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"Good condition, quick delivery"

Written By: bookie wookie

Good condition of the book as specified, and it was delivered within a week. so quite a good experience overall

"Great Case Studies"

Written By: Darzy

The case studies Bornstein presents here are fascinating, and, at once uplifting and heartrending. I very much enjoyed reading the book, and I would probably recommend it to others interested in social entrepreneurship.

Now that it's been a few days since I finished the book, though, I find it had some deficiencies:

--Bornstein doesn't sufficiently define "social entrepreneur."
--Drayton, founder of Ashoka, is presented with a bit too much hero worship. I'd have liked to see Bornstein provide his own interpretations rather than rely on the Ashoka framework. Even when presenting some of the negative personality traits of Drayton or some of the failures of Ashoka, Bornstein is apologetic.
--The profiles are a bit uneven, and why some were chosen is beyond me. Nightingale? Really?
--Bornstein could have done more to distill the common attributes of social entrepreneurs--in essence put more theoretical framework in the book.
--In 2008, the book feels dated because business moves so quickly. I kept wondering about the fate of the organizations profiled.

Despite the problems with the book, it is a great introduction to social entrepreneurship and a great reminder of what dedicated, passionate, and driven individuals can do to change their communities and even countries.

"Social Entrepreneurs Make the World a Better Place"

Written By: Bryan Carey

Social entrepreneurs are a relatively new breed in their field but their numbers are growing larger and their influence growing stronger each year. How to Change the World features the stories of several successful social entrepreneurs with personal stories that detail the challenges and many obstacles placed in their paths each day as the struggled to make the world a better place. Many of these entrepreneurs were considering a career that including the owning/operating of their own business enterprise. But instead of going for the money, these individuals chose a different path. They felt a life calling that was more directly associated with the improvement of individual lives and they accepted and embraced this challenge even though they could have made a much better living as a business entrepreneur.

This book includes more than twenty different stories of personal sacrifice and courage and most all of the stories are inspiring and memorable. The range of social activism is pretty wide in this book, even though improving health seems to be one of the primary concerns of a large percentage of these social entrepreneurs. Whether the cause is direct, like providing immunizations against polio, or indirect and ongoing, like educating cultures about the importance of sanitary conditions, each of the stories offered in this book is unique in its own way and its methods and successes vary from one entrepreneur and one location to the next. Some of the stories are very positive and have been very successful, almost from the start. Others have been more frustrating for the parties involved and have required greater patience and strategy to achieve desired results.

Bill Drayton is the founder of Ashoka and he speaks at many points throughout the book. Drayton's Ashoka organization is responsible for the continued financial and moral support of many of the social entrepreneurs presented in this book and if I'm not mistaken, all of the success stories presented in How to Change the World include individuals who are members of Ashoka. This association of social entrepreneurs has strict guidelines and only the most dedicated individuals to their respective causes are selected to become Ashoka fellows. At present, Ashoka has grown to more than two thousand fellows in more than sixty nations around the world and it continues to grow in influence as the profession of social entrepreneurialism continues to grow and thrive.

If there is any small criticism to make with How to Change the World, it would be the fact that it doesn't directly explain how to change the world. When I first heard of this book, I assumed it was going to be a book about social activism and the necessary steps needed to get licensed, jump the regulation hurdles, etc. to become a social entrepreneur. Instead, this is a book about success stories. There is no direct explanation on what to do if one decides to become a social entrepreneur. The actions of the leaders in each story are meant to serve as inspiration and as an example of what steps to take. Also, it would be nice if the book included more statistical facts to illustrate the success stories. I fully believe what the book says, but having more numeric illustrations, graphs, tables, etc., would enhance this book.

Overall, How to Change the World is a very good book about the difference that a few hard- working and determined individuals can make when they decide to take up an important cause and press forward with their dreams for social change. The stories the book presents are inspiring in their own unique ways and they illustrate the difficulties, challenges, frustrations, and triumphs that one can experience when they decide to take on the role of a social entrepreneur.

"How to change the world"

Written By: P. Castellanos

Good and useful, but probably need some updating and more information on current sources of financial support, specially for projects in developing countries.

"Single best book I have read in past five years"

Written By: Robert D. Steele

I read a lot, almost totally non-fiction, and for the past several years, after accidentally becoming a top Amazon reviewer on the strength of 300 reviews lifted from the annotated bibliographies of my first two books, I have been dedicated, as a hobby, to reading in the service of the public. My goal in life at the age of 55, what I learned from this book is called an "encore career," is to be intelligence officer to the five billion poor, and--I now realize from this book--to the social entrepreneurs that are changing the world on a scale and with a speed that governments cannot match.

This book blew my mind, literally. It has not altered my course, but it has dramatically accelerated my ability to make progress by illuminating a path I thought I would have to discover. This book is the first "map" of a completely new form of endeavor, profoundly individual in inspiration and global in scale, that of social entrepreneurship, not to be confused with non-profit or non-governmental, more traditional forms.

The author, apart from mapping examples (33, focused on education, health, protection, and access to electricity and technology), provides what I consider to be the single best preface/introduction I have ever read. Here are a few of the underlined bits:

+ hidden history unfolding
+ landscape of innovators
+ ratio of problem-focused information to solution-focused information is completely out of balance
+ reality distorted, people deprived of knowledge they could use
+ individual social entrepreneurs advancing systemic scalable solutions
+ new sector of social entrepreneurship now being taught, funded, and respected
+ two Nobel Peace Prizes (2004, 2006)--micro-finance now micro-everything
+ Ashoka, founded by Bill Drayton is the spine of the book
+ conceptual firewalls coming down, "whole brains" being used
+ influencing conventional businesses (going green, good) and governments (adopting unconventional education, kids teaching parents, etc)
+ "social entrepreneurs are uniquely suited to make headway on problems that have resisted considerable money and intelligence"
+ government are looking at problems from the outside, social entrepreneurs see problems--and solutions--from the inside
+ scale still a challenge, but coming
+ Students and local groups actively interested in hearing about this now
+ Students are leading the way, pushing for change in curriculums
+ optimism, hope, energy are being unleashed as never before--but not being properly mapped, reported, or appreciated outside small circles
+ new pathways being discovered every day in every place
+ changemakers far more numerous than any might have imagined
+ many levels of changemaker
+ charaqcterized by first-hand active engagement in reality
+ individuals driven to understand, and driven to remove shackles from others with shared knowledge (e.g. kids learning to fix pumps and spreading knowledge across villages with a speed and energy only quick-witten children could apply)
+ social entrepreneurship network now has sensors everywhere, millions of changemarkers, tens of thousands of organizations
+ far better mechanism to respond to needed than we have ever had before
+ decentralized and emergent force

BAD NEWS:
- not yet properly financed
- lacking holistic public intelligence for voluntary harmonization against the ten threats, with the twelve policies, with a special focus on the eight challengers. (Learn more at Earth Intelligence Network)
+ emphasis on metrics slows down the needed pace of funding for innovation

Core principles for social excellence (chapter twelve):
+ Putting Children in Charge
+ Enlisting "Barefoot" Professionals
+ Designing New Legal Frameworks for Environmental Reform
+ Helping Small Producers Capture Greater Profits
+ Linking Economic Development and Environmental Protection
+ Unleashing Resources in the Community You Are Serving
+ Linking the Citizen, Government, and Business Sectors for Comprehensive Solutions (this is where shared public intelligence and a shared Range of Gifts Table can harmonize disparate capabilities with a common interest in stabilization, reconstruction, humanitarian assistance, and relief)

The book ends with a superb resource section including the following headings for lists of one-line access points:
+ Resources for People Seeking Jobs and Volunteer Opportunities
+ Organizations that Identify and/or Support (or Invest in) Social Entrepreneurs
+ Management, Funding, and Networking Resources for Citizen Organizations
+ Academic-Based Resources
+ Resources for Funders
+ Resources for Businesspeople

The notes and index are totally professional.

I put this book down with one final note: WOW!!!

This is an Earth-changing book, an utterly brilliant, timely, ethical, wonderful piece of scholarship, journalism, vision and information sharing. I actually have tears in my eyes. This book is Ref A for saving the Earth seven generations into the future and beyond.

Other books that support this one, but this one is unique:
A Power Governments Cannot Suppress
The Tao of Democracy: Using Co-Intelligence to Create a World That Works for All
The Change Handbook: The Definitive Resource on Today's Best Methods for Engaging Whole Systems
The World Cafe: Shaping Our Futures Through Conversations That Matter
Leadership and the New Science: Discovering Order in a Chaotic World
Escaping the Matrix: How We the People can change the world
Society's Breakthrough!: Releasing Essential Wisdom and Virtue in All the People
Collective Intelligence: Mankind's Emerging World in Cyberspace
The Wealth of Networks: How Social Production Transforms Markets and Freedom
The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid: Eradicating Poverty Through Profits (Wharton School Publishing Paperbacks)

See also the books I have written, helped edit, or published, including our forthcoming COLLECTIVE INTELLIGENCE: Creating a Prosperous World at Peace, edited by Mark Tovey with 55 contributors. It will be on Amazon 1 March 2008, and is offered free online at Earth Intelligence Network.

In addition, I recommend the "52 Tough Questions" with transpartisan answers at Earth Intelligence Network, that address the ten high-level threats to humanity as identified by the UN study on "Creating a More Secure world" (free online and also sold via Amazon), the twelve policies that must be harmonized, and the eight challengers whom we must help avoid our mistakes of the past 100 years.

This book by David Bornstein could not have come into my life at a better time--the New York Times calls it a bible in the field, I consider it to be my inspiration for my encore career. Simply spectacular. AMAZING--not just the book, but every person and organization the book names and discusses. WOW!!!