Electronic copy available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1344417

SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP: USING THE NEW MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS TO MAKE AN IMPACT ON SOCIETY WINTER 2008 Business (BUS 208) Peace and Social Justice (PSJ 208) Professor: Debbi D. Brock Class: M-F 1:00pm - 3:00pm Office: 122A Draper Tuesday 10am-12pm E-mail: debbi_brock@berea.edu Office Hours: T/TH 10am-12pm or by appointment. Phone: 859.985.3634 Prerequisites: GSTR 110, Math 012, and GSTR 112

Course Overview Social entrepreneurs are gaining international attention motivated by change and to see the world as it can be, not as it is. One way to achieve impact is to identify new opportunities through the New Millennium Development Goals (MDG). The eight MDG initiatives include: eradicating poverty and hunger in the world, providing universal primary education, promoting general equality and empowerment for women, reducing the child mortality rate, improving maternal health, combating HIV/AIDS and other diseases, ensuring environmental sustainability and developing global partnerships for development. Using the MDGs, everyone can participate in the creation of solutions to the world’s social problems. The intention of the course is to combine the Berea College motto of learning, labor and service to create projects that will deepen students understanding of the world around them, use their skills and knowledge to make a positive impact and ultimately to serve a disadvantaged population either here in the region or in another part of the world. This interdisciplinary course will help students from all majors learn how social entrepreneurship can create a better world (nursing majors can develop affordable health services, sociology majors can learn how to develop partnerships with international organizations , psychology majors can address gender equality and empowerment, and agriculture majors can help create sustainable food solutions). Through the course, students will develop their own toolkit of skills to help prepare them to make an impact on the Appalachian region, inner-city communities or developing economies around the world. Students will be encouraged to use Gandhi’s model of “be the change you wish to see in the world” to make a difference in the lives of others. For this class, we will use Greg Dees’s comprehensive definition of a social entrepreneur.

“Entrepreneurs are change friendly, opportunity-oriented, innovative, resourceful, value creators. They see resources and they find a way to mobilize or move them to areas of higher productivity and yield. They find a way to create value. Social entrepreneurs are entrepreneurs who intentionally pursue the public good. They act as change agents in the social sector by:

Adopting a mission to create and sustain social value Relentlessly pursuing opportunities to serve their mission Continuously innovating, adapting and learning Acting boldly without being limited by resources currently in hand Exhibiting a heightened sense of accountability to the constituencies served and for the

outcomes created.” - J. Gregory Dees, Duke University

Social entrepreneurs are not content just to give a fish, or teach how to fish. They will not rest until they have revolutionized the fishing industry.

- Bill Drayton, ASHOKA

Electronic copy available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1344417

About Social Entrepreneurship In the late 1990’s the first course on social entrepreneurship was taught at Harvard University with Stanford, Columbia and Yale following and the University of St. Gallen offering the first international social entrepreneurship course in Geneva in 2003. Since then, social entrepreneurs are gaining international attention with the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, founder of Grameen Bank who promoted the concept of microcredit that has revolutionized how banks do business. Social entrepreneurship is an emerging field and as such, the course is designed to be innovative, thought provoking and challenging as we collaborate to create new knowledge. The course will challenge students to look beyond traditional business practices by using entrepreneurial principles to create public good. The goal of the course is for students to use social entrepreneurship as a tool to address society’s most pressing social problems address in the New Millennium Development Goals. If this course can be used as a vehicle to inspire you to become an agent of change in your home community or on the other side of the globe – then I have been successful in my quest.

The Opportunity Social Entrepreneurship is a rapidly growing field of study for faculty interested in changing the world. Using the New Millennium Development Goals and social entrepreneurship; students will create projects that meet their personal goals to make an impact on someone’s life. By reading articles, actively participating in classroom discussions, evaluating cases of entrepreneurial enterprises, watching videos, and engaging with social entrepreneurs; students will actively engaged in this emerging field. Students will create a social entrepreneurship project on their own or in teams. Potential projects may include: writing a business/feasibility plan for a venture the student is interested in pursuing, a new entrepreneurial service project on Berea’s campus (like Micah 6 and Berea Bikes), writing a case on a social venture, developing an earned income strategy for an area nonprofit organization, creating a video for social change, writing a social entrepreneurship module for the International Labour Union Know about Business program for developing countries, building a prototype of a product that would make long term impact on a developing country, or writing a business plan for an existing social organization. Weekly meetings with each team will be mandatory to show the progress of the project. Through the course projects, students are expected to develop a plan that they intend to implement during the term along with milestones to accomplish the plan in the upcoming year.

Learning Course Objectives Upon completion of this course, students will be able to:

Understand how social entrepreneurs are transforming society by delivering social impact and the challenges these social entrepreneurs face.

Build your capacity to recognize a good business opportunity and how to turn it into a viable business venture including mobilizing resources, managing risk, and assessing impact.

Develop your own skills to become more innovative and entrepreneurial in your personal and professional life.

Provide you with the tools to create a feasibility study and business plan on a social venture you are interested in pursuing in the future.

Develop an innovative project that will create social value on a local, national or international level that can be implemented during or after the course ends.

Explore the importance of developing measurable tools to evaluate the impact of solutions to society problems through not only the typical financial return on investment (ROI), but social return on investment (SROI) and other social impact assessments.

Take an active role in building your own entrepreneurial skills to prepare yourself to be a part of Ghandi’s “be the change you wish to see in the world”.

Textbooks and Articles

Bornstein, D. (2004). How to change the world: Social entrepreneurs and the power of new ideas. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Brock, D. (2008). Social Entrepreneurship Teaching Resources Handbook. Ashoka Global Academy for Social Entrepreneurship. Washington, DC.

Sachs, J. (2005). The end of poverty: How we can make it happen in our lifetime. London: Penguin.

Various articles posted on blackboard or links to the articles and videos on the web

Individual Student Expectations Every student in this course is responsible for the success of the course. Be prepared to add value to the classroom discussion on a daily basis. Let’s face it – no one likes the stress of preparing for quizzes. With that said, students will forgo readings if they don’t think the professor will quiz them. The compromise: Come prepared to full engage in the classroom discussion, bring interesting articles/concepts to class, formulate and ask challenging questions and actively listen to the views of your peers and you will be rewarded with no quizzes. Don’t waste your peers’ time talking to gain class participation points without adequate preparation for class. Quizzes will only be implemented if the class is not fully engaged in the course. Students who choose to work in teams on their project, will be expected to evaluate each other throughout the course to ensure they are sharing the workload equally. The professor will provide a mechanism for a formal evaluation at two points during the term.

Attendance and Class Participation Policy In the real world, you will be expected to be on time and prepared for each meeting, assignment, proposal, or presentation. Likewise, this is also an expectation of the course. Attendance is vital to your success, as course content will build on the readings and class discussions. One unexcused absence is permitted, but you need to see the instructor for additional excused absences. More than one unexcused absences will lead to the student lowering their class participation grade by 1/3. Excused absences consist of illness for you or your child (with doctor’s note), family funeral, or participation in a university athletic event for a varsity sport. The instructor will take attendance at all class sessions. Late arrivals interrupt the class and three late arrivals will count as one absence. Assignments are due on the date provided by the instructor. Late assignments will not be accepted. If you miss class, it is your responsibility to obtain the class information from your fellow classmates. Students are encouraged to share “air time” with their peers in class to allow everyone the opportunity to share their thoughts/ideas. If you get stumped or cannot clearly explain your thought, students may feel free to “phone a friend”.

Grade Class Participation Assessment

A Full engagement in classroom discussion, provides insightful comments on readings and materials, formulates thought provoking questions and challenges peers.

B Engaged in class, but without providing consistent impact on the

classroom discussions.

C Average performance, minimal involvement in classroom discussions or distracting comments off the discussion topic to fill space.

F Missed class or lack of involvement in classroom discussion.

Students will read case studies of a real life situation facing a social organization. Case studies are an essential tool for students to learn how to apply course concepts to a real situation. Students will be expected to read cases and prepare for a classroom discussion on the case and the organization. All students should be prepared to discuss the case analysis in class. Students may be asked to present the case in class with other students challenging the analysis. The professor and class will be expected to critique and challenge comments and thoughts during active class discussions. This is intended to raise the level of class discussions. Students will evaluate their own individual performance in the classroom discussions with the professor’s approval using the following scale.

Student Evaluation Students will be evaluated on the following assignments:

Assignment Points % of Grade Your Grade

Social Entrepreneur Project 200 40%

Profile of a Social Entrepreneur 25 5%

Reflection Journal and Be The Change Letter 75 15%

Individual Assignments, Proposals for Project 50 10%

Social Entrepreneurship Project Presentation 50 10%

Class Participation, Assignment and Quizzes 100 20%

Total 500 100%

Grade Overall % Grading Expectations

A 93 - 100 % Achievement that is consistently outstanding relative to the level necessary to meet course requirements. A- 90 – 92 %

B+ 87 – 89 % Achievement that is significantly above the level necessary to meet course requirements. Work at this level often has outstanding characteristics, but is not consistent throughout the course.

B 83 – 86 %

B- 80 – 82 %

C+ 77 – 79 % Achievement that meets an acceptable level of competence of content necessary to meet the course requirements. The student has demonstrated a basic understanding of course material.

C 73 – 76 %

C- 70 – 72 %

D+ 67 – 69 % Achievement that reflects a minimal amount of acceptable work.

D 63 – 66 %

D- 61 – 62 %

F Below 60% Represents failure and unsatisfactory work that is unworthy of course credit.

Social Impact Reflection Journal Students in the class designed what the reflection journals should include. The reflection journal can be used as a mechanism to provide ideas for social impact. The journals will be done online in blackboard every day before class (preferably have entries posted by noon the following day of class so I can review them). The goal of the reflection journal is to ask questions as you absorb class discussions, readings and course content. Students should document their thoughts, challenges to the readings/professors lectures and “big ideas” to address social problems and then bring them up in classroom discussions. Sharing interesting articles or ideas with your peers on blackboard and then in class is encouraged. Students should feel free to pose questions and expand on ideas presented by their peers to receive the journal participation points. In addition, at the end of the semester, you will write a summary reflection of the course and how you have been changed. The “Be the Change” letter should be written to yourself on your personal commitment to address societies most pressing social problems. If the course has inspired you to make a difference, discuss how you will do that. Be sure to address how your final project relates to your long-term life goals and how you will continue working on that endeavor. In the letter, you should address how you will make a personal commitment to be as Gandhi said; “Be the Change you Wish to See in the World”. You should include a self addressed envelope with your permanent home address and I will mail it back to you in two years.

Profile of a Social Entrepreneur Students will learn about social entrepreneurship through the eyes of the entrepreneurs who launched social enterprises. Students will create a profile of a social entrepreneur and present him/her to their peers including a PowerPoint (2-3 slides), provide a handout (one page) about the achievements of the entrepreneur and background on the social enterprise for class discussions. Be sure to include the regions of the world that social entrepreneur is making an impact. Students are expected to find a short video (2-4 minutes) on the social entrepreneur or create a brief interactive exercise to engage their peers. Students will present the social entrepreneur at the start of class.

Plagiarism/Dishonesty Students are expected to observe high standards of honesty in regards to assignments, case analysis, papers, and other work relating to this course as outlined in the Berea Student Handbook. Academic dishonesty will not be tolerated and offenses will be actively pursued. Plagiarism is using someone else’s work as your own. As you read resources to write the chapter on social entrepreneurship, be carefully cite the sources as you go. You are expected to have learned how to properly cite sources and paraphrase others work appropriately to avoid plagiarism. If fail to properly cite sources and quote others, you will receive a 0 for the assignment and you will be referred to academic affairs. Should you have concerns on what plagiarism is or how to properly cite sources, contact the learning center before submitting your work. In preparation for your written work, students are expected to type all assignments and use appropriate grammar, language, and sentence structure in the report and on all written communication in the course. Using section headings is strongly encouraged as well as tables, graphics, exhibits, and appendices or recommended readings as appropriate. The Learning Center team is available to work with you M-F 9-5 (closed 12-1pm, and Thursday afternoons) and evenings Sun-TH 6-8 to improve your written assignments.

Communication/Blackboard Students are encouraged to communicate with the instructor on a regular basis to get the most out of the course. Blackboard will be used to share the research that the professor has collected on social entrepreneurship and the MDGs to assist you with your projects. Students are expected to check blackboard on a regular basis for additional information regarding assignments or resources for class. My hope is to provide you with the same leadership that you would expect as the instructor of this course and serve as a coach, teacher, and mentor to help you achieve the course objectives. The instructor is available during office hours T/TH 10am-12, via e-mail or by appointment in Draper 122A.

Final Thoughts As your professor, I will do my best to facilitate your learning. As a student in this course, you are responsible for your own learning. By doing the readings, completing assignments, taking notes, and engaging in class discussions, you will be an active participant in the success of this course. Conceptual, problem solving, and analytical skills will be developed as you learn how to apply social entrepreneurship concepts to your future. The professor is willing to continue to support your projects in as independent or team initiated studies in the spring or summer semester of 2008 to take them into fruition. This course has been designed to be both challenging and fun. My hope is that this course will inspire you to make a difference in the lives of others and as Gandhi versioned to “be the change you wish to see in the world”.

Be the change you wish to see in the world. – Mahatma Gandhi