Social entrepreneurs step in to address problems where bureaucracies either
cannot or will not. According to international groups such as Worldwatch and
Civicus, which monitor this field, millions of individuals have established
organizations to address social problems over the past 20 years. In Central
Europe nearly 100,000 social organizations debuted in the six years following
the fall of the Berlin Wall. In Brazil and India, there are more than 1 million
independent social-benefit organizations, the majority founded since the
mid-1980s. In the United States, the number of nonprofits has almost doubled
since 1989.Numbers alone do not tell the whole story. Many of the best
social organizations have also made a quantum leap in performance. The lesson
they learned—one that the business sector has long understood—is that the most
innovative problem-solving organizations are the ones founded by the most
determined and talented entrepreneurs. What applies to business also applies to
social change.
Grameen Bank exemplifies this entrepreneurial spirit. It
extends small loans for self-employment to village women across Bangladesh. From
a tiny experiment in a single village less than 30 years ago, the bank has grown
to serve some 4 million clients and has lent more than $4.5 billion. Moreover,
the microcredit idea that the bank championed has spread to other institutions,
serving 70 million families worldwide. From Individual to Inspiration
The source of Grameen Bank’s influence was
not backing from any government or multilateral organization. The bank was
launched by Muhammad Yunus, a Bangladeshi economist with a rare combination of
vision, tenacity, savvy and ethical fiber—in other words, the consummate social
entrepreneur. Like all entrepreneurs, Yunus saw an opportunity that others
missed. He built a strong management team and mobilized financial resources. He
took many calculated risks. Some worked, others did not. But when he stumbled,
he corrected the problems rather than covering them up. And finally, he pushed
his organization to continually innovate and grow. Because of this drive,
Yunus has little in common with the nonprofit executives in his field, but he is
a kindred spirit to Bill Gates and Henry Ford.
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