The term social entrepreneur is relatively new, dating back to the 1950s and the work of Michael Young of the UK, who created sixty different social benefit organisations in the world, including the School of Social Entrepreneurs in 1997. The person who deserves most credit for promoting the concept is Bill Drayton.  Beginning in 1980 in the United States, Drayton’s Ashoka organisation has funded over eighteen hundred fellows from around the world who create practical and replicable solutions to pressing issues. Stating with a meagre $50,000, Ashoka had a $30 million budget in 2006. Although the term is relatively new, the practice of social entrepreneurship extends back to the public health movement during the Industrial Revolution and would include such notables as Florence Nightingale, Susan B. Anthony and M.K. Ghandi.  The best-know practitioner of social entrepreneurship is Muhammad Yunus, the creator of the microfinance and microcredit, the founder of Grameen Bank in Bangladesh and the 2006 Nobel Prize winner. Paul Hawek - Blessed unrest. 

UnLtd is a charity which supports social entrepreneurs - people with vision, drive, commitment and passion who want to change the world for the better

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In this vidio Muhammad Yunus talks about the problem with banks, the potential of a new social generation, and why businesses should set out to solve problems, not just make money

Quick and easy read - 100 truths about social enterprise