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SEA Joins America Forward 
SEA is a member of America Forward, an initiative to connect social enterprise with policymakers promoting innovative solutions to solving our nation's social problems.
Social Enterprise Policy Goals
SEA works to positively influence the public and private environment on behalf of social enterprise. SEA's policy goals include:
- identifying public policy issues at the Federal, state and local levels that influence the operating environment of social enterprise;
- developing strategies to improve the access to resources currently available; and
- developing and promoting new policy initiatives that have the potential of dramatically enhancing the social enterprise field.
In particular, SEA works to encourage a capital market that supports social enterprise and tracks the development of new corporate forms appropriate for double-bottom line objectives.
Resource
Social Entrepreneurship and Government: A New Breed of Entrepreneurs Developing Solutions to Social Problems
Written by SEA member and former SEA Board member Andrew Wolk, “Social Entrepreneurship and Government” was recently released as part of “The Small Business Economy: A Report to the President by the Small Business Administration” (SBA). The chapter offers a comprehensive introduction for government officials to the field of social entrepreneurship and the work to date. It incorporates insights from experts in the field and case studies of eight successful social-entrepreneurial initiatives to address three questions: (1) What is social entrepreneurship? (2) How does social entrepreneurship help government benefit Americans? (3) How is government currently supporting social-entrepreneurial initiatives? Download the executive summary and full chapter
Access to Capital
Social enterprises depend heavily on government grants, individual donations and foundation grants for funding. SEA is exploring additional forms of financing, investment, and financing mechanisms that can be made available to social enterprise through these inquiries:
- What is the role of government in supporting social enterprise?
- What options are investment firms making available to social enterprise?
- How can more foundations engage in program-related investing (PRI's), mission-related investing, or providing loan guarantees or no- or low-interest loans to social enterprise?
- Securing start-up funding for a social enterprise is more common than securing capital for scaling up. How can more resources be directed toward supporting efforts to scale social enterprises?
- How can social return on investment be measured for the capital market?
Hybrid Forms
SEA is part of a group of organizations exploring hybrid corporate forms for generating social value. Traditionally there have been three sectors of the economy - private enterprise, public agencies, and nonprofits, the latter of which alongside with government, provide social services not provided in the market. As more individuals and organizations aim to help resolve social issues, there is increasing interest in a 'fourth sector', wherein organizations could combine social missions with corporate methods. New organizational forms might be needed to enable organizations in this emerging sector to raise capital through equity, while enjoying tax benefits for their charitable missions. SEA hosts discussions to generate and analyze ideas for accommodating the financing and structuring needs of social enterprise through such tax, legal form, or policy changes.
Resources - Overview
SEA/Aspen Institute Meeting Part 2 on New Legal Forms for Hybrid Organizations
In April 2007 SEA convened a follow up meeting on the topic of new legal forms.
"Mixing Mission and Business:" Highlights from a Roundtable on New Legal Forms for Hybrid Organizations
In September 2006, SEA was part of a group convened by the Aspen Institute to consider whether a new corporate form or tax changes are needed to accommodate the emergence of hybrid organizations that operate like both nonprofits and for-profits.
To download the full summary of the group's discussion and its recommendations for next steps on this effort, click here.
Fourthsector.net diagram
Resources - New Forms
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