Social Entrepreneurship Program
Hand in Hand is committed to sharing our knowledge. We also believe in learning from others. That’s why we host the annual Hand in Hand Social Entrepreneurship Program (SEP), a five-day course showcasing the role of social entrepreneurs – those who use business as a means for achieving positive social ends – in reducing poverty.
Taught by Harvard Business School Professor Kasturi Rangan, the course combines lectures with field visits and expert Q&As to explore how social entrepreneurs can empower people to work their way out of poverty, create jobs and drive economic growth.
Previous programs have been held in South Africa (2013), Kenya (2012) and India (2011). Contact us (below) for details of the next program.
Socient Managing Partner Sohel Karim | Teaching social entrepreneurship
Social Entrepreneurship Program leader Professor V. Kasturi Rangan specializes in non-profit management, marketing and microfinance at Harvard Business School (HBS). He is founding co-chair of the HBS Social Enterprise Initiative, and co-chair of the HBS-ACCION program on Strategic Leadership.
The Social Entrepreneurship Program was designed by Socient Associates, a Boston-based consultancy, in partnership with Hand in Hand. Socient Managing Partner Sohel Karim has more than 20 years’ consulting experience, and has worked closely with senior management in both for- and non-profit organizations. His background includes doctoral work at Harvard Business School and publications in leading management journals including the Harvard Business Review.
- Erik Hermsan, award-winning founder of global crowd-mapping service Ushahidi and iHub Nairobi’s innovation hub.
- Ben Lyon, co-founder of Kopo Kopo, a Kenyan merchant platform for mobile money services such as M-PESA.
- Christie Peacock, chairman of Sidai Africa, a smallholder farming social enterprise owned by NGO Farm Africa.
- Brian Richardsson, founding director of Wizzit Bank, a pioneer in mobile banking providing basic financial services for the poor.
iHub office | Nairobi, Kenya | Coyright poptech.org
Outdoor seminar| Social entrepreneurship program | Nairobi outskirts, Kenya
- Hand in Hand India’s women entrepreneurs in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.
- Jamii Bora (in Swahili: ‘Good Families’), Kenya’s fastest-growing microfinance organisation, based in Nairobi.
- An SOS Children’s Villages program providing business training to families taking care of orphans.
Graduates of the Social Entrepreneurship Program include academics, philanthropists, government officials, social investors and NGO executives.
We’ve hosted representatives of donor agencies such as:
- FMO (the Dutch development bank)
- IFC (International Finance Corporation, part of the World Bank group)
- Sida (Sweden’s foreign aid agency)
- UNDP (United Nations Development Program)
Corporate social responsibility executives from businesses including:
- CoAL (South African coal developer)
- Folksam (Swedish insurance group)
- Johnson & Johnson (multinational manufacturer of medical devices, pharmaceutical and consumer packaged goods)
- K-Rep Development (Kenyan research and development group)
- Stora Enso (Finnish forestry products group)
- Swedish Co-operative Union (Swedish co-operative retail group)
- Unidor (Indian mining and construction conglomerate)
- Waitrose (British grocery retailer)
Faculty members from institutions including:
- Asian Institute of Technology (Thailand)
- Boston University (USA)
- Kenyatta University (Kenya)
- Middlesex University (UK)
- Pan African University (Nigeria)
- University of Namibia (Namibia)
Microfinance experts from India, Kenya, Malawi, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zimbabwe.
Social entrepreneurs with initiatives spanning conservation, smallholder farming, mental and family health, tourism and information technology.
Graduate testimonials
"Kash Rangan is an outstanding lecturer and is brilliant at leading classroom discussions of fascinating and practical case studies. Be careful if you take the Hand in Hand Social Entrepreneurship Program, it just might change your life!" Christie Peacock | Founder and Chairman | Sidai Africa
"What better place than the Hand in Hand social entrepreneurship program to discuss how we can change the tired old ways of this world and make the impossible possible." Pelle Lutken | Policy Analyst | UNDP
Contact us
Head of Marketing and Communications
Jen Glyn Head of Marketing and CommunicationsJen is responsible for our public profile in the media and at events. If you would like to interview someone or if you would like us to speak at an event then she would be delighted to hear from you.
jglyn@hihinternational.orgTel: +44 (0)20 7514 5091