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Rippling
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Rippling

How Social Entrepreneurs Spread Innovation Throughout the World

Beverly Schwartz
Jossey-Bass, 2012
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From the slums of Lima to rural Kenya to the streets of New Delhi, ordinary people are accomplishing extraordinary feats and changing other people’s lives forever. These social entrepreneurs and the “changemakers” they enlist are the characters in this collection of case histories by former Ashoka vice president Beverly Schwartz. Ashoka, an organization that pioneered social entrepreneurship, has a support network of more than 3,000 fellows working around the world. Schwartz, a behavioral scientist, tells the stories of 18 fellows and outlines their approaches to social entrepreneurship. getAbstract finds her profiles truly inspiring portraits of people who tackled the most pervasive, seemingly insurmountable problems in the very places where they affect the world’s most vulnerable, disadvantaged and disenfranchised peoples.

Summary

“Rippling” Waves of Social Change

Traditional ways of living, interacting and conducting business are becoming more and more obsolete as fast-paced economic and technological advances transform societal structures. These developments often produce unwanted byproducts that heighten social or environmental stress. These problems offer opportunities for social entrepreneurs around the globe to tackle the world’s most daunting problems and initiate real “system-changing innovations.”

Social entrepreneurs identify a problem related to “poverty, inequity and inadequate access to opportunity,” tackling issues so entrenched that they seem insurmountable. They offer unique solutions and pursue an action plan to achieve them. Because social entrepreneurs refuse to accept the status quo, they approach huge problems from a new perspective. These activists’ successes inspire affected local “changemakers” to contribute, creating a groundswell of significant social change. Four characteristics define today’s social entrepreneurs:

  1. “Purpose” – A clear intent acts as a guiding compass.
  2. “Passion” – The twin to purpose, zeal fuels social entrepreneurs’ ...

About the Author

Beverly Schwartz, a behavioral scientist, is a vice president at Ashoka, a social entrepreneurs’ association.

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