To get the most up-to-date list of players in the field of social entrepreneurship please take a look at our Map of Social Entrepreneurship. This map was created to help people get an instant introduction with the field of social entrepreneurship, and what companies/organizations play what roles.

It is not often one thinks about a rock star as a humanitarian. In fact, our society always had a certain stereotype towards rock stars that was far from people who attacked global challenges such as poverty. Bono leads the world in fight against poverty in Africa, changing peoples believes about what a rock star should be doing.

Bono, became a forefront activist to end Third World Debt, and is a spokesperson for the Jubilee 2000 project, a network of people that works together to help third world nations get rid of debt, and Netaid, an organization that inspires young adults to fight global poverty. In 2005, Nono achieved emense success when he was able to persuade global leaders to forgive a $40 billion debt that was owed by mostly third world countries. Among other projects that Bono helped launch are ONE Campaign, Product (RED), DATA and EDUN.

Most of his life, Yunus spent in fight with poverty helping people in villages, he once lived in. He graduated from Dhaka University and received his BA in 1960 and MA in 1961. Later he obtained his PhD. Degree from Vanderbuilt University. Through his career, Yunus lectured at Middle Tennessee State University and then at Chittagong University in Bangladesh. Lecturing economics, Yunus was always interested in applying business concepts to help local communities. In 1976 Yunus was able to secure a loan from the government Jonata Bank. The money would be redistributed and landed to the poor in Jabra. By 1982 the bank expanded offering services to around 30,000 members, and the project that was started from a personal investment of $27 began operating as a full-fledged bank under the new name – Grameen Bank, which means Village Bank. Read more about Yunus.

Nichos Negroponte is the founder and president of the One Laptop Per Child. The company designs, manufactures and distributes cheap, well functioning laptops co consumers in the undeveloped regions of the world. Before he started this venture, Negroponte was a professor at the MIT and a founder of MIT Media Lab. He is the author of a number of books in the IT field.

Here is a collection of videos featuring Nicholas Negroponte:

TED Talk

Internet and Society 2007

Who doesn’t know Al Gore? He, almost singlehandedly turned the attention of the entire world to a climate crisis. There is plenty to learn about this man and his strategies to get people’s attention and work with dozens of organizations and companies to find a viable solution. This is his site.

The Schwab Foundation for social entrepreneurship provides a unique platform for organizations that work around the world. The site doesn’t contain much resources, but you can find fellow entrepreneurs around the world.

Founded by E-Bay’s first president Jeff Skoll, the foundation’s mission is to connect, invest and celebrate social entrepreneurs. The site provides a great groundwork defining the terms and explaining the bases behind social entrepreneurship. Additionally, it contains a number of videos and interviews of various power-players in the field. Each year foundation holds a forum on social entrepreneurship, on this site you can get more insights about the event.

Social Edge is part of Skoll Foundation and contains a very large library of resources on the field of social entrepreneurship. The site is built using wiki engine and therefore people can add resourced and grow the library. It is a good starting page to find resources, other companies, foundations and various sites in this area.

Founded by a pioneer of Social Entrepreneurship, Bill Drayton Ashoka is a true mecca in this field. This is an association of social entrepreneurs who work and live around the world, and are united by one cause. On a site, you can view profiles of hundreds of organizations and read a bit about their experiences. Excellent place to start.

Organization’s name: Florida University’s The Institute for Community Innovation

Organization they are part of: Florida University.

Website: The Institute for Community Innovation

Address:

Eugenio Pino and Family Global Entrepreneurship Center
Florida International University
11110 Southwest 11th Street
University Park - VH 130
Miami, Florida

E-mail: entrepreneurship@fiu.edu

Description (taken from a site): Its principal mission is to promote both social innovation and the economic sustainability of community organizations, arts groups and other not-for-profit enterprises in South Florida.

Site Contains: Resources, events.