Hi everyone, this is my last post, and I have tried to summarize my learning with respect to Social Enterprise.

Disclaimer: Please note that the thoughts below are my own, and do not necessarily reflect those of the PW or its founder.

Definition of Social Enterprise

· Different people define Social Enterprise in different ways, my original one was that of “a for-profit business that serves a social need”.

· Prefer the definition exposed to this summer: There is a broad spectrum of organizations, ranging from zero self-income generating charities, to self-sustaining microfinance organizations. All of these can be called social enterprises in one sense of the word. If they pursue their ‘social missions’ while adopting the underlying tenets of business i.e. being results driven and accountable, focusing on governance, capacity building and expansion etc. they can certainly be called social enterprises.

Current Situation w.r.t the Social and Private Sector

At this stage, there is a very wide perceptional gap between the charitable and private sector. The latter being very results driven, is uncomfortable interacting with individuals and organizations from the former.

Most charities spend a lot of their time and quality people trying to raise funds. Each foundation/donor has its own requirements and there is a lack of standardization. Also, because of the private-social sector understanding gap (most philanthropists have made their money in the private sector), the majority of the money is sucked in by charities that have a strong brand name and visibility, not necessarily effectiveness. Thus the incentives for charities to focus on effectiveness, governance and accountability are few.

Moreover, because the social sector pays lower salaries in general, it is seen as sub-optimal and there is a lack of talented individuals, especially compared to the private sector.

My conclusion then is that the social sector has a lot of entrepreneurs, because you need to be one to get people motivated to start an organization, but is lacking people with managerial skillsets, who can really take the charities far along the road to effectiveness.

Thoughts and Philosophies

· Before diving in, it is useful to scope out the value-chain and examine those areas where there is too much attention, and those where there is too little.

• Chances are that the impact per dollar will be larger in areas where needs are not being met
• If you must get involved in the chain at a point where there are numerous organizations, it is better to become part of an existing one and help it improve its effectiveness than start a new one and miss out on the use of available infrastructure.

· Along the same networking point, it is arrogant and naive to think that one-person, or one-organization can make a significant impact. If one attempts to work without leveraging the support and information networks with other organizations, one is not performing at a 100% capability.

· Social Forums, Articles and Research Papers, Informal Discussions are vital for

• Developing these relationships
• Ensuring that organizations have a collective impetus in a general ‘north’ direction

To Summarize

· I came in thinking that for-profit social enterprise were the ideal, and would revolutionize the sector because they aren’t dependent on donors. However,

• People are willing to give, and getting funding might not be that hard if you can show good impact and effective governance
• Adam Smith’s specialization applies - the interests of the non-profit are best served if it does what it is best at: helping others. Any time spent trying to self-generate funds, especially if the staff don’t have the expertise and it is beyond the mission scope, is inefficient
• Charities, Social enterprises cause only a ripple compared to the wave that large institutional organizations such as the UN, and Governments more so can create in terms of social impact.
• Having said that, at the end of the day, it one has to approach the basic needs to be solved from all angles, public, private and non-profit, i.e. society

Thank you for this opportunity PennSEM, PW and Penn!

Sustainable Urban Farms
This past Sunday, I helped out with an interesting social enterprise here in Singapore called Ground Up Initiative. As a little background -
GUI’s Mission is
1. To foster connection between Man and Earth through sustainable activities.2. To grow a flourishing community that drives local and global humanitarian, social and environmental initiatives.3. To nurture members and groom leaders.[From GUI’s website: http://www.groundupinitiative.org/story.html]
One of their initiatives is to create sustainable urban farms in the middle of bustling metropolises. One particular urban farm is currently located in a quaint little park called Bottle Tree Park. This project started in April 2009 and attracts around 15-20 volunteers each week. The goal of this project is to create a bio intensive farm in order to provide enough vegetables and produce for the community volunteers and the needy.
I helped out by creating this trellis:

Here I am in front of the greenhouse:

-Catherine

Last Friday, I attended a talk on Charity Governance. It was very insightful and interesting. Whether you’re talking about the private sector or the public sector, governance is an issue that is absolutely critical to the success of an organization.
Why is Good Governance Important?
In the public sector, good governance is incredibly important, because a charitable organization is often entrusted with other people’s hard earned money. Donors expect that the organization will keep and use the funds in an efficient and effective manner. Accountability and transparency are essential when maintaining trustworthy relationships with stakeholders. Good governance is a primary way to showcase an organization’s level of accountability and transparency.
What is an Issue with Governance?
Maintaining good governance practices requires money and resources. While large organizations with a substantial amount of funding have the capacity for larger administration costs, smaller charities often do not. The dilemma that then arises is whether that organization should focus their limited funding on good governance or using that money toward its charitable programs. While the answer is murky and not clear cut, the bottom line is that good governance has been shown to improve the effectiveness of organizations and is extremely important for maintaining positive relationships with stakeholders.
-Catherine

In my first post, I broached the idea of working at an organization specific level, or working at the sector level. I convinced myself that getting the latter experience was better for me, because I know what conditions on the ground are like. Having lived in Mumbai all my life, having travelled around the rural countryside, having made trips through the slums, I thought I knew the conditions and situations that people lived in, and came from. In any case,

When I talk to someone in my usual network, I implicitly make these assumptions unless visually contradicted:

1. The person has a complete family
2. The person has a life-plan, or a sense of life-security
3. The person has someone close to spend time with, or at least communicate with on a regular basis
4. The person has gone, or is going to go to college along the regular time cycle

I didn’t even know that I was making these assumptions until they were all shattered by a simple conversation with my hostel neighbor. He works at hotel in the Raffles Area, would like to return home to India but can’t afford to because he has to support his mother and sister, is pursuing part-time vocational college at the age of 26. And he is still better off than other youth that I have been reading about and interacting with. That made me realize how truly lucky I was just to have been brought up in a secure and loving environment. How important family is, and people are.
It’s a totally different thing to see someone from afar and try to empathize with them, and talking with them and realizing that it would only have taken a very slight twist of fate for the two of you to have switched roles. And why should he be the one suffering?

p.s. I know I haven’t posted much detail of my actual work and experience in Singapore - and my posts have been more philosophical. I will definitely try and include some finer details and nuances of Singapore life (with photos) for my next post.

-Sagar

The more I think about it, the more I realize that PW and PennSEM was the most ideal thing to happen to me this summer. When I was smitten by the concept of social enterprise two years ago, I was romanticizing it. I thought that I would be able to figure out all the answers and magically change everything that was wrong with this world. At some point however, idealism hits a brick wall, and you realize that you either have to climb the wall or build a window to get to the other side. Working at PW has been challenging in that I have really had to pick up my game. What I would normally have passed off in school as a good assignment, is now a first draft. I am learning that the real world is not as wonderfully abstract and smooth like management concepts or heat equations, and that you have to be sharp and efficient if you really want to make a bang. Oh, and you have to work hard. Here is a list of things that I have learnt, or at least become more aware of with regard to working well.
Being organized in thoughto What is the goal of what I am doing?o Asking the so what?o Thinking through things before exploring what is out there
Being organized in presentationo Summarizing a lot of informationo Getting to the point when conversing and writingo Paying attention to detail
Learning to sell. You are trying to sell the person, not the idea, so always, always keep their interests in mind and discuss it from within their frame of reference.
-Sagar

Last week, a project at work involved researching the best practices of venture philanthropy. I really had no idea what this topic entailed besides the fact that “it had something to do with venture capital.” Even knowing that meant very little, because my knowledge on venture capital is quite limited to begin with. After two days of research, I’ve discovered that venture philanthropy is an emerging field that has the potential to make a lasting impact in our quest to solve the world’s problems.
Although there has been no official definition for venture philanthropy, the core concept of venture philanthropy involves treating funding as an investment rather than a charitable donation. By implementing the practices of venture capital firms, venture philanthropy hopes to help the social sector by infusing techniques that will result in high impact. Venture philanthropy is often characterized by innovative approaches, a focus on measurable results, and long term impact. This field was first introduced in a 1997 Harvard Business Review article called “Virtuous Capital: What Foundations Can Learn from Venture Capitalists.”
Check out the Acumen Fund – an awesome example of venture philanthropy at its best.

Hey everyone!
To start with, let me just give a shout-out to everyone who helped make PennSEM possible: the board, the professors, the university, the mentors and us! It’s hard to believe that I am immersed up to my nose in a field that I hadn’t even heard about two years ago.
Singapore is a great place, a serene amalgamation of fundamentally eastern culture with all the conveniences, technology and opportunities that the western world has to offer. I’ve been here twice in the last two years, and can only say: it works. Those who have never been here tend to mock the country for being ‘strict’ (the chewing-gum stereotype), or reject the regime because they haven’t seen the quality of life. It’s obviously not Philadelphia with its crazy hobos and sprawling graffiti, but I love it only marginally less. So I have been spending my time eating at hawker centers (there are even ‘VEGETARIAN’ stalls here), Little India and McDonalds, trying to speak Singlish, futilely scouring football fields for a pickup game, drinking Margaritas on Clarke Quay and getting a hands-on experience of Social Entrepreneurship.
I have learnt a lot more about SE, work that is par excellence and soft skills in the last two weeks than I have in many years of school, especially through sustained interaction with Vivian. The work content is also fascinating because we are looking at macro sector issues, and attempting to create systemic change which is very different my original perspective on SE - working to create products and technologies that directly impact those in need, which is more on the enterprise side. If I do choose this track as my career path, this will be definitely be a question that I will have to grapple with. At the end of the day, it might also be decided by my abilities and experience, but I will cross that bridge when I come to it.
On another note, I have just started using Twitter as a means of information. Signed up to follow Ashoka, Acumen and a whole host of other SE related organizations. It’ s even better than an RSS feed.
That’s it for now. Stay tuned for more thoughts on SE. 
-Sagar