Zahra Qureshi

design thinking is a form of strategic brainstorming that hat prioritizes empathy, creativity, and collaboration (IDEO, n.d.).

Design Thinking for Social Enterprises: Innovation That Matters

Uncategorized /

What is Design Thinking? In an increasingly complex world facing social and environmental challenges, the need for innovative solutions has never been greater. One powerful tool that social entrepreneurs can tap into to create meaningful impact is “Design Thinking” (Brown, 2008). In this blog post, we will explore the concept of strategic Design Thinking and […]

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"A social enterprise is an organization or program that is mission driven, aiming to sell goods or services to earn revenue while also helping to achieve positive social, cultural, or environmental objectives." “it's a balance of profit and purpose and depending on what's the problem you're trying to solve what industry you're operating in that balance can actually look very different you might have to operate with more characteristics of a non-profit you could legally be registered as a non-profit or you could be doing it more as a business but you have to you have to find that” "Aside from earning profits, you're aiming towards connecting back to serving a particular community or environment." "Social enterprises can have various legal structures, reinvestment models, and levels of involvement from employees versus volunteers." "Social enterprises fit in between traditional charities/non-profits and for-profit corporations, balancing profit and purpose." "The importance of social enterprises lies in addressing increasing worldwide challenges and diminishing funds and resources, resulting in an emerging social deficit." "Issues such as poverty, food insecurity, and lack of essential health services highlight the need for social enterprises to target social, economic, cultural, and environmental problems." "We don't have enough funding, enough resources coming our way to be able to address these issues." "Many non-profits and charities are constantly struggling for financial stability." "Financial sustainability continues to be an issue when you don't have a sustainable model and long-term relationships for acquiring resources." "A local producer of textiles is a for-profit organization focused on manufacturing ethically made products and donating a portion of profits to charities." "Social enterprises can be structured as for-profits or non-profits and operate based on various business models such as employment-based, mission-based, profit-based, or cooperative." "We're always looking to balance social impact and revenue and profits, which can be quite challenging." "There's no right answer to how closely purpose and profit must be related; it depends on the social enterprise's goals and the issues they aim to solve." "When designing a social enterprise, it's important to differentiate between social impact and business frameworks and consider core values." "Core values for a social enterprise may include transparency, community engagement, and a focus on bringing about systems change." "Social enterprises can have various degrees of overlap between purpose and profit, depending on their model and the social issues they address." "Key steps in designing a social enterprise include conducting research, engaging with the community, developing sustainable models, and seeking opportunities for growth." "Innovation in social enterprises can involve various aspects such as profit models, product and service design, environmental impact, accessibility, brand building, and customer engagement." "Diversifying business models can help implement solutions for similar problems in different communities, not just expanding geographically." "Scaling up involves influencing decisions like federal budgets, launching social finance programs, and promoting investment in women-owned businesses." "Impact measurement is crucial for balancing purpose and profit, demonstrating a commitment to stakeholders, aiding decision-making, and preventing greenwashing and social washing." "There are various models for impact measurement, including the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, local community reports, and custom frameworks like the Common Approach to Impact Measurement." "Impact measurement involves planning intended changes, setting performance measures, collecting beneficiary feedback, assessing impact, and reporting results to stakeholders."

Watch: The Fundamentals of Social Enterprise

Circuit Updates, Strategy & Innovation /

This virtual workshop hosted by Social Venture Circuit explores the definition of social enterprise and how their operating models can beset up to empower communities, protect the environment and redesign societal norms for future generations.  Check out the recording below to learn more about: The evolving definition of what is a social enterprise Why we

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Why are numbers important and how to use them in business

Finance & Fundraising /

Tackling the finance workflow of your business can give you a lot of power to improve, grow and communicate its value proposition sustainably. Investing time into this support function can be a valuable intervention in the circular process of planning and running any operation, whether it is a social enterprise, for-profit or non-profit. Between running

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