Top 5 Examples of Successful Social Entrepreneurs
The private sector holds great potential for entrepreneurs to accumulate wealth. By taking advantage of this, they have grown their wealth and decided to become philanthropists.
Some of these individuals have, however, chosen to solve social problems using their businesses. What prompts this decision usually ranges from cultural, religious, environmental, and social factors. These factors have thus influenced these entrepreneurs’ decisions to impact their communities socially while making a profit. Some ways these entrepreneurs have impacted include global poverty alleviation, job training programs, and financing startup enterprises with capital loans.
To better explain what this means, with some successful examples in view, let’s get started with this article.
Who Is a Social Entrepreneur
A social entrepreneur is an individual who innovates and develops businesses by using financial sustainability to address socio-cultural and environmental troubles. This approach usually characterizes a commitment to generating social value. In this way, success is measured not only by profit margins but also by its positive influence on society.
All in all, the core principle of a social entrepreneur remains to promote a cycle of positive change and sustainable solutions via entrepreneurial roles.
Five Popular and Successful Social Entrepreneurs
Having discussed the meaning of a social entrepreneur, let’s look into some examples of these famous individuals who have made successful careers out of this:
Bill Drayton
Bill Drayton is well-known for being one of the leading social entrepreneurs of the modern era. He founded Ashoka, a company that organizes, identifies, enlists, and supports other social entrepreneurs. This organization aims to create a global community of “changemakers” who can go on to impact their individual societies.
In addition to this social organization, Drayton serves as chair of the board at Get America Working, a job creation agency and Youth Venture.
Rachel Brathen
With over two million followers on social media, Rachel Brathen is no stranger to the lips of her online community. She has a New York Times best-selling book, Yoga Girl, inspiring readers to adopt life-changing measures. Through her social platform, Rachel also hopes to connect teachers with her followers to promote personal growth and community spirit.
Rachel Brathen runs two non-profits: Yoga Girls Foundation and Sgt. Pepper’s Friends. The first is her most popular organization, dedicated to women and children in need, while the latter is an animal rescue group in Aruba. Rachel’s online channel inspires her viewers to find balance, live with consciousness and compassion, and give back to society.
Blake Mycoskie
You may not be familiar with Blake Mycoskie, but you surely have come across the company name TOMS. Having observed the discomfort of children in Argentina without footwear, Blake started his TOMS foundation. The goal of this project was to donate one pair of shoes to a needy child for every pair bought from his company.
Because of this initiative, many children don’t have to walk long distances without shoes. Blake also expanded his company’s programs to cover eyewear, water, anti-bullying, and safe births in Argentina.
Jessica Jackley
Jessica went to school one day and decided to become a social entrepreneur. While in graduate school, she was exposed to several lectures, but only one stuck out to her: social entrepreneurship. As simple as that sounds, that is the story of how Jessica Jackley developed an interest in this field.
However, while it was easy to decide her career path, choosing a specific point of impact wasn’t as easy. Her turning point soon came when she encountered some underprivileged individuals and decided to contribute to poverty alleviation. Since then, she has left for East Africa, where she met with other entrepreneurs, which inspired the creation of Kiva.
Kiva is an online lending platform, the first of its kind, that allows people to lend funds to an entrepreneur. Over the years, Kiva has grown its reach to 69 countries and more than 300,000 people.
Jeffrey Hollender
Once a CEO and co-founder of Seventh Generation, Jeffrey is now an activist for social responsibility. He left his former workplace to become a social entrepreneur, after which he became the CEO of Hollender Sustainable Brands.
This new company encourages the sale of sustainable products for personal and sexual health, including condoms, tampons, lubricants, etc. These aim to create a pollution-free environment free of harsh chemicals and toxins.
Wrap Up
As seen, the measure of success in social entrepreneurship is not only about money; the individual must also have had a significant positive influence on society. So, if you wish to become one of the above examples, take a deep breath, lay out a plan, and learn from the success stories of the above-listed. Good luck.
