White paper: Rick Aubry
All the 2007 Principal Voices are submitting a White Paper to the Web site explaining their views at length.
Rick Aubry, president of Rubicon Programs, says social entrepreneurs are creating a recipe that solves social problems and creates financial benefits.
Can hope be restored to poor urban communities in the United States?
Can a country driven by the "power of the market" reward a new kind of
creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship whose goal is the creation of
solutions to social problems rather than the creation of financial wealth?
Our work at Rubicon Programs over the last 21 years has shown that the
answer to both questions is yes.
Along the way, Rubicon has been identified amongst the leading U.S. organizations solving inequity through "social
entrepreneurship". What Rubicon shares with other social entrepreneurs is
the belief that to solve daunting social problems, entrepreneurial skills are
needed to revolutionize the "social marketplace". Innovation, risk-taking,
changing the way in which resources are used to solve problems and
creating fundamentally new systems are at the heart of all great social
entrepreneurial successes. Providing more social services in traditional ways
simply maintains the status quo but does not create "market changing"
innovations that can solve problems. Just as great entrepreneurs in the
business world reinvent how commerce works, social entrepreneurs create
new systems to change how social problems are solved.
People walk through Rubicon's doors for several reasons. They need a job.
They need a place to live. They are ready to do their part to end a life of
poverty, overcome an addiction or recover from a mental illness. They
directly face some of society's toughest problems. Since 1973, over 40,000
people have met this challenge. At the same time, Rubicon has become
more resourceful, funding over half its $16 million budget from the
revenues generated by its social enterprises.
We assessed systems that spend billions of dollars but have too few successes.
We felt existing schemes were too fragmented, too compartmentalized
and too hard to navigate for the people they are set up to serve. In addition,
they lacked the integration of the strengths the business world has to offer.
We knew we had to radically change the way a program was put together,
and focus on sustained outcomes for our consumers. We knew that when
someone walked through our door they needed whatever it took to move out of poverty. We created a model that put all necessary resources in place
to achieve the long-term goal.
People who had never been able to work needed jobs and Rubicon created
social enterprises. These included Rubicon Bakery, an award-winning
dessert bakery with distribution throughout the U.S. and Rubicon
Landscape, a thriving business serving Northern California. People needed
housing and we built it. People needed services to succeed in the community
and we invented them. We have provided a comprehensive range of services
that have helped change more than 40,000 lives for the better.
But there is so much more to be done. Social entrepreneurs are still just
scratching the surface in solving social problems. Social enterprise 2.0 must
impact to a magnitude 100 times that of achievements to date.
We must create national businesses where mainstream consumers' buying
decisions include a desire to create social good. We must push social
entrepreneurial ideas to a level where they replace the systems they were
designed to change.
When our social enterprises and social innovations are no longer boutiques
but have become the mainstream then we will have truly arrived.
Fortunately, the field of social entrepreneurship has many great leaders
moving us towards this day.
What do you think?
Social enterprise is a state of consciousness that is merely sprouting out its seed today. However, it passes on the torch to the new generation, giving them the responsibility of making sure this plant grows into a tree. Soon, there will be no other medium through which to do business.
This is a very brilliant idea that would be most useful in my country, Nigeria. With a population of over 70 percent living in poverty, if social enterprise can plan and be implemented in Nigeria successfully it would go a long way in redeeming the hopes of the hopeless.
It would be fantastic if all those leaving in poverty could find a job, and sustain themselves in the long-term rather than through short-term solutions. My question is how can such initiatives be spread across the country so that more people could benefit from them?
Social entrepreneurship is one of the most exciting concepts being talked about today. It is especially interesting for people who hail from third world countries. There is great scope for setting up such ventures here, to help combat the immense poverty, and to help these people play their part in economic growth. It would be great if Western and Eastern social entrepreneurs could collaborate on projects and share their knowledge and experience to meet social challenges.
I think that everyday organizations are pondering new methods to achieve a competitive edge and exploring a vastly poor population is a dimension that the big corporations will utilise to their as well as country's advantage.
I am intrigued by the effectiveness of social enterprises in eradicating poverty and creating employment. This method of doing business certainly questions the current economic and social policies laid out by governments the world over. I believe there will be a business revolution in the near future that necessitates the practice of social entrepreneurship in business and marketing plans.
