FRONTLINE/World Social Entrepreneurship Mozambique guitar hero

FRONTLINE/World Social Entrepreneurship

The FRONTLINE/World Social Entrepreneurs Film Program supports a screening and discussion of a series of short documentary films on social entrepreneurs around the world. The library program seeks to connect communities to the concept of social entrepreneurship and to promote dialogue on a local level. Funding for the library program is provided through a grant from the PBS Foundation and the Skoll Foundation.

FRONTLINE/World is the award-winning PBS international news magazine that turns its lens on the global community, covering countries and cultures rarely seen on American television. The Social Entrepreneurs Series home page features the stories of people whose ideas and organizations create new and sustainable markets and services that benefit underserved communities everywhere in the developing world. Entrepreneurs change the face of business; social entrepreneurs change society by creating solutions to social problems that leap beyond charity and encourage the development of systematic solutions that help eradicate poverty, enhance educational opportunities, provide better health care and champion social justice. Short programs are available to view in full online.

These are just some of the profiles that have appeared in the FRONTLINE/World series:

• In India, a computer engineer puts Internet kiosks in poor neighborhoods throughout his country, helping bridge the digital divide for thousands of children.

• In Kenya, a world-class long-distance runner uses her prize money to start a training camp for poor village women.

• In South Africa, a business entrepreneur invents and installs a merry-go-round that, when spun by children, pumps enough water for a village of 2,500.

• In Guatemala, an American coffee distributor helps develop organic growers whose beans can then be marketed as “fair trade,” providing them a living wage.

• In Uganda, two young social entrepreneurs develop a revolutionary model for microlending, using the Internet to connect borrowers with lenders, person to person—a venture that has grown from one small village in Africa to eleven countries around the world.

FRONTLINE/World has assembled these and other short films for distribution to participating libraries for screenings and discussion. Forty public and academic libraries received grants of $500 each and support materials from the FRONTLINE/World Social Entrepreneurs Film Program. Libraries will hold a FRONTLINE/World Social Entrepreneurs film viewing and discussion program, and at least one related program (panel, lecture, forum or other format) on the topic of social entrepreneurship in partnership with a local or regional community organization.

The goal of the FRONTLINE/World Social Entrepreneurs Film Program is to engage the general public, students and professionals in a discussion with leaders in business, humanitarian aid, academia, and/or social activism on the concept of social entrepreneurship as a way to create meaningful solutions to social problems in developing countries, in contemporary society, and in our local communities.