Social Entrepreneurship In Action

According to Wikipedia, Social Entrepreneurship is, “the process of pursuing innovative solutions to social problems. More specifically, social entrepreneurs adopt a mission to create and sustain social value. They pursue opportunities to serve this mission, while continuously adapting and learning. They draw upon appropriate thinking in both the business and nonprofit worlds…” The definition goes on to say that, “Business entrepreneurs typically measure performance in profit and return, but social entrepreneurs also take into account a positive return to society. Social entrepreneurship typically furthers broad social, cultural, and environmental goals and is commonly associated with the voluntary and not-for-profit sectors.” (To see the entire definition go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_entrepreneurship. You can learn even more by going to http://caseatduke.org/.)

I have had the good fortune to encounter many social entrepreneurs over the years. They have:

• invested in documentary projects designed to raise awareness of and generate discussion about important social issues,
• put their collective skills – gained through years of professional work in disparate fields – to work to create a program that harnesses volunteer time and expertise, and raises funds to build ramps for low income individuals which in turn helps the individuals stay in their own homes,
• cooked, packaged, and delivered meals to the home-bound,
• created and run sporting events for individuals with disabilities,
• and one in particular has devoted his professional life to providing legal services to economically disadvantaged groups and, even in retirement, continues this work.

Most of us have the freedom to infuse a little Social Entrepreneurship in our lives. What will you do?

Susan Reetz, of Rucinski & Reetz Communication, is a writer/director/producer for film, print and web. Her scriptwriting and producing work has earned numerous local, national, and international awards. She also writes feature articles, brochure copy, news releases, web copy, and other promotional materials. She can be reached at 715-355-9159 or Reetz@RucinskiReetz.com.

www.RucinskiReetz.com