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All of us dreamed to be entrepreneurs at some point in our lives. I mean, if you ever owned a lemonade stand, you learned firsthand what it took to start your own business and how it felt: the excitement of making your very own product (or having your parents buy it from the store if you were lazy like me), the exhilaration of selling it to thirsty customers, and the joy of counting your quarters and the profit you made. We proved that we had the capabilities to make something for ourselves, that we had our own inherent ability to innovate and create our own success.

We then grew up having our creativity and innovation rewarded, but not for its ability to help others. From the science fair projects to the pieces we made in art class, we fostered our imaginations and were consistently rewarded for doing so. We were rewarded for what we could do for ourselves, but not for others.

    But when I came to Duke, I wanted to experience otherwise. I had heard about “social entrepreneurship”, but it was simply a term that was constantly thrown around. I knew it had something to do with businessmen and solving the world’s problems, but what exactly was social entrepreneurship? In an effort to find the answer for myself, I found myself joining this very DukeEngage Detroit Program. I had read about the multiple businesses that were harnessing their innovation and creativity to bring this city from the ashes. But reading about it was not the same as truly understanding it.

    However, working for MoGo Detroit, a non profit bikeshare company, has shown me firsthand what it means to be a social entrepreneur. The company is comprised of four team members, all of whom exude a passion for what they do. They’re innovators and creators, constantly using their imagination to determine new ways to improve accessibility to cycling for a variety of demographics. The new Adaptive MoGo program, a program that provides thirteen adaptive bicycles for those who can’t ride a traditional two wheel bike, is an innovation that allows the disabled and elderly to enjoy the thrill of cycling. Like the lemonade stand, I witnessed what it took to develop this program: the marketing, the outreach to organizations, the production of these bicycles, the constant meetings. But unlike what I had known, innovation was not meant for our success. Rather, it was for the sole purpose of providing a service to those who need it most, the awareness and passion to provide for others.

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​I used to think social entrepreneurship was a buzz word. It sounded cool, but I never thought it actually meant anything. Moreover, before I came to Detroit, I never actually cared about what it meant. I failed to understand or even realize the importance of this concept. My experiences in Detroit, however, have quickly shown me otherwise. I’ve already come across various people who claim that what they do as their profession is in the spirit of social entrepreneurship. This forced me to actually question, what is it? I’ve realized it’s simple. It’s entrepreneurship that strives to tackle some of society’s toughest problems. It’s the pursuit of taking on financial risk not to obtain large sums of money or fame, but rather to establish success among society. This definition makes it somewhat obvious as to why social entrepreneurship is so important in the world we live in. Without talented individuals willing to implement risky yet innovative ideas that have the potential to solve threatening societal issues, who would?
 
One company I learned about over the past couple weeks is The Empowerment Plan. This company makes sleeping bags that turn into coats. This company is creating capital for the economy while providing jobs for people in poverty. This company helps their employees come out of poverty and helps them move into affordable housing. This is one of the many social enterprises that I have learned about and is a prime example of this top.
 
Especially in Detroit, a city that has been struggling with difficult economic problems over the years, I see how crucial social entrepreneurship is to rebuilding the city. Especially the startup I work for, Build Institute, sheds light on how difficult ventures like these breathe life into seemingly lost cities like Detroit. Build Institute is a social impact support organization. It’s an incubator that support entrepreneurs throughout different stages: from bringing customers’ ideas to fruition to building their businesses into bigger and more sustainable ventures. Build Institute has had over 1000 graduates over the past 5 years and continues to expand the programs it has to offer. Working for Build has given me a first-hand experience with understanding what the true intentions of a company like this are. I see how these people solve challenges daily with the ultimate goal of helping people achieve their entrepreneurial dreams. This insight has truly helped me understand the fulfilling yet crucial aspect of social entrepreneurship.
 

​Today, more than ever, the world needs people who  are willing to challenge themselves and the society that they live in to keep up with the changing problems that people have to face. People who commit to this are involving themselves in what the term “social entrepreneurship” is. Social Entrepreneurship entails the use of companies, and other entrepreneurs to tackle a current problem in today’s society. The term is very general and can include many different methods the people use. I believe that many people are taking the initiative within the past 10 years, and have made social entrepreneurship the forefront for tackling many of the problems that poverty and corruption has put people in.
            The reason why social entrepreneurship is so important is because it makes a huge impact on the community and in-turn makes other people have the opportunity to spread their skills to help even more people. Although many big companies claim to help local communities through different fundraising efforts, social entrepreneurs get down to the nitty gritty and do the work that is truly challenging. Not only this, social entrepreneurs are very committed and heartwarming, because this industry might not necessarily be a high paying one, but it is one that makes the biggest difference.
            I consider social entrepreneurship to be the foundation to a better society. Look at the city I am staying in right now, for instance. Detroit is still recovering from its economic struggles dating back to the 1950s. Many people gave up on the city and moved to the suburbs or even other states. If no one wanted to help Detroit get back on its feet, then how would it recover? We literally depend on social entrepreneurship to live in a society that has as minimum problems as possible. There will always be social challenges, and this is why social entrepreneurship is so important. Not only does it directly address societal problems, it indirectly helps, by providing jobs and careers.
            TechTown Detroit serves as an economic incubator for these social entrepreneurs who are trying to grow their brick and mortar business. I particularly am fascinated with this type of company because social entrepreneurs sometimes do not get the support that they deserve, and TechTown acts as a medium for success. Before coming to Detroit I did not really know that these incubators existed, but now I realize how important they really are.
            

We live in a myriad of buzzwords and hashtags. Movie stars are more recognizable than politicians and likes on Instagram make up for loss felt in the real world. However, social entrepreneurship is not part of this mundaneness. To me, social entrepreneurship is a beacon parting the darkness that sucks away society’s colors. It is a way to create positive social change in which the contribution to the community circulates throughout and generates more capital and resources to facilitate the same process organically.

Nowadays, news headlines seek to catch people’s immediate attention instead of resonating with the audience on a meaningful level, and those needing help are trapped in their attempt to steal people’s attention away from Snapchat, Facebook, “Laurel or Yanny…” In a world with limited resources and ever-growing social demands, social entrepreneurship is especially important. People need to come up with innovative ways to create change faster and more effective and efficient than tradition entrepreneurship that stresses material profit over social effect. In Detroit, footprints of social entrepreneurship is everywhere, whether it is through helping other innovate or designing products and services that serve multiple needs at once.

At Build Institute, we help make aspiring entrepreneurs’ ideascome true by providing them with access to the necessary knowledge and tools. There are over 1400 people who have gone through one of Build’s curriculums. The office is always filled with incessant energy to run the programs and to reach out to more people who may need our help. Through conversations with colleagues, I learned that Build, as a non-profit, try to keep their classes affordable to those in need and do their best to accommodate everyone. The students, once they have graduated from Build classes, go on to starting their businesses, further addressing the needs of their community, providing more employment opportunities, and supporting other businesses in the entrepreneurship ecosystem. In 2017, “the average annual income of employees of Build graduates’ businesses 22.8% above the state average” and Build graduates have created 973 jobs since 2012. And Build is not the only incubator of this kind in Detroit. There are also ProsperUS, Techtown… and many more that are growing to serve more people yearning to start something new.  
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This is the power of social entrepreneurship, and I have so much respect for the members of Detroit’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. Social entrepreneurship facilitates real change from the bottom up. Once you help someone get on their feet, a ripple effect occurs and benefits reverberate throughout the community 

When I think of social entrepreneurship, I think of innovative small-scale solutions. The world we live in is riddled with formidable issues that are immeasurably complex. Solving them in one fell swoop is unrealistic. For me, social entrepreneurship is identifying and tackling the smaller steps involved in solving the larger issue at hand.
Detroit is the perfect environment for social entrepreneurship to thrive.  The city’s issues are a result of a complicated set of circumstances. Detroit is caught in harsh cycle where high unemployment leads to residents moving away. This leads to less economic activity, job loss, and the cycle repeating itself. The fallout of this cycle is similarly damaging as the job and population loss has decreased the tax base and left the city unable to properly fund its services.  Although the complexity of Detroit’s situation makes the task of revitalizing the city daunting, it is also what makes the city so receptive to social innovation. The multiple factors that contributed to Detroit’s downfall provide many specific problems for social entrepreneurs to tackle.
I feel very fortunate to have the opportunity to work at TechTown. Their main goal is to assist the economic revitalization of the city by supporting small brick- and-mortar businesses and tech startups. However, they also provide crucial funds and resources that enable many social entrepreneurs. The most striking example of this that I have witnessed was the Detroit Teachers’ Store, a small business that presented during Tech Town’s Retail Boot Camp pitch competition.  Detroit Teachers’ Store was founded by Ingrid Macon, a math teacher who has worked in the Detroit public school system for the past seven years. Ingrid began her pitch by describing the state of education in Detroit. She highlighted the fact that Detroit students performed the worst in the country on the National Assessment of Educational Progress exam and drew attention to the severe lack of funding. She then went on to describe how impactful individualized teaching tools and hands-on learning are for her students. However, she had previously struggled to locate the necessary tools and supplies in Detroit. After identifying this need, Ingrid established the Detroit Teachers’ Store to make educational tools more readily available to parents, students, and teachers alike. Ingrid is just one example of the many social entrepreneurs creating innovative solutions to help revitalize the city of Detroit. I am extremely excited to interact with more this summer through TechTown and fully immerse myself in the Detroit’s thriving social entrepreneurship scene.
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Detroit Teachers' Store logo

​It is a beautiful phenomenon when one is able to merge multiple passions. Social entrepreneurship is no exception, as its practitioners are able to cross innovation and business-related skills with solving some of the world’s most complex social, environmental, and cultural challenges. To me, social entrepreneurship goes beyond this crossover of skills and touches the lives of individuals who are plagued by these said challenges in a creative manner. In other words, the final product of a social entrepreneurial venture is not necessarily profit; rather it is a section of society left better off. 
 
Underneath political jargon and conflicts stemming from cultural and social differences, everyone wants the world to be better off. The manifestation of a “better world” may be different for every individual, but an improved planet calls for less issues overall. However, when money and greed come into play, individuals begin to disagree about who “deserves” help and what this aid entails. This is why social entrepreneurship is necessary in the world we live in: profit is not the driving force. Social entrepreneurs are either non-profits or use for-profit methods to generate a positive return to society. When this mind-set is implemented, it is more productive to society than the standard “donation” approach. 
 
Money is also a band-aid to many problems. Sure, it is often this band-aid that helps heal the cut, but it is taking proper care of the injury that ultimately heals. This is why social entrepreneurship is crucial, as it utilizes money, but its primary focus is to solve societal issues in a creative manner that makes a meaningful difference. 
 
Throughout my time in Detroit, I have observed many social entrepreneurships that have played roles in the current revitalization of Detroit. However, it will be of no surprise that the one I have become closest to and has touched me in ways I could not even begin to describe is Small Batch Detroit. Small Batch is a training and employment program rooted in food within Detroit Food Academy that offers a first job for high schoolers. Small Batch owns three food companies—mitten bites, slow jams, and Detroit pop shop—whose products are made and sold by these Detroit high-schoolers. The profit earned from this venture supports Detroit Food Academy, which is the larger non-profit that works with local educators, chefs, and business owners to inspire young Detroiters through entrepreneurial experiences rooted in the culinary arts. 
 
I have experienced first-hand what such a program does for individuals. One story in particular has allowed me to see the power of social entrepreneurship. One of the DFA fellows, Jarrell, explained that he was an aggressive, troubled kid until he stepped foot into a Detroit Food Academy after-school program. By keeping him busy after-school and exposing him to a field that he would soon find future employment in, he became fulfilled, calm, and motivated to learn more and do more. This is the power of social entrepreneurship, providing more than a band-aid for pressing issues on a macro level while simultaneously helping individuals reach their potential on a micro level, as well. 

The concept of social entrepreneurship was vague and confusing to me before coming to Detroit. I had a generalized understanding of what it meant—entrepreneurs were what people on the TV show, Shark Tank, were and social related to community, so social entrepreneurship must be the creation of new ideas and products that benefit the community.  

After spending two weeks in Detroit, I saw several social enterprises in action, allowing me to better comprehend the ways in which private corporations can benefit society. Now, I see social entrepreneurship as placing a greater emphasis on equity as opposed to profit. This is essential in the world that we live in today because so much of our history has been tied to inequality and oppression. The idea of equity is not limited to just private corporations and entrepreneurs. For instance, I learned about a prominent black community in southwest Detroit that was displaced as a result of the construction of a highway. This narrative is all too common in The United States—A similar tragedy occurred in the Hayti neighborhood in Durham. Detroit is now looking to relevel that part of the highway in order to make it more pedestrian and bike-friendly; it is also reconnecting a neighborhood that was once torn apart. While the new boulevard will not restore the community to its historic tradition, it is a step in the direction towards equity.

Releveling a highway requires the cooperation of communities and civic governments, but not necessarily entrepreneurs and start-up companies. Yet, I see a similar emphasis on equity in MoGo, a start-up company with a focus on access for people of all demographics. All too often, bike shares are seen as a mode of transportation used by middle to upper-class millennials, similar to the light-rail lines that have been popping up in cities across the country. Bicycles are an efficient mode of transport that combine speed, exercise, and enjoyment; they are an asset that should be readily available to all. MoGo seeks to consider who “all” includes. This past week, I had the opportunity to help homeless Detroiters sign up for a $5 annual MoGo pass, empowering and equipping them with a new form of mobility. My previous experience with bikeshare included meetings with other companies whose main objective was to maximize profit. MoGo’s access pass does not maximize their profit; I’m sure they lose money off of it because the passes are significantly discounted. Yet the program has a tremendous benefit on the community by assisting a population that is often overlooked.  

The spirit of social entrepreneurship is seen throughout the city of Detroit in various forms of start-ups, public/private partnerships, and social enterprises. I’ve observed micro-loan granting competitions, co-workings spaces in an old warehouse, and jewelry made from old graffiti. Each initiative makes an impact on a specific societal dilemma, improving the lives of many Detroiters and the city they call home. 
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My first exposure to social entrepreneurship came at the hands of my grandfather, early in high-school. He had recently retired and migrated into the world of microfinance. As I researched the topic, I stumbled upon the work of Muhammad Yunus, the father of microlending and the founder of the Grameen bank. That was my first experience pondering the notion of innovation and profit-generation for social good, and now, five years later, I am immersed within a culture of social entrepreneurship in Detroit. My fundamental ideas about the definition of social entrepreneurship haven’t changed too much; I still see the term describing the desire so many of today’s young minds to use their creativity, resilience and innovation to tackle society’s most pressing issues. My experiences in Detroit have taught me that social entrepreneurship fills in gaps left by more traditional business models. My conversations with Detroit Food Academy staff and other social entrepreneurs in the area have shown me that traditional businesses need to cater to state and federal government concerns and have almost no incentive to drive change on the community level. When I reflect on social entrepreneurship in Detroit, I find myself thinking back to concepts I learned in my second-level economics class. I learned that there was a difference between typical demand curves and those that factored in “societal benefit”, and that the government attempts to utilize subsidies and taxes to bridge this gap. At the time, I simply memorized the information and formulas because I was afraid of failing my final, but my time working in Detroit has brought this information to life. Social entrepreneurships factor societal benefit into their business models. The idea that their innovation changes lives and makes the world a better place is the motivation that pushes social entrepreneurs to continue innovating and thinking outside of the box. In other words, government intervention is unnecessary because the incentive to do good in the world is one based in morality and not in financial gain. My colleagues at Small Batch Detroit attempt to sell their three products (Mitten Bites, Slow Jams and popsicles) and profit maximize by reducing costs and increasing revenue like any other business. The difference is that they do this to fund Detroit Food Academy, a non-profit that seeks to uplift high-schoolers through food-based entrepreneurial experiences. Small Batch and DFA have created an innovative solution and business model to address a problem in Detroit; joblessness and the various obstacles the youth of the city face. In an environment where the current system requires government intervention to galvanize actions toward social change, there is no doubt in my mind that social entrepreneurship has changed Detroit and the world for better.