How to Change the World
Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas

-David Bornstein

“Wonderfully hopeful and enlightening….The stories of these social entrepreneurs will inspire and encourage many people who seek to build a better world.” That is how Nelson Mandela describes this book. As the phenomena of social entrepreneurship is growing rapidly this book brings to the reader the real life stories of nine remarkable individuals who are trying to make this world a better place to live one individual at a time. The books global coverage from Isamel Ferreira of Market Access for Small Sisal Farmers of Valente Brazil to Tomasz and Basha Sadwoski of Pozan Poland running Self managed Communities for Homeless people to Ravi Agrawal of Delhi, India managing  Management of Toxic waste has a common thread, that of using innovative ideas to solve social problems, intense desire to do right, firm conviction in their beliefs, willingness to break free of established structure, strong commitment to listen to others and to plow ahead no matter what. The essence of these social entrepreneurs is beautifully captured in the answer given by Fabio Rosa one of the social entrepreneurs in the book to the question posed by the author “Why do you work on the kind of projects you do? Why don’t you just want to make a lot of money?” His reply among other things “I am a slave to my dreams, thought and ideas. That is all.”

Review by Maya
06/27/05