Social entrepreneurs are innovators, but not all innovators are social entrepreneurs. Mrs. Anna Monhartova, Professor and Director of the Tulane Social Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship Program (SISE), thinks they should be. So what exactly is a social entrepreneur?

When I met with Professor Monhartova, it became evident that the SISE program is all about fulfilling a social duty, whether it is at the local or international level. It is not so much about starting your own organization towards social change, but learning about current problems and how to go about solving them. Thus, I was not surprised to find out that Mrs. Monhartova also contributes to field of international development. As a social developer, she wants to expand the freedoms of those who are limited politically, economically, and socially. Similarly, the role of a social entrepreneur is to implement such initiatives and materialize the effort towards social innovation.

The social entrepreneur works to help the marginalized- those who cannot help themselves and have no financial or political clout. It does not matter what one’s current field is, as social change can come from anywhere. You can be an architect, a biomedical engineer, or in public health and be in a position to bring change to those who need it. Haley Burns, a Tulane student who went through the SISE program at Tulane, is a prime example of taking initiative to provide more options to those who are limited financially.

As an international development student, Haley took the lessons inside the classroom and brought them to her new home in New Orleans. Her project, Fund 17, is a microfinance initiative to battle the income divide within the city. Haley is a proponent of social change, specifically sustainable social change. This means coming up to solutions for problems that will last.

So what are some examples of social enterprises? Well, they are organizations whose goods or services serve an altruistic purpose. A very popular example is TOMS shoes, who ensures customers that “for every product you purchase, TOMS will help a person in need. One for One.” Even Whole Foods could be considered a socially conscious organization. While they cater primarily to the wealthy, or so it seems, the company purchases its products from local farmers, helping them to sustain themselves and their way of life. There is a misconception that the social enterprise business model is non-profit, but that just isn’t the case. Whatever model supports the mission is the right model. And when entrepreneurs have social change in mind, they become role models.

By Juan Amaya