I was originally drawn to this subject by the title of a reuters.com article: Bob Dylan Singing For Starbucks. I thought it was a little ironic that such a singer would form a partnership with the entity responsible for $4 coffees and the general demise of the small, independent, sometimes artsy coffeehouse. But what I found most interesting was a statement made in the article regarding Starbucks customers:

Wow. And to think that the generation (I’m assuming the statement referrs heavily to baby boomers) that grew up with Dylan, Kent State, etc. would seek consumption refuge in Starbucks…

TAGS: Social Enterprise | Starbucks | Music

From today’s Washington Post: Vatican Gets Victory in Italian Referendum.

Stem cell research has grown into one of the most charged ethical debates of our time. The pros and cons of the research are sticky as there are huge potential benefits, but also grave potential abuses of human life. At the core of the debate are many complex issues, the least of which is how we define human life.

Are embryos humans? At what point between the intersection of a sperm and egg, and eventual birth, does a human become?

It seems that Columbia University didn’t want to be left out of the “social enterprise” dash either. Check out their SE Program!

I was poking around the internet this morning and stumbled across Harvard University’s social enterprise site. It is well worth a visit for anyone who is interested in learning more about social enterprise. Check it out today!

After my last post I figured I needed to post something positive, as much for my own state of mind as for everyone else’s.

Some time ago it struck me that there is so much negativity and depressing content in mass media. I often wondered if reporters simply couldn’t find stories that were uplifting, or if editors and producers simply chose the more “gripping” content instead. I still haven’t figured out the dynamic, but am convinced that there is a lot of positive and uplifting news out there that is regularly filtered out of the media.

After some digging, I found a number of websites that publish positive news and have compiled them here for your enjoyment…
The list of sites below is hardly complete, but a good start! I will continue to add positive media resources below as I come across them. If you know of any resources that I have missed, please send them to me—I would love to include them!

Positive Media/News Websites:

- Positive Media Resources
- Good News Broadcast
- Positive News Network
- Yes Magazine
- Good News Agency
- Good News Network
- New Dimensions World Broadcasting
- Channel G
- Do Something
- The Foundation for a Better Life
- Great News Network
- Positive News
- Ode Magazine

Social enterprise is alive and well! Check out this inspiring story from Bulgaria!

Kudos to mayors from around the world, who signed the “Urban Environmental Accords” yesterday in San Francisco. Containing 21 specific actions, all of which have promise in “making cities greener,” the accords are an important step forward in ensuring the health of our environment and sustainability of environmentally-focused cities.

Of particular note, as cited in a Seattle Times article is that, “by 2030, more than 60 percent of the world’s population will live in cities.” That is a staggering statistic, and even more so when compared to the 1950s figure: 30%.

The importance of clean air, water and open spaces is now greater than ever before. As 60% of us find ourselves crammed together in the world’s cities within 25 years, I for one, hope to be able to walk barefoot in the park, without an air-cleansing gas mask, confident that the most I have to worry about is stepping in dog excrement.

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If laws are a reflection of society’s morals, then are businesses a reflection of society’s consumption desires? And if so, if we the market thus define the laws and the services and products offered by companies, do we not also define whether or not we will tolerate the very things the Urban Environmental Accords aim to correct?

I say the people have power. The consumer has power. The business owner has power. The employee has power. We all have power… power to make the world a better place.

Thank you for joining us! So often, during the long journey through life, we stumble upon a path we’ve never seen or had previously simply ignored. Whether we choose to stray from our current course and take the unfamiliar and ‘road less travelled’ may prove a defining moment in our lives. Furthermore, the new direction may not prove any wiser than the path we left it for. Such unknowns make life challenging and sometimes frustrating, yet they also push us to think.

In business, the quest for profit and growth are often so intense that we may never see those other paths, let alone choose to take them. If shareholder value, money, profits, domination and marketshare are all that drive us, what are we building? What are we going to do with our fragile (yet grotesquely adorned and obscenely large) houses constructed out of such things, when we realize that substance, purpose and contributing to the greater good of society actually matter?

We’ll post articles, links, inspirational quotations, and anything else that moves us in an effort to create a positive dialog on how we can create and sustain social enterprises.

Thank you again for your interest, and we look forward to together making a positive impact in the world!