Wake Up Sydney seeks to promote new models for socially and environmentally sustainable business in the 21st century. We will seek to do this through collaborative initiatives, supporting social entrepreneurship, information services and forums that strengthen our community and empower our members to work together on behalf of their shared vision.
In particular, we want to find ways to support young social entrepreneurs at the beginning of their careers who want to commit themselves to working on projects based on their dreams of a better world. A strong network of support is critical to the social entrepreneurship especially during the start-up phase.
What is Social Entrepreneurship?
Social entrepreneurs are people who find new answers to the most burning social issues our society is confronting today. They strike at the root of the problems and look for innovative solutions which are easy to apply everywhere and by everybody.
Social entrepreneurs are visionaries who devote their lives to a lofty idea and often seem to be obsessed with it. To be successful, they also possess a fair share of realism, and they have to keep an eye on the practicality of their idea.
The best social entrepreneurs are gifted leaders. They know how to fill others with enthusiasm about their idea, and they get many people to develop a passion for it. The people adopt the idea as their own goal, and they advocate it in their surroundings. Thus, the social entrepreneur can translate it into reality on a broad, supra-regional basis; and a snowballing effect sets in.
Some ideas of social entrepreneurship that Wake Up Sydney! would like to support are....
- Ordinary businesses finding unique ways to harness current email databases to inspire a shift in consciousness
- Building a online and offline collective of consumers that only support sustainable business
- Formation of Sydney based Seva Cafes
- Filmakers creating films that inspire change in Sydney
- Innovative ways to support local farmers and markets
- Regular sustainable business forums
- Transforming community radio, newspaper and TV into the new generation of high quality, independent and entertaining media hubs for sustainablility, awareness and artistry
- A new network of co-operative organic food suppliers
Books we recommend
Conscious Business - Fred Kofman
Business as Unusual - Anita Roddick
True to Yourself: Leading a Values-based business - Mark Albion
Resources we recommed
Mobium - Melbourne
Social Ventures Australia - Sydney
Aware Business - Sydney
Wholistic Business Network - Sydney
Social Venture Network - USA
LOHAS forum - USA
GOOD magazine - USA
Greenbiz.com - USA
Consciouslivingtv.com - USA