Overview of Course

This class will consider how entrepreneurs, specifically ‘social entrepreneurs’, use for-profit, non-profit and hybrid organizational models to address one or more of the social and/or environmental challenges highlighted in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). The roster of 17 SDG goals focus on ending poverty, protecting the planet and improving the lives and prospects of everyone, everywhere. A core premise of this course is that ‘social entrepreneurs’ operate as powerful social and economic agents who stimulate societal, environmental and economic change. We will consider how these ‘social entrepreneurs’ develop and implement new ventures to address social and sustainability challenges, ranging from the reduction of poverty to improving waste management, providing educational platforms, and responding to the societal, environmental, and economic impact of climate change. Students will have an opportunity to work together in teams to assess and develop a sustainable venture that focuses on a social and/or environmental challenge specific to the regions we will visit. This course will use a broad range of learning tools, including lectures, case studies, fieldwork visits, and team presentations to better understand how social entrepreneurs meet the challenges of developing, implementing, and scaling social enterprises.