Developing future Social Entrepreneurs

The article “Two social enterprises awarded grants under Youth Social Entrepreneurship Programme” by Felicia Choo on The Straits Times shared the news about the award winners of the grant by raiSE whom are two groups of young social entrepreneurs that participated in the DBS-NUS Social Venture Challenge Asia 2015. As seen from the article, there are many young and aspiring social entrepreneurs who would want to set up a social enterprise to help solve a social issue that they are passionate about. Thus, with the growing social enterprise sector in Singapore and the increase in awareness of social enterprises, there are more programmes available and support given to help develop the future social entrepreneurs of Singapore.

A speech made during the social enterprise symposium explained that young social entrepreneurs who are keen to set up a social enterprise are able to receive support and assistance quite easily. For instance, students of the National University of Singapore (NUS) can approach the Centre for Social Entrepreneurship and Philanthropy to receive advice regarding their social enterprise and seed funding. The students can also receive advisory support and consultancy from the Social Enterprise Development Centre when they start up their social enterprises and further receive support from the social entrepreneurship community by joining the Social Enterprise Association’s networking and pitching sessions where they can reach out to other social entrepreneurs to seek for help (Ministry of Social and Family Development, 2010). The Asia Centre for Social Entrepreneurship and Philanthropy (ACSEP) also aims to develop future social entrepreneurs through education programmes available which will spread the understanding and impactful practices of social entrepreneurship (National University of Singapore, n.d.).

Singapore International Foundation’s Young Social Entrepreneur programme was also established in 2010 to groom developing social entrepreneurs through the workshop by providing mentorships to the participants and offering study trips to places such as Mumbai, India to learn more about social enterprises and what they do. The participants would also have a chance to join the network of social entrepreneurs to learn from them. During the workshops, the participants would also receive an opportunity to pitch their ideas for funding of up to $20,000 to kick-start their ideas. The programme will also provide participants an opportunity for mentorship with a successful social entrepreneur who would guide the participants through the process of running a social enterprise if they are successful in their pitch (Ministry of Social and Family Development, 2013; Singapore International Foundation, 2016; Sutanto, 2016).

Educational and other institutions are also present in Singapore to teach and develop those with a passion to start a social enterprise by exposing them to the social enterprise sector and by teaching them the skills that they will need to manage a social enterprise. Some of these institutions include the professional workshop in social entrepreneurship at M.A.D. School (M.A.D. School, 2015). Tertiary education institutions such as the business and social enterprise course in Ngee Ann Polytechnic and the diploma in social enterprise management in Republic Polytechnic also provide education about various social issues in Singapore and provide students in these courses with the knowledge of how to run a social enterprise. Furthermore, students would get many opportunities to learn from successful social entrepreneurs and even work with social enterprises during the course of their studies in these schools (Ngee Ann Polytechnic, 2016; Republic Polytechnic, n.d.).

In conclusion, there are many programmes available for future social entrepreneur to receive the relevant skills and knowledge needed to run a social enterprises and to set up one. As such, young social entrepreneurs are able to manage a social enterprise more smoothly to help resolve various social issues in Singapore which helps the social enterprise sector in Singapore to grow. Therefore, developing and aspiring social entrepreneurs should not be afraid to start up a social enterprise as they would be able to receive relevant support and even education to successfully set up a social enterprise in Singapore.

Reference Articles

Choo, F. (2015, June 12). Two social enterprises awarded grants under Youth Social

Entrepreneurship Programme. The Straits Times. Retrieved from http://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/two-social-enterprises-awarded-grants-under-youth-social-entrepreneurship

M.A.D. School. (2015). Professional Workshop in Social Entrepreneurship. Retrieved

from http://www.madschool.edu.sg/#!social-entrepreneurship/c1sfo

Ministry of Social and Family Development. (2010). Social Entrepreneurs Symposium.

Retrieved from https://app.msf.gov.sg/Press-Room-Archives/Social-Entrepreneurs-Symposium

Ministry of Social and Family Development. (2013). At Least $250,000 Per year to Fund

and Mentor Youth Social Enterprise Startups. Retrieved from https://app.msf.gov.sg/Press-Room/At-Least-250-000-Per-Year-to-Fund-and-Mentor-Yout

National University of Singapore. (n.d.). Asia Centre for Social Entrepreneurship &

Philanthropy (ACSEP). Retrieved from https://bschool.nus.edu.sg/acsep

Ngee Ann Polytechnic. (2016). Diploma in Business & Social Enterprise (N79).

Retrieved from http://www.np.edu.sg/hms/courses/bzse/Pages/bzse.aspx

Republic Polytechnic. (n.d.). Diploma in Social Enterprise Management (R51). Retrieved

from http://www.rp.edu.sg/Diploma_in_Social_Enterprise_Management_(R51).aspx

Singapore International Foundation. (2016). Young Social Entrepreneurs. Retrieved from

http://www.sif.org.sg/our-work/gb/yse/about

Sutanto, S. (2012). Translate your social enterprise idea into reality with Singapore International

Foundation’s Young Social Entrepreneurs Programme. Tech in Asia. Retrieved from https://www.techinasia.com/singapore-international-foundation-is-accepting-applications-for-its-young-social-entrepreneurs-programme