There has been a huge surge in academic and non-academic research in the field of social entrepreneurship over the last decade. The essence of social entrepreneurship lies in doing well financially by creatively solving social, cultural and environmental issues. This course is designed to give students an overview of the theory and practice of social entrepreneurship through experiential learning, case-based teaching and collaborative projects.

After completing this course, the student will be able to:

1. Recognize the importance of social entrepreneurship in creating innovative, feasible and practically relevant solutions for critical social needs.
2. Illustrate the importance, relevance and techniques of funding for social ventures.
3. Discuss crowd funding for social entrepreneurship.
4. Compare and contrast different models of social entrepreneurship and their applications.
5. List the criteria to be taken into account for scaling up social ventures for greater social impact.
6. Discuss how to develop a strategy and business plan for a social venture.
7. Access how to scale a social venture for greater social impact.

1. What is social entrepreneurship?
2. Social entrepreneurship: correcting market failures
3. Social venture opportunity identification
4. Social venture opportunities: social impact theory
5. New models of social entrepreneurship
6. Crowd sourcing social innovation
7. Social business models
8. Developing social venture strategy and plan
9. How to position the firm for social and strategic advantage
10. How to get funding for social ventures?
11. Strategies for scaling social impact
12. Measuring impact

Wei-Skillern, J., Austin, J., Leonard, H., & Stevenson, H (2007). Entrepreneurship in the Social Sector. Thousand Oaks, Sage Publications.

• Why Social Entrepreneurs Are Taking The Lead
• The rise of the social entrepreneur
• Understanding our social impact