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Mike Benbow, Business Editor benbow@heraldnet.com

Social entrepreneurs think outside the box

By Pat Sisneros and Lynne Munoz

Maria Bruce, a student at Everett Community College, wants to become a social entrepreneur. Her passion for helping to solve environmental problems and strong entrepreneurial spirit has taken her to this point in her life.

"I want to take my business skills and give back to the community. I believe if more of us took this approach, things would be better in our world," said Bruce, who lives in Marysville.

What is a social entrepreneur?

Ashoka, an international network of 2,000 social entrepreneurs, defines social entrepreneurs as "individuals with innovative solutions to society's most pressing social problems. Rather than leaving societal needs to the government or business sectors, social entrepreneurs find what is not working and solve the problem by changing the system."

David Bornstein, a leading authority on social entrepreneurs adds, "These are people who simply will not take 'no' for an answer, who will not give up until they have spread their ideas as far as they can. The social entrepreneur asks, 'How do we get twice as much done with half of the resources?' This is what innovation is all about."

Bornstein asserts in his book, "How to Change the World: Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas," that he has seen a dramatic increase in the interest level in social entrepreneurship over the last few years.

His evidence: Over the past four years, the Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to two social entrepreneurs, Wangari Maathai, founder of the Green Belt Movement (2004), for her holistic approach to sustainable development in Kenya and Africa, and to Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank (2006), for their microcredit lending programs in Bangladesh and many other countries.

Ashoka is now directly supporting social entrepreneurs with $145 million in more than 70 countries around the globe.

Because of the challenges after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, Louisiana now has an Office of Social Entrepreneurship.

Universities and colleges around the world are now offering courses, seminars, or programs in the field. There are more than 200 schools just in the United States and Canada alone. Everett Community College recently added an endorsement in Social Entrepreneurship.

Why now? Why the increased interest in this field?

Bornstein argues this has happened because "more people today have the freedom, time, wealth, exposure, social mobility and confidence to address social problems in bold new ways, recognizing that change is urgently needed."

In addition, he suggests people don't have the same faith in government that they once did. This has led to increased cynicism about the role of government, especially since it is increasing viewed as failing to solve large societal problems.

Consequently, Bornstein contends that government isn't the most effective vehicle for solving these problems. He believes government should instead focus on providing the infrastructure to support social entrepreneurship as it has done for years in support of business entrepreneurs.

Bruce believes she has the entrepreneurial and business skills to be one of a rapidly growing number of social entrepreneurs. She's especially interested in solar energy solutions as a method to reduce strains on the environment.

We expect to see more students like her in the years to come, and a growing interest in social entrepreneurship among veteran businesspeople who want to use their time and talent to strengthen their communities.

Pat Sisneros is the dean of Everett Community College's Business and Applied Technology Division. Lynne Munoz is the director of EvCC's School of Business Design.