by Matthew Craven  on Sun, Mar 18, 2012 - 0 Comments
Categories: Health, International Development

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1. What does social enterprise mean to you?

I view a social enterprise as any organization or project whose primary goal is to create positive social impact. This includes both traditional non-profit organizations and "social ventures" where the organization aims to both create social value and make money. The activities of many traditional businesses also lead to positive social externalities, but I don't classify them as Social Enterprise unless they view this is their primary goal. 

2. What has been your most personally motivating social enterprise experience?

I spent most of my last year before HBS working with Partners In Health in Rwanda. Our organization works closely with the government to support healthcare delivery for over 700,000 people, and at the time we were in the final stages of building a new rural flagship hospital for the country at Butaro. I was fortunate enough to help lead the final stages of the Butaro Hospital project - the 150 bed facility was officially inaugurated by President Kagame in January 2011. Butaro is built on a hilltop in the mountains, and includes two operating theaters, six wards and the first full-service neonatal intensive care unit in rural Rwanda. It was tremendously satisfying to see the hospital go from a building site to a functional medical facility serving a population of 320,000 who had only one doctor and no hospital at all until a few years before.