User:Sj/Log/TiE social entrepreneurs

I spoke at a Boston TiE (The Indus Entrepreneurs) dinner tonight, along with Ram Nehra of the Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation (serving 500k+ students) and Vikas Taneja of Pratham.org (providing best practices for teaching and training, and curricula, in 13 languages and 15 Indian states). It was a bustling and energetic event; perhaps 2/3 of the audience were from India or had worked there; the others were from all over the worled -- Scandinavia, Mexico, China, Kenya, the UK. Many were in Boston for school as professors or students; some were here working with global NGOs.

There was a great sense of entrepreneurial enthusiasm and creativity in the room; people who became entrepreneurs or businessmen to pursue grand ideas and exercise their creativity, but longed for the kinds of puzzles and open problems posed by long-term social programs and not simply short-term financial ventures. I am certain that a similar spirit exists in other communities, waiting to be encouraged.