Social Entrepreneurship is working its way into more and more local communities within the US. Spokane, Washington is one of a growing number of communities taking part in a changing global model of how non-profits do business. For those who are not familiar, social entrepreneurship is the business model is based on creating sustainable, profitable companies that are then used to create social change. Two traditional examples of social entrepreneurship in action in the United States are the Salvation Army and Goodwill Industries. Both provide jobs and training, integrate within their communities, and are sustainable, taking more than 50% of their revenue from local patrons. In tough economic times, other non-profits that normally fund most of their work through contributions from donors are seeing that funding dry up. Additionally, they are seeing a drop in volunteer numbers. No longer able to rely on the prior way of doing business, smaller non-profit organizations are looking past the old models and trying to view social impact through the lens of the entrepreneur. For example, the Christ Kitchen started with taking donations to help impoverished women get back on their feet. They quickly learned they needed to focus on putting these women to work [...]
