Social innovation and social entrepreneurship focus on addressing social problems (such as hunger, poverty, homelessness), thereby releasing trapped potential and creating a new, just, and stable equilibrium. This guide centers aims to provide resources on the following topics: fundamental knowledge of the entrepreneurial context, entrepreneurial characteristics, and entrepreneurial outcomes as applied to social problems; different organizational forms for addressing social problems; techniques for analyzing social problems, generating solutions, and measuring impact; articulating the value of social enterprises; and financing, sustaining, and scaling social enterprises.
In 2018-19, Sacramento State President Robert Nelson launched the Anchor University initiative, which is designed to explore how the university can “deepen and focus the campus’s community engagement efforts”. A report by the Anchor University task force identified the following significant community needs and areas for university-community engagement: K-12 education; arts and culture; environment and sustainability; health and welfare; homeless and housing; and social justice. Therefore, this guide supports the Anchor University mission of by cultivating socially minded entrepreneurs committed to addressing the region’s significant needs.
