Financial freedom. Growth Opportunity. Access to education. Breaking the cycle of systemic poverty. It’s a fact that social consciousness goes hand-in-hand with economic growth. Therefore, we cannot deny that social entrepreneurship can be the answer to changing people’s lives.
Entrepreneurs are people capable of changing the world with their desires and innovations. Practically everything you use in your daily life teaches you what entrepreneurship is, as it came from the idea of a restless mind.
However, entrepreneurship goes beyond that. Its capacity for empowerment gives people, and especially women, the opportunities they have dreamed of.
Whether through handicrafts production, products sale, or by having a unique and ingenious idea. An entrepreneurial mindset can be developed and conquered through social entrepreneurship activities. With projects and courses, one can develop this skill and, later on, change their life by applying it.
But before we get to know a little more about some amazing projects worldwide, let’s get an overview of social entrepreneurship.
If it can change the world, it can transform lives
The term social entrepreneurship refers to a series of innovative actions and initiatives to solve social problems. Its objective is specific: to impact and socially transform the community.
Social enterprises work to combat the social vulnerability of a community. Because of this, countries marked by socio-environmental problems, such as Brazil and some countries in Africa, are a fertile field for the emergence of business models of this type.
Faced with the impossibility of the public power to take care of all society’s problems, it is natural that social entrepreneurship expands. In the European Union alone, reports point out that 1 in 4 new businesses created every year are social enterprises.
Does social entrepreneurship generate profit?
When knowing what social entrepreneurship is, it is common for many to question the role of profit in these organizations. After all, can social entrepreneurship generate profit?
Yes, a social enterprise can generate profit, even if that is not its objective.
Such a business aims to generate transformational benefits on a large scale without giving up the financial control that will ensure the sustainability of the business. With a focus on developing opportunities and transforming lives, most social entrepreneurship companies focus more on the business’s impact than on the green balance at the end of the month. It’s about changing, over profiting.
Even in for-profit social enterprises, profit does not play a significant role. Although it is pursued, this business model is not concerned with maximizing financial returns: what is sought is the resolution of social problems.
Social Entrepreneurship Impacts
According to Financier Worldwide Magazine, in 2020, the social entrepreneurship sector employs around 40 million people and engages over 200 million volunteers globally. And in addition, predictions show that the industry has everything to keep growing.
Positive community impact is the measure of the performance of a social enterprise. Unlike what happens in companies that develop social responsibility actions, here the benefit to the community is the main objective of the activity.
The positive impact can be given in three main segments:
- Education / Business
- Environment
- Health
Social Entrepreneurship: Get Inspired By Project That Are Changing Lives Worldwide
Comunidades a 1000 with Cris Arcangeli
Serial business entrepreneur, communicator and investor, Cris Arcangeli saw up close the portraits of the pandemic in Brazil. No one was immune, but “rolling up” the sleeves and transforming through innovation is one of her main qualities.
That’s why the new movement “Empreender Liberta”, which means “Entrepreneurship sets you free”. It was born to encourage and accelerate small businesses, especially women-owned businesses.
It has to goal to promote visibility, entrepreneurial education, partnerships, mentoring and consequently financial freedom. The “Comunidades a 1000” program, where Cris Arcangeli launches the first season called “Paraisópolis a 1000 – Accelerating businesses”. It is focused on a community in São Paulo.
At the invitation of community leader Gilson Rodrigues, the “mayor of Paraisópolis”, he selected six businesses conceived and conducted by women in the community. They did a four-minute pitch to Cris Arcangeli and guests, in which the entrepreneurs also receive mentorship from the judges.
The difference is that everyone wins. “We welcome each of the businesses, and even those who didn’t rank first receive acceleration in different ways,” says Cris Arcangeli.
After the pitches presentation, the judges choose the first and second places based on the pitch scores. Then, the winners receive an in-person mentorship to accompany and help transform their business. The 1st place also wins a cash prize. All others receive online mentoring and acceleration in business modeling.
The program’s goal is to promote investment, partnerships, entrepreneurial education and especially visibility for all companies and their participants. Therefore, bringing true transformation to their businesses and their surroundings.
This pilot season will have its premiere on June 1, at 6:30 pm EST. All episodes will be up on Cris Arcangeli’s YouTube channel.
Cris is already recording the second season and promises to support even more entrepreneurs and scale businesses. Check out @comunidadesa1000.
TIE Global Artisans
The Knowledge Pledge (TKP) began its relationship with TIE during its startup phase. The partnership focused on confronting challenges being faced by TIE. Therefore, TKP curated an expert signatory team with experts to help change this reality.
TIE Global Artisans works in partnership with the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs. It is a social enterprise that some African, Indian, and US partners founded in 2019. Its goal is to create economic prosperity for millions of indigenous artisans around the world, beginning in Africa.
Currently, TIE’s activities focus on handmade textile weavers in Ghana and Ethiopia. But, intend to scale throughout Africa other regions of the world where artisans and other informal economy workers are marginalized.
Therefore, TIE’s programs engage artisans in a co-creative process to address key pain points and capture the unrealized economic value of their unique craftsmanship.
The project supports both men and women. But, with the focus on empowering women, 70% of the social enterprises TKP has supported thus far were founded by women.
Join The Journey
Join The Journey is a Christ-centered non-profit organization bent on empowering the world’s poorest to break the cycle of poverty through small loans and mentoring.
JTJ was formed in 2009 as a storytelling organization that sought to inspire others to live out toward compassion. The focus shifted to Haiti when founder Adam Cole served in the earthquake relief efforts with the U.S. military. He returned in September 2010 with JTJ. On that trip, he encountered the needs of the tent village of Capvva, a camp of displaced and homeless Haitians.
The organization spent a decade in Haiti helping that village, whose residents later moved to a more permanent community in the mountains. JTJ discovered the power of micro-loans in its early work in Haiti and has since deployed similar models in the Philippines and Cameroon. It now exclusively works in Zambia with a goal of helping 1,000,000 people rise out of poverty there by 2025.
Their model has two simple ingredients: coaching and capital. Coaching provides perspective and encouragement. It helps bring about the ‘aha moment as a business owner.’ With it, they’ve helped a lot of women out there to find their financial independence through entrepreneurship.
Liked this piece? Here are some articles that you also might like:
