Social entrepreneurship refers to the practice of combining innovation, resourcefulness and opportunity to address critical social and environmental challenges. Social entrepreneurs focus on transforming systems and practices to enable human potential and to create sustainable systems change. We will learn how social entrepreneurs have responded to social challenges by creating companies.
During their trip to Berlin, students had the opportunity to learn from leaders leveraging business concepts to create social change.
The trip allowed me to gain perspective on how to solve social problems creatively, and how to critically evaluate the best way to implement and measure solutions and impact.
Hayley Kalb
Students met social entrepreneurs and leaders from:
- The BMW Foundation
- Ashoka
- betterplace.org
- Acker e.V.
- Markenverband
- Regenbogenfabrik
- The Redi School
- Textil Hafen
- Social Entrepreneurship Network – Deutschland
I’m thrilled our class had the chance to learn from social entrepreneurship experts in Germany and gain a more well-rounded, global view of how business can impact society. As an MBA student, I saw our social entrepreneurship discussions connect to our MBA courses like Strategy, DEI, and Power and Politics. I hope more MBA programs consider integrating cross-functional concepts like social entrepreneurship into their curriculums.
Linda Graff
Photos from Berlin
This was a once in a lifetime opportunity, and one of the most formative I have had at WashU.
Hayley Kalb