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Our Story - The Social Enterprise Fund had its beginnings in 2005 when three successful businessmen found themselves sharing four common interests:
1) Passion for helping the Poor....particularly in Haiti and in Nicaragua
2) Strong desire to find overdue solution to the world poverty problem.
3) Firm belief that business-like approaches to charitable development
projects are much more effective than methods typical of governmental,
charitable, and religious organizations.
4) Devotion to their Christian faith.
The Social Enterprise Fund is active in projects in Haiti and Nicaragua. SEF seeks to duplicate the reforestation success of the CODEP project (see above). By support of Charitable Development in areas of "Absolute Poverty", SEF helps the poor to help themselves! |
The SEF founders have broad experiences from a background of service in a number of charitable relief and charitable development projects in the US, Latin America and the Caribbean. Results for these types of projects had been, at best, marginal. All of these charitable projects seemed to be plagued by many of the same type problems that start up businesses experience all over the globe.
In recent years the Founders became involved with CODEP, a highly successful charitable development project started for the poor in a mountainous area in the south part of Haiti. CODEP was the dream of a retired senior GE Executive and a Pennsylvania Dutch missionary farmer. CODEP was organized using a very typical GE management approach demanding structured planning, clear objectives, accountability, incentive compensation, results orientation etc.
The SEF Founders were enthusiastic about the successful CODEP charitable business model and the success of the project. They decided to utilize the CODEP approach in several other projects that they wanted to support within the region. The Founders felt philanthropists, businesses, and both private & public foundations would welcome participation in these type projects because of 1) the use of results oriented strategies and 2) the assurance that highly successful businessmen would provide operational guidance and strategic support. The SEF Founders felt certain that
other "social entrepreneurs" would embrace the concept and bring their skills to the efforts. Thus, SEF was formed as an IRS approved 501 (c)(3) public charity to pull together wide support.
The Social Enterprise Fund, Inc. was formed to, initially, sponsor three development projects in Haiti, the Comprehensive Development Project {CODEP}, the Haiti Agricultural Development Project {HADP} and the Haiti Fish Development Project {HAFD} and one development project in Nicaragua, the Nicaragua Agricultural Development Project {NADP}. Project details are available throughout this website. |
"Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day.
Teach him how to fish and he will eat for a lifetime!”
Chinese Proverb |
