A Summer Intern’s Thoughts on Social Enterprise
Before I became an intern at Rubicon National Social Innovations, I honestly had no idea what social enterprise was or of any organizations that existed. Being only a sophomore in college, my knowledge of social enterprise was limited to the notion that social enterprise somehow uses business skills to try to solve injustices or economic inequities throughout the world. With the little experience I had doing community service in my spare time, I honestly could not distinguish one non-profit from the other in terms of their strategies and approaches to making a social impact. After a phenomenal and memorable 2-month experience with Rubicon National, I am proud to say that I can now make that distinction (or at least I think I can).
One thing that I have questioned over the years while participating in numerous service activities is how effective those service organizations are. Although their services were beneficial to those they were helping, it never seemed like lasting change in people’s lives was being made. I’m not trying to say that these organizations are unnecessary or obsolete; it just seemed to me that their work was “patchwork,” only temporarily relieving the unfortunate of their suffering.
That’s partly why I have continually been impressed by the work that Rubicon National is doing. Their approach to battling the cyclical poverty phenomenon is deeply rooted in creating sustainable, long-lasting employment opportunities powerful enough to lift people out of poverty. The social enterprise models that they develop are truly innovative, creating social enterprises relying on market forces for financial stability and operating on a national scale to maximize social impact. They clearly break away from the stigma of traditional philanthropy being patchwork and make a lasting social impact in the communities that need the most help.
Another reason that I am proud to say that I worked for Rubicon National is their dedication to generating triple bottom line business opportunities, recognizing the fact that social change and environmental awareness do not have to be mutually exclusive. During my time here at Rubicon National, we have been diligently developing an energy efficiency retrofit service as a social enterprise that would create green collar jobs and pathways out of poverty in cities around the United States. Because of the federal mandate for economic recovery and climate change mitigation, Rubicon National realizes that retrofitting homes with energy efficiency measures creates excellent opportunities for the hardest to employ, offering training services and career advancement possibilities in a growing industry.
Additionally, the tremendous volunteer support that Rubicon National has had from professionals in all sorts of career fields has been awe-inspiring and truly invaluable. With over 20 volunteers from Bain and Company consulting, Net Impact, and others offering their pro bono support, Rubicon National has made significant progress on the enterprise that would not have been achieved without them. It is incredible how much buy-in to the project Rubicon National has received, speeding up the process exponentially. Not only have the volunteers shown their interest in energy efficiency retrofits, but also that they genuinely believe in the potential it has for making a lasting social impact.
I must say, though, that all of the success that we’ve had did not come without difficulty or anxiety. Because of its nascent qualities, it has been laborious finding relevant information on the retrofit industry. Other troubles have included navigating the complex matrix of government incentives for energy efficiency outlined in the Recovery Act and collaborating with others in the industry that may actually turn out to be competitors. Through all of these challenges, Rubicon National and its volunteers has impressively and continually managed to push forward.
As my internship comes to a close, I am proud to say that I contributed meaningfully to Rubicon National’s energy efficiency retrofit enterprise. As biased as this may seem, I believe that Rubicon National Social Innovations is one-of-a-kind, having unmatchable experience in the field of social enterprise and a proven track record of success. They may just be getting their footing as social enterprise modelers, but they truly are the “laboratory for scaling social enterprise” and deserve much recognition for their work.
~Michael Paci
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