Making Waves

Making Waves

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A Caribbean Social Innovation Guide

Social Innovation vs Social Entrepreneurship While social innovation is about creating new or better ways to solve social or environmental challenges, social entrepreneurship is one way that social innovation comes to life. Social innovation focuses on the solution, whether that’s a product, service, programme, partnership, policy or community initiative that creates positive change, while social entrepreneurship is about an organisation or individual using entrepreneurial approaches to deliver that solution. Many social enterprises are social innovators, but social innovation can also happen within governments, non-profit organisations, schools, universities, community groups and businesses. In other words, social innovation is the idea or approach; social entrepreneurship is one of the ways that idea can be put into practice. From Entrepreneurship to Social Enterprise Many entrepreneurs choose to create social enterprises as a way to turn their ideas into lasting impact. But what exactly is a social enterprise? A business or organisation with a heart can be a social enterprise. It can be a real business that makes money by selling products or services, but it does not exist just to make the owners rich. It can be a charity that earns or raises money. Social enterprises are committed to using their money and influence to do good things like looking after people or protecting the planet (like a business that recycles plastic while creating good jobs for single mothers or youth).

Social Enterprise for the Caribbean Context

A social enterprise refers to a hybrid business model that intentionally connects commercial trading or revenue generation with a core, non-negotiable social or environmental mission. Operating on a “Triple Bottom Line” philosophy, a social enterprise treats the well being of the People, the health of the Planet, and financial Prosperity with equal strategic weight, reinvesting its profits directly back into the community or the environment to sustain its operations independently.

01 . Understanding Social Innovation in the Caribbean

All O’ We! It takes all of us. We can all help to solve the problems that affect us. Anyone can become a social innovator!