Samantha McNelly
On our last day of GSE for the semester, Professor Moledina posed the question “Can social entrepreneurship solve the problem of poverty?” Everyone in our class fell into one of those awkward I-hope-someone-else-will-answer-so-I-don’t-have-to silences, but I immediately said, “Well, yeah”. Everyone looked at me, and through a little conversation, it became apparent that at least half the class disagreed with me. 
I didn’t get the chance to go on one of my long-winded rants during the class discussion to defend my position, so I wanted to take the time to outline why I do, in fact, think social entrepreneurship can bring an end to poverty.
First, let me give my very simple and concise definition of poverty: a lack of choice which can lead to lack of economic, social, and educational opportunities, among others. Now a brief definition of social entrepreneurship (as defined by Brooks): “entrepreneurship motivated primarily by social benefit to address social problems or needs that are unmet by government and the private sector in a way that is generally congruent with market forces”.
So, what makes me think that social entrepreneurship is the way to finally eradicate poverty? It’s actually fairly straightforward. Social entrepreneurship is based on the creativity, determination, and power of average people to identify and then solve a pressing social problem. Most social entrepreneurs work in the areas where they were raised or have lived much of their lives, and are therefore very in touch with the needs, challenges, assets and capabilities of their community. Armed with a knowledge of the environment in which they are working, the very definition of a social entrepreneur means that the person will not allow systemic obstacles to disable them from making an impact. They will work outside the system, using their own fresh ideas to create new paths through society and they have a unique ability to cope with any unexpected challenges or changes in their environment. Their adaptability and determination set them apart from the crowd and enable them to make a large impact in their society.
Poverty itself is like a circular pathway. The path may have slight ups and downs, and it may look different for different people and societies. But ultimately, it is still trapping people in its redundant patterns. While those living in poverty do move forward every day, it is not necessarily a step that is going to make a difference in their life as a whole or to the system. Rather, the daily step they make along the path simply moves them to a different point in the circle. And the next day they are at yet another point, and the next day another point. But no matter what point a person is at, there is no end in sight, and the environment around them is largely unchanged.
Enter a local social entrepreneur. Perhaps this entrepreneur fiercely believes that the best way to break the cycle of poverty is to work towards women’s empowerment and employment. If this entrepreneur is able to accurately assess the environment and use their skills and innovation to work with local women and increase their independence, then a small outlet has been forged away from our poverty pathway. Inspired by this change, another entrepreneur will appear who is passionate about, say, education. By going through a similar process, this entrepreneur creates another diversion from the circular path that allows children to escape the confines of poverty. Eventually, with continued socially entrepreneurial activities, the circular poverty path will have so many holes and outlets, that it will dissolve and become completely irrelevant. If someone does land on one of the last existing portions of the poverty path, it will only be a short time until they step into one of the outlets created by a social entrepreneur.
I don’t think that social entrepreneurship is going to bring an end to poverty tomorrow. Or next year, or in the next decade. But I think that eventually, it will. I think this because social entrepreneurship relies on the ideas of one powerful and unreasonable person (as it is phrased in the book ‘The Power of Unreasonable People’, a book on social entrepreneurship) rather than on a government bureaucracy or an economic-profit oriented corporation. This one person is just crazy enough to think that they can change the system, destroy the pathway, or create opportunities, and so they use that inspiring delusion to make their vision a reality. I feel that one of the defining characteristics of a social entrepreneur is that the words “no” and “impossible” have no place in their vocabulary, and so they simply turn a ‘no’ into a ‘yes’. With a critical mass of these slightly crazy, unreasonable, stubborn, and visionary social entrepreneurs, I think poverty will eventually become a distant memory.
