Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/337193
prises started by GSBI alumni are still in operation. For 50 percent, revenues are growing faster than expenses, which means that they are having impact on their local econo- mies. Among this group of small enterprises, 28 percent are focused on off-grid energy, 20 percent on communications technology, 18 per- cent on economic development and training, and 12 percent on health- care. The rest operate in sectors such as education, water quality, and microfinance. And because social entrepre- neurs value social impact more than financial returns, there is potential for open source social enterprise franchises. In-country incubators such as ACSENT could play a vital role in such a strategy. We know that replicating social enterprises will require adapta- tion. For instance, McDonald's is opening two vegetarian restaurant franchises in India—in that way, the global company is adapting its product to the local context. Can we do the same? That is, can we reach the massive markets of the global poor more rapidly by fran- chising social enterprises that are adapted to the local context? We don't yet know, but it seems like an experiment worth trying, especially with its potential to benefit a billion lives. A network of incubators adapted from the GSBI could provide a global-scale learning laboratory for practical social justice. The great news is that there are many more Jesuit universities and other organiza- tions ready to incubate social entrepreneurs who will, in turn, build sustainable ventures that serve the planet's poor. Thane Kreiner is executive director of the Center for Science, Technology, and Society at Santa Clara University in California. He also is an executive and entrepreneur who founded two biotech- nology firms in Silicon Valley. The GSBI now has 11 partners in India, Mexico, Israel, the Philippines, Taiwan, Spain, Italy, and Colombia. It currently is final- izing an agreement in Hong Kong. Author Thane Kreiner (at far left) at GSBI startup eHealthPoint, which provides rural Indian villages with clean water, medicines, diagnostics, and telemedical services. Taking GSBI Online Creating physical incubators for social enterprises at Jesuit schools around the world is only one aspect of Santa Clara's expansion of its GSBI program. In 2004, the school began experimenting with online delivery of its incubation services as well. GSBI representatives started by asking social entrepreneurs to complete exercises with their mentors online before they came to the pro- gram. In 2011, SCU added to those exercises follow-up work that partici- pants would complete after their two- week residence on campus. In 2012, SCU piloted GSBI Online, using funds from the World Bank, with a cohort of social enter- prises in India that were recruited by the World Bank. It has since done a second online cohort for enterprises in Africa and has recruited for a third. As in the traditional GSBI pro- gram, each entrepreneur participating in GSBI Online is assigned to work with a Silicon Valley executive men- tor. However, unlike the traditional program where local mentors also are assigned, online participants are asked to find their own in-country mentors to contribute knowledge of the local context. The in-country men- tor is introduced to the GSBI mentor so they can better collaborate as they assist their entrepreneur. "We don't have the same kind of depth of connections online that we do when we meet the entrepreneurs in person," says Thane Kreiner, pro- gram director. "We're now exploring how we can scale GSBI Online and standardize the curriculum. We want to work with early-stage entrepre- neurs in a kind of MOOC format, so that they can come into whichever incubator makes the most sense for them." To read more about GSBI Online and enterprises in its current cohort, visit www.scu.edu/socialbenefit/ entrepreneurship/gsbi/online.cfm. 34 July/August 2014 BizEd