Becoming a Social Entrepreneur: Getting Started

Overview

Class Central Tips

Do you have an idea that could help solve a societal problem? Are you wondering if starting a social enterprise is the best way to go forward? You are thinking about becoming a social entrepreneur! In this course, you’ll critically examine what makes for a good idea, and whether that idea requires starting a new business. You’ll craft a personal immersion plan while considering different ways to create impact. You’ll explore the personal challenges and connections to your life’s purpose before deciding to commit to becoming a social entrepreneur. Each week, you’ll see and hear from 11 real-life social entrepreneurs, working around the world, and sharing the lessons they’ve learned as well as the mistakes they’ve made and how you can overcome them. Among their experiences are: providing clean water in India and the Dominican Republic, warming premature babies without incubators, improving education in Africa and Detroit, and providing affordable fresh food to low-income residents of Los Angeles. Ultimately, you’ll be able to decide whether your idea is necessary for the world, and if starting a social enterprise is the right path for you. This course is based on the book “Becoming a Social Entrepreneur: Starting Out, Scaling Up and Staying True” by Michael Gordon.

Syllabus

Introduction

Welcome to the course! You'll receive an introduction to the course structure and tools you'll use throughout each week. You'll meet the social entrepreneurs who will be sharing their stories in this course, and begin to think about what it means to be a social entrepeneur.

Immersion

In this week, you'll learn more about immersion and what it takes to be fully integrated into a problem and its context before you can begin to solve it. You'll also work on your own immersion plan.

Ideas

In this week, you'll take a critical look at your own ideas and the ideas of others. What makes a good idea, and why is it worth pursuing?

Be Ready for the Challenge

This week, you'll reflect on the idea of 'necessity' and dive more deeply into your own ecosystem mapping. You'll also spend time hearing from the social entrepreneurs on their own personal challenges.