Profits for a Better World

Once upon a time, people would start a business with two main goals: to be their own boss and to make some cold hard cash. But for some young businesspeople, that's just not enough anymore.

"I think many in my generation have lived their entire adult lives with a feeling of helplessness to change the world around them," says David R. Anderson, 25, founder of San Francisco-based Green Options Media, a network of sustainability blogs, and Renewzle, a lead-generation service for clean-energy installers. "The decreasing barriers to starting a business, especially online, have opened up a new world of social change, while at the same time providing an escape from the drudgery of a boring, corporate or otherwise ineffectual job."

There are many reasons for the rise of social entrepreneurship, which The Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship defines as "about applying practical, innovative and sustainable approaches to benefit society in general, with an emphasis on those who are marginalized and poor."