Social Enterprise Club

1. Social Enterprise Club October 22, 2007

2. What is Social Enterprise? • Recognizing a social problem and using entrepreneurial principles to organize, create, and manage a venture to make social change • Social enterprise is a broad term that refers to the sector that results from overlap between the nonprofit and business sectors • This can include nonprofits becoming more like businesses, and for-profits becoming more mission-driven Business Social Enterprise Nonprofit

3. Some categories in this overlap include: • Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) • Nonprofits using business management strategies • Businesses that adopt a social mission • Currently the nonprofit sector is currently 10% of the United States economy and growing annually 7.8% • The nonprofit sector has become an essential part of the US economy as it provides social welfare, builds social capital and is an engine for social, economic innovation and growth. • Some categories of nonprofits include: health and human services, education, arts and culture, environment, community development and religion.

4. Not only does this sector represent some of the most engaging and important issues in our society, but it is in need of new leaders. • The Bridgespan group has estimated that by 2016, the nonprofit sector will be in need of over 80,000 new leaders. • New leadership positions contain the opportunity to practically embrace this new collaboration between mission-driven organizations and business principles. Source: New Sector Allliance presentation

5. Currently, the BSEC has a three-pronged mission • Provide Students with opportunities to practically engage with local social enterprises • Create a more robust dialogue around social entrepreneurship on campus through different avenues of education • Diversify the post Brown career path

6. Mission in Practice -Swearer Center -Conference w/ Princeton -Careers in the Common Good -Speakers

7. We have outlined both short and long-term goals for the BSEC Three goals for this semester are: • To put together a two- or three-day panel on Social Enterprise. This includes bringing in speakers for a speech/Q&A in fields such as: • Government, human services, capacity building, and grassroots/activism • Initiate networking between brown students and SE professionals for both conversations and concrete opportunities • Build the capital of our club

8. What does this have to do with Brown? • The Social Enterprise club aims to provide pragmatic discourse on how to “do good while doing well.” • What benefits does our program create? • Through practical engagements, students will acquire a tangible understanding of social enterprise • Educational events would inform our beneficiaries about the sector and its opportunities • Serving as an effective access point to networks and opportunities for students interested in social entrepreneurship would diversify the career paths of brown’s graduating class • What do we want to maximize? • Rhode Island has the highest index of philanthropic organizations per capita. Consequently there is a wealth of opportunity in-state. Likewise, Brown has a lot of passionate students i.e. intellectual capital. We intend to maximize the opportunity and intellectual capital available in these two groups. • What won't we do? • Singularly serve as a list serve or distant website that provides a listing of opportunities

9. Networks & Collaborators