Funding Social Enterprises: let’s create social goods, rather than banks benefits

Funding Social Enterprises was one of the topics at the Global Economic Symposium 2011 in Kiel. Johanna Mair (IESE), Nicholas P. O’Donehoe (Big Society Capital), Roberto Randazzo (R&P Legal) and Mouhsine Serrar (Prakti Design Lab) were trying to identify the best way to establish a stable channel of funding for Social Enterprises (SE), especially in these difficult times of global crisis. Rodney Schwartz was moderating this panel.

In fact they had to focus on many other aspects of SE, like the lack of rules to guide this growing sector/practice in business. They faced problems of communication between those who give money and those who receive it. The situation when donors try to dictate the way of spending still causes confusion.

J. Mair and N. P. O’Donehow introduced data that show there is huge potential in Social Enterprise. It influences the market in a very simple way – creating employment. There are 70000 Social Enterprises in the UK alone! The other advantage of SE is that it creates social goods, which is preferable to producing bank benefits.

Here you can watch a short interview with Johanna Mair (Professor of Stratetic Management, Stanford University and IESE Business School) who describes social enterprises.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgnZvkNtIVc&feature=channel_video_title