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Social Entrepreneurship
Farm to Cup Merger Emphasizes Partnership & Economic Empowerment
A grassroots student effort led by Caroline Mullen, MBA ’12, Catha Mullen, MBA ’13, and Monica Lewis, MBA ’12, now has even more impact through a merger with Pachamama Coffee Cooperative.
![[photo - Brenden Millstein]](http://csi.gsb.stanford.edu/sites/csi.gsb.stanford.edu/files/imagecache/img75x75/Brenden%20headshot.jpg "[photo - Brenden Millstein]")
There are all manner of approaches to 'green investing,' and the folks at Carbon Lighthouse — recipients of an $80,000 Social Innovation Fellowship from the Center for Social Innovation at the Graduate School of Business — manage to combine two of them under the same roof.
James Gutierrez, MBA '05, discusses how he built Progreso Financiero, where he gets his best ideas, and the best advice he's ever received.
Research Resources
Stanford Social Innovation Review: Winter 2010
Development experts have long known that educating girls is one of the surest ways to improve life for everyone in poor countries. Yet the path to school has not been smooth for many girls—especially in sub-Saharan Africa. Over the past 17 years, however, the Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE) has delivered high-quality education to millions of girls across 35 African countries. The secret to FAWE’s scale and impact, say its leaders, is its flexibility.
Resource: Stanford Social Innovation Review Article
Stanford Social Innovation Review: Winter 2010
Inspiring change through photography.
Resource: Stanford Social Innovation Review Article
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.
Resource: News Article
Stanford Social Innovation Review: Fall 2009
How the Freelancers Union is modernizing the labor movement for independent workers. —By Amy Wilkinson
Resource: Stanford Social Innovation Review Article
Stanford Social Innovation Review: Fall 2009
Maria Yee established her eco-friendly, high-end furniture company long before going green was the done thing. Two decades later, her company’s environmentally sound practices not only reflect a planet-friendly ethos, but also drive a market-friendly creative edge. Here’s how and why Yee stays green in a brown industry.
Resource: Stanford Social Innovation Review Article
![[photo - Jessica Jackley, co-founder of Kiva]](http://csi.gsb.stanford.edu/sites/csi.gsb.stanford.edu/files/imagecache/img75x75/jackley_0.jpg "[photo - Jessica Jackley, co-founder of Kiva]")
The cofounder of a microlending outfit says entrepreneurs need to "wake up each day and say, 'Now what?'"
Resource: News Article
![[photo - Students Help Win $50K at The Big Idea]](http://csi.gsb.stanford.edu/sites/csi.gsb.stanford.edu/files/imagecache/img75x75/NOLA-team_1.jpg "[photo - Students Help Win $50K at The Big Idea]")
Education Everytime, a venture that uses music to direct students through class transitions, got a huge boost last month when 6 students helped the company win $50,000 in funding at The Idea Village’s New Orleans Entrepreneur Week.
Resource: News Article
![[photo - Vote]](http://csi.gsb.stanford.edu/sites/csi.gsb.stanford.edu/files/imagecache/img75x75/Vote-iPhone.jpg "[photo - Vote]")
A Stanford GSB student's new company could make voting decisions more like online shopping.
Resource: News Article
There are all manner of approaches to 'green investing,' and the folks at Carbon Lighthouse — recipients of an $80,000 Social Innovation Fellowship from the Center for Social Innovation at the Graduate School of Business — manage to combine two of them under the same roof.
Resource: News Article
James Gutierrez, MBA '05, discusses how he built Progreso Financiero, where he gets his best ideas, and the best advice he's ever received.
Resource: News Article
Stanford Social Innovation Review: Spring 2009
THE BLUE SWEATER: Bridging the Gap Between Rich and Poor in an Interconnected World by Jacqueline Novogratz Review by Pamela Hartigan
Resource: Stanford Social Innovation Review Article
Stanford Social Innovation Review: Spring 2009
Voluntary carbon offsets allow people to invest in projects that allegedly counteract their greenhouse gas emissions. But can voluntary offsets help slow global warming? Or are offsets simply a way for guilt-ridden consumers to buy their way out of bad feelings? —By Matthew J. Kotchen
Resource: Stanford Social Innovation Review Article
Stanford Social Innovation Review: Spring 2009
Documentary filmmakers win the chance to focus on social entrepreneurs.
Resource: Stanford Social Innovation Review Article
Stanford Social Innovation Review: Spring 2009
Nonprofit lender Root Capital connects rural farmers and artisans with the corporations that crave their products. —By Suzie Boss
Resource: Stanford Social Innovation Review Article
Stanford Social Innovation Review: Spring 2009
Students in poor Indian schools watch DVDs and experience great teachers' instruction.
Resource: Stanford Social Innovation Review Article
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.
Resource: Blog Post
The White House is about to announce the creation of the Office of Social Innovation.
Resource: Blog Post
This blog is the last of Marcia Stepanek’s coverage of the Skoll World Forum 2009 at Oxford University.
Resource: Blog Post
Reporting from the 6th annual Skoll World Forum for social innovation
Resource: Blog Post
“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
Resource: Blog Post
![[photo - Growth Finance for Social Entrepreneurs - Obtaining Major Funding]](http://csi.gsb.stanford.edu/sites/csi.gsb.stanford.edu/files/imagecache/img75x75/podcast_img/Panel_Discussion_Microphone_CROPPED_1.jpg "[photo - Growth Finance for Social Entrepreneurs - Obtaining Major Funding]")
Financing the growth of operations to achieve major scale is undoubtedly the biggest challenge facing social entrepreneurship. This panel discussion explores the current challenges and constraints in mobilizing capital flow to compelling social enterprises. Experts cover a range of strategies and channels available to social entrepreneurs for financing growth plans, including emerging alternatives to create new asset classes (hybrid, for-profit, and for-benefit models).
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Resource: Audio
![[photo - Marc Koska]](http://csi.gsb.stanford.edu/sites/csi.gsb.stanford.edu/files/imagecache/img75x75/podcast_img/3967.jpg "[photo - Preserving the Right to Safe Injections]")
In India and Africa, syringes are frequently reused, despite the obvious dangers of cross infection and death. Marc Koska talks about his involvement with Star Syringe, which designed and licensed an auto-disable syringe that prevents syringe reuse. He discusses how single-use syringe adoption is progressing in India, and also talks about the activities and aims of his charity SafePoint Trust.
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Resource: Audio
Social entrepreneurship efforts need marketing as much as any business enterprise. In this audio lecture, Oxford business professor Douglas Holt asserts that there is a systematic way to learn from the marketing success of companies such as Apple, Harley Davidson, and Coca-Cola.
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Resource: Audio
![[photo - Dr. Elizabeth Hausler]](http://csi.gsb.stanford.edu/sites/csi.gsb.stanford.edu/files/imagecache/img75x75/podcast_img/Dr.%20Elizabeth%20Hausler.jpg "[photo - Making Homes Safe From Earthquakes]")
When an earthquake hits, what should you do? Should you get out of the house? The answer, says Elizabeth Hausler, founder of Build Change, depends upon where you live. In this audio interview with host Sheela Sethuraman, Hausler describes how the strategies of Build Change are helping villages in Indonesia and China to build earthquake-resistant housing.
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Resource: Audio
![[photo - Rodrigo Baggio, Deepti Doshi, Marc Freedman, Pamela Hartigan]](http://csi.gsb.stanford.edu/sites/csi.gsb.stanford.edu/files/imagecache/img75x75/podcast_img/Panel_Discussion_Microphone_CROPPED.jpg "[photo - Rodrigo Baggio, Deepti Doshi, Marc Freedman, Pamela Hartigan]")
Over the last decade, social entrepreneurship has exploded on the international scene, with corresponding interest in setting up funds to support social ventures. While a whole spectrum of services exists to support the financial industry, the same isn't true of the nonprofit sector. In this panel discussion, experts talk about the need for addressing the talent gap in nonprofit managemnt along with ways to lure talented youngsters to bridge this gap.
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Resource: Audio
![[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.
Resource: Video
![[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.”
Resource: Video
![[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?
Resource: Video
![[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?
Resource: Video
![[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.
Resource: Video
How is New Orleans rebuilding after Hurricane Katrina? In this Stanford Center for Social Innovation sponsored presentation at the Social Enterprise Alliance 2009 Summit, Louisiana Lieutenant Governor Mitch Landrieu discusses the role of tourism in the city's rehabilitation with Root Cause founder, Andrew Wolk. Landrieu details his work to found the nation's first government-run Office of Social Entrepreneurship, and emphasizes how New Orleans and the entire state are being strengthened by the development of their cultural assets.
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Resource: Audio
With the Obama administration's focus on social enterprise as a means of solving some of our most pressing problems, the social entrepreneur has emerged as the chief change agent of our time. In this panel discussion, part of the Stanford 2009 Entrepreneurship Week, leaders of several vital organizations talk about the motivations, successes, and challenges associated with running a social enterprise. They consider what the economic downturn has meant to their missions, and they offer practical advice to aspiring entrepreneurs.
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Resource: Audio
![[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.
Resource: Video
![[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?
Resource: Video
![[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.
Resource: Video
Case Studies : All | Academic Cases
No Results Found
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.
Resource: Academic Case
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.
Resource: Academic Case
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.
Resource: Academic Case
![[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.
Resource: Academic Case
![[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.
Resource: Academic Case
![[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.
Resource: Academic Case
![[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?
Resource: Academic Case
![[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.
Resource: Academic Case
![[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.
Resource: Academic Case
![[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.
Resource: Academic Case
In December 2000, New Schools Venture Fund was debating whether, as a public charity seeking to improve K-12 education, it should be investing in for-profit ventures. Part B of the case provides an update on how New Schools Venture Fund is approaching these questions.
Resource: Academic Case
Mark Alsentzer, an investor in Earth Care, took over leadership of the business when it got into trouble in 1996. He focused on a two-pronged strategy to invest in research to speed up the manufacturing process to turn plastic into lumber, and to increase product recognition.
Resource: Academic Case
Research Papers : All
![[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.
Resource: Research Paper
Courses : All
![[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.
Resource: MBA Course
![[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.
Resource: MBA Course
![[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.
Resource: MBA Course
![[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.
Resource: MBA Course
![[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.
Resource: MBA Course
Innovators : All
![[photo - Farm to Cup - Root Capital Lending]](http://csi.gsb.stanford.edu/sites/csi.gsb.stanford.edu/files/imagecache/img75x75/social_innovator_picture/Farm%20to%20Cup%20-%20Root%20Capital%20Lending%20Cropped.jpg "[photo - Farm to Cup - Root Capital Lending]")
A grassroots student effort led by Caroline Mullen, MBA ’12, Catha Mullen, MBA ’13, and Monica Lewis, MBA ’12, now has even more impact through a merger with Pachamama Coffee Cooperative.
Resource: Alumni
![[photo - BAPAR]](http://csi.gsb.stanford.edu/sites/csi.gsb.stanford.edu/files/imagecache/img75x75/social_innovator_picture/Vivek-%20training%20Kashmiri%20women%20entrepreneurs%20-%20cropped.jpg "[photo - BAPAR]")
It was the suicide of a young man that turned Vivek Garg toward using business as a means of fostering peace and reconciliation.
Resource: Student
![[photo - Jeff Skoll]](http://csi.gsb.stanford.edu/sites/csi.gsb.stanford.edu/files/imagecache/img75x75/social_innovator_picture/Skoll-Web.jpg "[photo - Jeff Skoll]")
The March/April edition of Stanford magazine features a profile of alumnus Jeff Skoll, one of only 20 people who've ever given away $1 billion. He hopes to engage everyone in the planet's survival by leveraging the power of Hollywood.
Resource: Alumni
![[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.
Resource: Alumni
![[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.
Resource: Alumni
Stanford Social Innovation Review: Spring 2011
DRIVING SOCIAL CHANGE: How to Solve the World’s Toughest Problems by Paul C. Light
Resource: Stanford Social Innovation Review Article
![[photo - Picture: Shea]](http://csi.gsb.stanford.edu/sites/csi.gsb.stanford.edu/files/imagecache/img75x75/podcast_img/pic-sheas.jpg "[photo - Picture: Shea]")
Got a great business idea? Consider taking it to Chile, where the government is now offering $40,000 grants and one-year visas to help early-stage entrepreneurs develop their companies, through a program called Start-Up Chile. In this audio interview, Stanford Social Innovation correspondent Ashkon Jafari talks with Nicolas Shea, innovation advisor to the Chilean minister of economy, about the program's genesis, goals, and progress so far.
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Resource: Audio
![[photo - Picture: Nelson]](http://csi.gsb.stanford.edu/sites/csi.gsb.stanford.edu/files/imagecache/img75x75/podcast_img/Pic-%20Nelson.jpg "[photo - Picture: Nelson]")
Giving things away for the prize people are willing to pay sounds like corporate suicide. In this audio lecture sponsored by the Center for Social Innovation at Stanford, Leif Nelson shows it's a pathway to corporate citizenship, increased revenue, and an enhanced company image. He walks us through field experiments he conducted at major theme parks manipulating various aspects of the purchasing experience for souvenir action photos.
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Resource: Audio
Stanford Social Innovation Review: Winter 2011
Social network and professional network combined: a low-income neighborhood works together to meet the needs of the community in an environmentally responsible way.
Resource: Stanford Social Innovation Review Article
In the arena of social enterprise, a California collaboration is creating a high yield. In this university podcast, executives Diane Del Signore and Maisie Greenwalt share how Community Alliance with Family Farmers and Bon Appétit Management Company have partnered to create a local distribution system to get locally grown products into institutional settings. They also talk about efforts to help farmers become more organic.
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Resource: Audio
