The World’s Most Powerful Women By Forbes.com

With Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin making waves in politics, we decided to have a section on women ”movers and shakers”.

Check Forbes.com “World’s 100 Most Powerful Women” at: http://www.forbes.com/2008/08/27/most-powerful-women-biz-powerwomen08-cz_me_cs_0827women_land.html

You can also find the following sections (please click on the titles):

Finance High Flyers

Humanitarians

Media Masters

Women To Watch

****************************************************************************************************************************

The Social Entrepreneurship Series, By Sandra Zerbo

Thank you, Sandra, for this well written article. We’re looking forward to reading your next articles – Yopi

Overview

The Social Entrepreneurship series is a series of three articles, this one being the first. The following article gives an overview of the field: what is social entrepreneurship and how is it different from business entrepreneurship? The second article, “Meet the Social Entrepreneurs of our Times,” takes us on a world tour of the prominent figures of this discipline, covering their achievements, struggles, and the advice they have for young professionals like us, who are interested in following the same path. The third and last article is a compilation of resources (books, articles, and websites), helpful for getting more information.

 Article 1: Social Entrepreneurship Defined

“Social entrepreneurs are not content just to give a fish or teach how to fish. They will not rest until they have revolutionized the fishing industry.” (Bill Drayton, CEO, Chair and founder of Ashoka).  

Social entrepreneurship can be defined as a discipline that combines the ‘good old’ entrepreneurship, with innovation in terms of social change. Can the two be combined? Well… some years ago, it was practically unthinkable. Not many people could see how entrepreneurs (those business oriented people only concerned with making profits) could even think about social change, especially if it was not in the best interest of their business. Schumpeter described entrepreneurs as “creative-destructive” people who are ready to exploit any “untried technological possibility for producing a new commodity.” Although this definition might sound pretty ‘uncaring for society,’ it is important to note that in Schumpeter’s mind, entrepreneurs are change agents. By trying new things, and/or innovating and improving existing systems, they have the ability to move the economy forward.

This is the starting point of social entrepreneurship. A group of people thought that entrepreneurs can also start new, nonprofit-seeking ventures, which will have the capacity of potentially solving what we have identified as ‘social problems.’ Social entrepreneurs are people who have implemented creative ways of dealing with and/or solving social issues (innovative education methods, poverty reduction strategies, and health care improvement are good examples). Historical figures of the movement (Jane Addams, Maria Montessori and Muhammad Yunus for instance), who we will meet in the second article of the series, show that although the phenomenon has become better known and the appellation “social entrepreneurs” might be relatively new, it has existed for many years. Dees notes that social entrepreneurs play the role of change agents in the social sector by adopting a mission to create and sustain social value, and engaging in processes of continuous innovation, adaptation, and learning in order to create the desired outcomes. Social entrepreneurs are said to be ambitious, mission driven, strategic, resourceful, and result oriented. In addition, they “identify resources where people see problems. […] They begin with the assumption of competence and unleash resources in the communities they’re serving.” (David Bornstein) Social entrepreneurs have the ability to move society forward, as we will see by meeting some of them next time.

**************************************************************************************************************************

Entrepreneur Moguls: The Beginning

“Capital is a constraint for many would-be entrepreneurs–or is it?“

Scan the Forbes list of the world’s richest people and you’ll come across moguls from startlingly humble origins. How did they get their impressive empires off the ground? Sweat, savings, schmoozing, creativity and a dab or two of good fortune.

You can read the article at: http://www.forbes.com/2008/06/03/citigroup-harry-potter-ent-fin-cx_ml_0603titanfinancing.html

***************************************************************************************************************************

Movers and Shakers: Spotlight on Nelson Mandela

Happy Birthday Nelson!

Last Friday (July 18, 2008), Nelson Mandela turned 90 years old!

I am sure that there are very few people who have never heard of Nelson Mandela (even among GenYers).  His life is a real source of inspiration. He is definitely an ‘anti-status-quo’ symbol and shows us that tolerance, perseverance, hard work – among other things- go a long way!!

Check the following articles:

Wednesday, Jul. 09, 2008 By RICHARD STENGEL  at http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1821467,00.html

***************************************************************************************************************************

Ready, Set, Go! (A vos marques, prêt, partez!)

Tips on being a mover and shaker

Ø  Follow your heart – do what you love, it will help you survive tough times.

Ø  Get your …. off the couch and act! – Things happen only for those who act on their dreams.

Ø  Stop procrastinating and making excuses!

Ø  Build a strong team – you’re only as good as the people you work with. Weak teams = weak implementation of ideas.

Ø  Educate yourself – research your topic(s) thoroughly, and refine your ideas.

Ø  Network – it is always good to know people.                      

Ø  Work, work and work – enough said.

Ø  Use the internet – the internet has a huge amount of information for you to use.

Ø  Persist!!! Rome wasn’t built in a day!

                                                                                                                                                                                                                 (istockphoto.com) 

*************************************************************************************************************************

Movers and Shakers!!

 It is always very refreshing to read stories about people who ‘made it’. It is inspiring to know that hard work and dedication give all of us a chance to change the ’status quo’. You can read stories at:

Article 1 by http://www.entrepreneur.com  highlighted the stories of amazing movers and shakers. You can read it at: http://www.entrepreneur.com/moversandshakers/index.html  

Article 2 by Essence Magazine (www.essence.com): ”Millionaires’ Success Secrets”. You can read it at: http://www.essence.com/essence/workandwealth/yourmoney/0,16109,1723796