In the Philippines, one in five families live on income levels inadequate
to meet food and nutritional requirements. 70% of children who enter
grade one reach only grade 6. The illiteracy rate of young adults 15 and
above is 9.9%. Child mortality if 48 deaths per 1000 births while maternal
mortality rate is 172 deaths per 1000. Only 19% of forest lands are left.

These are just a few of the problems that plague the country. In response,
many NGOs have sprouted in order to address the gaps and to help those who have fallen through the cracks. Given the enormity of the challenges that we face, our response must be innovative and enterprising. We must come up with solutions that are sustainable, scalable, and with a measurable social return.

We believe that one effective way to address these challenges is through social entrepreneurship. The main goal of a social enterprise is to further social and/or environmental goals. A social enterprise combines the social mission of non-profits with the tools and advantages of a commercial enterprise. Social enterprises use blended value business models that combine a revenue-generating business with a social-value generating component.

A social enterprise is created by a social entrepreneur. A social entrepreneur is someone who identifies a social problem and uses entrepreneurial principles to organize, create, and manage a venture that creates social change.

Gifts and Graces is a social enterprise because it combines capability building and community development with a revenue-generating through marketing business model. Having been selected for the 2009 cohort of the Global Social Benefit Incubator, an intensive training program for social entrepreneurs, we are proud that our business model has been recognized as one with a big potential for scale and impact. Being a relatively young social enterprise, we are continuously refining our business model to make the most impact on our partner communities.

For more information about social entrepreneurship, check out our links page. You may also download a presentation made on social entrepreneurship and the millenium development goals.