How to Change the World: Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas
- Submitted by: Love Knowledge
- Category: Justice
How to Change the World: Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas, Updated Edition
How to Change the World provides vivid profiles of social entrepreneurs. The book is an In Search of Excellence for social initiatives, intertwining personal stories, anecdotes, and analysis. Readers will discover how one person can make an astonishing difference in the world.
The case studies in the book include Jody Williams, who won the Nobel Peace Prize for the international campaign against landmines she ran by e-mail from her Vermont home; Roberto Baggio, a 31-year old Brazilian who has established eighty computer schools in the slums of Brazil; and Diana Propper, who has used investment banking techniques to make American corporations responsive to environmental dangers.
The paperback edition will offer a new foreword by the author that shows how the concept of social entrepreneurship has expanded and unfolded over the last few years, including the Gates-Buffetts charitable partnership, the rise of Google, and the increased mainstream coverage of the subject. The book will also update the stories of individual social entrepreneurs that appeared in the cloth edition.
Book Description
Published in over twenty countries, How to Change the World has become the Bible for social entrepreneurship. It profiles men and women from around the world who have found innovative solutions to a wide variety of social and economic problems. Whether they work to deliver solar energy to Brazilian villagers, or improve access to college in the United States, social entrepreneurs offer pioneering solutions that change lives.
Discover surprising facts about social entrepreneurs from author David Bornstein
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List Price: $ 12.12
Price: $ 6.85
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Customer Reviews 31 of 32 people found the following review helpful People Who Have Tried to Change the World, January 15, 2011 By dn4whtvr – See all my reviews Bornstein’s “How to Change the World” is a love letter to Ashoka, an impressive and arguably very successful organization that identifies and supports social entrepreneurs throughout the world. Throughout the book, Bornstein provides a primer on Ashoka, its founder and methodology, as well as a number of success stories. He begins with a well-researched and interesting explanation about how the social entrepreneurship movement – or the citizen sector, as he calls it – found its sweet spot for expansion in the late 20th century. His narrative style is not nearly as compelling as first-person stories, such as “The Blue Sweater” (Novogratz, 2009), or even “Half the Sky” (Kristof & WuDunn, 2009). If each featured social entrepreneur had written a first-person account, this may have provided a more compelling read. One obviously missing component of Bornstein’s vignettes is an acknowledgement of failure. On their respective roads to success, what significant missteps did these entrepreneurs take? What did they learn from those mistakes and failures?
This book may be a wonderful resource for people who are not yet familiar with social entrepreneurship or the amazing work that has been done by citizen sector individuals and organizations worldwide in the last 30 years. I appreciate the time Bornstein spent describing historical figures, demonstrating that social entrepreneurship is nothing new; it is simply finally getting the attention it deserves. However, the book falls short of its title. It is not a how-to. Although the resource list is well-balanced, and there are some nuggets of discussion of what it takes to be successful in social entrepreneurship, Bornstein falls short of providing insight for individuals who are wondering whether they have what it takes to be a social entrepreneur. Other than being passionate and obsessive, what else does it take? Do the vignettes provide actionable lessons learned for readers who are considering becoming social entrepreneurs, or who are already in the citizen sector but want to find more success? This reader was left wanting.  Who Will Be The Future Changemakers?, January 23, 2011 By Dance Aoki – See all my reviews Every person Bornstein discussed has the inspired capacity for solving intricate social problems resourcefully and efficiently, and they are able to maneuver around seemingly insurmountable obstacles to accomplish their goals.
James Grant of Unicef is particularly striking. His story illustrates how the provision of social services on a grand scale will be met with resistance, even if it is an easy one to distribute, is relatively inexpensive and could save thousands of lives. Grant never faltered, and activated his limited resources. As a result, he changed the world. Yet, there is a long road ahead on the mission towards immunizing all children against preventable diseases. Governments, investors, and all concerned citizens want to know the value of enterprises such as Unicef. Bornstein emphasizes in his conclusion that metrics for analyzing social value need to be developed in the civic sector in order to accurately evaluate the organization’s ability to create social value. In the public health world, value is created in the number of sick individuals. The statistics that followed Grant’s initiatives indicated lowered child mortality and improved qualities of life across the globe, which speak to the value of his work. Each entrepreneur exemplifies the nature of their work in different ways. Bornstein succeeds in drawing connections between each Ashoka fellow and teases out a skeleton of what an effective social entrepreneur might look like. A new generation could be in the grooming process of inheriting the legacy that these fellows have built from scratch. 25 of 27 people found the following review helpful Bornstein and How to Change the World, January 23, 2011 By Cordlaine – See all my reviews Verified Purchase(What’s this?)
Bornstein’s book might not be what people are looking for when they initially pick it up, however, overall it has a diverse plot. The sections are all very different and cover a variety of different people and places. One of my favorite chapters was chapter 10, Are They Possessed, Really Possessed, by an Idea? I liked where the writers bring up a strong point about the term, ‘social entrepreneurs.’ The term social entrepreneur is new to many people around the world, I remember saying it to my roommates and they looked at me like I was mildly crazy. However, the term is relevant to a lifestyle and purpose of life for many people who live it. The lifestyle explained by Bornstein in this chapter explains the character of the entrepreneur doesn’t announce themselves, they work hard to gather important and relevant information for the good of the project, not for the good of themselves. They want this earth to be a better place for the earth, not for themselves. This was a great point and helped me to view the book as extremely helpful. It shares a variety of different stories, and helps to put cultural differences into perspective. I am enjoying this book very much!
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