The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental organization based in Cologny, Canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German engineer Klaus Schwab.
The Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship is a Swiss not-for-profit organization founded in 1998 that provides platforms at regional, national, and global levels to promote social entrepreneurship. The foundation is under the legal supervision of the Swiss Federal Government. Its headquarters are in Geneva, Switzerland. Each year, it selects 20–25 social entrepreneurs through a global "Social Entrepreneur of the Year" competition.
Oluwagbenga Olabisi Sesan is a Nigerian social entrepreneur known for his contributions to the field of ICT.
Social entrepreneurship is an approach by individuals, groups, start-up companies or entrepreneurs, in which they develop, fund and implement solutions to social, cultural, or environmental issues. This concept may be applied to a wide range of organizations, which vary in size, aims, and beliefs. For-profit entrepreneurs typically measure performance using business metrics like profit, revenues and increases in stock prices. Social entrepreneurs, however, are either non-profits, or they blend for-profit goals with generating a positive "return to society". Therefore, they use different metrics. Social entrepreneurship typically attempts to further broad social, cultural and environmental goals often associated with the voluntary sector in areas such as poverty alleviation, health care and community development.
Harish Hande is an Indian social entrepreneur, who co-founded SELCO India in 1995. He was awarded with the Ramon Magsaysay Award for 2011 for "his pragmatic efforts to put solar power technology in the hands of the poor, through his social enterprise SELCO India".
Paul Rice is the Founder & CEO of Fair Trade USA, the leading third-party certifier of Fair Trade products in North America. Since launching Fair Trade USA in 1998, Rice has brought Fair Trade into the mainstream and built a movement to expand its impact. He has challenged and collaborated with hundreds of companies to rework their global supply chains to obtain high-quality products that support community development and environmental protection.
Jack Sim Juek Wah, also known as Mr Toilet, is a Singaporean entrepreneur and philanthropist who is the founder of the World Toilet Organization and World Toilet Day initiative. He is also the founder of the Restroom Association of Singapore.
Dialogue in the Dark is an awareness raising exhibition and franchise, as well as a social business. In Dialogue in the Dark, blind guides lead visitors in small groups through different settings in absolute darkness. Through this visitors learn how to interact without sight by using their other senses, as well as experience what it is like to be blind. The exhibition is organized as a social franchising company, which offers the exhibition as well as business workshops, and has created jobs for the blind, disabled, and disadvantaged worldwide. The exhibition aims to change mindsets on disability and diversity, and increase tolerance for “otherness”. More than 9 million visitors have gone through an experience in the Dark and thousands of blind guides and facilitators find employment through exhibitions and workshops.
Linda Rottenberg is an American businesswoman and author. She is the author of Crazy Is a Compliment: The Power of Zigging When Everyone Else Zags. She is the CEO and Co-founder of Endeavor, a non-profit organization that encourages the power of entrepreneurship.
Susan Davis is an author, public speaker, consultant and expert on international development and social entrepreneurship. She is the Chairperson of Solutions Journalism Network, an Adjunct Associate Professor at New York University Stern School of Business, a coach to social entrepreneurs and active on many boards and advisory councils.
Chris Underhill is an English social entrepreneur.
Mohammad Abbad Andaloussi is a social entrepreneur and former banker in Morocco. He is the founder of Al Jisr, an organization that fosters collaborations between private businesses, the government, and the school system, and of INJAZ Morocco, which works towards cultivating entrepreneurship among middle school, high school and college students. He worked at Wafabank for 34 years and was a director of Attijariwafa Bank Foundation for five years.
Chetna Gala Sinha is an Indian social entrepreneur working to empower women in areas of rural India by teaching entrepreneurial skills, access to land and means of production.
David Green is an American social entrepreneur. His work has focused on making technology and health care services more accessible and sustainable.
Badr Jafar is an Emirati businessperson. He is chief executive officer of Crescent Enterprises, a conglomerate headquartered in the United Arab Emirates. He is President of Crescent Enterprises' sister company Crescent Petroleum, Chairman of Pearl Petroleum which develops natural gas in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, and chairman of the executive board of port operator Gulftainer.
Digital Opportunity Trust (DOT) is a Canadian charitable organization and social enterprise that provides technology, entrepreneurship and leadership training programs for young people in East Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, and Canada. The organization's headquarters are in Ottawa, Ontario, with local operations around the globe. Since the organization was founded in 2001, DOT has directly affected more than 6,000 young people worldwide, who have gone on to reach over 1 million of their fellow community members. More than 90% of alumni, reportedly secure employment or start their own businesses within six months of completing DOT programming.
The Social Reporting Standard (SRS) provides a standardized reporting guideline for initiatives and projects in the non-profit sector. The term SRS is inspired by the Financial Reporting Standards of for-profit companies.
Njideka Françoise Harry is a World Economic Forum Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship Fellow.
Social entrepreneurship in South Asia involves business activities that have a social benefit, often for people at the bottom of the pyramid. It is an emerging area of entrepreneurship that is supported by both the public sector and the private sector.
Bruktawit Tigabu Tadesse is an Ethiopian entrepreneur working in the field of children's education. She has been a children's TV show producer, film director, animator and school teacher.
