Social Entrepreneurship

Mercy Corps CEO Neal Keny-Guyer ’82 discusses the challenges of addressing the world’s worst humanitarian crises—and where he finds hope.

Ira Peppercorn ’85 says that creating affordable housing in the world’s fastest-growing cities requires accurate data and an incremental approach.

Daniel Weiss ’85, president of the Met, discusses the challenges of changing with the times while preserving the past.

Yale SOM’s Mushfiq Mobarak talks with three practitioners about improving the process of technology adoption among the poor.

Dr. Francois Bonnici of the University of Cape Town on navigating South Africa's turbulent social sector.

Sandra Urie ’85 of Cambridge Associates talks about helping clients find the right level of risk.

Should organizations favor the dependable efficiency of rules and standards or a less calculated but more flexible operation that bends to accommodate individual situations? How about both?

Social enterprises seek to make profit while having a positive impact on communities. As a nascent and hybrid form of organization, social enterprises are vaguely defined. Might a certification process provide benefits for such organizations? Andrew Kassoy of the B Lab talks about the potential of the benefit corporation, or B Corp, to change the way business is done.

Rainfall insurance can help a farmer survive a drought year and ultimately increase prosperity in rural areas. So why aren’t more using it? Many people in developing countries rely on informal insurance, such as a family network, rather than formal insurance. Yale SOM professor Mushfiq Mobarak’s research has tested the effects of formal insurance for farmers in India and elucidated how the two systems interact.

Social enterprises, ventures that seek to address significant societal problems while also achieving financial sustainability, have become a bigger part of the business world. Chuck Slaughter ’90, founder of Living Goods, discusses what it will take for the field to produce a breakout star.