Your Start-Up Starts Now A Guide to Entrepreneurship What Is Social Entrepreneurship Margaret Hoogeveen Crabtree Publishing Company www crabtreebooks com
Why do you buy stuff Do things like bracelets basketballs or earbuds make your life more comfortable or more fun Perhaps they do If you choose carefully though your purchases can do something else too they can help change the world Doing Things Differently Craig and Marc Kielburger energize the crowd at a WE Day event They hold these events to inspire youth to work for positive change in the world 4
Seeking a New Way of Doing Things In 2008 Canadian brothers Craig and Marc Kielburger were running a charity It was called Free the Children now called WE Charity Through this charity the brothers were doing remarkable things They were helping children escape slavery and go to school The problem was that the Kielburger brothers needed more money to do this work So they founded ME to WE ME to WE is an enterprise which is a business organization Many enterprises sell things to help them meet a single goal to make money ME to WE sells a variety of things to meet a different goal to change the world That’s why it gives half of all its profits to WE Charity formerly Free the Children and invests the other half back into the enterprise ME to WE is just one of many enterprises trying to find ways to change the world The next time you’re feeling torn between buying something for yourself and supporting a good cause stop and think Remember that you can do both at the same time ME to WE is an example of social entrepreneurship A social enterprise may help people directly or it may raise funds to donate to other groups It may make a profit for its owners or investors In all cases the main goal of social entrepreneurship is to address a social problem 5
