Meet 10 Wealthiest Social Entrepreneurs who Made a Difference While Earning Revenues
These supremely talented minds are leading profitable social businesses
Businesses with a mission to address social, environmental, or economic concerns are essentially social ventures, which are thankfully on the rise aided by technology. Many non-profit organizations and social organizations are teaming up with for-profit companies and creating a hybrid business model that is led by some supremely talented minds. These leaders have successfully come up with a formula for solving serious issued affecting the world, while also making profits for the shareholders. Here are the social entrepreneurs who are at the top of their game and are making a difference along with revenues.
1. Rachel Brathen
Rachel Brathen, the Swedish Yoga instructor and a pioneer of paddleboard yoga is also the founder of Island Yoga Aruba in the Caribbean. Tagged as the "Yoga Girl," Brathen said that she stumbled upon social influence by accident. She is an internationally known yoga teacher and the author of the book, "Yoga Girl." No wonder, Rachel Brathen is making a lot of money and bags around $25,000 per Instagram post.
2. Scott Harrison
Scott Harrison reportedly abandoned his comfortable and luxurious life in New York to volunteer with a hospital ship on the shore of West Africa. Later on, he went on to launch his own charity called Water. The nonprofit provides safe drinking water in 29 countries around the globe. The organization has reportedly fulfilled 137,015 projects in many countries. He is also the author of the book, "Thirst: A Story of Redemption, Compassion, and a Mission to Bring Clean Water to the World." Thanks to his charitable work and ability to make money, as of December 2023, he is worth around $40 million.
3. Shiza Shahid
Shiza Shahid is a social entrepreneur, activist, investor, and educator. She is the co-founder as well as ambassador of the Malala fund and also leads the business operations for Malala Yousafzai, the teenager who became the youngest-ever winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in the year 2014. Shahid was also born in Pakistan and reached out to Malala in the year 2009 and offered to work to organize and camp for her and other girls.
4. Bill Drayton
The American social entrepreneur, Bill Drayton was named one of the country's 25 Best Leaders in 2005. He is the founder and chairperson of Ashoka Innovators for the public which fosters social entrepreneurs worldwide. According to him, social entrepreneurs are not content by offering fish to a few, but will revolutionize the fishing industry. Apart from being an entrepreneur, he is also an elected member of the American Philosophical Society.
5. Blake Mycoskie
Blake Mycoskie is an American entrepreneur, author, and philanthropist. He is the founder of Toms Shoes and also the co-founder of Madefor. The company donated one pair of shoes for every one sold and now has the One-For-One campaign to support water, sight, birth, and anti-bullying initiatives, as per their official website. The company says that it used money earned from sales to donate $10,000 each to ten different NGOs. The money was used to provide mental health services, and the company has donated more than 100 million pairs of shoes so far.
6. Xavier Helgesen
Xavier Helgesen is one of the co-founders of Better World Books which is an online bookstore that also funds global literacy. The founders met at Notre Dame University where they tutored the football team. Helegesen is also the cofounder of ZOLA Electric which provides renewable energy to homes in the off-grid world. He once held the position of CEO at Aid Through Trade, which exports accessories from Nepal. Helgesen is also the co-founder of the company, Operation Incubation which delivers incubators to the developing world.
7. Muhammad Yunus
Professor Muhammad Yunus is known for popularising microfinance and microcredit which now serves as the cornerstone of the Grameen Bank that was founded back in 1983. He also received a Nobel Prize for launching Grameen Bank where around 90% of the customers are women, who have borrowed money and paid their loans back at a rate of 97%. He has also received many accolades for his efforts, including the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal.
8. Marc Koska
Marc Andrew Koska is best known for inventing the K1 auto-disable syringe. He is the one who re-imagined medical tools and introduced non-reusable and inexpensive syringes that can be used in underfunded medical facilities. His innovation helped prevent many blood-borne diseases. Koska founded Safepoint Trust in 2006, which delivered more than 4 billion injections in more than 40 developing countries through his auto-disable syringes.
9. Jeffrey Hollender
He is best known for being the former CEO and co-founder of Seventh Generation, a well-known brand for natural products. He is now a consultant, a speaker, and also an activist. Hollender has also penned several books including "How to Make the World a Better Place," and is the co-founder of Hollender Sustainable Brands which sells natural and sustainable products for sexual and personal health. He is also a professor at New York University and a co-founder and board chair of the American Sustainable Business Council.
10. Sanjit "Bunker" Roy
Sanjit Roy belongs to an affluent family in India, and went through a life-changing experience when he visited the rural parts of the country, which made him look for a way to improve the socioeconomic inequities in his country. He is the founder of the Barefoot College for the poor, which is entirely solar-powered and described as the "only place where the teacher is the learner and the learner is the teacher." He was named one of the 100 most influential personalities in 2010.