Creating Change through Social Entrepreneurship
Published: December 2023
Description
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to create real change? You don't have to start your own organization to make a difference in the world. Everyone can learn the social entrepreneurship mindset and skillset to build social impact. In this course, you will immerse yourself in a social or environmental challenge you want to tackle. You'll start by researching your topic of choice, talking to people, and ideating a potential solution that you can contribute. Then, you'll build a business model around that solution, understanding concepts like measuring social change, ensuring financial viability, funding and pitching. This course is a safe space to experiment and explore. You'll be guided by a ten stage framework to help structure your journey. Along the way, you'll hear from social entrepreneurs around the world through case studies and campus conversations. These include Yale alumni, members of the New Haven community, and global changemakers. Everyone is welcome to join this course! You can apply your lived, learned, or professional experience to discover how you're going to make a difference.
Course Takeaways
- Practice the mindset and skillset of social entrepreneurship by applying it to a topic of your choice
- Research your topic and talk to people affected by and working on it
- Design an offering that you can contribute, and test it with key stakeholders
- Learn how to measure social outcomes, ensure financial viability, finance and structure your endeavor
- Communicate your ideas and partner with others to create systemic change
Meet the Instructors
Teresa Chahine is the inaugural Sheila and Ron ’92 B.A. Marcelo Lecturer in Social Entrepreneurship. She is the author of Social Entrepreneurship: Building Impact Step by Step. Dr. Chahine’s research focuses on developing tools to characterize and advance social and environmental determinants of health. She launched the first social entrepreneurship program in the context of public health, at Harvard University. She was also responsible for launching the first venture philanthropy organization in her home country of Lebanon, providing tailored financing and critical management support to social enterprises serving marginalized populations through education and job creation for youth and women.
Dr. Chahine has published widely on financing, measuring, and scaling social impact. She has worked on social innovation and sustainable development within corporate, governmental, academic and non-profit organizations. Among these are the United States Environmental Protection Agency, United Nations Populations Fund, Lebanese Ministry of Social Affairs, Malaysian Directors Academy, Sichuan University, Kazakhstan School of Public Health, and Amani Institute in Brazil. She was the recipient of the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative's inaugural Elizabeth T. Weintz humanitarian research award in 2016 and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health's emerging leader in public health award in 2017.
some.yale.edu