NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

As a field of study, social enterprise is crossing the threshold from young to established; as a practice, it has been around even longer. Despite the passage of time, there is still no single accepted best practice or body of literature defining success in social enterprise. Documenting and sharing learning is a key mechanism that moves the industry forward and ultimately helps more low income producers and consumers.

Enter the Social Enterprise Profiles. This is a joint initiative of Intellecap’s Beyond Profit in India and the SEEP Network’s Value Initiative, based in Washington, DC. Social Enterprise Profiles’ focus is on stories about growth, scale, and transition that highlight organizational successes and challenges. This effort adds to broader base of how to utilize market mechanisms for social, community, environmental and cultural betterment.

Profiles are requested on enterprises that:

• Are sustainable social enterprises (non?profit, for?profit, or hybrid legal entity)
• Generated employment opportunities or wealth creation for low income people
• Achieved rapid growth, scaling up (and its process)
• Completed a challenging transition
• Are from developing countries (the “Global South”)

Stories will be posted online by the SEEP Network at www.seepnetwork.org, reaching thousands of web viewers. Beyond Profit, meanwhile, will publish the top three stories reaching more than 10,000 people in over 75 countries. Winners will receive a travel stipend to share their profiles at The SEEP Network Annual Conference in Washington, D.C., Nov. 1-5, 2010.

Check out The SEEP Network’s Value Initiative and read up on the guidelines.

Submission deadline is September 24, 2010.

This is a valuable opportunity to highlight the great work of international social enterprises. We welcome all interested parties and want to hear from you!