately funded in order to make the most effective impact.

There's a lot of work that goes into social entrepreneurship and it may take a while to get a social enterprise going, but here are a few young people who have found a way to be changemakers: Start small, grow big. In 2011, Ben, Mia, Cam, and Evan, students at the University of Maryland, College Park, noticed good dining hall food ended up in the trash at the end of the night. They founded the Food Recovery Network (FRN) to recover meals destined for the landfill. Nowadays, FRB is in 140 campuses in 46 states and the District of Columbia and recovered and donated over 4.9 million pounds – the equivalent of more than 4.1 million meals to individuals and families in need.40 Persistence pays off. When Lily Born was 7, she noticed that her grandpa, who has Parkinson's Disease, was knocking over his cup a lot. She came up with the idea for the Kangaroo Cup: a three-legged cup that won't tip over. After prototyping for several years, she had a cup ready for production. Now a seasoned 16-year-old, she has sold tens of thousands of cups all over the world.41 Change starts in your backyard. Sophie Bernstein decided to plant a small backyard garden and donate all of her harvest to a local food bank. It was only when she was making her donation, however, that Sophie discovered just how much it was needed. She learned about the lack of fresh fruits and vegetables at food pantries and about food deserts, areas without access to affordable nutritious food. She launched Grow Healthy, a nonprofit that has created 22 vegetable gardens at low-income child care centers and has grown and donated nearly 17,000 pounds of produce to local food banks and families in need.42

Family Friendly Books & Resources The following are resources for families to encourage listening and learning from others as well as information on finding other resources you can trust:

What is a Social Enterprise for Kids?

Ask Ultra

22

Bee Fearless Mikaila Ulmer

Five Ways to Encourage Youth to Pursue Social Entrepreneurship

Peacebunny Island Caleb Smith

CIVIC LIFE TODAY // SOCIAL ENTREPRENEUR // POINTS OF LIGHT

Continue the Conversation Change is hard on a personal, communal, and societal level. But real social change only happens when there’s a disruption to the status quo and systems are dismantled at the root level. Think about what change is needed in your own community. How do you, your family, your friends, and your colleagues want to be involved in bringing that change to life?

Here are some discussion questions to get started: What would you like to see improved in your community?

What are the barriers to making these improvements?

Do you understand the root causes of these barriers and, if not, how can you learn more about them?

Do you know a social entrepreneur in your community? Do you know a social entrepreneur focused on global-scale change? What makes their work important? What can you learn from them?

23

CIVIC LIFE TODAY // SOCIAL ENTREPRENEUR // POINTS OF LIGHT

Civic Life Journey: Personal Action Plan Do you want to leverage your time and talent to support what matters most to you? Use this worksheet to develop your own Personal Action Plan! By going through each question, you’ll discover opportunities that match your interests and values, and identify up to three action steps. Families are also encouraged to do this exercise together.

What are the issues that you are most passionate about?

Circle the 3 issue areas that most interest you.

• Adult or Youth Education

• Philanthropic or Social Mission

• Animal Welfare

• Hunger

• Arts & Culture

• Immigrant or Refugee Services

• Civil & Human Rights

• LGBTQ+ Rights

• Disaster Response

• Racial & Social Justice

• Environment/Climate Change

• Senior Services

• Fair Wages & Labor Practices

• Veterans

• Health & Wellness

• Women & Girls

• Homelessness & Housing

• Other: ___________

• Human Trafficking

• Other: ___________

How would you like to see these issues improved in your own community or globally?

What could be potential barriers to making these improvements? Do you understand the root causes of these barriers and, if not, how can you learn more about them?

24

CIVIC LIFE TODAY // SOCIAL ENTREPRENEUR // POINTS OF LIGHT

Discovery: Learn more about the work being done!

Find three social entrepreneurs or social enterprises addressing each issue you circled

Can you see & identify differences in the approach of the organizations?

Which approaches resonate most with you?

Did your research reveal any misconceptions or surprises?

What more do you want to learn?

What three new actions will you take to support social entrepreneurs over the next six months?

(Get creative and make sure your action steps align with what is needed by the causes and organizations you are interested in supporting. And remember, it may be as simple as inviting friends or family to join you.)

1.

2.

3.

This Personal Action Plan was developed in partnership with HandsOn Greater Richmond, a service of the Community Foundationfor a greater Richmond, and was inspired by their Giving Back Guide.

25

CIVIC LIFE TODAY // SOCIAL ENTREPRENEUR // POINTS OF LIGHT

Appendix 1

https://www.pointsoflight.org/civic-engagement-research/

2

https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernhardschroeder/2020/02/18

3

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jasonnazar/2013/06/04

4

https://ssir.org/articles/entry/social_entrepreneurship_the_case_for_definition

5

https://regia-marinho.medium.com/how-to-solve-a-systemic-problems-and-find-solution-now-97a029f17117

6

http://horn.udel.edu/wicked-problems-and-grand-challenges

7

https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/2004/maathai/biographical/

8

https://dara.org.br/en/

9

https://www.ashoka.org/en-us/fellow/vera-regina-gaensly-cordeiro https://glasswing.org/

10 11

https://medium.com/advice-and-help-in-authoring-a-phd-or-non-fiction

12

https://www.ashoka.org/en-us/fellow/jeroo-billimoria

13

https://www.childhelplineinternational.org/data-overview/publications/voices-2019data/

14

https://www.peacebunnyisland.com/

15

https://fi.co/insight/how-to-find-and-win-social-enterprise-funding

16

https://www.pwc.nl/nl/assets/documents/pwc-social-enterprises.pdf

17

https://thegiin.org/impact-investing/need-to-know/

18

https://www.crowdfunding.com/

19

https://www.merchantmaverick.com/pitch-competitions

20

26

https://www.uschamber.com/co/run/business-financing/startup-incubator

21

https://www.draperuniversity.com/blog/what-is-accelerator

22

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grant_(money)

23

https://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/bootstrap.asp

24

https://www.american.edu/kogod/research/innovation/upload/2016-gem-social-entrepreneurship-special-report.pdf

25

https://www.socialchangecentral.com/gen-z-the-new-generation-in-social-entrepreneurship/

26

https://www.fya.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/NWO_ReportSeriesSummary-1.pdf

27

https://ssir.org/articles/entry/tackling_heropreneurship

28

http://tacklingheropreneurship.com/

29

https://www.ashoka.org/

30

http://socialgoodstuff.com/2016/03/a-quick-guide-to-social-change-buzzwords-and-terminology/

31

http://tacklingheropreneurship.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/tackling-heropreneurship-daniela-papi.pdf

32

https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/social-enterprise.asp

33

http://socialgoodstuff.com/2016/03/a-quick-guide-to-social-change-buzzwords-and-terminology/

34

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_innovation

35

http://socialgoodstuff.com/2016/03/a-quick-guide-to-social-change-buzzwords-and-terminology/

36

https://medium.com/virtual-teams-for-systemic-change/what-is-systemic-change

37

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systemic_problem

38

https://managementhelp.org/misc/defn-systemsthinking.pdf

39

https://www.wickedproblems.com/1_wicked_problems

40

https://www.foodrecoverynetwork.org/what-we-do

41

http://www.imagiroo.com/about-lily

42

https://www.growhealthy.co/

CIVIC LIFE TODAY // SOCIAL ENTREPRENEUR // POINTS OF LIGHT

27

Points of Light is a global nonprofit organization that inspires, equips and mobilizes millions of people to take action that changes the world. We envision a world in which every individual discovers the power to make a difference, creating healthy communities in vibrant, participatory societies. Through affiliates in 200 cities across 37 countries, and in partnership with thousands of nonprofits and corporations, Points of Light engages 5 million volunteers in 14 million hours of service each year. We bring the power of people to where it’s needed most.

For more information, go to www.pointsoflight.org.

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/. To use or distribute this resource, please attribute publication to Points of Light.