The Development of a Social Entrepreneurship Ecosystem
Academy for Young Entrepreneurs poster (get a hard copy here)
Bill Drayton, founder of Ashoka and social entrepreneurship visionary, is fond of asking parents, firstly, “what would you do if your child was failing maths?” Parents instinctively have an answer for this. They would spend more time with them doing their home, get them a tutor, buy a math training program. Then he asked, “what would you do if your child was failing to develop as a changemaker?” and the answers come much less readily.
How do we create a culture of changemaking in young people? By giving them opportunities to share their ideas and participate in creating change of course! You get better at maths by doing more maths. You get better at sport by joining a team, practicing and playing. We have clear pathways for gaining expertise in academics and sports but it’s only more recently that we’ve begun to see a focus on providing changemaking experiences for people at a younger age and preparing them for active citizenship.
This is something Ashoka has understood for some time, having launched Ashoka Youth Venture over ten years ago to support 16-20 year-olds to develop their own initiatives, and more recently establishing AshokaU to foster a culture of entrepreneurship on college campuses.
In Australia we’ve seen the establishment of the School for Social Entrepreneurs, who run year-long courses supporting emerging social entrepreneurs of all ages to launch and scale social impact ventures and, on the opposite end of the spectrum, of Social Startup 48, a startup weekend-style event for aspiring changemakers. I’m proud to say all the above organisations are partners of StartSomeGood.
I’m also thrilled to see more and more organisations using StartSomeGood to fill gaps in this ecosystem of opportunity, inspiring, mentoring and training young people to create the future they wish to see. One Can Grow finished a successful fundraiser on our site just a couple of weeks ago and is piloting a social entrepreneurship training program for students at three high school in Sydney. Hope Empowered is currently raising funds to engage an even younger cohort in entrepreneurial activity with their Academy for Young Entrepreneurs Initiative which will focus at the primary school level. (If you like the sound of this please chip in here). And the organisation I founded 12 years ago, Vibewire has recently had a successful StartSomeGood fundraising campaign to support three younger social entrepreneurs (under 35) to work on issues of critical importance including mental health and sustainable design.
At StartSomeGood we believe that social entrepreneurs need three types of capital to succeed: financial, intellectual and relational. Our mission is to reduce the barriers to raising early-stage financial capital for nonprofits and changemakers through peerfunding (also called crowdfunding).
As these barriers come down more social entrepreneurs are stepping up to launch programs which general these other forms of capital, teaching skills and providing community for aspiring social entrepreneurs. So these initiatives and those like them expand the answer to how to encourage your child to learn changemaking skills will become more apparent and a new generation of changemakers and entrepreneurs will, from an early age, know they can create the future we all need.
How do you think we could better support young changemakers?
Cross-posted from my personal blog.
Celebrating Some Wins
MeForYou is not just selling backpacks. For every backpack that is sold, one full of school supplies will go to a student in need—“Buy One. Bless One.” For every backpack sold, MeForYou will donate one full of school supplies to another student in need around the community where it was purchased. This campaign, Lauch MeForYou, is supporting this student-led non-profit so it can officially get off the ground. Closing out the campaign, MeForYou has raised $3,647 and will be able to help 200 students receive backpacks.
One Can Grow educates the youth about social entrepreneurship and the many possibilities that it brings. It is launching an 8-week pilot program to educate high-school students about social enterprise and the many career opportunities that it offers. One Can Grow ran a successful campaign, Educate Young Social Entrepreneurs, to officially begin its pilot program on June 8th. One Can Grow raised $5,005, which will help One Can Grow build a curriculum, recruit mentors, search for partnerships, increase marketing efforts, and further develop its website so that it is fully functional.
ConstruCycle provides sustainable and affordable housing for citizens who couldn’t otherwise afford to own a home. ConstruCycle makes panels for homes, but the panels are made out of locally available recycled raw materials. Thanks to his supporters, Ricardo, the founder of ConstruCycle, can now attend the Dell Social Innovation Lab this summer because he can now afford to purchase his plane ticket. He was chosen as a fellow this summer to work on ConstruCycle as part of the program and will now be able to fly from Nicaragua to Boston, where the Dell Social Innovation Lab is held. The campaign, Help Ricardo Attend the Dell Social Innovation Lab, raised $865 for his round trip ticket.
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Social entrepreneurs, have these successful campaigns 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.
StartSomeGood News
ConstruCycle provides sustainable and affordable housing for citizens who couldn’t otherwise afford to own a home. ConstruCycle makes panels for homes, but the panels are made out of locally available recycled raw materials. Ricardo, the founder of ConstruCycle, wants to attend the Dell Social Innovation Lab this summer, but needs to raise funds to purchase his plane ticket. He was chosen as a fellow this summer to work on ConstruCycle as part of the program and needs to fly from Nicaragua to Boston, where the Dell Social Innovation Lab is held. Help Ricardo Attend the Dell Social Innovation Lab by contributing to his $800 round trip ticket.
One Can Grow educates the youth about social entrepreneurship and the many possibilities that it brings. It is launching an 8-week pilot program to educate high-school students about social enterprise and the many career opportunities that it offers. One Can Grow is raising funds for its campaign, Educate Young Social Entrepreneurs, to officially begin its pilot program on June 8th. The $5,000 tipping point goal will help One Can Grow build a curriculum, recruit mentors, search for partnerships, increase marketing efforts, and further develop its website so that it is fully functional.
Garth Wells wants to make the HR2990 Monetary Reform bill the number one issue for the 2012 election and his ultimate goal is to get this bill passed. He believes the monetary reform that is proposed as part of this bill will lead the economy into prosperity and sustainability by increasing job security and strengthening the middle class. Garth’s organization, HR2990.org is raising funds to mobilize the voices for monetary reform. Funds for this campaign will be used to put together starter kits for volunteer organizers. The $3,000 tipping point goal will help jump start 25 organizers in various districts.
Vibewire ensures that young people are included in conversations that matter. It captures conversations that matter to young people and showcases them online so that people can engage in conversations based on what issues are most important to them. It also provides young people with a space and resources to take action on the issues that matter to them and launch their ventures. The Vibewire Hub is a co-working space that supports younger social innovators on their missions to create change. Normally, users must pay to access the Hub, but it wants to raise funds to provide scholarships to three social startups. Vibewire’s campaign to Support Young Social Entrepreneurs is raising funds to support three projects in the Vibewire Hub for at least three months.
The Urban Seed Project sells a collection of heirloom seeds that can be used for container growing on balconies, rooftop gardens, and windowsills. This appeals to an urban market that has very little free outdoor space to grow their own food. It promotes local and sustainable food in urban areas where people typically have no choice but to patronize local big box grocery stores that sell food transported from all over the world. The main goal of this project is to create jobs in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside in addition to helping develop sustainable food programs within Vancouver’s inner city. This campaign just reached its $1,700 tipping point and will help launch the Urban Seed Project, with funds going towards hiring workers, promotions, and the purchase of materials and seeds.
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Social entrepreneurs, have these campaigns 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.
