Panelists for the July 29th session “Social Change – for Profit? Hybrid Capital and Sustainability” included top social investors and entrepreneurs recognized for building unique and cutting edge progress in bridging business and social change; each shared breakthroughs as well as hard lessons learned from the trenches.

With over 100 of the Bay Areas leading business, social sector, investment and philanthropic innovators in attendance, Social Fusion’s July 29th session provided a key resource for the growing social entrepreneur community in the Bay Area.

All Conversations in Social Enterprise forums focus on a balanced between practical, hands on explorations and lessons learned; and larger questions of strategy and vision. Questions we (as well as the broader Social Edge audience) would like to continue delving into from our Friday session include:

1] Are we at a Tipping Point? Are we at or near a so-called tipping point in this space, where we are going to see a wave of new market mechanisms, businesses and capital flow that will transform business as we know it?

2] Tradeoffs: Are there necessary trade-offs that exist when we are talking about hybrid captial and sustainability?

3] The role of philanthropy vs. traditional capital: What is the right relationship between philanthropists and investors as we look at bridging the traditional realms of doing good (philanthropy) with doing well (business/financial markets)? Is there a need for “smart subsidies” where philanthropists subsidize some for-profit social enterprise development to address some of our most pressing social, economic and environmental challenges?

4] Ethics: Are there ethical challenges that we need to look at when we look at hybrid entities focused on making the world a better place? If so, what are these issues, and how do we resolve them?

This session is part of a larger, 6-part forum series called Conversations in Social Enterprise that Social Fusion is offering for the 3rd year as part of our commitment to blur the boundaries between philanthropy and business. Together, we are Empowering Entrepreneurs to Change the World.

For more information about Social Fusion’s social enterprise incubation services, and upcoming public programs, please visit the website at http://www.socialfusion.org.