Semester-long speaker series highlights the work of social entrepreneurs
The next event, this Wednesday at 2 p.m., features an executive from Equal Exchange, a co-op that supports small farms in developing countries.
Jeff Dion ’11 (Danvers, MA) was sitting in the audience last month as Bryant kicked off a semester-long speaker series, “How Social Entrepreneurs are Changing the World,” with a talk by Navyn Salem, the founder and director of Industrial Revelation, a non-government organization working to end world hunger.
He listened intently as Salem spoke about her efforts to build a factory in Tanzania to produce a high quality, nutritional supplement called “Plumpy'nut” to help children who suffer from malnutrition. He was most impressed by the dedication and commitment of Salem, a former advertising executive, who made up for her lack of experience running a business with a desire to make a difference.
“Donating money to charitable causes is important but getting your hands dirty trying to change lives for the better can be so impactful,” says Dion. “Social entrepreneurs take the next step and devote their lives to eradicating poverty, curing malnutrition, ending warfare, or solving other problems facing the world.”
Dion and his classmates will have the opportunity to learn about the efforts of another passionate individual as Rodney North from the Equal Exchange speaks about his organization’s efforts to support the work of local farmers by selling fairly-traded coffee, chocolate, tea, cocoa, and organic snacks. The nearly 25-year-old company boasts $35 million in annual sales. The talk will begin at 2 p.m. Wednesday, March 25, in the South Dining Room of the Bryant Center.
Passion to help
Salem’s inspiration for Industrial Revelation is her father, who was born in Tanzania and lost many relatives to disease and starvation when he was growing up. She recently partnered with a French company that created Plumpy'nut, a product that has a 95 percent success rate for treating malnutrition.
The product is revolutionary because it is a ready-to-be-used food product. It does not need to be refrigerated or mixed with water – two things not readily available in developing countries, where malnutrition kills more than five million children each year.
The goal is to create an eco-friendly factory in Tanzania by the end of the year that would produce enough Plumpy'nut to treat 200,000 severely malnourished children each year.
“All I knew is that kids were dying by the thousands each day and, I could do something about it,” says Salem.
Making a difference a world away
Here at Bryant, Dion is taking his own steps to help make a difference around the world. Earlier this semester, he started a Bryant chapter of Kiva, a nonprofit organization that allows people to make microloans directly to entrepreneurs in developing countries. He learned about the organization through a sociology class he took last semester and was impressed by their mission to give people a hand up, not a handout.
“Kiva is a program that helps people help themselves to create a sustainable future,” says Dion, an accounting concentrator who would like to start his own nonprofit organization one day.
Bryant’s Kiva chapter is hosting its first event, a “rap battle,” on Thursday night at 9:30 p.m. in South Dining Hall to raise money for its first microloan.
Sandra Enos, associate professor of sociology, says social entrepreneurs are individuals who combine the pragmatic and results-oriented approach of a businessperson with the goals of a social reformer to address some of the world’s most challenging problems.
“Social entrepreneurs are visionaries, beginning their work before resources are in place and perhaps before that vision is fully articulated,” she says. “Think of what a Bill Gates advocating for the end of global malnutrition would look like.”
The last speaker of the semester will be Eric Lewandowski, a 2005 Bryant graduate, who will be visiting campus on Thursday, April 9, to talk about the work of Ashoka, one of the premier organizations fostering social entrepreneurship on a global scale. The talk begins at 1 p.m. in the Bryant Center, Room 2 A&B.
The speaker series is supported by the Department of History and Social Sciences, Bryant's degree program in International Business, the Women's Center, the University’s chapter of the Collegiate Entrepreneurs' Organization, the International Business Association, the International Student Organization, Bryant's chapter of Students in Free Enterprise, and the Bryant Chapter of Kiva.
He listened intently as Salem spoke about her efforts to build a factory in Tanzania to produce a high quality, nutritional supplement called “Plumpy'nut” to help children who suffer from malnutrition. He was most impressed by the dedication and commitment of Salem, a former advertising executive, who made up for her lack of experience running a business with a desire to make a difference.
“Donating money to charitable causes is important but getting your hands dirty trying to change lives for the better can be so impactful,” says Dion. “Social entrepreneurs take the next step and devote their lives to eradicating poverty, curing malnutrition, ending warfare, or solving other problems facing the world.”
Dion and his classmates will have the opportunity to learn about the efforts of another passionate individual as Rodney North from the Equal Exchange speaks about his organization’s efforts to support the work of local farmers by selling fairly-traded coffee, chocolate, tea, cocoa, and organic snacks. The nearly 25-year-old company boasts $35 million in annual sales. The talk will begin at 2 p.m. Wednesday, March 25, in the South Dining Room of the Bryant Center.
Passion to help
Salem’s inspiration for Industrial Revelation is her father, who was born in Tanzania and lost many relatives to disease and starvation when he was growing up. She recently partnered with a French company that created Plumpy'nut, a product that has a 95 percent success rate for treating malnutrition.
The product is revolutionary because it is a ready-to-be-used food product. It does not need to be refrigerated or mixed with water – two things not readily available in developing countries, where malnutrition kills more than five million children each year.
The goal is to create an eco-friendly factory in Tanzania by the end of the year that would produce enough Plumpy'nut to treat 200,000 severely malnourished children each year.
“All I knew is that kids were dying by the thousands each day and, I could do something about it,” says Salem.
Making a difference a world away
Here at Bryant, Dion is taking his own steps to help make a difference around the world. Earlier this semester, he started a Bryant chapter of Kiva, a nonprofit organization that allows people to make microloans directly to entrepreneurs in developing countries. He learned about the organization through a sociology class he took last semester and was impressed by their mission to give people a hand up, not a handout.
“Kiva is a program that helps people help themselves to create a sustainable future,” says Dion, an accounting concentrator who would like to start his own nonprofit organization one day.
Bryant’s Kiva chapter is hosting its first event, a “rap battle,” on Thursday night at 9:30 p.m. in South Dining Hall to raise money for its first microloan.
Sandra Enos, associate professor of sociology, says social entrepreneurs are individuals who combine the pragmatic and results-oriented approach of a businessperson with the goals of a social reformer to address some of the world’s most challenging problems.
“Social entrepreneurs are visionaries, beginning their work before resources are in place and perhaps before that vision is fully articulated,” she says. “Think of what a Bill Gates advocating for the end of global malnutrition would look like.”
The last speaker of the semester will be Eric Lewandowski, a 2005 Bryant graduate, who will be visiting campus on Thursday, April 9, to talk about the work of Ashoka, one of the premier organizations fostering social entrepreneurship on a global scale. The talk begins at 1 p.m. in the Bryant Center, Room 2 A&B.
The speaker series is supported by the Department of History and Social Sciences, Bryant's degree program in International Business, the Women's Center, the University’s chapter of the Collegiate Entrepreneurs' Organization, the International Business Association, the International Student Organization, Bryant's chapter of Students in Free Enterprise, and the Bryant Chapter of Kiva.
