A new miniseries debuts on PBS this week titled The New Heroes. Hosted by Robert Redford, this four-part series profiles 14 social entrepreneurs who are addressing societal problems with entrepreneurial solutions. The program will first air on Tuesday, June 28 and Tuesday, July 5 and will be repeated several times, so be sure to check your local listings to find it.

Social entrepreneurship has been gaining momentum over the last two decades as so many people realize that the world's major problems require innovative solutions. Small organizations run by a tightly-knit management team often have a better chance of implementing new and radical ideas than government agencies, large nonprofits and major corporations. Most social entrepreneurship projects begin as the idea of just one person with a vision and the desire to make a difference.

David Bornstein's 2003 book How to Change the World: Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas called international attention to this growing trend, and to the efforts of organizations like Ashoka who support and nurture entrepreneurial approaches to fixing global problems.

In my work as a business coach, I have had the privilege of helping numerous clients get socially-oriented businesses off the ground. My clients have included an author who used her publishing expertise to found a unique nonprofit helping low-income girls learn business skills, a mother-daughter film production team who formed a company dedicated to changing the role of women in the entertainment industry, a trainer who introduced sexual harassment awareness programs into elementary schools, and many more.

What all these social entrepreneurs have in common is a fierce determination to change business as usual to make the world a better place. In the words of Ashoka founder Bill Drayton, "Social entrepreneurs are not content just to give a fish or teach how to fish. They will not rest until they have revolutionized the fishing industry. "

Labels: social action, social entrepreneurs