Course Travels to India to Work With Social Entrepreneurs

In early January, twenty-five students from SOM, the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, and the Law School, traveled to India to work with five groups of social entrepreneurs who are trying to make a difference in the lives of people there.


For a week, the students spent time with the five organizations, seeing their operations first hand and honing recommendations for how to improve their operations. The trip marked the culmination of Global Social Entrepreneurship, a unique course that matches the skills of Yale students with the needs of Indian entrepreneurs.

Tony Sheldon ’84, executive director of the Program on Social Enterprise, leads the Global Social Entrepreneurship course, which develops students’ consulting skills and weaves together practical training in writing business plans and making presentations, with a deeper study of social enterprises, the role of civil society in India, and how the core disciplines of finance, data analysis, and impact monitoring and assessment relate to businesses that mix profitability with a desire to improve society. "In many ways it’s a perfect reflection of the SOM mission," Sheldon says. "Not only will both students and entrepreneurs learn important lessons, but the hope is that our work will spawn a fellowship with social entrepreneurs in India that will continue to benefit both Yale and India for years to come."