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Social Entrepreneurship
Lee Zimmerman and Brian Anderluh (MBA '94)
![[photo - Photo: Bill Drayton]](http://csi.gsb.stanford.edu/sites/csi.gsb.stanford.edu/files/imagecache/img75x75/podcast_img/bill%20drayton%204708.jpg "[photo - Photo: Bill Drayton]")
Keeping social entrepreneurship strong means mentoring our youth, says Bill Drayton. The founder of Ashoka, the world's oldest support organization for social entrepreneurs, Drayton discusses how children are an important focus for the organization's current roster of emerging social enterprise all-stars.
![[photo - Picture: Wyatt]](http://csi.gsb.stanford.edu/sites/csi.gsb.stanford.edu/files/imagecache/img75x75/podcast_img/pic-%20wyatt.jpg "[photo - Picture: Wyatt]")
Jocelyn Wyatt, Social Innovation lead at IDEO, describes how design thinking can be employed in the developing world to address the needs of people who consume a product or service and the infrastructure that enables it.
Research Resources
Social entrepreneurs, those organizations and individuals who work to improve major social issues, don't have the networks and financial systems of traditional entrepreneurs, Sally Osberg, president of the Skoll Foundation told a Stanford MBA audience. Like Ginger Rogers dancing in a 1940's musical, they face the same issues as traditional entrepreneurs, but must do it backwards in high heels.
The moral legitimacy of a new market can come as much from how you sell something as from exactly what you’re selling.
In August 2010 the US government closed ShoreBank, one of the country’s leading social enterprises. Why did ShoreBank fail? And what lessons can be learned from its 37-year record of innovation?
A new study finds that nonprofits are not becoming more commercialized.
The Summer 2011 Prosocial Research Column features research examines the surprising influence of elevated physical height on prosocial giving. That is, being situated in vertically higher positions seems to promote prosocial behavior - inspiring greater charity, helping, compassion, and cooperation. What could possibly explain this link between physical altitude and prosocial virtues?
Jane Chen, MBA '08, is co-founder and CEO of Embrace, a nonprofit company dedicated to creating low-cost portable incubators to save the lives of low birthweight babies in developing countries. The Embrace infant warmer was launched in India in the spring of 2011 she told the annual Women in Management banquet at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
One Acre Fund feeds the world’s poor by helping them feed themselves.
A look at what’s needed next to create the right policy environment for innovation and results.
The owner of the only certified B Corporation in Kentucky assesses the pros and cons of the certification.
The founder of the Kashf Foundation argues that microfinance can improve the lives of Pakistan’s next generation.
Social entrepreneurs, those organizations and individuals who work to improve major social issues, don't have the networks and financial systems of traditional entrepreneurs, Sally Osberg, president of the Skoll Foundation told a Stanford MBA audience. Like Ginger Rogers dancing in a 1940's musical, they face the same issues as traditional entrepreneurs, but must do it backwards in high heels.
The Summer 2011 Prosocial Research Column features research examines the surprising influence of elevated physical height on prosocial giving. That is, being situated in vertically higher positions seems to promote prosocial behavior - inspiring greater charity, helping, compassion, and cooperation. What could possibly explain this link between physical altitude and prosocial virtues?
Jane Chen, MBA '08, is co-founder and CEO of Embrace, a nonprofit company dedicated to creating low-cost portable incubators to save the lives of low birthweight babies in developing countries. The Embrace infant warmer was launched in India in the spring of 2011 she told the annual Women in Management banquet at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Authors Jennifer Aaker and Andy Smith explain how to harness the power of social media to achieve social change in their book The Dragonfly Effect.
Chase Your Dream Skoll Advises Class of 2010 "Define your dream and chase it with as much rigor and authenticity as you can muster," entrepreneur and philanthropist Jeff Skoll advised Stanford Graduate School of Business 2010 graduates.
Project Redwood, a new venture philanthropy fund of the Stanford GSB Class of 1980, has distributed $400,000 over the past 3 years to organizations that use entrepreneurial approaches to fight poverty.
Troubled by the fact that an estimated 20,000 educated professionals leave Africa every year, Fred Swaniker, MBA '04 and Chris Bradford, MBA '05 founded the African Leadership Academy in Johannsburg, a secondary school they hope will help change the face of the continent.
![[photo - Sam Goldman and Ned Tozun, co-founders of D.light]](http://csi.gsb.stanford.edu/sites/csi.gsb.stanford.edu/files/imagecache/img75x75/dlight-199x214_0.jpg "[photo - Sam Goldman and Ned Tozun, co-founders of D.light]")
Sam Goldman, MBA '07, CEO of D.light Design, finds himself running an international company whose customers are some of the poorest people in China, India, or Tanzania. The firm grew out of the Business School course Design for Extreme Affordability. Goldman talked to the Stanford Reporter.
![[photo - Professor Jim Phills]](http://csi.gsb.stanford.edu/sites/csi.gsb.stanford.edu/files/imagecache/img75x75/article_april12_0.jpg "[photo - Professor Jim Phills]")
The wealth generated by the dot-com boom of the 1990s produced a new generation of philanthropists, determined to use their capital and their business savvy to solve social problems. A decade later, have they transformed the world of philanthropy?
![[photo - Beatriz Gutierrez]](http://csi.gsb.stanford.edu/sites/csi.gsb.stanford.edu/files/imagecache/img75x75/cemex-final-13_72dpi_4.jpg "[photo - Beatriz Gutierrez]")
Lorenzo Zambrano, MBA '68, took the family's cement business from regional player to the industry's third-largest supplier.
The moral legitimacy of a new market can come as much from how you sell something as from exactly what you’re selling.
In August 2010 the US government closed ShoreBank, one of the country’s leading social enterprises. Why did ShoreBank fail? And what lessons can be learned from its 37-year record of innovation?
A new study finds that nonprofits are not becoming more commercialized.
One Acre Fund feeds the world’s poor by helping them feed themselves.
A look at what’s needed next to create the right policy environment for innovation and results.
The owner of the only certified B Corporation in Kentucky assesses the pros and cons of the certification.
The founder of the Kashf Foundation argues that microfinance can improve the lives of Pakistan’s next generation.
Unless clean tech follows well-established rules of innovation and commercialization, the industry’s promise to provide sustainable sources of energy will fail.
Venture into a Panera Cares café and you’ll see the same menu and racks of freshly baked breads that are staples at the 1,400 Panera Bread restaurants across the United States. The only thing missing is the cash register. Instead, there’s a donation box where customers pay on the honor system.
A veteran social entrepreneur provides a guide to those who are thinking through the thorny question of whether to create a nonprofit, a for-profit, or something in between.
The long-term strength of our nation relies on the level of commitment we have toward innovation. Influx of talent, new mindset and new network technologies are the new convergence of innovation. President Obama must broaden the focus across and among the private, public, and nonprofit sectors—to seek and spark the most promising innovations whether they come from commercial or social entrepreneurs, executives or line workers, community leaders, public servants, researchers, or citizens who don’t fit into any of these categories.
The White House is about to announce the creation of the Office of Social Innovation.
This blog is the last of Marcia Stepanek’s coverage of the Skoll World Forum 2009 at Oxford University.
Reporting from the 6th annual Skoll World Forum for social innovation
“There’s no question: with public trust in CEOs and corporations at rock-bottom and the change mantra out of Washington [and Davos] and this week’s TED2009 still freshly potent, cause-wired social entrepreneurs have never had a better opportunity to boost traction globally for their Web-powered ideas.” - the author
The author reviews Jacqueline Novogratz’s book “The Blue Sweater: Bridging the Gap Between Rich and Poor in an Interconnected World” and draws insight from the book’s in depth presentation of social enterprise.
The movement to provide capital to social enterprises is gaining momentum.
Social entrepreneurism should focus less on charismatic personalities, and more on ideas that work.
Nonprofits need to be less risk averse.
Kiva, the world’s first person-to-person microlending Web site, has facilitated nearly $40 million in loans to entrepreneurs worldwide.
![[photo - Aron Cramer]](http://csi.gsb.stanford.edu/sites/csi.gsb.stanford.edu/files/imagecache/img75x75/podcast_img/Aron%20Cramer%204978_0.jpg "[photo - image - Aron Cramer]")
A trend toward decreasing poverty and improving the environment is emerging as corporations as companies incorporate environmental, social, and welfare-based themes into business plans and products.
You are missing some Flash content that should appear here! Perhaps your browser cannot display it, or maybe it did not initialize correctly.
Four million babies die every year simply due to an inability to maintain their own body temperature. Incubators can save lives, but are prohibitively expensive. Jane Chen developed Embrace, a portable, electricity-free, cost-effective alternative.
You are missing some Flash content that should appear here! Perhaps your browser cannot display it, or maybe it did not initialize correctly.
Keeping social entrepreneurship strong means mentoring our youth, says Bill Drayton. The founder of Ashoka, the world's oldest support organization for social entrepreneurs, Drayton discusses how children are an important focus for the organization's current roster of emerging social enterprise all-stars.
You are missing some Flash content that should appear here! Perhaps your browser cannot display it, or maybe it did not initialize correctly.
World demand for water is likely to continue to outpace population. In this panel discussion, experts talk about how this troubling environmental sustainability issue offers a rare opportunity for clean tech entrepreneurs. Our search for sustainable water offers lessons that may help others facing similar large-scale challenges such as world demand for energy.
You are missing some Flash content that should appear here! Perhaps your browser cannot display it, or maybe it did not initialize correctly.
![[photo - Picture: Chong]](http://csi.gsb.stanford.edu/sites/csi.gsb.stanford.edu/files/imagecache/img75x75/podcast_img/pic-%20chong.jpg "[photo - Picture: Chong]")
Founder and CEO of Catchafire, Rachel Chong, describes how Catchafire matches professionals with nonprofts and social enterprises in need of their skills. She also discusses the founding and funding of Catchafire.
You are missing some Flash content that should appear here! Perhaps your browser cannot display it, or maybe it did not initialize correctly.
Jocelyn Wyatt, Social Innovation lead at IDEO, describes how design thinking can be employed in the developing world to address the needs of people who consume a product or service and the infrastructure that enables it.
You are missing some Flash content that should appear here! Perhaps your browser cannot display it, or maybe it did not initialize correctly.
![[photo - Picture: Chamberlain]](http://csi.gsb.stanford.edu/sites/csi.gsb.stanford.edu/files/imagecache/img75x75/podcast_img/pic-%20Chamberlain.jpg "[photo - Picture: Chamberlain]")
Sara Chamberlain, Head of Interactive for BBC World Trust, discusses her innovatation which allows the people of Bangladesh to call a hotline to receive a short English lesson from an automated system.
You are missing some Flash content that should appear here! Perhaps your browser cannot display it, or maybe it did not initialize correctly.
![[photo - Picture: Lee]](http://csi.gsb.stanford.edu/sites/csi.gsb.stanford.edu/files/imagecache/img75x75/podcast_img/pic-Lee.jpg "[photo - Picture: Lee]")
Executive Director of A Single Drop for Safe Water (ASDSW) Kevin Lee talks about ASDSW's efforts offering technical assistance and capacity building opportunities for communities, local government, and assistance organizations to design and implement affordable water and sanitation services.
You are missing some Flash content that should appear here! Perhaps your browser cannot display it, or maybe it did not initialize correctly.
![[photo - Picture: Mannar]](http://csi.gsb.stanford.edu/sites/csi.gsb.stanford.edu/files/imagecache/img75x75/podcast_img/pic-%20mannar.jpg "[photo - Picture: Mannar]")
President of the Micronutrient Initiative Venkatesh Mannar discusses his initiative to double fortify salt with iodine and iron and then to deliver it to millions of indivuals at a very low cost.
You are missing some Flash content that should appear here! Perhaps your browser cannot display it, or maybe it did not initialize correctly.
![[photo - Picture: Shea]](http://csi.gsb.stanford.edu/sites/csi.gsb.stanford.edu/files/imagecache/img75x75/podcast_img/pic-sheas.jpg "[photo - Picture: Shea]")
Nicolas Shea, innovation advisor to the Chilean minister fo economy talks about Start-Up Chile, a new program in which the government is offering $40,000 grants and one-year visas to help early-stage entrepreneurs develp their companies.
You are missing some Flash content that should appear here! Perhaps your browser cannot display it, or maybe it did not initialize correctly.
![[Video-Using Entrepreneurial Approaches to Solve the Problems of Global Poverty]](http://img.youtube.com/vi/DJKD7jYyOmk/0.jpg "[Video-Using Entrepreneurial Approaches to Solve the Problems of Global Poverty]")
In turbulent times like ours, we need “hard-edged hope,” says Jacqueline Novogratz, the much-celebrated founder of the Acumen Fund. Affirming that the world is indeed a better place now than it was 40 years ago, she traces her own journey from a childhood witnessing racial inequities all around her in Detroit to a career leading the field of social impact investing. Novogratz rallies the community of Stanford business graduates to be part of the new generation of innovative problem solvers.
![[Video-Innovative Design Saves Tiny Lives]](http://img.youtube.com/vi/6RuNo8F-RXg/0.jpg "[Video-Innovative Design Saves Tiny Lives]")
Jane Chen, MBA '08, has a vision of a place “babies no longer die from being cold, where people no longer die from preventable causes. And where every person has the ability to choose [his or her] own fate.”
![[Video-Gaming for the Greater Good]](http://img.youtube.com/vi/22pw_sO3O9g/0.jpg "[Video-Gaming for the Greater Good]")
What if games were used to solve real-world problems?
![[Video-Design for the Ripple Effect: How a Small Act Leads to Big Change]](http://img.youtube.com/vi/x23KpziOLZ4/0.jpg "[Video-Design for the Ripple Effect: How a Small Act Leads to Big Change]")
How can we design for the ripple effect so that small acts of goodness trigger big ones?
![[Video-Social Entrepreneurship]](http://img.youtube.com/vi/SkCUalVWiW0/0.jpg "[Video-Social Entrepreneurship]")
Missions of social impact and profit do not need to be opposed, say social entrepreneurs. In fact, bringing the two together in a double bottom line can create dynamic new opportunities.
![[Video-New Biodesign Book Tackles Innovation: Prof. Stefanos Zenios]](http://img.youtube.com/vi/UxVbA48Kb40/0.jpg "[Video-New Biodesign Book Tackles Innovation: Prof. Stefanos Zenios]")
Q&A with Stefano Zenios on his new book, Biodesign: The Process of Innovating Medical Technologies.
![[Video-Networking Is More Than Lots of Names, Says Heidi Roizen]](http://img.youtube.com/vi/sVk_PkC7X4Y/0.jpg "[Video-Networking Is More Than Lots of Names, Says Heidi Roizen]")
"Credibility and power don't necessarily translate into a different world," says Heidi Roizen. Sometimes entrepreneurs need to learn new skills to transfter success to another sector.
![[Video-Entrepreneurship From a Woman's Perspective]](http://img.youtube.com/vi/UuBtgc0thok/0.jpg "[Video-Entrepreneurship From a Woman's Perspective]")
To be a successful entrepreneur you need to ignore your naysayers and have a passion bordering on obsession.
![[Video-Opportunities in Clean Tech]](http://img.youtube.com/vi/xE1xGP_RKyw/0.jpg "[Video-Opportunities in Clean Tech]")
What is the future of clean tech?
![[Video-Using Social Media to Save Lives, Part 1 of 3]](http://img.youtube.com/vi/13xeVbgYo2Y/0.jpg "[Video-Using Social Media to Save Lives, Part 1 of 3]")
A leukemia diagnosis for Sameer Bhatia is the start of a nation-wide project to create a bone marrow registry in India. Robert Chatwani describes one family's innovative effort to create social change and, in the process, find a perfect match for Sameer.
In turbulent times like ours, we need “hard-edged hope,” says Jacqueline Novogratz, the much-celebrated founder of the Acumen Fund. Affirming that the world is indeed a better place now than it was 40 years ago, she traces her own journey from a childhood witnessing racial inequities all around her in Detroit to a career leading the field of social impact investing. Novogratz rallies the community of Stanford business graduates to be part of the new generation of innovative problem solvers.
A trend toward decreasing poverty and improving the environment is emerging as corporations as companies incorporate environmental, social, and welfare-based themes into business plans and products.
You are missing some Flash content that should appear here! Perhaps your browser cannot display it, or maybe it did not initialize correctly.
Four million babies die every year simply due to an inability to maintain their own body temperature. Incubators can save lives, but are prohibitively expensive. Jane Chen developed Embrace, a portable, electricity-free, cost-effective alternative.
You are missing some Flash content that should appear here! Perhaps your browser cannot display it, or maybe it did not initialize correctly.
Keeping social entrepreneurship strong means mentoring our youth, says Bill Drayton. The founder of Ashoka, the world's oldest support organization for social entrepreneurs, Drayton discusses how children are an important focus for the organization's current roster of emerging social enterprise all-stars.
You are missing some Flash content that should appear here! Perhaps your browser cannot display it, or maybe it did not initialize correctly.
World demand for water is likely to continue to outpace population. In this panel discussion, experts talk about how this troubling environmental sustainability issue offers a rare opportunity for clean tech entrepreneurs. Our search for sustainable water offers lessons that may help others facing similar large-scale challenges such as world demand for energy.
You are missing some Flash content that should appear here! Perhaps your browser cannot display it, or maybe it did not initialize correctly.
Jane Chen, MBA '08, has a vision of a place “babies no longer die from being cold, where people no longer die from preventable causes. And where every person has the ability to choose [his or her] own fate.”
Founder and CEO of Catchafire, Rachel Chong, describes how Catchafire matches professionals with nonprofts and social enterprises in need of their skills. She also discusses the founding and funding of Catchafire.
You are missing some Flash content that should appear here! Perhaps your browser cannot display it, or maybe it did not initialize correctly.
Jocelyn Wyatt, Social Innovation lead at IDEO, describes how design thinking can be employed in the developing world to address the needs of people who consume a product or service and the infrastructure that enables it.
You are missing some Flash content that should appear here! Perhaps your browser cannot display it, or maybe it did not initialize correctly.
Sara Chamberlain, Head of Interactive for BBC World Trust, discusses her innovatation which allows the people of Bangladesh to call a hotline to receive a short English lesson from an automated system.
You are missing some Flash content that should appear here! Perhaps your browser cannot display it, or maybe it did not initialize correctly.
Executive Director of A Single Drop for Safe Water (ASDSW) Kevin Lee talks about ASDSW's efforts offering technical assistance and capacity building opportunities for communities, local government, and assistance organizations to design and implement affordable water and sanitation services.
You are missing some Flash content that should appear here! Perhaps your browser cannot display it, or maybe it did not initialize correctly.
This case details the founding story of Kiva, with particular focus on the way that Jessica Jackley and Matt Flannery have stayed true to the original mission by telling authentic stories about entrepreneurs in East Africa, and how those stories have influenced lenders and fellows.
This case details the innovative work of business executive Tom Siebel, who launched the Meth Project in 2005 to 'unsell' meth to first time users in Montana. The program used an innovative research-based marketing campaign and has since scaled to other states.
The CEO of Gardenburger, a seller of veggie burger products and other food alternatives to meat, considers the company’s advertising strategy. He aims to take the company from the small health-food niche to the consumer mainstream.
![[photo - William P. Barnett]](http://csi.gsb.stanford.edu/sites/csi.gsb.stanford.edu/files/imagecache/img75x75/barnett-william.jpg "[photo - William P. Barnett]")
Various economic and environmental issues face the owners of a cruise business in the Galapagos Islands. The case gives special attention to the efforts of locals to preserve and enhance their own ecotourism business prospects.
![[photo - Jesper B. Sorensen]](http://csi.gsb.stanford.edu/sites/csi.gsb.stanford.edu/files/imagecache/img75x75/sorensen-jesper-bottger_2.jpg "[photo - Jesper B. Sorensen]")
As Green as It Gets was a nonprofit economic development organization supporting small, independent producers in disadvantaged Guatemalan communities. The founder pondered how to grow and sustain the organization.
![[photo - James A. Phills]](http://csi.gsb.stanford.edu/sites/csi.gsb.stanford.edu/files/imagecache/img75x75/phills-james-a_17.jpg "[photo - James A. Phills]")
Worldstock, Overstock.com’s socially responsible initiative, which marketed handicrafts produced by developing nation artisans to the United States, was suffering losses. Some stakeholders wondered if Worldstock would be shut down or spun off if the situation did not improve.
![[photo - Garth Saloner]](http://csi.gsb.stanford.edu/sites/csi.gsb.stanford.edu/files/imagecache/img75x75/saloner-garth_2.jpg "[photo - Garth Saloner]")
Equity Bank, a microfinance services provider, experienced a remarkable turnaround in the early 1990s. What strategy did the CEO pursue to accomplish such a feat?
![[photo - Rick Aubry]](http://csi.gsb.stanford.edu/sites/csi.gsb.stanford.edu/files/imagecache/img75x75/aubry-rick_1.jpg "[photo - Rick Aubry]")
Two social ventures collaborated with each other to help expand one’s solar energy services from southern Brazil into the Amazon region. The case highlights the core factors that led to the project’s ultimate outcome.
![[photo - James A. Phills]](http://csi.gsb.stanford.edu/sites/csi.gsb.stanford.edu/files/imagecache/img75x75/phills-james-a_13.jpg "[photo - James A. Phills]")
This strategy case discusses a number of challenges facing nonprofit managers. These include establishing a sustainable and self-supporting operating model, generating corporate-sector support, and managing through a financial crisis.
![[photo - James A. Phills]](http://csi.gsb.stanford.edu/sites/csi.gsb.stanford.edu/files/imagecache/img75x75/phills-james-a_14.jpg "[photo - James A. Phills]")
Unitus focuses on accelerating the growth of the microfinance industry. This first case describes the Unitus business model for microfinance and whether or not the company should expand the capital it provides to partners through a debt or equity fund.
This case details the founding story of Kiva, with particular focus on the way that Jessica Jackley and Matt Flannery have stayed true to the original mission by telling authentic stories about entrepreneurs in East Africa, and how those stories have influenced lenders and fellows.
This case details the innovative work of business executive Tom Siebel, who launched the Meth Project in 2005 to 'unsell' meth to first time users in Montana. The program used an innovative research-based marketing campaign and has since scaled to other states.
The CEO of Gardenburger, a seller of veggie burger products and other food alternatives to meat, considers the company’s advertising strategy. He aims to take the company from the small health-food niche to the consumer mainstream.
Various economic and environmental issues face the owners of a cruise business in the Galapagos Islands. The case gives special attention to the efforts of locals to preserve and enhance their own ecotourism business prospects.
As Green as It Gets was a nonprofit economic development organization supporting small, independent producers in disadvantaged Guatemalan communities. The founder pondered how to grow and sustain the organization.
Worldstock, Overstock.com’s socially responsible initiative, which marketed handicrafts produced by developing nation artisans to the United States, was suffering losses. Some stakeholders wondered if Worldstock would be shut down or spun off if the situation did not improve.
Equity Bank, a microfinance services provider, experienced a remarkable turnaround in the early 1990s. What strategy did the CEO pursue to accomplish such a feat?
Two social ventures collaborated with each other to help expand one’s solar energy services from southern Brazil into the Amazon region. The case highlights the core factors that led to the project’s ultimate outcome.
This strategy case discusses a number of challenges facing nonprofit managers. These include establishing a sustainable and self-supporting operating model, generating corporate-sector support, and managing through a financial crisis.
Unitus focuses on accelerating the growth of the microfinance industry. This first case describes the Unitus business model for microfinance and whether or not the company should expand the capital it provides to partners through a debt or equity fund.
![[photo - J. Gregory Dees]](http://csi.gsb.stanford.edu/sites/csi.gsb.stanford.edu/files/imagecache/img75x75/fs_gdees.jpg "[photo - J. Gregory Dees]")
This seminal paper defines the term social entrepreneurship and helps shape, what was in 1998, the nascent field of social entrepreneurship.
![[photo - Jennifer Aaker]](http://csi.gsb.stanford.edu/sites/csi.gsb.stanford.edu/files/imagecache/img75x75/Aaker%20Author%20Photo.jpg "[photo - Jennifer Aaker]")
The goal of this seminar is to investigate how social technology (e.g., blogs, websites, podcasts, widgets, community groups, social network feeds) can change attitudes and behaviors in ways that cultivate social change. We study the strategies and tactics used by companies and causes that have successfully catalyzed social persuasion.
![[photo - Rick Aubry]](http://csi.gsb.stanford.edu/sites/csi.gsb.stanford.edu/files/imagecache/img75x75/aubry-rick_3.jpg "[photo - Rick Aubry]")
This course focuses on the efforts of private citizens to create effective responses to social needs and innovative solutions to social problems. It equips students with frameworks and tools that will help them be more effective as a social entrepreneur.
![[photo - Jane Wei]](http://csi.gsb.stanford.edu/sites/csi.gsb.stanford.edu/files/imagecache/img75x75/wei-jane-chuen-yee.jpg "[photo - Jane Wei]")
This course explores the challenges and opportunities related to social entrepreneurship. Students study nonprofit, for-profit, and hybrid organizational forms, and examine issues from a variety of perspectives, including that of entrepreneur, CEO, funder, and board member.
![[photo - Jim Patell]](http://csi.gsb.stanford.edu/sites/csi.gsb.stanford.edu/files/imagecache/img75x75/patell-james-m.jpg "[photo - Jim Patell]")
Students apply engineering and business skills to design product prototypes, distribution systems, and business plans for entrepreneurial ventures in developing countries. The aim is to address challenges faced by the world's poor.
![[photo - Debra Meyerson]](http://csi.gsb.stanford.edu/sites/csi.gsb.stanford.edu/files/imagecache/img75x75/meyerson-debra_3.jpg "[photo - Debra Meyerson]")
This course is designed to help students understand and manage human systems, exercise leadership, and work effectively with other people, specifically within the context of culturally diverse groups and organizations. The underlying premise is that diversity can present unique challenges and opportunities.
![[photo - Stefanos Zenios]](http://csi.gsb.stanford.edu/sites/csi.gsb.stanford.edu/files/imagecache/img75x75/zenios-stefanos_6.jpg "[photo - Stefanos Zenios]")
This course examines health care businesses and how they use technology (primarily biotechnology, medical technology, and information technology) to improve patient outcomes and manage costs. Through case studies, students gain an in-depth understanding of how new technologies get developed and commercialized in health care, and of how the whole health care value chain adapts to new technologies.
![[photo - Yohei Iwasaki (MBA '10)]](http://csi.gsb.stanford.edu/sites/csi.gsb.stanford.edu/files/imagecache/img75x75/social_innovator_picture/Yohei%20Iwasaki%201.jpg "[photo - Yohei Iwasaki (MBA '10)]")
Yohei Iwasaki and mOasis are enabling farmers to grow more crops from less water and to cultivate previously underutilized land, producing a sustainable environment that significantly reduces food and water shortages.
![[photo - Jane Chen (MBA '08)]](http://csi.gsb.stanford.edu/sites/csi.gsb.stanford.edu/files/imagecache/img75x75/social_innovator_picture/jane_chen_0.jpg "[photo - Jane Chen (MBA '08)]")
Jane Chen's passion for helping others has taken her on an incredible journey from doing social work in China to founding Embrace, a company that sells premature infant incubators.
![[photo - Jacqueline Novogratz]](http://csi.gsb.stanford.edu/sites/csi.gsb.stanford.edu/files/imagecache/img75x75/social_innovator_picture/novogratz.jpg "[photo - Jacqueline Novogratz]")
In turbulent times like ours, we need “hard-edged hope,” says Jacqueline Novogratz, the much-celebrated founder of the Acumen Fund. Affirming that the world is indeed a better place now than it was 40 years ago, she traces her own journey from a childhood witnessing racial inequities all around her in Detroit to a career leading the field of social impact investing.
![[photo - Lee Zimmerman]](http://csi.gsb.stanford.edu/sites/csi.gsb.stanford.edu/files/imagecache/img75x75/social_innovator_picture/Lee%20Zimmerman_0.jpg "[photo - Lee Zimmerman]")
As co-owners of Evergreen Lodge in Yosemite, a social enterprise that combines environmental stewardship and socially-minded employment strategies, Lee Zimmerman and Brian Anderluh discuss keys and barriers to success, potential for scale, and opportunities for the future.
![[photo - photo - Hope Flammer]](http://csi.gsb.stanford.edu/sites/csi.gsb.stanford.edu/files/imagecache/img75x75/social_innovator_picture/Hope%20Flammer.jpg "[photo - photo - Hope Flammer]")
Hope Flammer (MBA '91) and VoiceQuilt help families celebrate loved ones with voice-based toasts, tributes and favorite memories.
![[photo - Leena Ved]](http://csi.gsb.stanford.edu/sites/csi.gsb.stanford.edu/files/imagecache/img75x75/social_innovator_picture/Leena%20Ved.JPG "[photo - Leena Ved]")
Leena Ved provides high quality educational opportunities for under-served children, and addresses the financing gap in impact investing by supporting early stage companies.
![[photo - Dana Hendrickson]](http://csi.gsb.stanford.edu/sites/csi.gsb.stanford.edu/files/imagecache/img75x75/social_innovator_picture/Dana_Hendrickson.jpg "[photo - Dana Hendrickson]")
Through Rebuild Hope, Dana Hendrickson and others help wounded veterans and their families overcome short-term financial obstacles.
![[photo - Chari Ratwatte]](http://csi.gsb.stanford.edu/sites/csi.gsb.stanford.edu/files/imagecache/img75x75/social_innovator_picture/Chari.jpg "[photo - Chari Ratwatte]")
One of the first two Stanford GSB Social Innovation fellows, Chari works to provide economic opportunities to farmers in Sri Lanka.
Dave DeForest-Stalls wants to help kids stay out of gangs. He's providing mentorship and hip ways to keep youth on the straight and narrow.
Mark Cafferty is passionate about empowering individuals to be all they can be. He channels funds to employment and youth service programs.
Social entrepreneurs, those organizations and individuals who work to improve major social issues, don't have the networks and financial systems of traditional entrepreneurs, Sally Osberg, president of the Skoll Foundation told a Stanford MBA audience. Like Ginger Rogers dancing in a 1940's musical, they face the same issues as traditional entrepreneurs, but must do it backwards in high heels.
Jane Chen's passion for helping others has taken her on an incredible journey from doing social work in China to founding Embrace, a company that sells premature infant incubators.
Yohei Iwasaki and mOasis are enabling farmers to grow more crops from less water and to cultivate previously underutilized land, producing a sustainable environment that significantly reduces food and water shortages.
In turbulent times like ours, we need “hard-edged hope,” says Jacqueline Novogratz, the much-celebrated founder of the Acumen Fund. Affirming that the world is indeed a better place now than it was 40 years ago, she traces her own journey from a childhood witnessing racial inequities all around her in Detroit to a career leading the field of social impact investing.
In turbulent times like ours, we need “hard-edged hope,” says Jacqueline Novogratz, the much-celebrated founder of the Acumen Fund. Affirming that the world is indeed a better place now than it was 40 years ago, she traces her own journey from a childhood witnessing racial inequities all around her in Detroit to a career leading the field of social impact investing. Novogratz rallies the community of Stanford business graduates to be part of the new generation of innovative problem solvers.
As co-owners of Evergreen Lodge in Yosemite, a social enterprise that combines environmental stewardship and socially-minded employment strategies, Lee Zimmerman and Brian Anderluh discuss keys and barriers to success, potential for scale, and opportunities for the future.
Through Rebuild Hope, Dana Hendrickson and others help wounded veterans and their families overcome short-term financial obstacles.
Leena Ved provides high quality educational opportunities for under-served children, and addresses the financing gap in impact investing by supporting early stage companies.
A trend toward decreasing poverty and improving the environment is emerging as corporations as companies incorporate environmental, social, and welfare-based themes into business plans and products.
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The moral legitimacy of a new market can come as much from how you sell something as from exactly what you’re selling.
