About this course: This course offers an introduction to social impact strategy and social entrepreneurship, including key concepts, an overview of the field, and tools to get started as a changemaker. Students will learn how to innovate and design new ideas and new organizational forms to implement those ideas. Students who take this course will be better prepared to launch social impact organizations of their own invention. By moving through four stages, Define, Design, Pilot, and Scale, students will turn their passion for changing the world into concrete plans for launching a nonprofit or for-profit venture designed to achieve a social goal. This course will allow students to systematically think through problems; develop and test an innovative solution; assess risk, competition, and performance; and spread impact in a way that is financially sustainable. Students who complete the course become eligible to apply for an in-person educational experience, called the Global Social Impact House. GSIH is a seven-day residential program that provides fellows with the tools, community and training they need to advance their ventures. Workshops are customized to the needs of fellows and explore advanced concepts in business models, design thinking and leadership. The program is also designed to help fellows build meaningful, global connections while living together in an inspirational host location. For more information on the Global Social Impact House, please visit: socialimpactstrategy.org/residential/gsih
Who is this class for: This course is intended as an introduction for individuals who want to learn how to mobilize resources to solve complex social problems in ways that are sustainable, scalable, and valuable. Social impact can happen in any sector, in any corner of the world, so this course is designed to be relevant for learners in any sector or country. Some students may hope to develop a new venture, while others may be “intrapreneurs” who work to create systematic change within an existing for-profit, non-profit, or government organization.
Taught by: Peter Frumkin, Professor
Nonprofit Leadership Program, School of Social Policy & Practice
| Level | Beginner |
| Commitment | 4 weeks of study, 2-4 hours/week |
| Language | English |
| How To Pass | Pass all graded assignments to complete the course. |
| User Ratings |
- Video: 1.1 Introduction to Social Innovation
- Video: 1.2 Traditional approaches to public problem solving
- Video: 1.3 A social entrepreneur's approach to problem solving
- Video: 1.4 Introduction to the social enterprise and the social enterprise spectrum
- Video: 1.5 The Importance of the business model
- Video: 1.6 Traits of social enterprise across the spectrum
- Video: 1.7. Meet Carlos and Coco
- Video: 1.8. Anatomy of a Social Entrepreneur
- Discussion Prompt: Introductions
- Discussion Prompt: Admirable social innovators and entrepreneurs
- Reading: Recommended Readings for Week 1. Introduction
- Video: 2.2 Why is Design Thinking Important for Social Innovation?
- Video: 2.3 How to Design Part 1: Spark Useful Insights by Listening with Empathy
- Video: 2.4 How to Design Part 2: Identify the Most Powerful Insights and Potential Solutions by Building a Mind Map
- Video: 2.5 How to Design Part 3: Prototyping
- Video: 2.6 Embracing Creativity and Innovation
- Video: 2.7 Articulating your Roadmap to Impact: The Logic Model
- Video: 2.8 The Logic Model: Critical Elements
- Video: 2.9 The Logic Model: How to Use It
- Video: 2.10 Three Examples of Logic Models
- Video: 2.11 Tips for Building a Strong Logic Model
- Video: 2.12. Carlos and Coco Define and Design (Part 1: Listening with Empathy, Empathy Maps, and Mind Maps)
- Video: 2.13. Carlos and Coco Define and Design (Part 2. Prototyping and Logic Models)
- Discussion Prompt: Mind Mapping for Powerful Insights and Potential Solutions
- Discussion Prompt: Logic Models for Building a Roadmap to Impact
- Reading: Recommended Readings for Week 2: Define and Design
- Video: 3.2 A Third Approach to Measuring Performance: The Balanced Scorecard
- Video: 3.3 Examples of Balanced Scorecards
- Video: 3.4 How to Develop a Balanced Scorecard - Overview
- Video: 3.5 How to Develop a Balanced Scorecard - Detail
- Video: 3.6 What is Scale?
- Video: 3.7 The Importance of Scale in the Social Sector
- Video: 3.8 Five Approaches to Scale - Overview
- Video: 3.9 Five Approaches to Scale - Details and Implications
- Video: 3.10 Approaching Scale Critically
- Video: 3.11. Carlos and Coco Pilot and Scale (Scorecard, Marketing Matrix, and Customer Segmentation)
- Discussion Prompt: Performance Measurement
- Discussion Prompt: Paths to Scale
- Reading: Recommended Readings for Week 3. Pilot and Scale
- Video: 4.2 Features of the Business Model
- Video: 4.3 Business Models along the Business Model Spectrum
- Video: 4.4 Choosing a Model - Introduction
- Video: 4.5 Choosing a Model - How to Choose
- Video: 4.6 Drilling Down on Assessment 2: Competitive Positioning
- Video: 4.7 Competitive Positioning: Market Characteristics and Differentiation
- Video: 4.8 An Example of Competitive Positioning: Blue Avocado
- Video: 4.9 An Example of Competitive Positioning: Jolkona
- Video: 4.10 Key Criteria of Competitive Positioning Assessment
- Video: 4.11 Choosing a Model - Pathways Lead to Many Organizational Forms that Can Result
- Video: 4.12 Balancing Mission and Profit
- Video: 4.13.Carlos and Coco Choose a Business Model
- Video: 4.14 The bottom line
- Video: 4.15. Key Questions all Social Innovators Must Ask
- Discussion Prompt: Sector Selection and Competitive Positioning
- Discussion Prompt: What's Next and Staying in Touch
- Reading: Recommended Readings for Week 4. Sector Selection and Business Models
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Great course very informative and i'm better prepared as a social entrepreneur
This was a fantastic course! I truly enjoyed the easy-to-watch video format, in 2-10min segments. The content served as a great fundamental to social impact, with clear definitions and examples.
Thank you!
The course gives one tools and skills required to start and run social enterprises that are sustainable, scalable and above impactful. The emphasis of the course on the need for learners to practically apply what they have learnt by going on to the actual environment and speaking to stakeholders in order to get their perspective and clearly understand the pain points before coming up with a solution was quite eye opening and empowering. The examples that were given to illustrate the various points were very relevant and also made it easy to understand concepts of social Entrepreneurship. This course inspired me to want to undertake the "Executive Program for Social Impact Strategy".
TB
Great resources of tools and strategies for social impact