2003 Course on Social Entrepreneurship  -

Leveraging Market-Based Action for Positive Change

One of the four objectives of the Foundation is to advance knowledge about social entrepreneurship, the factors that stimulate and sustain it, and the policy actions necessary to facilitate its expansion.

As a first step in attaining this objective, the Foundation has developed and taught a graduate level course on social entrepreneurship at the University of Geneva in 2003.

The course examines the window of opportunity which changing value-creation dynamics in the globalizing economy have opened up for enterprising public leaders.  Social entrepreneurs draw on market-based mechanisms to create positive change in the domains of education, the environment, fair trade, health, and human rights.

Combining their passion to solve social problems with an entrepreneurial outlook on life, they find innovative ways to leverage scarce resources in the pursuit of social value.

Providing an effective and refreshing alternative to traditional development and social policy interventions, social entrepreneurs manage to wed the qualities of the Schumpeterian investment entrepreneur with a concern for inequality and social value.



The course examines social entrepreneurship as an alternative paradigm that helps to organize work for positive change. To foster practical learning, the emphasis is on sharing examples of on-the-ground action. The seminar consists of three blocs.

Part one introduces students to the concept of social entrepreneurship, and explores its changing conditions in a globalizing world.

Part two inquires into the strategic challenges social entrepreneurs face at different moments in the entrepreneurship lifecycle—how to get started, how to find the right scale, issues of organizational governance and network building and partnering.

Finally, the course asks how intermediaries between social entrepreneurs and investors can promote social entrepreneurs' quest for social value.  What are the promises of venture philanthropy?  What opportunities does the changing world of social entrepreneurship hold for graduate students?

The course syllabus can be downloaded here in pdf format.  It provides details on the organization of the seminar.



For your information, we also put seven powerpoint presentations online. They detail the main body of the lectures.


Lecture 1: Social Entrepreneurship: An Alternative Paradigm for a New Century

Lecture 2: On the "Nature" of Social Entrepreneurship

Lecture 3: The Changing Conditions of Social Entrepreneurship in a Globalizing World

Lecture 4: Getting Started: Early-Stage Social Entrepreneurship

Lecture 5: Taking Microfinance to the Industrialized World

Lecture 6: Scaling Up or Scaling Deep?

Lecture 7: Organizational Governance: Implications for Social Entrepreneurs

Our students also tell us that they enjoyed taking the final exam, which you can dowload here in pdf format.