Social entrepreneurship

Social entrepreneurs are individuals who pursue opportunities to create pattern-breaking change in inequitable systems, whether through social enterprises or other means. Many social entrepreneurs have launched their ideas within nonprofits, since that organizational form is already set up to advance social value. However, there are an increasing number of social entrepreneurs launching social purpose businesses by building a social or environmental mission into the DNA of their company. By contrast, social enterprise refers to an organizational movement that applies market-based strategies to achieve social change. The underlying motivation is a growing awareness that the scale of the problems we are facing today cannot be adequately solved by the traditional non-profit and philanthropic approach.