I have been trying to find the perfect “home” for my new company, The Leader Project, and now I know where to land… in the field of Cultural Entrepreneurship! Thank you for this enlightening and timely article. My work uses an integrated cultural framework to guide our social innovation projects. It blends both Western and Hawaiian cultural world views. Perhaps we have the potential to invite a much bigger community into this story if we look beyond just popular culture and the role of social media as we define culture-based solutions.
This is a really interesting idea, and it certainly got me thinking.
Here’s a point for conversation: I believe the “Cultural” part of Courtney and Lisa’s argument is right on; what I’m a bit unsure of is the “Entrepreneur” part. Are we entrepreneurs if we’re not involved in any specific business or organization? Is bringing awareness to an issue and doing our best to promote change an entrepreneurial activity? Perhaps these types of leaders are Cultural Organizers? Or maybe Cultural Activists? I’ve been titled a Social Activist before, and I have to say that based on this argument of Social vs. Cultural, Cultural Activism would be more appropriate term for the way I go about taking on the causes and issues I care about. Cultural Activist seems like a designation I’d be willing to strive for! Let’s share our thoughts on the “Entrepreneurship” side of this title.
BYThomas Aageson, Global Center for Cultural Entrepreneurship
On our site, the Global Center for Cultural Entrepreneurship, <www.culturalentrepreneur.org> you find many of the references I make below to cultural entrepreneurship.
We do have to distinguish between the use of the word “culture” as reference to the culture of a workplace, or drug culture from the true sense of the word that belongs with the cultures of the world like art art, music, literature, film, museums, artisans, performance, folk art, etc.
Cultural entrepreneurs are those who deploy cultural wealth from their community, blend it with human and financial capital, and convert it into an enterprise, for profit or not for profit. Dan Stroper gathered together the music of local cultures and created Putumayo creating a new genre, world music. Stephanie Odegard uses museum designs and Nepalese rug makers (hand knotted), pays them a just wage, and creates stunning rugs.
I have created a sales gallery at Mystic Seaport for contemporary martime artists, a catering business based on 19th century recipes and traditions, co-founded the Santa Fe International Folk Art Market <www.folkartmarket.org>, started a museum book and print enterprise, and New Mexico Creates <www.newmexicocreates.org> that has generated millions of dollars back to local artists. We are now developing New Mexico’s Cultural Corridor with a regional brand to promote tourism.
Poverty can be addressed when developing and scaling cultural enterprises. See our Kellogg Foundation research. We proved that cultural entrepreneur households in 3 of our poorest states are better off than other households (see our site). Clusters of cultural enterprises create the local, regional or national Cultural Economy. UNESCO has identified it as one of the fastest growing economic areas of international trade. The definition of cultural entrepreneur found on our site was develop in collaboration with UNESCO.
Supporting cultural entrepreneurs to build their cultural enterprises blends together cultural, economic, social and environmental positive impact. It is an expanded view of J Emerson’s blended value approach that I admire.
There is more to say and if you wish, contact me at <tom@culturalentrepreneur.org>
PS Lisa…Britt Bravo of Have Fun Do Good is my daughter.
Thank you both for this vital contribution to the entrepreneurship-for-good conversation.
In collaboration with The Natan Fund, The Samuel Bronfman Foundation, Pears Foundation, and the ROI Community, Jumpstart has documented the emergence of an entire ecosystem of what you might term Jewish cultural entrepreneurs. Our latest report about North America, entitled The Jewish Innovation Economy, is at http://j.mp/njina10 , and our report about Europe is at http://j.mp/njieur10 .
We look forward to joining and continuing this important discussion.
Interesting article, but you seem to have made up a new word - “cultural entrepreneurship” for something that already exists: social marketing. Social marketers, like cultural entrepreneurs [from the article] “use persuasive communications and peer influence to shift attitudes, beliefs, and behavior and, in doing so, change the world for the better.” But we don’t limit ourselves to the communications sphere, bringing in the market forces when they will be more effective.
I suppose what you call it depends on which world you come from, but I’d hate for people to think this is a brand new concept!
Excellent distinction. Some needs, injustices, and inequities will only be met by changing the cultures that foster them.
I think Jessi’s point above, though, is key. From the Global Center for Cultural Entrepreneurship: “Cultural entrepreneurs are resourceful visionaries, generating revenues from culturally embedded knowledge systems and activities.”
Leading with the examples of “I Am Troy Davis” and “Slutwalk” confuse the point, as neither have a revenue-generating component. (Thomas’ examples help to clarify.)
As important as it is to define the difference between social and cultural entrepreneurship, it’s equally important to distinguish entrepreneurship from activism. Both are valid, and they are not mutually exclusive. But to truly understand and nurture cultural entrepreneurship as a discipline, it’s important to understand both its entrepreneurial and cultural aspects.
To me, the idea of cultural entrepreneurs is the same as social innovators.
One idea which it did trigger for me is that certain social entrepreneurs may be particularly focused on asserting and strengthening minority cultures. They are still social entrepreneurs (thus I don’t think a new term is needed) but I think highlighting the effort people are putting into the resurgence of local and minority cultures is interesting ans useful
When I worked in the advertising department of a large national retailer in the 1970s and 1980s we spent over $250 million a year to educate consumers and motivate them to shop at our stores when they were looking for products and services we offered.
Today I aggregate information about organizations and networks working to influence the aspirations and learning habits of inner city kids so more come to school prepared to learn and leave school prepared for 21s century jobs. Since a city as large as Chicago might require several hundreds tutor/mentor programs (it has over 500 public schools) we need to influence the beliefs and habits of thousands of volunteers, donors, policy makers…and students… for this entire system to thrive.
We don’t have thousands of dollars, let alone millions, so we share ideas with web sites, social media, email and through place-based events.
I’ve been doing this for nearly 20 years so I don’t know if it’s social marketing, cultural entrepreneurship, social entrepreneurship, or just network building. However, at the heart of this process is a need to influence how people think and act so that more people become proactive in what they do every day to support this process from year to year.
If a new lable will inspire investors and/or philanthropists or business leaders and volunteers to seek out those doing this type of work to provide more time and talent to help us, I’m all for it.
I value and congratulate the intentions of the social innovation and cultural entrepreneur movements in their concern for responding to human pain around the world. I’d like my comments to be seen in the context of appreciation and support for the creativity and life-giving orientation of these movements.
Still, I wonder about the concept of cultural entrepreneur. It rings of the goodwill and enthusiasm of the early twentieth century when young men and women in the U.S. saw the need to evangelize the world. Some were taking the “gospel” only; others were attempting to address the same social problems as the contemporary social innovation movement.
Here’s one of the lessons learned from both wings of that movement. We took our culture along with our good intentions and that was seen and experienced as a kind of cultural imperialism. In some contexts, it devastated indigenous cultures with reverberations lasting to our day. As that evangelistic movement carried a message of “superiority” how do cultural entrepreneurs avoid destroying cultures in an attempt to save societies and value the strengths of those who, though poorer, may have much to teach us but not the resources to either teach us or fend off our superiority.
These are phrases from the discussion that cause me concern:
“. . .shift attitudes, beliefs, and behavior and, in doing so, change the world for the better
change hearts and minds. ‘
“Cultural entrepreneurs, on the other hand, solve problems by disrupting belief systems.”
“Social innovators have recognized that without definitive cultural shifts, their market-based interventions can fail.”
This leads me to this question: If culture is something we swim in as a fish swims in water, can we ever be so confident that we understand ourselves and our culture sufficiently to disrupt another culture’s belief system?
This is in response to Terry’s comment above re: cultural imperialism. The authors’s description of the prevalence of child marriage and its inextricable links to notions of social acceptance (culture) can in fact be shifted through innovations in the social space that expose people to an alternative norm which eventually takes root and allows customs such as child marriage to become unfashionable and go extinct.
Child marriage, or any cultural practice that is so inherently at odds with the spirit of universal human rights-which have been codified and endorsed by nearly every nation on earth in the form of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the cornerstone of international law- is crying out for social entrepreneurs to address and change.
Excellent piece of work. You are really good I was not thinking you such clever.. lol Thanks for this useful article for everyone. I came to touched with a website today which has made a sound in the online network. It is actually a new version from roblox and it is capable of generating free robux and all type of stuff related to roblox. I have seen this first time on facebook. This is the source http://rbxgenerator.com with the help of which you could get this robox hack tool.
Entrepeneurship is a great option for a new start, good article. When you surf the internet it is important to get to the official site http://officialssite.com just to be sure you are in the official website
COMMENTS
BY Cheryl Kauhane Lupenui
ON December 9, 2011 03:25 PM
I have been trying to find the perfect “home” for my new company, The Leader Project, and now I know where to land… in the field of Cultural Entrepreneurship! Thank you for this enlightening and timely article. My work uses an integrated cultural framework to guide our social innovation projects. It blends both Western and Hawaiian cultural world views. Perhaps we have the potential to invite a much bigger community into this story if we look beyond just popular culture and the role of social media as we define culture-based solutions.
BY Jessi Arrington
ON December 9, 2011 04:12 PM
This is a really interesting idea, and it certainly got me thinking.
Here’s a point for conversation: I believe the “Cultural” part of Courtney and Lisa’s argument is right on; what I’m a bit unsure of is the “Entrepreneur” part. Are we entrepreneurs if we’re not involved in any specific business or organization? Is bringing awareness to an issue and doing our best to promote change an entrepreneurial activity? Perhaps these types of leaders are Cultural Organizers? Or maybe Cultural Activists? I’ve been titled a Social Activist before, and I have to say that based on this argument of Social vs. Cultural, Cultural Activism would be more appropriate term for the way I go about taking on the causes and issues I care about. Cultural Activist seems like a designation I’d be willing to strive for! Let’s share our thoughts on the “Entrepreneurship” side of this title.
BY Thomas Aageson, Global Center for Cultural Entrepreneurship
ON December 12, 2011 10:34 AM
On our site, the Global Center for Cultural Entrepreneurship, <www.culturalentrepreneur.org> you find many of the references I make below to cultural entrepreneurship.
We do have to distinguish between the use of the word “culture” as reference to the culture of a workplace, or drug culture from the true sense of the word that belongs with the cultures of the world like art art, music, literature, film, museums, artisans, performance, folk art, etc.
Cultural entrepreneurs are those who deploy cultural wealth from their community, blend it with human and financial capital, and convert it into an enterprise, for profit or not for profit. Dan Stroper gathered together the music of local cultures and created Putumayo creating a new genre, world music. Stephanie Odegard uses museum designs and Nepalese rug makers (hand knotted), pays them a just wage, and creates stunning rugs.
I have created a sales gallery at Mystic Seaport for contemporary martime artists, a catering business based on 19th century recipes and traditions, co-founded the Santa Fe International Folk Art Market <www.folkartmarket.org>, started a museum book and print enterprise, and New Mexico Creates <www.newmexicocreates.org> that has generated millions of dollars back to local artists. We are now developing New Mexico’s Cultural Corridor with a regional brand to promote tourism.
Poverty can be addressed when developing and scaling cultural enterprises. See our Kellogg Foundation research. We proved that cultural entrepreneur households in 3 of our poorest states are better off than other households (see our site). Clusters of cultural enterprises create the local, regional or national Cultural Economy. UNESCO has identified it as one of the fastest growing economic areas of international trade. The definition of cultural entrepreneur found on our site was develop in collaboration with UNESCO.
Supporting cultural entrepreneurs to build their cultural enterprises blends together cultural, economic, social and environmental positive impact. It is an expanded view of J Emerson’s blended value approach that I admire.
There is more to say and if you wish, contact me at <tom@culturalentrepreneur.org>
PS Lisa…Britt Bravo of Have Fun Do Good is my daughter.
BY Shawn Landres
ON December 16, 2011 01:51 PM
Thank you both for this vital contribution to the entrepreneurship-for-good conversation.
In collaboration with The Natan Fund, The Samuel Bronfman Foundation, Pears Foundation, and the ROI Community, Jumpstart has documented the emergence of an entire ecosystem of what you might term Jewish cultural entrepreneurs. Our latest report about North America, entitled The Jewish Innovation Economy, is at http://j.mp/njina10 , and our report about Europe is at http://j.mp/njieur10 .
We look forward to joining and continuing this important discussion.
BY Nedra Weinreich
ON December 27, 2011 10:22 AM
Interesting article, but you seem to have made up a new word - “cultural entrepreneurship” for something that already exists: social marketing. Social marketers, like cultural entrepreneurs [from the article] “use persuasive communications and peer influence to shift attitudes, beliefs, and behavior and, in doing so, change the world for the better.” But we don’t limit ourselves to the communications sphere, bringing in the market forces when they will be more effective.
I suppose what you call it depends on which world you come from, but I’d hate for people to think this is a brand new concept!
BY Bill Snyder
ON December 29, 2011 05:47 PM
Excellent distinction. Some needs, injustices, and inequities will only be met by changing the cultures that foster them.
I think Jessi’s point above, though, is key. From the Global Center for Cultural Entrepreneurship: “Cultural entrepreneurs are resourceful visionaries, generating revenues from culturally embedded knowledge systems and activities.”
Leading with the examples of “I Am Troy Davis” and “Slutwalk” confuse the point, as neither have a revenue-generating component. (Thomas’ examples help to clarify.)
As important as it is to define the difference between social and cultural entrepreneurship, it’s equally important to distinguish entrepreneurship from activism. Both are valid, and they are not mutually exclusive. But to truly understand and nurture cultural entrepreneurship as a discipline, it’s important to understand both its entrepreneurial and cultural aspects.
BY Bryan G
ON February 27, 2012 03:39 PM
Thanks for these ideas!
To me, the idea of cultural entrepreneurs is the same as social innovators.
One idea which it did trigger for me is that certain social entrepreneurs may be particularly focused on asserting and strengthening minority cultures. They are still social entrepreneurs (thus I don’t think a new term is needed) but I think highlighting the effort people are putting into the resurgence of local and minority cultures is interesting ans useful
BY Daniel Bassill
ON March 13, 2012 01:30 PM
When I worked in the advertising department of a large national retailer in the 1970s and 1980s we spent over $250 million a year to educate consumers and motivate them to shop at our stores when they were looking for products and services we offered.
Today I aggregate information about organizations and networks working to influence the aspirations and learning habits of inner city kids so more come to school prepared to learn and leave school prepared for 21s century jobs. Since a city as large as Chicago might require several hundreds tutor/mentor programs (it has over 500 public schools) we need to influence the beliefs and habits of thousands of volunteers, donors, policy makers…and students… for this entire system to thrive.
We don’t have thousands of dollars, let alone millions, so we share ideas with web sites, social media, email and through place-based events.
I’ve been doing this for nearly 20 years so I don’t know if it’s social marketing, cultural entrepreneurship, social entrepreneurship, or just network building. However, at the heart of this process is a need to influence how people think and act so that more people become proactive in what they do every day to support this process from year to year.
If a new lable will inspire investors and/or philanthropists or business leaders and volunteers to seek out those doing this type of work to provide more time and talent to help us, I’m all for it.
BY Terry A. Purvis-Smith
ON March 13, 2012 03:03 PM
I value and congratulate the intentions of the social innovation and cultural entrepreneur movements in their concern for responding to human pain around the world. I’d like my comments to be seen in the context of appreciation and support for the creativity and life-giving orientation of these movements.
Still, I wonder about the concept of cultural entrepreneur. It rings of the goodwill and enthusiasm of the early twentieth century when young men and women in the U.S. saw the need to evangelize the world. Some were taking the “gospel” only; others were attempting to address the same social problems as the contemporary social innovation movement.
Here’s one of the lessons learned from both wings of that movement. We took our culture along with our good intentions and that was seen and experienced as a kind of cultural imperialism. In some contexts, it devastated indigenous cultures with reverberations lasting to our day. As that evangelistic movement carried a message of “superiority” how do cultural entrepreneurs avoid destroying cultures in an attempt to save societies and value the strengths of those who, though poorer, may have much to teach us but not the resources to either teach us or fend off our superiority.
These are phrases from the discussion that cause me concern:
“. . .shift attitudes, beliefs, and behavior and, in doing so, change the world for the better
change hearts and minds. ‘
“Cultural entrepreneurs, on the other hand, solve problems by disrupting belief systems.”
“Social innovators have recognized that without definitive cultural shifts, their market-based interventions can fail.”
This leads me to this question: If culture is something we swim in as a fish swims in water, can we ever be so confident that we understand ourselves and our culture sufficiently to disrupt another culture’s belief system?
Terry
BY Jennifer Irizarry
ON April 24, 2012 08:01 PM
This is in response to Terry’s comment above re: cultural imperialism. The authors’s description of the prevalence of child marriage and its inextricable links to notions of social acceptance (culture) can in fact be shifted through innovations in the social space that expose people to an alternative norm which eventually takes root and allows customs such as child marriage to become unfashionable and go extinct.
Child marriage, or any cultural practice that is so inherently at odds with the spirit of universal human rights-which have been codified and endorsed by nearly every nation on earth in the form of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the cornerstone of international law- is crying out for social entrepreneurs to address and change.
BY rbxteam354
ON December 23, 2015 01:04 AM
Excellent piece of work. You are really good I was not thinking you such clever.. lol Thanks for this useful article for everyone. I came to touched with a website today which has made a sound in the online network. It is actually a new version from roblox and it is capable of generating free robux and all type of stuff related to roblox. I have seen this first time on facebook. This is the source http://rbxgenerator.com with the help of which you could get this robox hack tool.
BY john smit
ON May 28, 2018 12:34 PM
Entrepeneurship is a great option for a new start, good article. When you surf the internet it is important to get to the official site http://officialssite.com just to be sure you are in the official website