Phrase for the day: Social Entrepreneurship

Tuesday night I attended a Welcome Reception at Stanford University for the new fellows in the Reuters Digital Vision Program (the RDVP.) I scored an invite because I met the Director of the program early this year at a networking dinner and ended up giving a presentation to the 2004/2005 fellows about blogging as a tool for communication.

According to their literature the RDVP is a "Stanford Center for social entrepreneurship that applies the principles of high-tech innovation to create product and service concepts that empower communities worldwide. This is our humanitarian mission."

The 15 new fellows stood around the room, each with a placard on an easel describing the projects they hope to kick off during their year in the Program. The causes ranged from women's literacy to helping Rio's street kids to helping communities prepare in advance of disasters to eradicating sweatshop labor and on and on (you can find all descriptions at their site.

Most of the fellows have a background in the corporate world, whether high-tech, big media, or some other for-profit segment. But they've decided to focus this year in their lives on helping underserved global communities advance.

It's inspiring to see what happens when people apply their minds to the world's problems, but make no mistake...their hearts come into this too. It's a bunch of impassioned soial entrepreneurs that are starting their 9 months at Stanford, and I wish them all luck.