Social Enterprise Training Resources

In light of the growing popularitytowards the social entrepreneurship field, many individuals seeking to pursue this form of business are wondering how they can enhance their skill sets and prepare themselves for this career route. In most other fields it's fairly simple; you want to become a doctor, you go to medical school. You want to be a lawyer you go to law school. But where do you go if you want to become a social entrepreneur? The fact is there is a lot of confusion surrounding this issue, as there is no clear cut path to learn social entrepreneurship.

Greg Dees is often considered the father of Social Entrepreneurship as an academic subject and is the founding faculty director of the Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship at Duke University. He has been quoted as saying, "Business schools still view social entrepreneurship as a practice, not a discipline; it is the same difficulty that entrepreneurship was faced with when it began. There is not enough academic research out there right now; there needs to be more in order to advance the credibility of social entrepreneurship as an academic field." Most business schools still address social issues by discussing them within the frameworks of nonprofit organizations and government agencies. And matters concerning social entrepreneurship rarely exist within traditional MBA programs.

So, the question still exists, where does one go to train themselves in social entrepreneurship? I personally chose to pursue an advanced degree in nonprofit management. Nonprofit management strategies are increasingly including traditional for-profit concepts including Strategic Planning and Financial Management. This avenue appealed to me because I am interested in the sustainability of nonprofit organizations and their use of social enterprise. This; however, is not the only avenue a person can take.Fortunately, given the popularity of the industry, there are more and more options becoming available.

Essentially, a person can major in any subject and become a social entrepreneur. In my opinion, there is no right or wrong way to prepare yourself for work in an organization that ranks social impact equal with or above profit concerns. But, if a person wanted to ensure that they had the best advantage over the competition I have compiled some suggestions for those seeking a more detailed education in social entrepreneurship.

Existing University Programs:

• Duke University- Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship (CASE)


• Stanford University- Center for Social Innovation


• Columbia University- The Social Enterprise Program


• New York University- The Stewart Satter Program in Social Entrepreneurship (Within the Berkley Center for Entrepreneurial Studies)


• The University of North Carolina Chapel Hill- Center for Sustainable Enterprise


• Harvard University- The Social Enterprise Initiative

Individual Courses/ Electives:

• Babson College- The Social Entrepreneur/Socially Responsible Entrepreneurship


• The George Washington University- Nonprofit Enterprise


• University of California Berkley- Introduction to Social Entrepreneurship


• University of Notre Dame- Social Entrepreneurship


• Washington University- Social Entrepreneurship

Foundation Resources/Training:

• Ashoka


• Skoll Foundation


• Tides Foundation


• Schwab Foundation


• Social Enterprise Alliance


• The Social Enterprise Fund


• The Institute for Social Entrepreneurs


• Social Enterprise Ventures, LLC

Annual Conferences:

• The Social Enterprise Conference at Harvard Business School (2010 conference already held- please keep and eye out for more information from Marcia Stepanek on the highlights of this conference).


• The Social Venture/Social Enterprise Conference [March 17-19, 2010]


• The Ohio State University/Fisher School of Business- Social Enterprise and Education Consortium Conference (SEEC) [April 22-24, 2010]


• Social Enterprise Alliance Summit [April 28-30, 2010]


• Social Capital Markets Conference (SOCAP10) [October 4-6, 2010]


• The Independent Sectors Annual Conference [October 20-22, 2010]

Books/Publications:

• Occupation Change the World- published by Dreamnow (this e-book is FREE!)


• Social Entrepreneurship in Education: Private Ventures for the Public Good by Michael R. Sandler


• Women Lead the Way: Your Guide to Stepping Up to Leadership and Changing the World by Linda Tarr- Whelan (good read for men too!)


• Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard by Dan and Chip Heath (How to Stick by them is also very good).


• Life Entrepreneurs: Ordinary People Creating Extraordinary Lives by Christopher Gergen andGregg Vanourek


• Enterprising Nonprofits: A Toolkist for Social Entrepreneurs by Gregory Dees ( A MUST READ)

This isa blunt attempt to offer suggestions on possible educational resources and programs. Much of what a person learns in this field is by trial and error and experience. That being said, it should show the promise of the industry and it's expected growth that Colleges and Universities are adopting specific social enterprise curriculum. Please let me know if I have missed any others that should be listed.

And as always, let me know what you think~!