Social Entrepreneur: Conscious Companies | Benefit Corporations | Impact Investing

Profound Gentlemen is having a profound impact on boys of color through social-emotional learning. How do you raise a successful boy of color, in an age of Trayvon Martin and Philando Castile? Boys of Color are four times more likely to receive out of school suspensions as their peers. They are rarely exposed to men of color in the classroom, despite data that shows that having men of color as role models greatly improves the social, emotional, and academic progress of all students, but especially boys of color. More than a quarter of men of color will leave the education profession after their first year. In 2013, Mario Jovan Shaw was a 7th Grade English language arts teacher. He started a group called The Brotherhood which consisted of 12 – 15 boys of color. Some of the boys were struggling with repeated disciplinary problems while others were performing well in school. They met each Wednesday to talk about how to navigate through life as boys and men of color. This was around the time that George Zimmerm

Sonja Ausen-Anifrani and Katelyn Pastick believe that maternal mortality can be reduced by providing the health information that every woman deserves. The founders of SMS Maama met at a course on social entrepreneurship at the University of Minnesota. None of them had experience in being an entrepreneur or building a social venture. The class provided mentors in Uganda. They worked on their idea and, when the class was over, they walked away with a grade and a business plan. But now, they were on the hook. They knew what the problem was and they suspected that perhaps they had a solution. And if they could do something about maternal mortality, didn’t they have to try? Uganda has a maternal mortality rate of 360 deaths per 100,000 live births. While 1 in 44 Ugandan women will die due to pregnancy complications, in many cases, this is preventable. Early health assessments and improved nutrition can dramatically reduce maternal mortality. However, many women in Uganda do not have access this information. SMS

Julius Ibrahim is tackling homelessness one espresso at a time. In her book, Work on Purpose, Echoing Green alumni Lara Galinsky offers this formula: Heart + Head = Hustle By heart, she means your emotions. By head, she is referring to your skills and abilities. And by hustle…well, every entrepreneur knows exactly what that looks like. Julius Ibrahim is a beautiful illustration of heart, head and hustle. As Julius entered university in Central London, he was confronted daily by those who were sleeping on the sidewalk, in doorways or parks. These folks are referred to as “rough sleepers.” This was a significant “heart” moment for Julius. He wanted to apply his skills to make a difference. He became involved with the organization Enactus. Enactus allows students to take entrepreneurial action for social causes. His skills grew as he took on a leadership role in the organization. It was through Enactus that he helped turn around a social enterprise café. He was hooked. In this role, he had a chance to see a l

Namati puts the rule of law in the hands of people. The rule of law is a bedrock of most modern societies. No one is above the law. We are all equal under the law. And yet, more than four billion people live outside of the protection of the law. Their rights are easily violated. They have no right to their land. They are denied basic human rights. They are threatened and intimidated, often by the very people who are supposed to protect them. Vivek Maru learned about social justice from his grandfather who was part of the Gandhian Movement. Vivek wrote his undergrad thesis on Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King and Malcom X. After college, he received a fellowship to study Gandhian social action in India. He settled in the Kutch district. There he worked on watershed development. Upon returning to law school, he felt conflicted. He considered dropping out. “What I was learning about the law seemed so contradictory to that Gandhian spirit that I admire,” he told me. But he stuck with his studies. By 2003, Vive

Global Witness investigates and exposes natural resource exploitation around the world. Have you ever wondered why many of the countries that are richest in natural resources, have some of the poorest populations? Countries that are rich in gems, minerals and other natural resources also have persistent poverty. In many cases, this is due to corruption and human rights abuses. How do you break the chain of corruption and abuse? First, it must be exposed. That is what Global Witness does. They document abuses of environmental and human rights. They work for justice for the exploited and they hold the powerful to account. Gillian Caldwell has been thinking about social justice and natural resources since she was in high school, where she was a chapter coordinator for Amnesty International. Before joining Global Witness, she was CEO for 1Sky where she took on climate change. She was also the Executive Director for WITNESS, a platform for documenting violations of human rights. Social Entrepreneurship Quotes fr

Verengai Mabika sees the opportunities created by climate change. Eighty percent of Zimbabwe’s businesses depend on Agriculture. Most agriculture in Zimbabwe is rain-fed. Climate change brings record high temperatures and frequent droughts. When crops fail, so does Zimbabwe’s economy. The droughts, combined with land reform, changed Zimbabwe from a net exporter of agricultural products to an importer of food. There are currently around four million people who need food aid in Zimbabwe. Verengai Mabika has a passion for designing green communities. He was trained as an urban planner with an emphasis on environmental design. In 2009, there was a sharp rise in political violence. Verengai told me, “I was surprised by the way our leaders were taking advantage of young people who had so much energy. I thought I could motivate a few young people to get into a discourse that I believed was very serious and could bring some opportunities for them.” The Development Reality Institute taps into the high number of unempl

Nina Smith has been thinking about social justice since she was eight years old. It’s natural that today she is working to end child labor. You might think that child labor is a thing of the past, relegated to black and white pictures from the 1940s. Unfortunate for millions of children around the world, that is not true. According to the Global Slavery Index, 45.8 million people are enslaved in the world today. In the handmade carpet industry alone there are nearly a quarter of a million children who are being exploited. Nina Smith grew up in a Jewish household, where her grandmother taught her the Jewish tradition of tzedakah, or social justice. As an eight-year-old, she was first introduced to her cousin Mark. She was told by her mother and grandmother that Mark would tell her and her sister a story. The story, as it turns out, was the story of the holocaust. “That was the first time I understood about the injustices in the world,” she told me. Nina sees echoes of this injustice in the lives of modern-day

Solstice provides access to clean, affordable solar energy for those who have been locked out of the solar market. Today’s conversation with Steph Speirs and Steve Moilanen of Solstice is the fifth in a series on solar power and clean energy around the world. We spoke with Sam Goldman of d.light, a pioneer in solar energy for the developing world. We also spoke with Allison Archambault of EarthSpark International. They provide pre-pay electricity through a mini-grid in Haiti. We spoke to Harrison Leaf of Steama.co who helps mini-grid operators utilize “the internet of things,” wireless connectivity and a platform, primarily in Africa. We heard from Clementine Chambon, Amit Saraogi of Oorja. They are working on rural electrification in India utilizing a hybrid solar and biomass system. Today, we speak with Steph and Steve about why Americans are locked out of inexpensive solar energy and what it is that they are doing about that. How big is the problem? Almost 90 million American households cannot access s