Social Entrepreneurship

Posted by TeamCharlie on December 29, 2008 under Kids are Heroes | Be the First to Comment

On February 12, 2008 I happened to be flipping channels on the tube and came across an interview that Charlie Rose did with Richard Branson. I am not normally interested in what celebrities have to say, but I found this interview to be absolutely fascinating.  One of the main topics he discussed was “social entrepreneurship” which basically means that instead of just throwing charitable money at an issue that faces mankind, that we instead use our ingenuity to solve problems.  As an example, there are places in Africa where it is difficult to get medicines out to people.  So rather than throwing money at a courier company, a better answer is to send them bicycles so they can deliver the medicine themselves.  There are many business owners who have developed successful businesses because of their savvy, determination and their skills.  The idea is that we put those qualities to good use.  Richard Branson himself is an incredibly successful business magnate, owning upwards of 200 companies and employing over 55,000 people.  I also think he is a leading example of a social entrepreneur, as he created Virgin Unite that tries to involve people all over the world in philanthropic ventures.

As many of you know, this was one of the main inspirations for Kids Are Heroes, since after watching this I wanted to see what skills I could use for the benefit of others. I honestly believe that in the not too distant future Kids Are Heroes will be a significant force in helping people all over the world and I attribute part of that credit to this interview.  So, if you ever get about 33 minutes to spare (I know that’s a lot especially for the “twitterati” out there) I encourage you to watch it online - it might change your life as it did mine.