This Week in Social Entrepreneurship

In our “This Week in Social Entrepreneurship” series, each Friday we will feature the top stories in Social Entrepreneurship for the week that we find to be noteworthy, novel, and thought-provoking. What are your favorite stories this week in Social Entrepreneurship? Let’s start a discussion!

Bloomberg Businessweek is looking for America’s Most Promising Social Entrepreneurs and is turning to the public for suggestions. Now is your chance to highlight your for-profit socially driven business and get it recognized by one of America’s most popular business publications! Submit your entry by February 9, 2012 to be considered.
If you are looking for a good co-working space for your social business or non-profit, check out Center61 in Austin and Panzanzee in Chicago. They both focus specifically on bringing together like-minded individuals and forming communities to support social entrepreneurs with their changemaking missions!
Announcing the First Australian Social Changemakers’ Festival, hosted by the Australian Social Innovation eXchange—taking place on Friday, April 13 through Sunday, April 22, 2012. The festival will celebrate the work of Australian social innovators, highlight important social challenges facing the world today, explore art and culture in social innovation, and expand the Australian Social Innovation eXchange network.
Inspire yourself with Harvard Business Review’s Five Lessons from World Changers. The Passion & Purpose survey of MBA students found that two of the top three reasons for choosing a workplace were “intellectual challenge” and “opportunity to impact the world”. So how do we change the world? John Byrnes explores this in World Changers and speaks to some of the world’s most influential entrepreneurs. In this HBR article, John Coleman discusses some of his key takeaways from the book. Start with purpose, you’re not too old, seek advice, be the expert, and start small.
Plain Ink harnesses the power of storytelling to ignite change. Plain Ink helps people in communities all over the world find their own solutions. Through storytelling, Plain Ink teaches people new skills and increases literacy. The minds behind Plain Ink believe that education is the key to getting people out of poverty all over the world. ”Whether in India, Afghanistan or Italy we want education to lead the way in helping people to fill their bellies with the food they need, their minds with innovative ideas for action and their hearts with the courage to believe in change.”-PlainInk.org.
Jodie Wu is a social entrepreneur who founded Global Cycle Solutions and co-founded the AISE initiative to expand social entrepreneurship in Tanzania. Her company creates bicycle products that can be used by impoverished rural farmers to make every day tasks simpler so they can be more efficient. In her TED Conversation yesterday, she offered some practical advice to aspiring social entrepreneurs and answered live questions. Make sure to check out the transcript—there’s some really valuable information packed in there for social entrepreneurs that are just starting off.

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Social entrepreneurs, has all this great SocEnt news inspired you to start your own good? Do you have a social enterprise, a non-profit, or an amazing idea that needs some momentum to take off? Visit our site to find out how to start your own campaign today. Still have questions? We have answers—check out our FAQ section.