This morning I had the privilege of attending a talk delivered by Elim Chew. Elim Chew is the founder and the current president of 77th Street.
She started the company in 1988 and has been credited with introducing and popularizing "street fashion" in Singapore.
The company has been incredibly successful in Singapore and is currently on the verge of starting a significant presence in China.
Now, while she has been successful in her 77th Street Venture, more significantly, she has used her success as a platform to champion Social Entrepreneurship.
Rather than me paraphrasing all her achievements, you can read about her
here.
As for me, through Elim, I've only just really considered Social Entrepreneurship.
After hearing her very engaging speech today, my own take is that Social Entrepreneurism is not about starting a business for the sake of simply making money but rather starting a business where you can make money while simultaneously addressing any or many of the shortcomings within society.
For example, a business that gainfully utilizes the unique skills of the blind or a business that alleviates the prevalence of homelessness among many others.
To this effect apart from 77th Street, Elim is also the Director of the Social Innovation Park which is an impartial, not for profit organisation that aims to develop a self-reliant and thriving model for both aspiring and budding social entrepreneurs alike to bring positive transformation to society.
Read about 77th Street
here.
Read about Social Innovation park
here.
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PS the title of this post rhymes
