Where are the Jersey social entrepreneurs?
I was born in New Jersey.
Raised in New Jersey. Went to New
Jersey public schools. Attended the Governor’s School of Public Issues and the Future
of New Jersey as a Junior in high school.
I earned two degrees from Rutgers, The State University of New
Jersey. I moved away from the state and
came back 7 years ago and I now am a professor at Rutgers Business School. I am Jersey strong! I have Jersey Roots and a Global Reach!
With all of that Jersey love, I am still a bit dismayed
about one thing – the lack of support and visibility of Social Entrepreneurs in New
Jersey.
For five years I was on the faculty of New York University
where I taught entrepreneurship and social entrepreneurship. As someone interested in social
entrepreneurship it was rewarding to work with other dedicated people like
those at the Berkley Center for Entrepreneurial Studies and the Reynolds’
Program in Social Entrepreneurship, Blue Ridge Foundation and numerous student
and community organizations to support the practice, education, and research of
social entrepreneurship even hosting conferences and co-editing three books on the
subject (see below). New York City has a vibrant
social entrepreneurship scene!
Alas, in my home state, there is no scene for social
entrepreneurs.
Of course, there are some all stars like Rising Tide Capital
and Terracycle. And, there are several
SE organizations that are working in our major cities (e.g. TEAM Academy/KIPP
Schools, Citizen Schools, PlayWorks).
But, there is no statewide support and more importantly, there is no
statewide social innovation fund.
I am not the kind of person who
will point out a problem without having a solution. I can’t just rant about it. I have to do something about it. With this blog, I am launching an all out
effort to meet, cooperate, support and network with social entrepreneurs in New
Jersey.
I will write more on this tomorrow so stay tuned ...
Here are the three books I mentioned above:
I will write more on this tomorrow so stay tuned ...
Here are the three books I mentioned above:
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