You know social enterprise has gained currency and prominence when it makes news in the Small Business section of the New York Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/29/business/smallbusiness/29sbiz.html

This is a great article that shows how nonprofits are developing green social enterprises, including SmartRoofs LLC, developed by the Bronx, NY-based nonprofit group Sustainable South Bronx, and the Chicago-based Growing Home. Both have been featured in SER--you read it here first!

The 2009 Social Capital Markets conference (SoCap09) was a watershed event. There was a clear sense that social enterprise has become a viable business strategy and investment option.

The event brought together many of the familiar faces from social enterprise summits past, but also a new group of leaders from traditional industries such as investment banking, government, real estate and forest products.

Two podcasts from the SEReporter archive, featuring two leaders in green jobs, Majora Carter from Sustainable South Bronx, and Eric Weinheimer from the Cara Program in Chicago, are now online!

To listen to Eric Weinheimer, click here.
http://thecaraprogram.org

To listen to Majora Carter, click here.
http://ssbx.org

Access Volume 3 of the Social Enterprise Reporter PDF back issue archive here.

SER 301 features a cover story on "Building Social Enterprise on the California Coast" by Tom White, and a Q&A with Michael Shuman: "Integrating Social Enterprise with Local Economic Development".

Access Volume 2 of the Social Enterprise Reporter PDF back issue archive here:

SER 201 SER goes to British Columbia for the cover story "Vancity Credit Union: Taking a Risk on Entrepreneurs Who Make a Difference" by Tom White, and Part 2 of Jerr Boschee's Strategic Marketing Matrix for Social Entrepreneurs®--Segmentation Strategies.

SER 202 features a cover story on "Raising Capital: Regulatory Issues", by Allen Bromberger, Esq., and Part 3 of Jerr Boschee's Strategic Marketing Matrix for Social Entrepreneurs®--Expand, Nurture, Harvest or Kill?.

Access Volume 1 of the Social Enterprise Reporter PDF back issue archive here:

SER 101 including the first of a three part series by Cheryl Dahle on REDF portfolio ventures, "Balancing Act: The Right Size Scoop of Ice Cream".

SER 102 including the second of a three part series by Cheryl Dahle on REDF portfolio ventures. Community Vocational Enterprises (CVE) and Community Gatepath, are highlighted in "Integrating Cultures: When Business and Social Outcomes Are Valued."

SER 103 including the third of a three part series by Cheryl Dahle on REDF portfolio ventures, "Making Tough Choices: When to Start A Business and When to Shut Down."

Access the archives of Social Enterprise Reporter podcasts online for free!

David Dey, RiseGO!
http://risego.org

Ian Kim, Ella Baker Center's Green-Collar Jobs Campaign
http://www.ellabakercenter.org/index.php?p=gcjc

The Social Capital Market, the market at the intersection of money and meaning, is gaining strength and momentum. Join me at SOCAP09 on September 1-3, 2009 at the Fort Mason Center in San Francisco to learn from the people and organizations who are making it happen. Click here to register.

35 graduates of all ages and colors came on stage to pick up their green hard hats and diplomas last Monday from Laney Community College's 7-month Green Job Corps program in Oakland, CA. Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums was on hand to congratulate the graduates and to remind them of the historic significance of their achievement: "You are the new astronauts, going where others have not gone before: fighting poverty and pollution."

The Green Job Corps was an idea hatched back in 2007 by Van Jones and his colleagues at the Ella Baker Center. I had spoken with Ian Kim, the EBC Green Collar Jobs Program Manager and Raquel Pinderhughes before this idea received $250k in seed funding from the Oakland Public Works Dept. Read those 2007 interviews here:

The inaugural issue of The Chronicle of Social Enterprise, published by the Carnegie Mellon University Heinz College Institute for Social Innovation, is now available as a free PDF download at http://www.heinz.cmu.edu/download.aspx?id=767.

This issue profiles 20 affirmative businesses, plus stories about affirmative business incubators, the role of the federal government and the rise of the movement internationally. Affirmative businesses are social enterprises that provide jobs, competitive wages and career tracks to people who are physically, mentally, economically or educationally disadvantaged.