BeDo Social Intrapraneurship

My first year's out of college were spent working at my university to develop global service learning programs. My goals with the programs were to create more robust educational experiences for undergraduates who wanted to be involved in changing the world. By making the decision to design programs from within the university, I became what some might term a social intrapreneur.

Social intrapraneurs are social entrepreneurs who have decided that they can be a more effective agent of change from within an organization than by starting something entirely new. Sometimes, as in my case with designing programs at Northwestern University, there are particular resources that can be leveraged (ranging from brand value to legitimacy to money) that make something more likely to succeed as part of a larger enterprise.

Across corporate America, social intrapraneurs are providing the impetus, ideas, and energy behind changing corporate policies towards not just philanthropy but the entire ethical, social, and environmental footprint of companies.

This fall the new company BeDo will kick off the Social Capital Markets conference with an event all about how social intrapraneurs are reshaping the economic and social landscape. As the event describes itself:

Join us for BeDo’s first Social Intrapreneurship Conference where experts in the field of Social Intrapreneurship will act as speakers and panelists to:

• Showcase the Best in Class of Social Intrapreneurship
• Explore The Future of Corporate Capitalism and the leadership imperative of corporations to create meaning-led cultures
• Consider the changing requirements of the millennial workforce who is saying, “I’m Not Going To Work For You Unless...”

There is some serious experience behind the idea. BeDo is lead by Marc Mathieu, the former head of Global Brand Marketing at Coca-Cola who has for years been a driving force behind that company's attempt to bring together human factors and product.

The event has limited registration and will be, I think, a must attend for any one interested in the changing role corporations and large enterprises can and will play in making the world a better place.