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Week 2 blog: Social Entrepreneurship- the leading power of a transformative journey   by jimmy zhang

6/22/2014

1 Comment

 
Before this summer in Detroit, I did not know what is social entrepreneurship and I have never expected the idea of social entrepreneurship would have a transformative impact on me. During last two weeks’ experiences in Detroit, I started to believe social entrepreneurship is the key to change people’s mindset and to transform the world we live into a better place.

        Social entrepreneurship means inclusion. For years, I have struggled in a dilemma. There are so many injustices and unfairnesses in the world we live and I see them everyday. I really want to do something to help, but I do not know how. In my deep heart, there exists a voice to tell me to do my duty, but I do not know how to answer that call. This conflict makes me angry and frustrating. I believe many people share the same dilemma with me. It haunted me until I met Phillip Simpson, a passionate social entrepreneur from Techtown. In the first day of my internship at Techtown, Phillip drove me to Osborn, the neighborhood that Techtown currently works with. From the conversation, I knew that he comes from Osborn and he loves arts. At Osborn, he proudly showed me his program, which aims to beautify the neighborhood by painting on the walls of abandoned houses. When we drove through the neighborhood, those creative paintings made me forget I am in a community with a high vacancy rate of 21.5%. Phillip transformed a place that is supposed to be hopeless into a place full of energy and hope. He told me his greatest gifts are the ability to create and the ability to make people smile, and these are the two driven force of his work. Phillip does not have impressive resume and legendary stories. All he has are the willing to change and passion to make it happen, and I believe these two elements are all we need to make a difference. From Phillip’s story, I understand everyone can be a change maker as long as you have a sense of duty and a passionate heart, which is also what social entrepreneurship means to me.

      Social entrepreneurship means change. The first priority for social entrepreneurship is the positive impact on the society, which is different from traditional business entrepreneurship. Social entrepreneurs want to change world by fixing the system not just fixing specific phenomenon.  Like On the Rise Bakery, they are not just teaching bakery to children, but instead, they are teaching children a new way to live. They question the system, and these questions can help the world to evolve. 

       Social entrepreneurship is a transformative idea. It is transformative to individual, because it includes people with passionate and responsive mindset to social change. It is transformative to the world because it offers the world a path to evolve.

     

        

1 Comment
Katherine
6/24/2014 08:18:23 am

Jimmy, I am so glad that you go to have that experience to see Phillip's work in Osborn. This is just further proof that you don't have to have an extraordinary resume to do extraordinary things; you just have to have the passion, the spark, and the will to put things into action and inspire others.

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