Social Entrepreneurship

Social entrepreneurship is a topic that is gaining momentum in the entrepreneurial
community. As indicated in this article
an increasing number of business founders are combining their for-profit motives with a social good. Would you enjoy being apart of a startup that embraced this idea? What kinds of social causes could be combined with startups (for example, book selling with literacy campaigns, ship building with anti-water pollution efforts)? Why do you think the concept of social entrepreneurship is becoming increasingly attractive to business people? If you started a business would you be willing to sacrifice some profit to engage in socially responsible initiatives? If so, which ones? Do you know of any business in your community that does this?

Laur's Lecture on Sustainability

Last Friday Joe Laur (lecturer at Antioch N.E. Graduate School, author of The Necessary Revolution, and founder of greenopolis.com) raised some interesting issues regarding his successes in teaching corporations (such as Coca-Cola and Nike) about sustainable literacy. He also spoke about some obstacles to achieving sustainable business practices? One of those had to do with “mental models.” Are we in the midst of a change in mental models, one that will radically shift the way we view ourselves and our relationship to the earth? What do you think of his strategy to rein in and focus on helping those companies that are already “on board,” that is, those that already have the inclination and "desire" to be sustainable (as opposed to targeting the worst offenders)?

I thought of some general questions about social responsibility after his lecture: What does it mean to be socially responsible if the goal is a radical shift in “mental models”? Is it really possible for corporations to be socially responsible (within a free market, profit-seeking economic framework)?