What is SEKN / History
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The Social Enterprise Knowledge Network (SEKN), a collaboration formed to address the need for generating social enterprise intellectual capital developed in the region itself, came about in the year 2001 through the participation of a group of leading Latin American business schools and the Harvard Business School in partnership with the AVINA Foundation. The project emerged from the vision and leadership of HBS professor James E. Austin, chair of the HBS Social Enterprise Initiative, and colleagues from several other schools in the region, who together identified the need for management education to address the challenges of the social sector. "We take a global perspective in social enterprise," Austin said at the time. "We believe in the power of comparative cross-country analyses. Social enterprise has a very important role to play in Latin America." SEKN was founded on three essential pillars: research, education, and networking. Founding members of SEKN sought to broaden the education of current and future leaders, fostering a mindset that would bring more talent and know-how to work for the betterment of society. Each of the members of SEKN considers social enterprise as central to its mission and has made a major institutional commitment to developing social enterprise research and courses as an integral part of their educational programs. Social Enterprise Newsletter, Fall 2003 |