Social Entrepreneurship

Historical examples of leading social entrepreneurs

• Susan B. Anthony (U.S.)
• Vinoba Bhave (India)
• David Brower (U.S.)
• Akhtar Hameed Khan (Pakistan)
• Maria Montessori (Italy)
• John Muir (U.S.)
• Florence Nightingale (UK)
• Frederick Law Olmsted (U.S.)
• Gifford Pinchot (U.S.)
• Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen (Germany)
• Margaret Sanger (U.S.) John Woolman (U.S.)

Current leading social entrepreneurs

• Ibrahim Abouleish (Egypt) Ela Bhatt (India)
• Nicholas Chan (Singapore)
• Bill Drayton (U.S.)
• Marian Wright Edelman (U.S.)
• Dr. Abraham M. George (India)
• Alan Khazei (U.S.)
• Dr. Verghese Kurien (India)
• Sri Sri Ravi Shankar (India)
• Muhammad Yunus (Bangladesh)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_social_entrepreneurs

“The social entrepreneur aims for value in the form of transformational change that will benefit disadvantaged communities and ultimately society at large. Social entrepreneurs pioneer innovative and systemic approaches for meeting the needs of the marginalized, the disadvantaged and the disenfranchised – populations that lack the financial means or political clout to achieve lasting benefit on their own.”    Skoll Foundation

“Social entrepreneurs are people whose creativity and drive open up major new possibilities in education, health, the environment, and other areas of human need. Just as business entrepreneurs lead innovation in commerce, social entrepreneurs drive social change." Ashoka

Although the term was originally coined in the 60's, social entrepreneurship is still without a formalized definition. Many business schools teach social entrepreneurship, but how they define who does, and who doesn't fall into the category is still fuzzy or varies between professors. (For more on defining social entrepreneurship, read Social Entrepreneurship: The Case for Definition http://www.skollfoundation.org/media/skoll_docs/2007SP_feature_martinosberg.pdf