Jehan Ratnatunga, a 26-yearold Australian, thinks the best strategy for underwriting water sanitation projects in the developing world is to launch a nonprofit toilet paper company called Who Gives a Crap. Silly? Perhaps. But the idea proved just intriguing enough to earn Ratnatunga a spot as one of 25 fellows in the first-ever Unreasonable Institute taking place this summer in Boulder, Colo.
Some 284 applicants from 46 countries vied for the chance to take part in this new social enterprise incubator. They first had to earn their way—and demonstrate their entrepreneurship chops—by competing for sponsors in a social media marketplace. Ratnatunga’s venture was one of the first to get funded, thanks to 228 sponsors who contributed a total of $6,500 to kick-start his idea.
Daniel Epstein, one of four founders of the Unreasonable Institute, says the program is intended to fill two critical gaps facing many young social entrepreneurs: mentoring and access to capital. High-profile mentors who have signed on to help this summer include Bob Pattillo, founder of Gray Ghost Ventures; Dennis Whittle, CEO of GlobalGiving; Kjerstin Erickson, founder of FORGE; and David Bornstein, author of How to Change the World. In August, at the close of the institute, fellows will pitch their ideas to an audience of potential funders and philanthropists.
Although solutions proposed by Unreasonable Institute fellows are literally all over the map— from housing solutions in Peru to sustainable energy to power all of Malawi—they do share common features. “They have to have a design intention to be financially self-sustaining,” Epstein says, “and an idea that could meet the needs of a million people.” That goal may sound unreasonable, but Epstein says it could be reached through replication of a scalable idea. “We don’t require our entrepreneurs to reach a million themselves, but we hope they develop models that could have that impact.”
Another common feature is an intimate understanding of the intended audience. “We ask people first, what need are they trying to address? And then, how do they know that need? We want to see direct interaction with those markets,” Epstein says. One fellow, for example, “is a former child soldier from Liberia working on an initiative for child soldiers. He has an empathetic understanding of his audience.”
The biggest contingent of fellows comes from India and Pakistan. That reflects the Unreasonable Institute’s relationships with social entrepreneurship organizations such as Ashoka and Endeavor. “Those are our pipeline partners,” Epstein explains, “and they have strong connections in those regions.”
One of the summer mentors is Elmira Bayrasli, vice president of partnerships and outreach at Endeavor, which supports highimpact entrepreneurs in emerging markets. She sees the Unreasonable Institute as a new resource for early-stage innovators “who have a desire to take an idea to scale. This could help them fulfill that vision.”
Read more stories by Suzie Boss.