week 4

Although I haven't agreed with everything that Rupert Scofield, the author, has said in the book so far I find his advice on being a sort of middle man for a project or organization something that I wish I knew earlier. Scofield identifies being a middle man is trying to control an employee who doesn't follow orders from the boss. He advises for the middle man to 1. listen to all points of view and let each person make their case, 2. "hold back on your own opinions until everyone else has had his or her say." and 3. try to get colleague to listen to each other. These steps aren't easy to follow but I think if people try and follow these steps not just to be a middle man but to be more open to new ideas. Something that I have learned these past 4 years in high school is that you have to hear every side to a story before you make assumptions. Thinking like this has given me new perspective on a lot of things.
Scofield also mentions a person that is commonly found in an organizations. He calls this person "the visionary" because this person has new ideas that could improve the organization. He advises to support this visionary on his ideas and projects because this could help the organization to grow. I agree with this because some people are more creative and have more ideas that need to be represented.

Week 3

The Social Entrepreneur's Handbook by Rupert Scofield is an interesting read but there are parts of the book that I disagree with. For example, the section called 'The Importance of a Finding a Mentor' assumes that a person can easily find a mentor in their field or occupation and this isn't always true. Some people struggle to find a mentor for various reasons. When Scofield explains how to recognize potential mentors he says that they have to notice you first. I truly believe that this isn't always true, it might be true in some cases but not all of them. My personal motto is "No one else is going to do it for you. If you want it bad enough go out and do it yourself." I believe that most of the time your boss or mentor won't always have time to mentor. But my views are biased and focused on big corporations. Personally I have worked hard to get recognition from my mentors. I stayed after every meeting at Brookline Teen Grant Makers last year to help clean up and talk to Jennifer about the program and just life in general. I think I made a real connection with her and I also believe that she is an amazingly kind person. Over the summer when I had an internship at Harvard whenever I was finished with my work given to me, I would check in with other people in the office if they needed a hand on anything. When I did this I got one of my bosses to notice me and appreciate that I went the extra mile to help out. I think if you want someone to be your mentor you have to get noticed not wait to be noticed.

Another part of the chapter addresses the fact that a lot of colleges these days do have a type of social entrepreneurship program. The author at first discredits them not believing that they really teach student about social entrepreneurship. But once Scofield talked at many schools like Columbia Business school, he started to approve of the programs. Personally I think that schools teaching about social entrepreneurship is important. I believe having the opportunity to work with BCF has made me realize that there is a lot of trouble in this world and that I can take part in fixing it.

The Social Entrepreneurship Handbook- Week 1

I am reading The Social Entrepreneur's Handbook How to Start, Build, and Run a Business That Improves the World. The beginning of the book the author, Rupert Scofield talked about his personal and near-death experience of working in other countries around the world. For example, he shares his story about having to run from an angry mob in Somalia because of an misunderstanding with a driver. I enjoy how the Scofield starts the book in a light-hearted and amusing fashion.
Scofield says that a lot of publicly funded non-profits are constantly criticized because their employees have never actually lived in poverty. He continues on to say that if the organizations don't close the "empathy gap" their employees won't have the understanding that is needed to help others. This is something that stood out to me. I believe that there is more to life than just the facts. Like in Brookline the poverty percentage is higher than the state's average. Most people say,"okay" and move on with their lives. But I believe that there is more to it than just the fact. When I hear this fact I am automatically drawn to the question "why?" I want to know why this is happening in our community and how I can help decrease the percentage.
As I continue reading the book, the author discusses the main differences of working for a small non-profit or a large one. He discusses the fact that small and local foundations make a huge positive impact to the people that they serve. This reminds me of the Brookline Community Foundation and the meeting the Brookline Teen Grant Makers (which I participate in) had this past weekend about choosing a focus area of our grant making. A member pointed out that the goal is for our funding to a make a positive difference in someone's life. This is a goal that I feel people can stray from.
Scofield says that while working for a large non-profit can give you financial stability it can also have less entrepreneurial opportunities and less of a chance to direct the future of the organization. This is something that is true when working for large companies as well as non-profits. I also have come to understand that it can take a long time to work up the ladder at a company or organization. Scofield also shares an anecdote about a person named Craig, who has worked for a lot of different for-profit companies before working for a non-profit. After a while Craig was more satisfied with his job because he enjoyed his work and felt like he was making a positive difference. This is something that sticks out to me because of my previous experience of volunteering this past summer at Harvard Alumni Association. Although the experience working there was wonderful I think I enjoyed volunteering at the Brookline Community Foundation more. This is because I felt that I was actually making a difference in my community and helping people around me. I believe that people should do volunteer and help their communities and also learn about what is actually happening in their community.