The CrossLines Foundation and Webster University Leiden are working together to create a different world.The Webster University is doing that by organizing in cooperation with the CrossLines Foundation the annually Webster Social Entrepreneurship Symposium.The Global CrossLines Platform will strengthen the impact of these symposia, as meeting place annually of high level social and business entrepreneurs/leaders.
Economic realities are changing. In the political arena, the realities of yesteryear have disappeared and are being replaced. In the sphere of business and economics, the old paradigms no longer seem to work quite as expected. The 21st century needs new paradigms to describe economic progress and success. With the growth of the global economy, every day, new people and even countries are able to participate in economic opportunities. New players are emerging — from India to Iceland. At the same time, the gap between rich and poor seems to be widening. The ability to ensure sufficient nurture, health and education for themselves and their children is under pressure for many even in the developed world. Traditional systems for ensuring a more equitable division of the wealth produced seem no longer sufficient.Unbridled capitalism too easily leads to unbridled excess and continued boom-and-bust cycles. Excessive fixation on short-term returns is an inducement to sub optimization, to making choices that will prove detrimental in the long term. In the longer term, both economic and non-economic returns will be less than they would have been in different systems of husbandry.There are those, let's call them social entrepreneurs, who attempt another route and build enterprises that focus on creating employment and opportunities for the underprivileged. The immense value of their approach is that it shows how environments can be created in which people are not doomed to be excluded from ‘mainstream’ society, but can shape their own future.The business of business is the creation of wealth. That, we think, all can agree on. The problem is, we do not all agree on how to define wealth. Whereas some players see it purely in the strictest monetary terms, disregarding all other considerations, at the other end there are those entrepreneurs who focus solely on their social impact and are dependent upon the continued good will of others for the continuity of their enterprises.We would define wealth creation as being both financial and social, minimizing the negative environmental impact of economic action while providing both a solid financial return to the investor and a positive social return to other stakeholders such as communities and employees.Successful business entrepreneurs creating real wealth, the women and men who found and grow their own enterprise or who take an existing unsuccessful enterprise and build a viable company, often take a long-term view. Their interest is in creating lasting value and many successful business entrepreneurs have used their skills, their experience and their wealth to also create social value. As such, their attitude is not unlike that of the social entrepreneur. However, their business acumen makes all the difference in the long term.
The Global CrossLines Platform alongside the Social Entrepreneurship Symposia, commence a new and exciting meeting series that, starting on a small scale with first-class attendees, will gain stature over the years and attract a growing worldwide audience: the meeting place is for everyone who is truly involved in creating true social and economic wealth through entrepreneurship.The participants of The Global CrossLines Platform will be devoted exclusively to the exchange of ideas, plans and business opportunities among a select group of social and business entrepreneurs, business leaders, business angels, INGO executives, senior academics and policy makers: a high-level, open meeting of minds that leads to lasting, fruitful crosslines, alliances and partnerships.
www.globalcrosslinesplatform.com
Creating a Different World
Economic realities are changing. In the political arena, the realities of yesteryear have disappeared and are being replaced. In the sphere of business and economics, the old paradigms no longer seem to work quite as expected. The 21st century needs new paradigms to describe economic progress and success. With the growth of the global economy, every day, new people and even countries are able to participate in economic opportunities. New players are emerging — from India to Iceland. At the same time, the gap between rich and poor seems to be widening. The ability to ensure sufficient nurture, health and education for themselves and their children is under pressure for many even in the developed world. Traditional systems for ensuring a more equitable division of the wealth produced seem no longer sufficient.Unbridled capitalism too easily leads to unbridled excess and continued boom-and-bust cycles. Excessive fixation on short-term returns is an inducement to sub optimization, to making choices that will prove detrimental in the long term. In the longer term, both economic and non-economic returns will be less than they would have been in different systems of husbandry.There are those, let's call them social entrepreneurs, who attempt another route and build enterprises that focus on creating employment and opportunities for the underprivileged. The immense value of their approach is that it shows how environments can be created in which people are not doomed to be excluded from ‘mainstream’ society, but can shape their own future.The business of business is the creation of wealth. That, we think, all can agree on. The problem is, we do not all agree on how to define wealth. Whereas some players see it purely in the strictest monetary terms, disregarding all other considerations, at the other end there are those entrepreneurs who focus solely on their social impact and are dependent upon the continued good will of others for the continuity of their enterprises.We would define wealth creation as being both financial and social, minimizing the negative environmental impact of economic action while providing both a solid financial return to the investor and a positive social return to other stakeholders such as communities and employees.Successful business entrepreneurs creating real wealth, the women and men who found and grow their own enterprise or who take an existing unsuccessful enterprise and build a viable company, often take a long-term view. Their interest is in creating lasting value and many successful business entrepreneurs have used their skills, their experience and their wealth to also create social value. As such, their attitude is not unlike that of the social entrepreneur. However, their business acumen makes all the difference in the long term.
Catalysts of change
The Global CrossLines Platform has the objective to be a catalyst of positive change.In the first place, our aim is to create awareness among (future) business leaders internationally that return on investment can be defined more broadly than in purely monetary terms, that social return on investment is an important aspect of the total ROI, and that it should also to be taken into account when making investment/divestment decisions.To that end, we want to show how social investment can be as profitable or more in the long term as investments that is looked at only from a purely financial point of view. Many companies in many countries have over the years demonstrated that it makes good business sense to be a good corporate citizen that takes into account the needs of all its stakeholders, of society as a whole. We want the participants in this conference to realize that it is possible to assimilate social goals into their overall corporate strategy without jeopardizing their company's continuity — indeed strengthening it, as the future of the organization will be more secure if one takes into account the future development of the social framework in which it operates. And ultimately, we expect that participants will incorporate this thinking into their actions.The Global CrossLines Platform alongside the Social Entrepreneurship Symposia, commence a new and exciting meeting series that, starting on a small scale with first-class attendees, will gain stature over the years and attract a growing worldwide audience: the meeting place is for everyone who is truly involved in creating true social and economic wealth through entrepreneurship.The participants of The Global CrossLines Platform will be devoted exclusively to the exchange of ideas, plans and business opportunities among a select group of social and business entrepreneurs, business leaders, business angels, INGO executives, senior academics and policy makers: a high-level, open meeting of minds that leads to lasting, fruitful crosslines, alliances and partnerships.
www.globalcrosslinesplatform.com
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