So, what is a Social Entrepreneur? According to the ashoka.org, “Social entrepreneurs are
individuals with innovative solutions to society’s most pressing social
problems. They are ambitious and persistent, tackling major social issues and offering
new ideas for wide – scale change.”
Let’s have a look of the three non-profit organizations
on the Social Entrepreneurship Unplugged event and see what their mission is, and
how they help the society to solve some of the social problems. They are listed
as follow:
One Laptop per Child (OLPC)
The founder and chief organizer of OLPC San Francisco
volunteer community, Sameer Verma presented their product to us. OLPC’s mission
is to empower the world’s poorest children through education by providing each
child with a rugged, low-cost, low – power, connected laptop (One Laptop Per Child). For more information, check out their website
at One Laptop Per Child or
their blog at blog.laptop.org. For
volunteering and internship, contact Sameer Verma at sverma@sfsu.edu.
Kiva
Kiva is a non-profit organization with a mission to
connect people through lending to alleviate poverty. According to their
speaker Betsy McCormick - the portfolio
manager of Kiva’s north and central America, Kiva connects entrepreneurs around
the world and leveraging the internet and a worldwide network of microfinance
institutions, it lets individuals lend
as little as $25 to help create opportunity around the world. For more
information on how to provide loan to people who need help, check out their
website at Kiva.
Whirlwind
Wheelchairs
According to Marc Krizack - the executive director at
Whirlwind Wheelchairs, their mission is to make it possible to help people in
the developing country to have mobility. They accomplish their mission by supplying to charitable
organizations who distribute around the world. For more information about how Whirlwind
Wheelchairs please check out their website at (Whirlwind). Their San
Francisco office offers internship for business major students and design major
students. For more information about the internship program at Whirlwind Wheelchairs
please contact Marc Krizack at marc@whirlwindwheelchair.org.
I am glad that I have spent some time to attend this
event. It really broadened my mind. I have learned a lot from this event. It
was the first time that I heard the concept - “Social Entrepreneurship” and the
concept of non-profit doesn’t mean they don’t make money. As the speaker of
Whirlwind Wheelchairs said, “we make money to help more people in need than put
it into our own pocket!” If you are an entrepreneur,
would you consider becoming one of those social entrepreneurs to help people in
need in your communities?
From a business point of view, what are non-profits like in different parts of the world? Does non-profit mean the same thing everywhere, or are there those places that do take most of the money for themselves? Personally, I have heard about non-profits but don't really understand what they do or how they are able to stay in business when most of their money is going elsewhere. I think that it would be really useful for me if there was more information about non-profits. Knowing when non-profits first started, what they do, how they are able to stay in business, and other information like this would be useful.
ReplyDeleteNon-profits are just that. The revenue they make is not for the entrepreneur but it is to keep operations running. I believe non profits are organized differently in other countries. Check this out for more information http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nonprofit_organization
DeleteI have helped out at a few non-profit organizations and I do support them but they are not ideal for every entrepreneur. Non-profits means that the entrepreneur does not pocket any of the money but he uses it to keep the organization running. Non-profits are assets to society and I would recommend that everybody volunteer once in a while when they have spare time to benefit the community.
ReplyDeleteI like the Whirlwind Wheelchair organization. I doesn't provide a better and safer wheelchair to those who needed and in tough situation. People who has wheelchair most often live alone or still have high self-esteem. If they struggle to access with their wheelchair, they hate to have people to aid them. I feel discourage. Therefore, I think this idea is good. As for the One Laptop Per Child, I understand their mission is to provide education to every child. But you mention it is for those who has low income, how can they have the money to provide internet service monthly for the child to use the laptop. The organization should come up a build-in WiFi in the laptop and set up a small individual internet service provider to aid those needs.
ReplyDelete