Social entrepreneurship is becoming more like mainstream entrepreneurship, and that's a good thing, says Ryan Little of the BMW Foundation. The growing number of B Corporations, companies with their social and environmental values built into their DNA, is positive both for investors and for increasingly conscious consumers. Over the next five to ten years, we can also expect a shift in the way social enterprises are funded. Funders are looking for organizations to scale and Ryan explains that the trend towards grants being combined with impact investments is linked to a greater expectation that social enterprises find ways to become sustainable through their own revenue. On top of this, he sees a growing demand of social enterprises to internationalize just like traditional enterprises do.

Ryan Little is a seasoned entrepreneur with a focus on social and environmental businesses. He is co-founder of the Canadian charitable giving platform, CanadaHelps (www.canadahelps.org) which has become the country’s national resource for online giving, capacity building, and social media best practices, and has facilitated $600 million in donations since its launch in 2000. In addition to his role as Project Manager at the BMW Foundation, where he leads the social entrepreneurship and venture philanthropy practices, he serves on several boards of advisors and is the coordinator for social startups at the German Startups Association.
This video is part of a new series on social entrepreneurship, produced in cooperation with The Changer. The Changer is an online platform that features jobs, events, news and resources for effective social change. Find out more at http://www.thechanger.org

Venable Dance, Entrepreneur