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Social Entrepreneurship: Bill Gates.

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Social Entrepreneurship: Bill Gates.
Social Entrepreneurship: Bill Gates.

Blerina Tare

PAD 551 E

Richard H. Beinecke

March 9, 2010

William “Bill” Henry Gates III was born on October 28 1955 in Seattle, Washington. He is the richest man on Earth for 2009 according to Forbes magazine he has also been number one in “Forbes 400” list. He was a cofounder of Microsoft which is the most powerful software company in the world. Times magazine named Gates one of the 100 most influential people of the twentieth century. However Bill wants to share his success with less fortunate people around the world. In 2000 he and his wife Melinda French Gates combined family foundations to create “Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation” which is the largest transparently operating charitable foundation in the world. The slogan of the organization is: “All lives have equal value”. In 2007 Bill and Melinda Gates were the second most generous philanthropists in America, having given away over $28 billion to charity.
A social entrepreneur is someone who recognizes a social problem and uses entrepreneurial principles to organize, create and manage a venture to make social change. In my opinion everything mentioned above that Bill Gates does with his organization clearly falls under this definition of a social entrepreneur.
Bill Gates focuses on social value creation and, in that spirit, is willing to share their innovations and insights for others to replicate. He also indentifies and applies practical solutions to social problems, combining innovation, resourcefulness, and opportunity. Bill Gates balances his passion for change with zeal to measure and monitor his impact. Finally he has an unwavering belief in everyone’s innate capacity, often regardless of education to contribute meaningfully to economic and social development.

The “Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation” has four main grant making areas:
 Global health:
• Diarrhea
• Family Planning
• Health Science and Technology
• HIV/AIDS
• Malaria

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