Introduction

The international phenomenon of social entrepreneurship has existed in various forms for centuries, but gained global recognition only recently as a result of the increased reach ‘and scale of the social impact generated by social entrepreneurs.’ Since Muhammad Yunus, social entrepreneur and founder of the Grameen Bank for microcredit in Bangladesh, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006, public interest in the phenomenon social entrepreneurship has increased:

In the past decade ‘social entrepreneurship’ has made a popular name for itself on the global scene as a ‘new phenomenon’ that is reshaping the way we think about social value creation. Some of these practices are uniquely new; however many have been around for a long time having finally reached critical mass under a widely endorsed label.

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Politicians (for example, Gordon Brown and Tony Blair in the UK

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), business people (for example, Jeff Skoll, the founder of eBay), academic institutions (for example, the Harvard Business School), international institutions (for example, the World Economic Forum), and specific support institutions (for example, Ashoka — Innovators for the Public, or The Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship) increasingly turn to social entrepreneurs for solutions to the most pressing challenges facing the world, supporting them in various ways.

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