SOCIAL ENTERPRISE NEWS AND DISCUSSION

In the UK, approximately 40,200 adults leave prison after serving less than 12 month sentences.  It costs taxpayers £213 million per year for the prisons yet 73% of these offenders reoffend within 2 years of release as they unsuccessfully resettle into the community.  As government spending is focused on expensive interventions that deal with the consequences [...]

Ashoka’s latest competition Activating Empathy is trying to find the best ideas, programs, and learning-models around the world that ensures children master empathy, a critical skill that is said to be a requirement to contribute successfully to society.  One of the goals for the competition is to address bullying and aggression as it is not uncommon [...]

“Professor Yunus was right.  Bringing private capital into social enterprise was much harder than I anticipated.” These were the words that came from Vikram Akula, who is the former Chairman of SKS Microfinance, and rang through the ears of 1,500 attendees in the Social Enterprise Conference at Harvard on February 25.  SKS Microfinance and the microfinance [...]

More than half of all births in developing countries go unrecorded.  The implications of this fact are complex and troubling.  A person without legal identity cannot obtain essential services and as a result, are marginalized members of society.  More significant is that unrecorded births are often among the poorest and when natural disasters strike, it [...]

A new Public Services Bill enters the final reading in parliament today and if passed, would give charities and social enterprises an edge to compete for public sector contracts in the UK. The bill, introduced by conservative MP Chris White, will place duty on the Secretary of State to publish a “national social enterprise strategy” to [...]

If you operate a social enterprise, you may have had nightmares about raising capital for growth.  The thought of investors not understanding that your entity’s existence is to create positive social impact, rather than maximize profit, is frustrating.  If you are starting a social enterprise, the thought of not having the access and capacity to [...]

The ArcelorMittal Foundation and Ashoka have signed a partnership to support youth entrepreneurship in Canada, Mexico, South Africa, and the US.  Under this partnership, the ArcelorMittal Foundation will support Ashoka’s Youth Venture program which encourages youth to start and lead sustainable social ventures. Youth Venture was created to support a global movement of young changemakers.  [...]

The building has cement floors, bathrooms, and clean water.  Inside, female students are dressed in pale yellow blouses and brown skirts.  Male students are dressed in button-down, short-sleeve shirts and brown trousers.  Nutritious lunches are served hot.  Together with tuition, books, and exam, everything can be had at the cost of 75 cents per day, [...]

As the development of social enterprises increase, so does the demand for legislation.  To date, only Italy, the UK, and South Korea have legislated measures on social enterprise.  Now, a group of farmers, workers, community enterprises, business associations, and fair trade groups are pushing for the approval of a measure that will institutionalize social entrepreneurship in [...]

What if there was something you want to tell others, but no one would listen.  What if you felt misrepresented, but have no opportunity to explain yourself.  What if you were kept silent and want eagerly to voice out, but simply cannot.  In rural India, where people are unable to express their concerns due to [...]