Founder and Executive Director

Jerr Boschee has spent the past 25 years as an advisor to social entrepreneurs in the United States and abroad. To date he has delivered seminars or conducted workshops in 42 states and 14 countries and has long been recognized as one of the founders of the social enterprise movement worldwide.  Nonprofit Times named him to ts 2004, 2005 and 2006 nonprofit sector "Power & Influence Top 50" lists.

Mr. Boschee is Executive Director of The Institute for Social Entrepreneurs, which he created in 1999, and is Chairman and CEO of Peace Corps Encore!, a nonprofit he co-founded in 2003 to re-deploy former Peace Corps Volunteers and staff members on short-term assignments in their areas of professional expertise.  He also served from 2001 to 2004 as an advisor to England's Department of Trade and Industry Social Enterprise Unit.

Mr. Boschee helped start The National Center for Social Entrepreneurs in 1984 and served as President and CEO from 1990 to 1999.  He has also been the catalyst and co-founder of The Forum for Nonprofit Leadership (1987); The Affirmative Business Alliance of North America (1989), currently known as the Americas Group of Workability International; The National Gathering for Social Entrepreneurs (1997), now known as the Social Enterprise Alliance; and many other organizations.  The Alliance and the Gathering were the first two membership organizations created for entrepreneurs in the field of social enterprise.  In addition, he has been a guest lecturer at academic institutions such as the University of Oxford (Said School of Business), the University of Cambridge (Judge School of Management), Carnegie Mellon University (H. John Heinz III School of Public Policy & Management), Northwestern University (Kellogg School of Management), Duke University, Stanford University, University of Minnesota (Carlson School of Management), and many others.

The Institute for Social Entrepreneurs provides seminars, workshops and consulting services for nonprofit entrepreneurs throughout the United States and draws on a virtual community of social entrepreneurs and others to collaborate on specific projects.  Mr. Boschee is also continuing to partner with individuals and organizations to foster social entrepreneurship around the world; his work thus far has taken him to England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales, Switzerland, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Russia, Ukraine, India, Japan and Ghana.

During the past 40 years, Mr. Boschee has also been an executive for a Fortune 100 company, an executive for both regional and national nonprofits, managing editor for a chain of newspapers, a Peace Corps Volunteer, and a frequent writer, speaker and trainer in the social service and public policy arenas.  He is currently a member of the advisory committee for the Economic Opportunity Institute of the National Urban League; the national advisory councils for the Social Enterprise Alliance and the National Peace Corps Association; the adjunct faculty at The School for Social Entrepreneurs (London, England); the Practice Advisory Council for the National Center on Nonprofit Enterprise; and an assessor for the World Bank 2006 Development Marketplace competition.

Mr. Boschee served previously as Senior Fellow at the Northland Institute (a national think tank devoted to social enterprise; as a member of the Board of Directors for a nonprofit management assistance consulting firm; as a member of the international advisory council for NESsT, the Nonprofit Enterprise and Self-Sustainability Team, which helps civil society organizations in Central Europe and South America develop entrepreneurial strategies; as a member of the nomination board for the annual FAST Company magazine "social capitalist" awards program; and as a member of the adjunct faculties at the University of St. Thomas, Louisiana State University-Shreveport, the American Symphony Orchestra League Management Academy, and The Learning Institute for Nonprofit Organizations (a distance learning subsidiary of The Society for Nonprofit Organizations).

His most recent book is Migrating from Innovation to Entrepreneurship: How Nonprofits are Moving toward Sustainability and Self-Sufficiency.  In addition to the title essay, the book also includes A Practical Lexicon for Social Entrepreneurs that defines more than 80 key terms, some in the form of mini-tutorials; a print bibliography; and a list of annotated electronic links.  Other recent books include The Social Enterprise Sourcebook (2001), which contains profiles of 14 nonprofits that have successfully started social sector businesses; and A Reader in Social Enterprise, a collection of 20 essays by leaders in the field.  He is also a monthly columnist for the on-line magazine Social Enterprise Reporter.

Mr. Boschee has three grown children. He and his wife, Linda Ball, live in Dallas, Texas.

If you are interested in having Jerr Boschee as a speaker...

If you would like to have Jerr Boschee speak to your group, please call him (214-866-0472), send him an e-mail (jerr@orbis.net) or write to him at The Institute for Social Entrepreneurs, 6215 Sandydale Drive, Dallas, Texas, 75248, United States of America.

Books, articles, essays

Migrating from Innovation to Entrepreneurship:
How Nonprofits are Moving toward
Sustainability and Self-Sufficiency

Jerr Boschee's newest book draws upon his more than 25 years in the field to capture the basic principles and critical success factors associated with social entrepreneurship. It also includes A Practical Lexicon for Social Entrepreneurs that defines more than 80 key terms, many in the form of mini-tutorials, and it closes with a bibliography of print publications and a list of annotated links to electronic resources. If you would like to order a copy of the book, please send a check for $19 (including shipping and handling) to the address at the bottom of this page. Your check should be made out to "JERR BOSCHEE." If you are not located in the United States, please send an e-mail to institute@orbis.net for ordering instructions.

The Social Enterprise Sourcebook

Jerr Boschee's Sourcebook contains journalistic profiles of 14 nonprofits that have successfully started social sector businesses. If you would like to download free copies of specific chapters, click here. If you would like to order an actual copy of the book, please send a check for $19 (including shipping and handling) to the address at the bottom of this page. Your check should be made out to "JERR BOSCHEE." If you are not located in the United States, please send an e-mail to institute@orbis.net for ordering instructions.

Other books, articles and essays by Jerr Boschee

"Boschee on marketing" (a series of columns written by Jerr Boschee for the online magazine Social Enterprise Reporter)

"Eight basic principles for nonprofit entrepreneurs" (from Nonprofit World)

"Keep or Kill? Score Your Programs: Use This Tool to Decide Which Activities to Nurture - and Which to Abandon (from Nonprofit World)

A Reader in Social Enterprise (co-edited with Kelvin Sealey, Jed Emerson and Wendy Sealey). Boston: Pearson Custom Publishers, 2000 (published April 2000 in connection with The Second National Gathering for Social Entrepreneurs in Miami)

"Recycling Ex-Cons, Addicts and Prostitutes: The Mimi Silbert Story" (co-written with Syl Jones; published April 2000 in conjunction with The Second National Gathering for Social Entrepreneurs in Miami)

"Social Entrepreneurship: Some Nonprofits are Not Only Thinking about the Unthinkable, They're Doing It - Running a Profit" (from Across the Board, the Conference Board magazine)

"Strategic marketing for social entrepreneurs (adapted from a four-part series appearing orginally in the Social Enterprise Reporter)

Speeches

If you would like to purchase a 53-minute video of Jerr Boschee's keynote speech at an international conference in Chicago, please send a check for $19 (including shipping and handling) to The Institute for Social Entrepreneurs, 6215 Sandydale Drive, Dallas, Texas 75248-3942 . Your check should be made out to "JERR BOSCHEE."  The speech covers the following topics: Why nonprofits are becoming more entrepreneurial (historical context, driving forces and potential outcomes); a definition and eight basic principles of social entrepreneurship; and critical success factors for nonprofits adopting entrepreneurial strategies.

Jerr Boschee has been the keynote speaker at dozens of state, national and international events. Here is a selected list of organizations that have sponsored his presentations:

National Urban League
National Center for Nonprofit Boards (National Leadership Forum)
Alliance for Children and Families (formerly Family Service America)
United Cerebral Palsy (formerly United Cerebral Palsy Association)
Easter Seals (formerly National Easter Seals Society)
Association of Jewish Family and Children's Agencies
Volunteers of America
National Congress for Community Economic Development
NISH (formerly National Industries for the Severely Handicapped)
Theatre Communications Group
The United Methodist Church General Board of Global Ministries
National Council of Voluntary Organisations (United Kingdom)
Jane Addams Hull House Association & Toynbee House (U.K.) International Conference
American Humanics
National Endowment for the Arts
National Endowment for the Humanities
Western Alliance of Arts Administrators

Mr. Boschee is also a frequent speaker and trainer for local, state and regional organizations, has conducted seminars and workshops throughout the United States, and has spoken to audiences in 13 other countries

Mr. Boschee's keynote speech typically covers the following topics: Why nonprofits are becoming more entrepreneurial (historical context, driving forces and potential outcomes); a definition and eight basic principles of "social entrepreneurship"; and 15 critical success factors for nonprofits adopting entrepreneurial strategies.  Mr. Boschee also delivers presentations about the following subjects: Entrepreneurial strategic planning for nonprofits (including "The Organized Abandonment Grid"^®); business planning and business development strategies for entrepreneurial nonprofits; positioning and marketing strategies for entrepreneurial nonprofits (including the "Strategic Marketing Matrix for Entrepreneurial Nonprofits"^®); and strategic partnerships for entrepreneurial nonprofits.

Volunteer activities

Jerr Boschee serves as a voluntary member of the Board of Directors or the Advisory Council for a number of organizations.  Among them are the following:

Social Enterprise Alliance

The National Peace Corps Association

Peace Corps Encore!

The National Center on Nonprofit Enterprise

National Urban League Economic Opportunity Institute