Tag: Acumen

My recent article: “Vancouver+Acumen celebrates social entrepreneurship at DIGNITY 2013”

Sam Goldman speaking pic copy

Sam Goldman, founding CEO of d.light and Ashoka Fellow, speaks about his social enterprise’s work in India and Sub-Saharan Africa at DIGNITY 2013 last night.

Here’s a link to my piece in The Vancouver Observer. As I said in my previous blog post, last night I covered DIGNITY 2013 for the Observer. DIGNITY was hosted by Vancouver+Acumen with the aim of raising money for the impact investing initiatives carried out by Acumen. If you don’t already know about Acumen’s work investing in social enterprises, you should start learning, because impact investing and social enterprises are the future of capitalism. And this future is coming soon to a theatre near you.

Here are some excerpts:

[T]he question “What do you do?” doesn’t make sense to a social entrepreneur. This is because it’s not what they do.  It’s who they are.  They are doers.

…to [social entrepreneurs], this question is personal. It’s probing into their very nature and fundamental identity. To them, I’m not simply asking, “What do you do?” I’m essentially asking, “Who are you?”

And another one:

There were countless stories of action, doing, and inspiration last night at DIGNITY 2013. But the main message was this: the title of social entrepreneur is not exclusive to an elite few. You do not need a certificate or an advanced degree or a million dollar trust fund. You do need to be different. You need to possess the dogged perseverence to find your passion or cause, the audacity to do it, and the ability to tell your story.

To slightly alter a quote from renowned storyteller George Bernard Shaw: “Some men see things as they are and ask why. Social entrepreneurs dream things that never were, and ask why not.” The key is to know when to stop dreaming and start doing. As DIGNITY 2013 showed me, there’s no better time than today.

If you like the article I encourage you to share it via Facebook, Twitter, your blogs, etc…

I hope to interview some Vancouver-based social entrepreneurs that are making a difference in this city, in Canada, and abroad in the upcoming weeks. Stay tuned!