Social enterprise is experiencing a meteoric rise in interest and relevance in the Philippines and the rest of the world. It is an entirely new way of working, a way of creating a new sort of wealth and most of all, a way of changing people and the world. It is not an easy route and the conflicts between social goals and business, values and democratic working call for innovative approaches to planning, governing, selling and managing.
Through the auspices of the British Council, SEDPI and I-Genius delivered a workshop entitled “How to Start a Social Enterprise” on September 28 to October 1, 2010 at the Discovery Suites in Pasig City. The workshop aims to equip budding social entrepreneurs with information on getting started on their social enterprise venture by providing tips on business strategies and planning, marketing and communications including using new media in establishing networks plus raising finance.
One of the participants wrote, “The training has been an eye-opener for me. It has helped classify several aspects of the responsibilities of a social entrepreneur. This also motivated me to put into action long time plans to put up an enterprise/group that can be socially relevant very informative, interactive, practical. I learned a lot.”
Tommy Hutchinson, founder and CEO of I-Genius, was the lead facilitator of the workshop. Vincent Rapisura and Edwin Salonga who are President and Chairperson of the Social Enterprise Development Partnerships, Inc. provided the local perspective in social entrepreneurship.
Tommy established I-Genius, a world community of social entrepreneurs with members in over 90 countries. Its aim is to provide support to social entrepreneurs, encourage them to connect with one another and inspire more people to become social innovators. SEDPI, on the other hand, provides innovative and excellence-driven capacity building services to microfinance stakeholders and social enterprises in the Philippines and around the world.