Week 8 - ONE YEAR

For this post, I would like to talk about this year's Poly Forum and how it has varied so much from last year's Poly Forum which I had attended. I did not get the opportunity to go for Poly Forum this year (would have loved to though!) but my good friend's sister attended it and spoke a great deal on the exciting line up they had planned for them throughout the two weeks of this tertiary event.

Image from www.polyforum.edu.sg

The theme for Poly Forum 2011 was Our Singapore Dream, and the sub themes were the new revised 5Cs for Singapore -  Career, Comfort, Children, Culture and Charity. There is greater emphasis on what a Singaporean should be like, with the new 5Cs being a response to the changing trends of this century in Singapore. They are to replace the original 5Cs of Cash, Car, Credit Card, Condominium and Country Club that used to be the popular conventional aspirations of a Singaporean in the past.

This was a part of an article written by Mark Lim, one of the facilitators for the subtheme of Children; "we discussed at length the importance of building character in our children. The discussion was sparked by the Education Minister, who in a major speech, called for the education system to be re-examined. He is now pushing for values and character education to take centrestage in the education of our young. At the closing ceremony, Mr Heng shared passionately why civics and moral education should not be sidelined in favour of mathematics and other "core" subjects.

He instead spelt out his own version of the 5Cs - Creativity, Collaboration, Conviction, Character and Contribution. The Minister's comments are indeed one of the most refreshing in recent times. I agree with him that values and character should constitute the bedrock of a child's education. Without such a firm foundation, the house of cards will crumble. So many of the youths-at-risk whom I've had the opportunity to meet fall under this category, young people who were brought up not by principles but by pragmatics. I truly hope Minister Heng's policy is implemented well" (Lim, 2011, para.6).

I love how Minister Heng Swee Keat is trying to make such great changes in the Singapore education system here. It will groom such wonderful human beings and leaders of Singapore's future. While that was what formed the basis for the whole two weeks of discussions and plenary sessions of Poly Forum during my time, the overall theme for Poly Forum 2012 was My Singapore - Our Story. The subthemes included Economy, Education, Environment, Identity, Security & Stability. It suddenly moved towards the issues that Singapore as a whole faced as an emerging global city.

Image from www.polyforum.edu.sg

So, one might ask how this relates back to social entrepreneurship. Well, so much has changed in just a year for Singapore, and for us at BZSE. Just imagine how different life could be a couple of years down the road... Life could change for the better, or for the worst. It is truly up to us, to work together - we as BZSE students have the chance to be changemakers for the betterment of the future.

 

"The new 5Cs of a Singaporean - Creativity, Collaboration, Conviction, Character and Contribution." - Minister Heng Swee Keat

References

Lim, M. (2011, September 27). A dream for the future of our children. Parenting on purpose. Retrieved on 1st December 2012, from http://parenting-on-purpose.blogspot.sg/2011_09_01_archive.html

Week 7 - TRANSFORMATION

This article on Harvard Business School (HBS)'s website features an interesting interview with HBS school professor, V. Kasturi Rangan also known as Kash Rangan. Part of the extremely interesting interview is shown below:

Image from salesmanagement.org

Interviewer: The terms "social enterprise" and "nonprofit" seem to be used interchangeably. Are they synonymous?

Kash Rangan: No. There's an important distinction. Very early in the program we decided that we wouldn't focus purely on nonprofits. We thought it should be about social enterprise, regardless of whether it's for-profit or nonprofit. We defined social enterprise as an entity that's primarily in the business of creating social value. As long as an organization creates significant social value, we don't care how it sustains itself—with internally generated surplus or with donor funds.
Americans give roughly $300 billion a year to nonprofits, yet we really don't know much about what charitable organizations actually accomplish. Why aren't nonprofits more accountable and transparent with all this money?
That's a very big issue in this sector because there is no common measure or framework to assess whether these organizations are accomplishing their mission. Even simple measures are not widely reported, like we got X donations, and we took care of 1,000 children at a cost of $80 a child, which is less than $120 a child spent by comparable organizations. Even that amount of reporting would be very useful, but it is not the norm.
By and large the reporting focuses on the costs of raising money. The lower the better, with the logic being that more money can then go to actual programs. So an organization might report, "We spend 6 percent on fundraising, whereas the industry average is 12 to 14 percent." That's typical, but beyond that, we don't know how the other 94 percent is used. How many people came into the program, and what benefits did they get? And then the even bigger question beyond cost efficiency and effectiveness is, what impact did the organization have? Granted it is very complex to get all the way to that level, but even signposts along the way could be very useful.

Interviewer: Which is harder: raising money, building a successful organization, or achieving real impact?

Kash Rangan: They are all interrelated, but raising money is not the hardest of the three. Getting money is hard, but it is not more difficult than the other two. That's why there are over 1.4 million nonprofits, each with some amount of funding.

Putting the money to good use, building a successful organization, showing that you have a demonstrable impact in achieving your mission, and then scaling the organization are the hardest to accomplish. When you show impact, more money will flow in. 

Interviewer: Given how few nonprofits can document impact, would you say these organizations suffer from a leadership deficit?

Kash Rangan: No, I wouldn't put it that way. Many nonprofit leaders are fantastic, more than is acknowledged. They work hard, and they are very passionate about what they do. So I wouldn't call it a leadership deficit. I think there's an imagination deficit.
Leaders typically ask, "Am I accomplishing my program?" But that is too narrow a view. Nonprofit leaders need to be more visionary. They need to stretch themselves more and worry about mission impact. I believe nonprofit leaders get too bogged down in operational issues, be it fundraising, or managing the board, or program execution. They need to be more strategic.

Interviewer: Where do you see social enterprise heading over the next decade?

Kash Rangan: I am an optimist, and I believe we will see refreshing changes in that time frame. The new cadre of donors, the new family foundations, the folks who are involved in venture philanthropy, the new generation of entrepreneurs, and business leaders engaged in corporate social responsibility initiatives all will start attacking social issues in a much more disciplined way. Nonprofits too are very adaptive organizations. I expect to see some common understanding in the sector of what performance means, and how social value creation is measured and reported. From there on it is only a matter of aligning the money with the causes they care about. Perhaps investment intermediaries will emerge to ease the introductions and connections. There may be some consolidation of nonprofits at the top, but the sector will be a lot more vibrant with many new players and actors helping to facilitate the transformation.

This entire interview with Professor Kash Rangan that discusses what in his view is social entrepreneurship as a sector leading to huge transformation of the world states so many relevant points that we have learnt in our three years in BZSE. Take for example where he mentions that nonprofit and social enterprising leaders have to be more visionary. It was just last week in Mr Mao's MANSE class that we were throwing out words that in our opinion described good leaders - one of which being visionary!

How the professor describes the difference between a non-profit organisation (NPO) and a social enterprise in the very first question the interviewer asked him is so relevant to the NPO essay that Mr Damien had gotten us to write. If only I had come across this article in my research, I would have loved to cite Professor Kash Rangan where he mentioned "We defined social enterprise as an entity that's primarily in the business of creating social value. As long as an organization creates significant social value, we don't care how it sustains itself—with internally generated surplus or with donor funds".

The part where Professor Kash Rangan spoke about money and the impact of an organisation, saying that "putting the money to good use, building a successful organization, showing that you have a demonstrable impact in achieving your mission, and then scaling the organization are the hardest to accomplish. When you show impact, more money will flow in" - this is such a precious piece of advice for anyone aiming to start up an NPO, or an SE, or any business entity for that matter.

Image from hbs.edu

"The sector will be a lot more vibrant with many new players and actors helping to facilitate the transformation." - Professor V. Kasturi Rangan

References

Thompson, R. (2008, September 15). The coming transformation of social enterprise. Harvard Business School. Retrieved on 23 November 2012, from http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/5986.html

Week 6 - THE TIMES THEY ARE A-CHANGIN'

My title for this blog post is actually a Bob Dylan song, and while searching for the lyrics, I came across this article on how technology in the globalised economy of the 21st century affects the development of social enterprises (SEs) and nonprofit organisations (NPOs).

Dahna Goldstein is the founder of PhilanTech, a web-based system that creates online applications made to provide maximum efficiency and impact for non-profits and foundations, scrapping all the unncessary time and money wasted on administrative work that comes along when funding is provided for. This idea came about while Dahna was working under the well-known SE organisation, Ashoka, where she was given the task of measuring the impact of the various programmes being run by Ashoka in the US and in Canada, but there was no data available as everything had been done through paperwork. She felt that it was completely inefficient, and she had to do something about it. (Bayrasli, 2011).

Image from bcorporation.net

"The idea is for both to use donor dollars on projects rather than process." - Dahna Goldstein

Through such technology, it's allowed for more effective planning of resources for social enterprises, whereby data can be easily retrieved through this software and funding being given without a tiresome administrative process. My personal view on this is that it is very in line with the way society is nowadays; fast-paced, IT savvy and fully reliant on efficiency. We can clearly see how social enterprises are moving along with the change that is happening in the world, with more and more innovative companies spurring a social transformation within their enterprise. (Gotkin, 2012, para.2).

THE TIMES THEY ARE A-CHANGIN'

Come gather 'round people

Wherever you roam

And admit that the waters

Around you have grown

And accept it that soon

You'll be drenched to the bone

If your time to you

Is worth savin'

Then you better start swimmin'

Or you'll sink like a stone

For the times they are a-changin'

- Bob Dylan

References

Bayrasli, E. (2011, August 22). Social enterprise spotlight: For non-profits & foundations, the times are a changin'. Forbes. Retrieved on 12 November 2012, from http://www.forbes.com/sites/elmirabayrasli/2011/08/22/social-enterprise-spotlight-for-non-profits-foundations-the-times-are-a-changin/

Gotkin, Z. (2012, August 15). Top 5 social enterprise technologies for business. MashableTech. Retrieved on 12 November 2012, from http://mashable.com/2012/08/15/business-social-enterprise-technologies/

Week 5 - PRO BONO (ALTERNATIVE CHANGEMAKERS?)

I first came across the term "pro bono" from the article in the Yale-NUS College blog that discusses more about lawyers or law students who wish to use their knowledge for the greater good. "Pro bono" is actually derived from Latin - the phrase "pro bono publico"; meaning "for the public good". The benefits of pro bono work are not subjected to the disadvantaged communities alone, however it is for humanity as a whole as it incorporates professional knowledge, skillsets and values. (Lim, 2012, para.7). For lawyers or law students, this could come in the form of advocating for human rights, or defending the innocent.

Image from rayharris57.wordpress.com

By now, I am sure you are well aware of my dreams of being a social entrepreneur if I could. Whilst I am still in the midst of pursuing that dream of mine, as the time for uni applications begin approaching, I have been trying to figure out which path to pursue for uni education. I remembered enjoying and excelling in Mr Patrick Seong's 'Legal Framework For Social Enterprise' module, so I thought of maybe furthering my studies in law. Mr Damien had come across a social enterprise law firm and found it to be a rather apt organisation for me to intern at to gain a better understanding of how I could incorporate what I have learnt in BZSE, with knowledge in law. The organisation was called International Bridges to Justice (IBJ) and it was founded by Karen I Tse, who hoped to create a community of people that would help secure a successful legal representation for children, women and men held in detention, more so in developing countries. It had not crossed my mind before, but this could be just as meaningful a job as being a social entrepreneur.

Image from huffingtonpost.com

Here is Karen I Tse, she was a trained public defender that had travelled to Cambodia in 1994 to provide humanitarian aid work for both "the United Nations and the International Human Rights Law Group, as a judicial mentor and to build a community of legal defenders." (Koshy & Samy, 2012, para.5). While she was there, she came across a 12 year old boy who had been beaten up, denied any legal representation and imprisoned, just for attempting to steal a bicycle. She realised how many innocent people in countries like Cambodia were in need of help, help that she could provide for them and she returned back to the US in 1997 and founded International Bridges to Justice.

"In her dream, IBJ would create a community of people in the United States and Europe who would join forces with human rights defenders and legal aid lawyers in Asia “to ensure effective legal representation for every child, woman, and man in detention”. IBJ works to guarantee the right to competent legal representation, the right to be protected from torture and the right to a fair trial for everyone." (Koshy & Samy, 2012, para.19-20).

So there are many ways in which we can be changemakers, and besides social entrepreneurship, being a human rights lawyer is one significantly meaningful way to help the most vulnerable in this world. This serves as yet another possible career path for us to consider.

"We are at a unique time in history because there is so much we can do." - Karen I Tse

References

Koshy, S. & Samy, F. A. (2012, October 14). When every step goes a long way. In TheStarOnline. Retrieved on 5 November 2012, from http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2012/10/14/focus/12149161&sec=focus

Lim, A. (2012, November 5). Are lawyers vampires?. In YaleNUSblog. Retrieved on 5 November 2012, from http://yalenusblog.com/2012/11/05/are-lawyers-vampires/

Week 4 - SETTING UP A SOCIAL ENTERPRISE

So, I've been saying that I want to set up a social enterprise of my own // I'm setting up a social enterprise arm for the Indian NGO Children Of Mother Earth (COME). But how, you might wonder, will I go about doing it?

Image from warwick.ac.uk

Having been on Industry Project the previous semester, I can say I have some experience in this. But my experience is actually the bare minimum. This article by Channel NewsAsia would help a little. Mentioned in the article is how for Singapore social enterprises (SEs), there are 4 possible models to follow. They are:

"

1. Work Integration Model - This is the model that has been said to provide the most impact to the community of people because they are being reintegrated back into society by being given employment and skills/training for job development.
2. Plough-back-Profit Model - This model is one of the most common SE models in which the SE has very clear profit-driven aims because they give a percentage of their profits to support a community of people or a social cause. SEs with this model usually partner with NGOs. 
3. Subsidised Services Model - This model is not as common as the plough-back-profit model however, they follow a similar profit-driven aim but they provide subsidised rates to their disadvantaged clients while charging normal market rates to the typical customer.
4. Social Needs Model - This is a model that speficially serves a society's needs socially or looks into addressing social issues for example, racial harmony.

"

(Channel NewsAsia, 2012)

I personally see myself setting up a social enterprise with either the Work Integration Model or Plough-back-Profit Model, or possibly a combination of both whereby I provide employment opportunities but also collaborate with an NGO so that a part of the profits generated by my SE will go back to helping the community under that NGO.

It was encouraged that the very moment you have a clear picture on what you want your social enterprise to be, then it was time to get down to working right on it. Once you have a clear idea about what your social enterprise will be, it is time to get practical.

"Prove you can do it by doing it rather than by talking about it - you've got to get your hands dirty" - Lord Andrew Mawson, Social Entrepreneur and Author

Another important thing to note, is to make sure you have a really good team of people working with you on this. (Ottery, 2010, para.12). I would agree on this because I tried to set up an SE on my own for my Industry Project, and it was extremely difficult! It is definitely not a straight-forward thing whereby you have it all planned out and it will go as planned. No, it hardly EVER goes as planned, trust me.  Everything is on you; which is a good thing when it comes to making decisions, however it would be better to have several more people giving their input and opinions, because who knows? Developing on each other's strengths and ideas could result in AMAZING things even if things don't turn out the way it had been originally planned for! ☆golden tip☆: surround yourself with a small team of people with a wide range of skill sets (not too many people for a start though - too many cooks spoil the soup!)

Well I hope this has given you a better insight into the possibilities of setting up a social enterprise because this sure has helped me gain more clarity with regards to my ambitions to set up a social enterprise or two. Well I shan't discuss too much about my own ventures here - will only update more once I have things set in stone (hopefully soon!) Wish me luck xoxo

References

Channel NewsAsia (2012). Social Enterprise. Invest In Me. Retrieved on 1 November 2012, from http://www.channelnewsasia.com/investinme/socialenterprise.htm

Ottery, C. (2010, January 28). How to set up a social enterprise. In The Ecologist. Retrieved on 1 November 2012, from

http://www.theecologist.org/how_to_make_a_difference/culture_change/406111/how_to_set_up_a_social_enterprise.html

Week 3 - SOCIAL ENTERPRISE ON THE RISE ~

Just today, a news article on The Financial Times online caught my attention instantly. Titled "Social enterprise rises in India", I had to open it right away. Why, you may ask, did this have any relation to me whatsoever besides the fact that it was an article on social enterprises (SEs)? Well this article affects me greatly for a couple of reasons. In this final semester of mine at school, I am juggling not only schoolwork but also the challenging task of leading a YEP team to India and helping an NGO there set up a social enterprise arm to which I would be helping them handle it for the next three years. Therefore, with SEs on the rise in India, this definitely concerns me.

Image from socialearth.org

Business schools in India now are trying to develop all-rounded leaders, who are capable in securing both a corporate job in large corporations as well as being innovators to start up small businesses to take on the many social issues faced by the Indian community with the profits made. In other words, social enterprises. (Munshi, 2012, para.2). This sudden rise in awareness of social entrepreneurship and the need for it in India only began a couple of years back, after India’s social problems were not seemingly getting resolved at all and were instead on the rise. Research showed that "almost 80% of India's population was surviving on less than $2.15 a day (in PPP terms). That is, about 800 million people." (Shrivastava, 2006, para.5).

Not only are business schools changing the approach  in their curriculum, there are more and more organisations and foundations that aim to promote social entrepreneurship throughout India, such as UnLtd India which looks for, provides funding and support to quality entrepreneurial individuals who are passionate and possess ideas and skills to curtail the social problems that have been plaguing India for such a long time. (Sivaswamy, 2012, para 1-4).

“Given what is going on in India with the social needs and the disparities, there is a need for talent to go in that direction ... there is a realisation that only-profit motive will not help the country.” - Madhukar Shukla, Professor at XLRI School of Business and Human Resources



Image from ecowalkthetalk.com

We attended a talk held at National Youth Council - Brown Bag Lunch with Anshu Gupta, founder of GOONJ. GOONJ had won the India NGO of the Year Award in 2007 for its efforts to promote the need for the most overlooked basic need; clothes. More people in India or in developing countries die from climate conditions (harsh winters) in comparison to people who die from natural disasters, and the reason is due to the lack of proper clothing for such conditions. GOONJ focuses its efforts in handing out clothing to the poor people in India, especially for the winter season so as to reduce the mortality rate during this season. Anshu Gupta and his dedicated team are such people that India hopes to see arising in the country. The work done by GOONJ is really inspiring.



"India is THE place for new social innovations to experiment in." - Anshu Gupta, Founder of GOONJ

P/s, I cannot wait for when it is my chance to experiment in India! ☺☺


References

Munshi, N. (2012, October 29). Social enterprise rises in India. In the Financial Times. Retrieved on 29 October  2012 from http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/9fb2ee08-e7aa-11e1-8686-00144feab49a.html#axzz2AecoL7nR

Shrivastava, A. (2006). Measuring global poverty: India on 20 cents a day. Infochange. Retrieved on 29 October  2012 from http://infochangeindia.org/poverty/analysis/measuring-global-poverty-india-on-20-cents-a-day.html

Sivaswamy, R. (2012, January 25). UnLtd India - Providing crucial incubation support to social enterprises. In TheBetterIndia. Retrieved on 29 October 2012 from http://www.thebetterindia.com/4684/unltd-india-providing-crucial-incubation-support-to-social-enterprises/

Week 2 - UNDERSTANDING SOCIAL ENTERPRISES

During Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's National Day Rally speech this year, he emphasised on "A Home with Hope and Heart" where he wanted Singaporeans to treat each other better and not possess negative feelings towards foreigners. To quote, he said, "Singaporeans must show a generosity of spirit to one another, including new arrivals... We can be from a small island, but we cannot be small-minded." (Barker, 2012, para.11). He then went on to further encourage for more social enterprises (SEs) throughout Singapore. A widening income gap is plaguing this emerging global city of ours, and we have to do something to resolve this now. PM Lee believes that Singaporeans should not just rely on practices of their company's corporate philanthropy as our own respective individual choices can make a big difference. Multuply that by the projected 6.76 million of us living on this small dot by 2050 (Institute of Policy Studies, 2012, p.2). To give my own version of what PM Lee has said, "We can be from a small island, but we [can do great things to improve the lives of everyone here in Singapore and generations to come]".

Image from newnation.sg

Nevertheless, with such efforts and even publicity by our PM, SEs still cease to be a popular trend in Singapore. As of this year, there are currently only 170 SEs in Singapore. The numbers are definitely increasing, but with us coming in close to a 6 million population count right now, 170 social enterprises are lamentable. In my personal opinion, Singaporeans are still more willing to venture into setting up of small medium enterprises (SMEs) rather than SEs, but why is this so?

According to a Channel News Asia article by Gross, reports show that there is not enough knowledge about SEs amongst Singaporeans. Upon conducting a nationwide survey, it was found that "out of 2000 respondents, only 13 per cent knew [the meaning of] a social enterprise". (2011, para. 2).

Image from http://www.mcys.gov.sg/

However, the new formation of Ministry of Social and Family Development (a restructuring of MCYS and MICA), set to be official on 1st November 2012 hopes to address such challenges and promote awareness on social enterprises and what social entrepreneurship is about once it launches. This new formation of MSF will provide Singaporeans with a much stronger and clearer focus as to the support of social enterprises. Training and skills development support for the set up of new SEs or growth of existing ones will be given and as for funding, MSF will be informing the public about its funding schemes more fervently because there are a lot of funding outlets available as of now, it's just that the public are not aware of them. (Siong, 2012). I must say that I agree with the last few words of the public not being aware of the funding schemes available. Throughout my first and second year as a Business & Social Enterprise student at Ngee Ann Polytechnic, I never knew of all the funding opportunities available for social enterpreneurship ventures. I had heard of the funding platforms that were offered by my school for entrepreneurial ideas, however none specifically for SEs. It was only when I came into my third year and set out on my Industry Project that it came to light - there were numerous funding schemes from the ComCare Enterprise Fund by MCYS to the SIF Young Social Entrepreneur seed funding to the SE Hub's funding platform of up to a million SGD.

There are so many things I myself as a student in the course of Business & Social Enterprise am just finding out. I do not blame a majority of Singaporeans for not being aware on what social entrepreneurship is because even in the world it remains as a growing manifestation. I hope that through such governmental efforts and efforts from international non-governmental organisations that social entrepreneurship will be promoted throughout Singapore and the world because this is a concept that allows for profit both economically and socially - a true balance that this world is in dire need of right now.



References

Barker, V. (2012, August 27). PM Lee on building a Singapore of hope and heart. In News@AsiaOne. Retrieved on 28 October 2012, from http://www.asiaone.com/print/News/Latest%2BNews/Singapore/Story/A1Story20120827-367706.html

Gross, S. (2011, September 3). Study shows low public awareness of social enterprises in S'pore. ChannelNewsAsia. Retrieved on 28 October 2012, from http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1150901/1/.html


Institute of Policy Studies. (2011, March). Scenarios of future population growth and change in Singapore. Lee Kuan Yew school of public policy. Retrieved on 28 October 2012, from http://www.spp.nus.edu.sg/ips/docs/enewsletter/Mar2011/MT_Scenarios%20of%20Future%20Population%20Growth%20and%20Change%20in%20Singapore_010311.pdf

Siong, O. (2012, August 10). New ministry to provide better support for social enterprises. ChannelNewsAsia. Retrieved on 28 October 2012, from http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1219356/1/.html

Week 1 - INSPIRATIONS ♡♡

For my very first post, I thought I would like to share stories of two lady social entrepreneurs that have been inspirations for me to want to be a social entrepreneur myself. 

The very first lady I would like to talk about is fashion social entrepreneur, Ayesha Mustafa.

Image from dawn.com

Inspired by this young and successful founder of Fashion ComPassion, she is one of the reasons I had faith in myself as I took on the challenge of trying to set up a social enterprise in the fashion industry for my Year 3 Industry Project. Although I did not quite execute all that I had planned for my social enterprise, I gained such extensive knowledge through my journey. The timeframe for my Industry Project has ended, however my journey has only begun. Ayesha herself did not manage to start her social enterprise the very moment the idea hit her. After she completed her undergraduate degree in Economics and Politics and masters degree in Media and Communications, it took her years of gaining experience, valuable contacts and even a two-month stint interning under Grameen Bank - the world's very first microfinance bank before Fashion ComPassion was finally launched in November 2010. (Mustafa, 2012).

Image from inspirebystory.com

Fashion ComPassion serves as a platform for high-end ethical brands that empower women from developing countries through hiring them as brand artisans. Fashion ComPassion is quite possibly the very first social enterprise that "[highlights] peace through high fashion amidst political controversy and [utilises] the uncommon juxtaposition of high-fashion and social responsiblity". (Morgan Jr, 2011, para. 6)

"I want to combine the traditional skills with modern sensibility making it palatable for the globally savvy fashionista, and in return giving some of our most treasured heritage to a global audience." - Ayesha Mustafa

The second lady who has inspired me greatly is well-known American businesswoman-turned-social entrepreneur, Jessica Jackley.

Image from practicalecommerce.com

With just her laptop and huge dream, Jessica Jackley together with her husband set up Kiva - the world's first peer-to-peer microfinance lending website in 2006. She was a very capable businesswoman on her own but combined with her amazing and equally-ambitious husband, they had with them a talented team of people that believed in Jessica's leadership and abilities as they worked on Kiva. However the quality that Jessica possesses which has me so captured is her ability to use her passion and emotions, bringing me to tears with the ending of her TED Talks speech as she expressed her belief that there is a potential for each and every one of us to do good in this world, to help make this world a better place for each and every one of us. (Jackley, 2011).

Image from www.kivafriends.org

www.kiva.org allows anyone with Internet access to loan a minimum amount of USD25 in the form of small capital contributions to someone from a developing country who wishes to start up or grow their small businesses. Although Kiva has become a major success as a social enterprise in this global world, Jessica remains focused on the very basic idea which she uses as the mission statement for Kiva; “to connect people through lending to alleviate poverty,” -  Kiva is a platform that helps in bringing people closer to each other, people from across the globe, and shows that relationships are a key driving force for positive change on this planet. (Purdue University, 2012, para.1-2). Jessica's latest venture which she set up in 2009, ProFounder, is a new platform that allows for small businesses in the United States to gain admittance to startup funds through investment from a community of willing lenders.

"ProFounder exists to champion all entrepreneurs, and we have a special place in our hearts for those who don't care to pitch their companies to the same 'usual suspects' investors -- and this is a great thing for the world" - Jessica Jackley

References

Jackley, J. (2011, April 21). The pregnant entrepreneur and the vc who wouldn't fund her. In Forbes.com.
Retrieved on 27th October 2012, from http://www.forbes.com/2011/04/21/pregnant-entrepreneur-ceo-and-the-venture-capitalist_2.html

Morgan Jr, J.P. (2011, April 23). Fashion compassion. Inspire by story. Retrieved on 27th October 2012, from http://inspirebystory.com/fashion-compassion/

Mustafa, A. (2012, September 25). Just a fad?. In dawn.com. Retrieved on 27th October 2012, from http://dawn.com/2012/09/25/just-a-fad/


Purdue University. (2012). Jessica Jackley. Analytical insight, global leaders. Retrieved on 27th October 2012, from http://www.krannert.purdue.edu/events/ethics/speakers/jjackley.asp