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social enterprise
Community health workers -- recruited from the communities they serve and going door to door with basic health messages and medicines -- are the backbone of under-resourced health systems. After some training, they often work as volunteers because they care for their communities.
With our health care system facing ever-increasing demands and mounting budget constraints, we need to think differently about how we deliver health care. As we've seen in our series on change agents, this is precisely what change agents do -- they make a difference by doing things differently.
Have you heard about social enterprises? Social enterprises apply business solutions to social problems. They're incredibly hot right now. So hot, in fact, that I've just come back from the Social Capital Markets (SOCAP) conference in San Francisco where there were over 2000 attendees.
Transformational approach, holistic approach, social enterprise -- today it's become trendy to throw around buzzwords about social change. Fortunately, the buzzwords have a concrete meaning thanks to innovators in the not-for-profit world who implemented the approaches in the first place -- long before the jargon existed. These are the original change agents.
It's been recognized that millennials hunger for meaning and purpose in work and want to make a difference in the world. So businesses need to find solutions to engaging their millennial talent, and one very powerful way to do that is through social enterprise campaigns.
You see a pamphlet or a charity commercial about suffering kids in third world countries. Do you feel the kind of empathy that facilitates generosity, or do you feel the uncomfortable guilt that you try to avoid? At first, the shocking statistics and graphic photos worked -- the message was powerful and emotive. But after one too many pamphlets and commercials, the message is plain.
Whether it's a home-based mom-and-pop craft business, or a large multinational corporation, B Corp certification helps build better businesses, and helps caring consumers make ethical choices. This is an important edge in a marketplace where numerous studies show more consumers want to give their dollars to businesses that give back to society.
These companies have already touched your life. Beyond the big names like Ben & Jerry's ice cream, Patagonia clothing, Etsy, or Kickstarter, there are impact-driven business leaders making significant money while making an amazing difference in communities all around us.
A recent trip to Ghana's Volta region affirmed for me that there is so much more to aid and development than one prosperous nation giving to another in need. I was still taken aback by what I saw upon arrival. In short, people in Volta are not living with a lot. But they are far from powerless.
When we set out in 1995 to end child labour, we stood on a straight road with just two directions to choose from: donate to a charity, or start one. It's incredible how much has changed in the world of "doing good" since then. It's been thrilling to see the growth of social enterprise and corporate citizenship over the last 10 years. Even more thrilling is what these changes will mean for the average consumer over the next decade.
