Mark Lewis

Recent Activity

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  Mark commented on the article | about 3 years ago

  Barack Obama and the American Spirit of Social Entrepreneurship

  Chris, social entrepreneurship has nothing to do with socialism.

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  Mark commented on the article | about 3 years ago

  Barack Obama and the American Spirit of Social Entrepreneurship

  Thanks Jeff...I'm always interested in new opportunities so I'll check it out.  If you don't mind, log onto my site and email me your contact info please.

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  Mark commented on the article | about 3 years ago

  Barack Obama and the American Spirit of Social Entrepreneurship

  As a social entrepreneur working to mainstream this concept in a community where the nexus between business and social action has formerly been restricted to the old way of thinking; philanthropic foundations building tax shelters for the uber-wealthy, NPO's ceding their strategic vision to grant funders, and "charities" tugging on the heart strings of the public to stay in business, I love the fact that we are finally seeing a recognition of social entrepreneurship as critical business acumen. 
  
  How ironic that a century after Booker T. Washington became the first African American invited to the White House and urged the African American community to focus on economic empowerment rather than political activism as the precursor to political recognition and civil freedoms, it has taken the historic election of a black president for this nation to finally realize that business needs a social consciousness to truly succeed with its intended purpose.
  
  America desperately needs a new sense of what constitutes value and how it's returned on investment in ways that don't always fit on a spreadsheet or a stock market report.  For the first time in a long time, I think we have a chance to recognize that the relationship between financial and social impact is something we can no longer safely ignore or segregate to do-gooders in the Peace Corp.  In the best B-schools in the world, business is now being taught as something moving to a blended values model that appreciates both social and financial reward as not only relevant, but indespensible.
  
  Social entrepreneurs are the tip of the spear in the new economy.  With an expanding underclass, a dwindling share of the global economic pie and the retirement of the Baby Boomers from productive work, this is so timely and necessary.  What a breath of fresh air Barack Obama is.
  
  Mark Lewis
  CEO
  Strategic Business Intelligence Group
  Dallas