Teresa Chahine: Social Entrepreneurship

Teresa Chahine is the social entrepreneurship program leader at the Harvard School of Public Heath and the Innovation advisor at Alfanar Venture Philanthropy. She’s the author of Introduction to Social Entrepreneurship*, a 12-step guide to building an impactful venture. You can find her on Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

Key Points

Find the root cause of problems to make sure your solution is not just a band-aid.

Many leaders make the mistake of reinventing the wheel.

Find local leaders and build solutions with them.

Don’t try to solve a problem on your own, work with the people who are impacted by the problem.

Think of research as a form of action.

People are more likely to be satisfied with a solution if they feel like they were a part of it.

Resources Mentioned

BeTheBeacon Campaign

Food Truck Film

Kickstarter campaign

Deconstructing Sticky Problems

The Tipping Point* by Malcom Gladwell

Discover More

Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic.