The Resource Guide is created by Grace Liu and Gabriella Velazquez
Updated on Janurary 8, 2022
A social entrepreneur is a person who explores business opportunities that have a positive impact on their community, in society or the world. This Guide introduces resources for student entrepreneurs who engage in social entrepreneurship.
The courses selected can be audited for free and you can find the audit instructions for Coursera and Edx courses.
Business Strategies for Social Impact (Wharton Online - University of Philadelphia)
When is it good business practice to invest for social good? What are the most innovative and effective business strategies for developing positive social impact around the world? Designed by renowned Wharton professors Katherine Klein and Chris Geczy to help individuals, organizations, and investors bring about societal change, this course introduces the fundamentals of impact investing, and developing a business strategy that drives social impact.
Business and Impact Planning for Social Enterprises (MIT)
Are you a social entrepreneur looking to refine your mission and scale your impact? Learn how to articulate your impact goals, theory of change, and plans to scale with a global community through this five-week, interactive course. This course is run by Solve, an initiative of MIT that supports social entrepreneurs solving the world’s most pressing challenges.
Social Entrepreneurship 101 (acumenacademy.org)
Think like a social entrepreneur to tackle problems across public, private, and nonprofit sectors. Carve your own path for making change, whether that be founding an enterprise, serving on a board, or supporting social entrepreneurs in other creative ways
Becoming a Social Entrepreneur: Getting Started (University of Michigan)
In this course, you’ll critically examine what makes for a good idea, and whether that idea requires starting a new business. You’ll craft a personal immersion plan while considering different ways to create impact. You’ll explore the personal challenges and connections to your life’s purpose before deciding to commit to becoming a social entrepreneur.
Identifying Social Entrepreneurship Opportunities (University of Michigan)
Each week, you’ll see and hear from 11 real-life social entrepreneurs, working around the world, and sharing the lessons they’ve learned as well as the mistakes they’ve made and how you can overcome them. Ultimately, you’ll be able to decide whether your idea is necessary for the world, and if starting a social enterprise is the right path for you. This course is based on the book “Becoming a Social Entrepreneur: Starting Out, Scaling Up and Staying True” by Michael Gordon.
From Corporate Social Responsibility to Corporate Social Innovation (Babson College)
Based on real-world experiences from business leaders, learn how to develop and lead social innovation initiatives that create both economic and social value.
What Makes Social Entrepreneurs Successful? (Harvard Business Review)
A podcast by Harvard Business Review.
Webinar with Steve Blank: Business Model Design For Mission Driven Organizations
Strategyzer co-founder Alex Osterwalder and Steve Blank chat about the Mission Model Canvas, a tool for organizations that value impact over revenue.
The Talkin' Impact Podcast (University of Northampton)
The University of Northampton's Innovation Centre discusses social innovation and delivering impact in the community.
Changing the world: Making a positive impact through social entrepreneurship (eCornell)
Modern social entrepreneurship is transforming how we do business, using market-based solutions to address social issues in innovative ways. Bringing a wealth of perspective and experience, the entrepreneurs on our panel will cover topics such as human-centered design, scaling sustainably, access to capital, and more. They will also share their founding stories as well as the lessons they’ve learned along the way.
Be Invested: The value of B Corp Certification (eCornell)
B Corporations are businesses that have gone through a rigorous evaluation to prove that they are run with the intent of building a world where “business” isn’t a dirty word. Over the course of the last decade, the pursuit of B Corp certification has become an endeavor that thousands of business owners around the globe find worthwhile.
The Next Frontier for Business: Social Justice and Sustainability (eCornell)
Justice for our planet and justice for all people are two profound conversations that are happening simultaneously. In this online session, panelists will explore the intersection of social justice, the environment, and resilience in business decisions. They will share valuable insight into how businesses can take responsibility for their impact on communities, especially among low-income and historically underrepresented communities. They will explore how businesses can innovate to not only profit but better serve communities.
The Social Entrepreneurship & Innovation Podcast
Through The Social Entrepreneurship & Innovation Podcast brought to you by Grow Ensemble, host Cory Ames and his expert guests shed light on social entrepreneurship, discussing the experience of running, growing, and sustaining successful sustainable businesses, social enterprises, and nonprofits.
The podcast for women impacting the world. Discover how much power you hold in changing the world. Become part of the solution and take small actions to make a difference… one episode at a time.
Evolve - Social Impact Startup Stories
Evolve is a show to help you become a hero and solve the world's greatest challenges. Brandon Stover interviews social innovators, entrepreneurs, and thinkers about the global problems we face and the solutions they have created to solve them. The goal is to help you find purpose & learn skills for social impact so you can contribute to these solutions or create new ones.
7 Steps to Becoming a Successful Social Entrepreneur (US Chamber of Commerce)
The Beginner’s Guide to Start a Social Business (Change Creator)
6 steps to becoming a successful social entrepreneur (World Economic Forum)
Start, build, and grow a social enterprise: Start your social enterprise (Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada)
The complete guide to growing and scaling your social enterprise (Movingworlds.org)
How to start a social enterprise: A Project Guide (skysthelimit.org)
Social Entrepreneurship at Tom's Shoes
Blake Mycoskie, social entrepreneur and founder of TOMS Shoes, tells the story of a young woman who accosted him in an airport, pointing at her pair of TOMS while yelling, “This is the most amazing company in the world!” Founded in 2006, TOMS Shoes immediately attracted a devoted following with its innovative use of the so-called One for One business model, in which each purchase of a pair of shoes by a consumer triggers the gift of a free pair of shoes to an impoverished child in a developing country.
Design an Organization that Makes a Difference
Christian Busch, cofounder of Sandbox, built his company to offer innovators a vehicle for doing good.
50 Social Entrepreneurs Changing the World
The 10 Most Successful Social Entrepreneurs
B Corporation
B Corps are for-profit companies certified by the nonprofit B Lab to meet rigorous standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency. Today, there is a growing community of more than 1,600 Certified B Corps from 42 countries and over 120 industries.
Society for Nonprofits
Society for Nonprofits is a leading resource for nonprofit professionals and has been helping nonprofit leaders increase their knowledge and grow the capacity of their organizations for more than 30 years. Website includes a free resources section.
Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship
A research and education center based at Duke University's Fuqua School of Business, the Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship (CASE) promotes the entrepreneurial pursuit of social impact through the thoughtful adaptation of business expertise
Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship
The Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship’s purpose is to advance social entrepreneurship and to foster social entrepreneurs as an important catalyst for societal innovation and progress. The Schwab Foundation does not give grants. Rather, it invests its limited resources in creating unprecedented opportunities where social entrepreneurs who have successfully implemented and scaled their transformational idea.
Social Venture Network
"SVN connects you to a growing community of innovative business leaders and social entrepreneurs to help you improve your business, enhance your leadership, and expand your impact."
You can search Harvard Business Review to learn more articles on this topic. You can also check if your university library has a subscription to the Business Source Complete database, which provides full-text access to Harvard Business Review articles, or use the library’s interlibrary loan service to access the article.
Click the link to find a Worldcat book record; enter a zipcode to check which library nearby has the book you can borrow. When the record is not available, a link to Amazon is provided.
Carlson, Eric D, and James L. Koch. Building a Successful Social Venture: A Guide for Social Entrepreneurs. 2018. Print.
Counts, Alex, and Mohammad Yunus. Changing the World Without Losing Your Mind: Leadership Lessons from Three Decades of Social Entrepreneurship: Revised Edition. 2021. Print.
Davis, Gerald F, and Christopher J. White. Changing Your Company from the Inside Out: A Guide for Social Intrapreneurs. 2015. Print.
Janus, Kathleen K. Social Startup Success: How the Best Nonprofits Launch, Scale Up, and Make a Difference. 2021. Print.
Honeyman, Ryan, and Tiffany Jana. The B Corp Handbook: How to Use Business As a Force for Good. [tools for Building an Inclusive Economy]. 2019. Print.
MacMillan, Ian C, and James D. Thompson. The Social Entrepreneur's Playbook: Pressure Test, Plan, Launch and Scale Your Enterprise. 2013. Print.
Read More Books on This Topic and more on Social Entrepreneurial Spirits.
SCORE mentors offer non-profit related consultation via video, email, phone, or in-person.
Finding a social enterprise mentor (Article)