Ode's Ode to Social Entrepreneurship

by Nathaniel Whittemore · 2009-03-09 10:59:00 UTC
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A farmer in Mbale, Uganda - the type of person whose business Root Capital invests in

Hat-tip to Nick Temple from the School for Social Entrepreneurs for tweeting about Ode magazine's recent coverage of social entrepreneurship.

Check out this article that I believe is in their March print edition. The article, titled "Social entrepreneurs go mainstream," is actually a nicer overview than a lot of the "introduction"-type articles that I've seen.

The reason I like it is that it situates social entrepreneurship as an emerging answer to the question of "what next when the last iteration of capitalism feels broken?" From the very beginning of the article:

In the wake of the 2008 financial flameout, most business people are, to put it mildly, downbeat. Banks aren't lending, consumers aren't spending and the prospects for the rest of the year seem grim. All of which makes social entrepreneurs, well, intensely—even passionately—optimistic.

"This is a slam dunk," says Willy Foote, the founder of Root Capital, which provides loans to rural businesses in Latin America, Africa and Asia. "The Wall Street meltdown provides a chance to think about how we transition from a financial system that is complex, opaque and anonymous to one that is direct and transparent."

Now while I don't think social entrepreneurs are actually cheering the crisis, I do think Ode is correct to recognize that many view the silver lining in the crisis as a chance to re-evaluate what got us here and bring people and planet back into the business equation.

Check out the full article here.

Nathaniel Whittemore is the founder of Assetmap. Previously he was the founding director of the Northwestern University Center for Global Engagement.
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