Five Examples of Great Social Enterprises Part One: Latin America

Social Entrepreneurship applies business and entrepreneurial principles and methods to solve a social, environmental or economic problem. We typically think of NGOs or nonprofit organizations…maybe even governments as the primary change makers in the world. But when you take the best of what a business has to offer and combine that with a social cause, the results can be nothing short of revolutionary.

All around the world there are ample opportunities for entrepreneurs to bring innovative thinking to bear on the range of challenges facing communities. Here we’ll talk about our top five favorite enterprises in Latin America.

1. RECYCLA Chile is a social enterprise that recycles potentially toxic electronic appliances in an environmentally sound way. They sort, and then recycle, dispose of or repurpose old cell phones, computers, printers, etc. In addition to this clear environmental benefit to society, there is also an added social benefit: part of its labor force consists of former prison inmates who are looking to make a fresh start.

2. TerraNova represents a social enterprise that addresses societal problems by stepping in where the government falls short. Due to the lack of a low-income housing policy, over 12 million Brazilians live in favelas or shantytowns that lack access to basic necessities, are often overwhelmed with poverty and violence, and also happen to be illegally located. This organization works to reach an out-of-court agreement between landowners and occupants. The occupants have to pay a sum to the current owners in order to get a deed to the property – a percentage of this goes to TerraNova and some gets used for projects within the community. The original owner is willing to accept this deal because this way they are assured some payment for their land, as opposed to taking it to court (a process which could go on for years) and likely not having the land returned to them at all. Once the occupiers actually own their properties, the local government starts to provide services such as sanitation, public transport, water, electricity, etc. raising the standard of living of the whole neighborhood.

3. Coronilla is an example of a company that addresses social/environmental problems on the production side of it business. On the surface, it is a Bolivian company that produces and exports high quality, organic and gluten-free pasta from Andean grains. But what makes them stand out is their commitment to generating wealth for their employees and providers and contributing to Bolivia’s development, while also respecting the environment. They buy their raw materials from some of Bolivia’s most impoverished farming communities and empower women (women make up more than 50% of their employees). They also hire disabled people, and have a commitment to fair trade practices. Coronilla proves that a company can be more than just “less bad” but can in fact, be a strong asset to the community.

4. Cine Pop doesn’t directly address problems quite as dire as poverty or illiteracy, but it does work to improve the quality of life of low income Mexicans. The majority of Mexicans don’t have access to traditional movie theaters, so Cine Pop provides weekly, free, outdoor movie screenings on giant screens that gather the community together and provide entertaining movies and also promote social programs. These pop-up theaters are financed by corporations, but not in the form of donations or charity. They are able to sell products and communicate promotions at these screenings, and with capacity for 10,000 people, brands have a great way to interact with a large volume of potential customers and build brand loyalty.

5. VisionSpring works in El Salvador (and elsewhere) to address vision problems in the developing world. Social entrepreneur Jordan Kasslow realized that 733 million people worldwide suffer from vision loss and 77% of those people could have their vision restored if they just wore glasses – something that those of us in the developed world take for granted. But access to affordable spectacles was just not a reality for some of the world’s lowest-income people. And so, for these people with vision problems living in poverty with no access to glasses, working (not to mention doing most daily tasks) becomes difficult or impossible and so they fall further into poverty. Conversely, providing inexpensive, ready made eyewear can help pull people out of poverty – both those that benefit from having their vision restored as well as those that are trained and employed selling these glasses. They cost $4 per pair and at that price VisionSpring is able to recover some of the cost of operations (with the other portion covered through philanthropy).

Since there seems to be a never-ending supply of social and environmental problems to be addressed these days, we’re pretty lucky that there are innovative and energetic entrepreneurs out there that are driven to create change.

Interested in Social Enterprises? Check out our Social Entrepreneurship Study Abroad program in Cape Town. It’s open to any aspiring social entrepreneurs or those just interested in the field!

photo credit