Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation Minor
Description: The Minor in Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation provides an interdisciplinary field of inquiry to study social enterprises, which work to build commercial organizations that have specific social objectives, maximizing benefits to society and the environment, and reinvesting profits in social programs. This minor is unique because it is being offered by John Jay College, which has an established tradition of social justice in innovating and constantly evolving ways. As this institution is always conceiving of social justice in new ways, it provides a rich context for promoting Social Entrepreneurship, which is the initializing force behind social enterprise and seeks to form intersections between the private and philanthropic sectors, and between entrepreneurs and communities in need. Social entrepreneurship is an extension of community organizing and advocacy work, enlarging the possibilities of relationship-building across social and economic strata. To enact a vision of social justice, a successful social entrepreneur needs skills such as recognizing unjust social issues, identifying business opportunities, inspiring change through leadership and participation, taking direct action, and public speaking. Developing creative solutions to address injustice will be nurtured through human-centered design thinking and engaging with highly interactive, project-based learning. A major emphasis will be placed on innovative thinking that can be applied in the business, nonprofit, and public sectors. Through experiential learning and community-based projects, students will learn to generate earned (market) income in support of social purposes and undertake innovation for social change.
Rationale. The Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation minor integrates lessons from interdisciplinary fields to build the analytical, organizational, and management skills necessary to understand and address broad social issues that require the combined work of local communities, the market, government, and philanthropy. Social entrepreneurship aims to develop novel, effective approaches to implement localized and potentially scalable solutions to social injustice, inequality, or economic exclusion. Social entrepreneurs need capabilities that are somewhat different from those of the typical community organizer or business sector entrepreneur. As an educational curricula for social entrepreneurs that identifies the burgeoning phenomenon of social enterprise, the minor provides tools students can use to identify and apply the skills of social entrepreneurs, which include recognizing unjust social issues, identifying business opportunities, inspiring change through participation, taking direct action, public speaking, fighting adversity, and developing creative solutions to address entrenched problems. The minor is intended to introduce students to the challenges of running and growing their own organizations, as well as to the possibilities of “intrapreneurship,” or recognizing and developing opportunities within existing organizations. Key to the minor will be teaching the skills and processes necessary for setting up new units, services, and programs.
Learning outcomes. Students will:
• Explain key concepts and methodologies as they relate to social entrepreneurship and its community benefits
• Identify social needs that would benefit from a combination of financial investment, business development, and philanthropy
• Identify a variety of partnership – based approaches to creating social value
• Apply creative solutions and strategic management practices to economic and social issues
• Demonstrate leadership and fundamental entrepreneurial skills by implementing a business idea from beginning to end
Credits: 18
Requirements: This minor requires 18 credits; three courses are required and three are electives. A maximum of two courses can overlap with a student’s major, other minors, or programs.
Minor coordinator. Professor Charlotte Walker-Said, Department of Africana Studies and Faculty Director of the Moelis Social Entrepreneurship Program (cwalker-said@jjay.cuny.edu, 212.237.8758)
Part One. Required Courses
| SEI 101 | Social Entrepreneurship: Past, Present and Future | 3 |
| SEI 102 | Introduction to Business and Entrepreneurship | 3 |
| AFR 255 | Community Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship | 3 |
Total Credit Hours: 9
Advisor's recommendation: SEI 101 Social Entrepreneurship: Past, Present and Future satisfies the John Jay College Option: Learning from the Past area of the Gen Ed program.
Part Two. Electives
Select three. At least one course must be at the 300-level or above.
| AFR 227 | Community-based Approaches to Justice | 3 |
| AFR 320 | Perspectives on Justice in the Africana World | 3 |
| AFR 325 | Research Methods in Human Services and Community Justice | 3 |
| AFR 377 | Field Education in Community Organizing and Practice | 3 |
| AFR 378 | Field Education in Community Organizing and Practice II | 3 |
| ANT 380 | Selected Topics in Anthropology | 3 |
| CHS 320 | Program Planning and Development | 3 |
| CHS 381 | Field Education in Human Services I | 3 |
| CHS 382 | Field Education in Human Services II | 3 |
| CSL 220 | Leadership Skills | 3 |
| CSL 230 | Case Management in Human Services | |
| CSL 381 | Fieldwork in Human Service | 3 |
| ECO 270 | Urban Economics | |
| EJS 277 | Introduction to Experiential Learning: Environmental Justice | 3 |
| ENG 235 | Writing for Management, Business and Public Administration | 3 |
| ISP 277 | Experiential Learning in Social Justice: Field Preparation | 3 |
| LLS 220 | Human Rights and Law in Latin America | 3 |
| LLS 261/HIS 261 | Revolution and Social Change in Contemporary Latin America | 3 |
| LLS 322 | Latinx Struggles for Civil Rights & Social Justice | 3 |
| LLS 325 | Latinx Experience of Criminal Justice | 3 |
| PAD 343 | Administration of Financial Resources | 3 |
| PAD 380 | Selected Topics in Public Administration | 3 |
| PHI 210 | Ethical Theory | 3 |
| SEI 380 | Selected Topics in Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation | 3 |
| SOC 232 | Social Stratification | 3 |
| SOC 302 | Social Problems | 3 |
| UGR 377 | Experiential Learning 300-level | 3 |
Choosing an experiential learning course to satisfy the 300-level requirement is strongly recommended. Experiential learning courses listed above are: AFR 377, AFR 378, CHS 381, CHS 382, EJS 277, ISP 277, PAD 380 (when offered as the Moelis Social Entrepreneurship Fellowship course), and UGR 377. See the Minor Coordinator for other experiential learning courses that may apply.
Advisor's recommendation: AFR 320, AFR 325, LLS 322, LLS 325, PHI 210 satisfy areas in the College's Gen Ed Program.
Total Credit Hours: 9
Total Credit Hours: 18