That is the question asked by Rod Schwarz in a recent discussion he hosted on Social Edge, a global online community for social entrepreneurs run by the Skoll Foundation.
Rod raises the issue because of a lecture he attended where a notable professor on social enterprise and business claimed that 'without a doubt the UK and the US lead the world in terms of thinking in this area'. By Anglo-Saxon, Rod is referring to the UK, US, and other major Anglophone countries, rather than ethnic Anglo-Saxons.
The question drew many comments, with the consensus seeming to be that the US and the UK are not necessarily leaders in the area, but poor communication and language barriers have prevented social entrepreneurs on the ground around the world from having the same presence as Anglo-Saxon social entrepreneurs do.
BRAC is an excellent example of this problem. For many years BRAC has been a pioneer in the field of social enterprise, and is recognized as such by the selection of founder Fazle Abed as a Member of Ashoka's Global Academy, along with another Bangladeshi social entrepreneur, Nobel Peace laureate Muhammad Yunus.
I grew up in Bangladesh, where BRAC's presence is massive. As a teenager I drank chocolate milk produced by BRAC's dairies, while an upcoming wedding or visiting relatives would inevitably mean a trip to Aarong for my mother and sister to shop for pottery and handicraft to give as gifts. We did this almost without thinking about the fact that Aarong, BRAC's retail outlet chains, supports 65,000 rural artisans around Bangladesh. And recently, BRAC Poultry became the official chicken supplier to KFC in Bangladesh.
In 2002, BRAC began the first of its international activities by setting up microfinance programs in Afghanistan. Since then BRAC has become the largest NGO in Afghanistan and Uganda, and operates directly or provides technical assistance in 16 countries.
In contrast, BRAC remains a little known entity in the US, even as microfinance is becoming an increasingly familiar buzzword in America. That is one of the key reasons for the creation of BRAC USA, which I am now interning with in New York. Part of BRAC USA's mission is Public Education - to increase knowledge of BRAC's activities in the US among development circles, but also among the general public. For those intrigued by the growing social enterprise sector and also interested in greater diversity of thought and opinion in the field, BRAC USA exists to serve as a source of information and a representative of BRAC to US and international audiences.
Learn more about how you can support the South-South collaboration that informs BRAC's development work around the world: scroll through our blog, visit our website, check out international volunteer and internship opportunities, or just contact us. You can also order Freedom From Want, a recently published book that tells the tale of BRAC's evolution from a small relief organization in 1970 to one of the largest NGOs in the world - all proceeds go to BRAC. And if you'd like to make an impact immediately, you can make a donation here - all contributions are currently going to our relief efforts in the wake of Cyclone Aila.
-Maher Sattar
Rod raises the issue because of a lecture he attended where a notable professor on social enterprise and business claimed that 'without a doubt the UK and the US lead the world in terms of thinking in this area'. By Anglo-Saxon, Rod is referring to the UK, US, and other major Anglophone countries, rather than ethnic Anglo-Saxons.
The question drew many comments, with the consensus seeming to be that the US and the UK are not necessarily leaders in the area, but poor communication and language barriers have prevented social entrepreneurs on the ground around the world from having the same presence as Anglo-Saxon social entrepreneurs do.
BRAC is an excellent example of this problem. For many years BRAC has been a pioneer in the field of social enterprise, and is recognized as such by the selection of founder Fazle Abed as a Member of Ashoka's Global Academy, along with another Bangladeshi social entrepreneur, Nobel Peace laureate Muhammad Yunus.
I grew up in Bangladesh, where BRAC's presence is massive. As a teenager I drank chocolate milk produced by BRAC's dairies, while an upcoming wedding or visiting relatives would inevitably mean a trip to Aarong for my mother and sister to shop for pottery and handicraft to give as gifts. We did this almost without thinking about the fact that Aarong, BRAC's retail outlet chains, supports 65,000 rural artisans around Bangladesh. And recently, BRAC Poultry became the official chicken supplier to KFC in Bangladesh.
In 2002, BRAC began the first of its international activities by setting up microfinance programs in Afghanistan. Since then BRAC has become the largest NGO in Afghanistan and Uganda, and operates directly or provides technical assistance in 16 countries.
In contrast, BRAC remains a little known entity in the US, even as microfinance is becoming an increasingly familiar buzzword in America. That is one of the key reasons for the creation of BRAC USA, which I am now interning with in New York. Part of BRAC USA's mission is Public Education - to increase knowledge of BRAC's activities in the US among development circles, but also among the general public. For those intrigued by the growing social enterprise sector and also interested in greater diversity of thought and opinion in the field, BRAC USA exists to serve as a source of information and a representative of BRAC to US and international audiences.
Learn more about how you can support the South-South collaboration that informs BRAC's development work around the world: scroll through our blog, visit our website, check out international volunteer and internship opportunities, or just contact us. You can also order Freedom From Want, a recently published book that tells the tale of BRAC's evolution from a small relief organization in 1970 to one of the largest NGOs in the world - all proceeds go to BRAC. And if you'd like to make an impact immediately, you can make a donation here - all contributions are currently going to our relief efforts in the wake of Cyclone Aila.
-Maher Sattar
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