The Annual CASE Award for Enterprising Social Innovation
As part of its ongoing efforts to promote the entrepreneurial pursuit of social impact, CASE launched a new award in 2008 to recognize outstanding individuals, organizations, or companies whose innovations blend methods from the worlds of business and philanthropy to create sustainable social value that has the potential for large-scale impact. CASE awarded the inaugural recipient of the CASE Award for Enterprising Social Innovation (ESI) in the spring of 2009 and accepts nominations from the public annual each spring.
CASE is thrilled to announce that our 2013 ESI Award Winner is:
Andrea and Barry Coleman, co-founders of Riders for Health!
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Read about our past ESI Award Recipients:
Award Goals & Criteria
The goals of the CASE Enterprising Social Innovation Award and the corresponding criteria for consideration of nominees are as follows:
- To identify and celebrate the traits that these entrepreneurs must possess in order to be successful in their endeavors, including creativity, commitment, resilience, and a results-focused drive to create and sustain positive social impact. More specifically, nominees should play the role of individual or organizational change agents who:
- Adopt a mission to create and sustain social value (not just private value);
- Recognize and relentlessly pursue new opportunities to serve that mission;
- Engage in a process of continuous innovation, adaptation, and learning;
- Act boldly without being limited by resources currently in hand; and,
- Exhibit a heightened sense of accountability to the constituencies served and for the outcomes created.
- Adopt a mission to create and sustain social value (not just private value);
- To raise public awareness of outstanding individuals, organizations, or companies who endeavor to achieve more effective, sustainable, and scalable impact through enterprising social innovation. CASE seeks nominations of social entrepreneurs whose work:
- Blends methods from business and philanthropy. In order to be considered “enterprising,” the innovation must involve some business-inspired elements, whether through the adaptation of business methods to create or enhance social value, the operation of a social-purpose business, or the formation of cross-sector partnerships. The innovation may be pursued through a for-profit, nonprofit, or hybrid organization.
- Creates social value that can scale and endure. This form of social entrepreneurship is not about temporary charitable relief or unique efforts of limited scope. It is about creating value that is likely to be sustained and scaled over time. Sustainable social impact may be achieved through some kind of systemic change or major social transformation, or be accomplished simply by intervening in a way that has a lasting impact in the lives of those affected. The innovation involved should have achieved demonstrable results and should also be capable, in principle, of achieving a scale of impact that is commensurate with the overall societal need or the magnitude of the societal problem being addressed.
- Challenges the status quo. CASE seeks nominees who have broken new ground, developed new models, and/or pioneered new approaches to addressing critical social needs. A nominee’s innovation may represent a new business model for delivering a new good or service, or delivering an old one in a new way, achieving greater impact.
- Blends methods from business and philanthropy. In order to be considered “enterprising,” the innovation must involve some business-inspired elements, whether through the adaptation of business methods to create or enhance social value, the operation of a social-purpose business, or the formation of cross-sector partnerships. The innovation may be pursued through a for-profit, nonprofit, or hybrid organization.
CASE seeks nominees whose work can inspire dialogue, learning, and action. Nominees may come from any domain or field, though CASE has a special interest in social entrepreneurs addressing issues of poverty, health, education, and the environment.
Nomination Process
If you know of an individual, organization, or company that you feel embodies the above characteristics, or are yourself engaged in an endeavor that fits the above criteria, please submit an online nomination form so the organization/individual can be considered. You may nominate multiple indivuduals, organizations, or companies. Self-nominations will also be accepted. Applications are accepted any time. Candidates previously nominated for the award may also be reconsidered by the committee in future cycles.
All candidates will be reviewed by a selection committee chosen by CASE. Awardees will be invited to Duke University to receive the award and deliver a lecture about their work to an audience of students, faculty, administrators, and community leaders. The next award presentation will be in 2012.
ESI Award Sponsors:
