A lecture series funded by "The Charles K. Colver Lectureship and Publication Fund" and "The Marshall Woods Lectureships Foundation of Fine Arts."
Social Entrepreneurs
Innovating Private-Sector Provision of Public Goods
The goal of the lecture series is to bring to the Brown University campus social entrepreneurs, that is leading individuals who are pioneering innovative solutions to providing the basic needs which the private, public, and civil society sectors individually have failed to provide. The provision of public goods--like environmental protection, education, health care, and other basic social services--has always been a challenge. Basic economic theory suggests that it is in the nature of public goods to be under-provided by the market. Thus their provision becomes the responsibility of governments. However, public agencies have shown variable commitment and capacity to providing basic needs. Into this vacuum have stepped social entrepreneurs and innovators. Pioneering hybrid organizational forms such as for-profit philanthropy, social entrepreneurs are leading the charge in doing well by doing good.
Fall Speakers:
Michael Fairbanks, co-founder of S.E.VEN, for Social Equity Ventures; a Cambridge, MA-based not-for-profit alliance with the Templeton Foundation
Doug Guthrie, Professor of Sociology and a Joint Appointment with the Department of Management and Organization (Stern School of Business), New York University
Spring Speakers:
Amy Davidsen, Director of Environmental Affairs, JPMorganChase
Sandy Herz, Senior Advancement Officer, The Skoll Foundation
Past Events
Thursday, October 11, 2007 Corporate Social Responsibility and Global Poverty: Contrarian Approaches to both Business and Development
Thursday, November 1, 2007 Doug Guthrie -- Social Entrepreneurship and Corporate Partnerships in the Development of Low-Income Housing in the United States
Tuesday, March 4, 2008 Amy Davidsen '84 -- Financial Services and the Environment: Investing in our Common Future