Social entrepreneurs doing well by doing good

Talking business in impoverished areas
Kiva founders Matt Flannery, 30, and his wife, Jessica, also took the business partner angle with their Kiva.org microlending Web site. The two started Kiva after traveling to Africa and learning of the enterprising atmosphere there.

"We interviewed people every day for weeks and talked about people's business plans," says Matt. "I thought it was fascinating that I was talking about business, business plans and scaling an inventory challenges in a place that I only associated with deep poverty."

The experience stayed with Matt and Jessica when the two returned to California and partnered with four others, working out of coffee shops and a tiny San Francisco apartment to develop the Kiva website and concept. Their goal remains showing people the business dynamic they experienced in Africa. "It was a different take on poverty, a different take on Africa than you typically hear when you're out here in the United States," Matt says.

On the Kiva website, lenders can donate to entrepreneurs trying to start a business in third-world countries. Loans start at $25, which goes a long way in the third world. The entrepreneurs pay back the loans 99 percent of the time — a remarkable default rate in the finance world. "(It's) connecting as an equal or a business partner, an entrepreneur, rather than as a charitable endeavor or benefactor or taking pity on someone else," Matt says.

And pity is something Matt says the media has thrived on for some time. "Often we want to hear about war and bloodshed and disease and that's only a small part of the story about what goes on in a huge continent like Africa," he adds.

Like Gregory, Matt also struggled to convince others about the viability of his idea. "One attribute of good ideas is that they challenge people's existing mindset," he says. "Now that I know that, I wouldn't have put so much weight in other people's opinions."

Why It's Working
Despite some skepticism, "Social entrepreneurship is really taking off around the world," says David Bornstein, author of "How to Change the World: Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas," which has been translated into 16 languages. In his book, Bornstein chronicles the work of Ashoka, an international organization that helps fund entrepreneurs with innovative solutions to social problems.

According to Bornstein, the relentless won't-take-no-for-an-answer quality of entrepreneurs is what gives them their edge in business. "They absorb the failure, they learn, they surround themselves with a good team and then they redirect." These same attributes, when applied in the social realm, can result in community-changing solutions.

In the end, Gregory says it's the energy of the entrepreneurs she comes into contact with that sustain her in her business. For Matt and Jessica, being part of something larger than themselves has inspired them.

"It's not about me, it's not about my organization," Matt says. "It's about people connecting to people and using technology as a conduit."

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