It's easy to think of programs that help girls and women, but it's time to flip that on its head: We should be implementing ideas that use girls and women as social entrepreneurs themselves.
Penny Abeywardena is the director of the Clinton Global Initiative's Girls and Women program, and so has seen the development of social from a niche focus of nonprofits to something fully embraced by corporations and governments. And not only are they investing in it, but they're being shaped by the developments of social entrepreneurs more than ever in the past.
Abeywardena's three pieces of advice for aspiring social entrepreneurs:
Spend time in the communities and with the people you're trying to impact.
Improve on your existing innovations. Address failures and be willing to change your objective and goals.
Focus on girls and women. Shift the conversation from focusing on girls and women as the beneficiaries of social innovation to girls and women as the drivers of social innovation.
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