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Social entrepreneur
Prominent social entrepreneurs include individuals such as Susan B. Anthony, William Drayton,
Florence Nightingale, Vinoba Bhave, James Yen or also Muhammad Yunus. Although it is easy
to identify these selected social enterprises, it is impossible to create a definition of a social
entrepreneur that would embody the key aspects shared by both the aforementioned social
entrepreneurs and other less known ones. Social entrepreneurs are like art – they defy unified
definition and refuse to share a common denominator. This can perhaps explain why scholars
and scientists have had problems until now in finding a definition that would encompass this term
(Guo & Bielefeld, 2014).
Dees (1998) labels social entrepreneurs as an endangered species that has the ability and
temperament for this type of work and that tries to find new paths to social improvements.
According to Bacq & Jansen (2011), a social entrepreneur is an individual who identifies,
evaluates and utilizes opportunities to create socially beneficial activities via commercial activity
and uses the resources at his/her disposal for these purposes.
Furthermore, Campbell (1998) sees the social entrepreneur as a provider of socially oriented
enterprises offering the necessary products to communities.
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