Social Business Initiative

The Social Business and Sustainable Entrepreneurship initiative explores new possibilities for advancing practical strategies for Tibetan sustainable business.  Through a series of roundtables, conferences and forums, the Initiative seeks to spark new ideas, promote social investment in community-oriented ventures and provide the tools and knowledge to enable Tibetans to compete successfully and sustainably in the marketplace.

The Social Business Initiative is animated by the idea that markets have the power to transform social reality, and yet too often they leave the vast majority of the poor and disadvantaged behind.  The concepts of social business and sustainable entrepreneurship offer new avenues for envisioning the role of markets in expanding the capacity of communities to become more self-reliant.  By tying market mechanisms to social objectives, business principles can provide an opportunity to harness the power of markets to better meet collective social needs.  But how might profit-maximizing enterprises be designed to also optimize social benefits–whether poverty alleviation, education, gender parity or environmental protection–in the Tibetan region?

The Tibet Sustainable Governance Program (TSGP) has launched the Tibetan Social Business Initiative in partnership with Machik, a nonprofit organization working to develop new opportunities for education and capacity-building on the Tibetan plateau.

Past Events

Tibetan Social Business Forum, Paomashan, Dartsedo, Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, July 17-18, 2010

Tibetan Social Business and Entrepreneurship Symposium, University of Virginia, April 10-11, 2010

Symposium Agenda