Social Entrepreneurs Make a Meaningful Living

Whether a venture is for profit or not, if it’s social entrepreneurship, the reward is making a difference.

Michael Walsh, Chicago Climate Exchange senior vice president, marveled at “the value on this panel” after four fellow social entrepreneurs told their stories at the Entrepreneurial Edge Conference hosted by the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship November 18 at Gleacher Center. He noted how their organizations had changed lives and in one case, even saved them.

Walsh said his company, a voluntary greenhouse gas emission reduction and trading exchange, has grown to 130 members who use markets to reduce environmental problems.

Similarly, chairman and CEO Tom Casten’s company, Primary Energy Ventures, invests in clean energy creation. For the past 30 years he has developed energy recycling projects, such as a power plant that generates heat and power from coke oven exhaust.

Executive MBA student and Ashoka Fellow Temp Keller filled a need by starting the non-profit Resources for Indispensable Schools and Educators (RISE), which rewards star public school teachers in low-income areas with the hope of retaining them.

His “a-ha” moment came when he saw all teachers in low-income school districts being treated as if they were noble, regardless of whether or not they could raise kids’ reading levels or teach effectively.

“It’s not enough to just show up and teach poor kids poorly,” said Keller.

—Mary Sue Penn