SEQ-Social Entrepreneurial Quotient

Since the new year started, I’ve had the opportunity to hear two exceptional social entrepreneurs speak: in January Bill Strickland, who heads up the Manchester Craftsman Guild in Pittsburgh, spoke before a group brought together by the Surdna Foundation, and Cheryl Dorsey, who heads up Echoing Green here in New York, spoke as part of the NYU Reynolds Program in Social Entrepreneurship yesterday. While reading my notes from Cheryl’s speech on the subway ride back to the office, I couldn’t help but think about Bill. Not surprisingly, Bill and Cheryl have much in common.

• They are extremely clear minded about what they do and why (core identity formation & alignment);
• They have a deep commitment to a core cause;
• They are real forces for good and have an exceptional ability to marshal a range of resources, not just financial, to get their work done (phenomenal resource magnets);
• They are empathetic and understanding (high emotional intelligence);
• They find the opportunity in every challenge (asset-based thinking);
• They are solutions oriented;
• They are focused and action oriented—doers with amazing results;
• They are among the most creative and big thinkers and at the same time they well-grounded and gracious (duality).

Anyone at Cheryl’s speech will recognize these characteristics as something she called the “social entrepreneurial quotient” or SEQ. These are patterns or traits that Echoing Green has recognized in their Fellows, each having all these qualities, but to varying degrees. According to Cheryl, Echoing Green is still refining the SEQ, but hopes this can help us understand and assess social entrepreneurs. (Betty)

Read Full Post »

Echoing Green Announces 2008 Fellows

Echoing Green announced twenty-seven entrepreneurs as their 2008 fellows, one of its largest classes to date. The entrepreneurs, selected from a record pool of more than 1,450 applicants from eighty-three countries, will launch nineteen start-up organizations.

This year, for the first time in Echoing Green’s twenty-one-year history, more than half of the fellows are developing models for creating lasting change that harness market forces, including several who plan to launch socially focused for-profits. The 2008 class is also distinguished for its relative youth, reflecting Echoing Green’s core belief that young people are key actors in sparking meaningful social change. One-third of the 2008 fellows are under 26 years old.

For more information about the 2008 fellows, please visit http://www.echoinggreen.org.

Read Full Post »