Apr 22
“Hi I am Sal Khan. I am the founder and faculty of the Khan Academy and we are trying to educate the world.” These were the first words I heard Salmaan Khan speak when I watched my first video on the Khan Academy. I was instantly impressed. A single article would never be able to …
Mar 28
Friday and Saturday, March 25th & 26th, 2011, were two amazing days in New York City. On both days, Columbia University held the 8th Annual African Economic Forum (AEF), organized by the graduate school of business, the School of International Public Affairs (SIPA Pan African Network – SPAN), and the Africa Law Students Association at …
Feb 25
In my research on sustainable development programs, I have always been interested in organizations that focus on efficient and effective aid strategies in their work. I was particularly impressed with The ONE Campaign’s clever acronym explaining what “SMART” Aid means to them: S – Sufficient in scale to achieve its intended goals. M -Measurable so …
Feb 08
So if you have been following the series, you know that we are providing tips assisting would-be social entrepreneurs in the development of new ideas, programs and organizations. This next tip is something that is often developed after work has already occurred and when it is to late to make major organizational changes. So this …
Feb 01
We continue in our Social Entrepreneur Series with this week’s commandment. Thou Shalt Not Speak for Others So you have designed an intervention for a social problem that you hope will change the lives of a community. You can see the great solution and want to raise awareness of why this is important. After all …
Jan 26
More business schools across the United States are adding or expanding their social entrepreneurship offerings. This comes in the form of adding an entrepreneurial track of courses that have a social innovation theme or even a concentration or degree in social entrepreneurship. Most of these programs focus on the differences in non-profit and for-profit initiatives …
Jan 25
So at this point you should have developed a strategy that hits at the root causes of your social problem and it is time to start putting the pieces into action. Entrepreneurship is a team sport and success is more likely if you seek out partners that can assist you in reaching your goals. So …
Jan 18
So last week, we asked Social Entrepreneurs to Dig Deeper and to make sure that they had all the information they needed to start their venture. Our next commandment, Thou Shalt Avoid Using Band-Aids So you have a great idea, and now (since you dug a little deeper) you know that you have all the …
Jan 14
In a webcast on Tuesday, as part of the Social Entrepreneur Empowerment Series, Ashoka CEO Bill Drayton shared insight into his feelings about social entrepreneurship. He defined social entrepreneurship in this way; “the most powerful force in the world is an idea in the hands of a great entrepreneur.” I would add that this entrepreneur …
Jan 12
It would seem that to address social problems around the globe requires celebrities and western donor nations. When the earthquake hit Haiti in January of 2010, it appeared as though nothing would happen unless you donated to a big American charity. For of course, Haitians would be unable to do anything without us. In the …
