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Learner Reviews & Feedback for Social Impact Strategy: Tools for Entrepreneurs and Innovators by University of Pennsylvania

4.8
stars
1,283 ratings

About the Course

This course offers an introduction to social impact strategy and social entrepreneurship, including key concepts, an overview of the field, and tools to get started as a changemaker. Students will learn how to innovate and design new ideas and new organizational forms to implement those ideas. Students who take this course will be better prepared to launch social impact organizations of their own invention. By moving through four stages, Define, Design, Pilot, and Scale, students will turn their passion for changing the world into concrete plans for launching a nonprofit or for-profit venture designed to achieve a social goal. This course will allow students to systematically think through problems; develop and test an innovative solution; assess risk, competition, and performance; and spread impact in a way that is financially sustainable. Students who complete the course become eligible to apply for an in-person educational experience, called the Global Social Impact House. GSIH is a seven-day residential program that provides fellows with the tools, community and training they need to advance their ventures. Workshops are customized to the needs of fellows and explore advanced concepts in business models, design thinking and leadership. The program is also designed to help fellows build meaningful, global connections while living together in an inspirational host location. For more information on the Global Social Impact House, please visit: https://csis.upenn.edu/residential-program/gsih/...

Top reviews

FM

Jun 8, 2020

I have no regrets enrolling at this course. My learnings here are truly foundational, makes me more excited to start. I hope I'll be able to apply the teachings here. So useful for a beginner like me.

KD

Dec 3, 2022

It is a very interesting and insightful course. Thanks to the Professors for presenting the content with examples in a simple, understandable and engaging way. I will highly recommend it to all.

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1 - 25 of 358 Reviews for Social Impact Strategy: Tools for Entrepreneurs and Innovators

By Jacob N

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Oct 14, 2022

This course is not good and there are many problems. Here are just a few:

The presenter is not good. He ums a lot, so much that it is distracting.

It is difficult to see how the content could be useful to anyone.

The presenter does a lot of shilling of his book.

The quizzes have somewhat random questions. They ask specific questions about specific celebrity's habits which do not seem to pertain to the subject at hand. And when bringing up these celebrities in the lectures the presenter is often wrong which is just bizarre. It appears that he didn't really do much research about the people he is using to illustrate his point.

The grading of the quizzes is bizarre. For a given quiz you can get 11/12 of multiple choice questions correct and get 2/3 right answers on each of the three multiple choice questions and fail the quiz.

By Alexander W

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Jun 13, 2017

I think this is a fantastic course for anyone exploring or who is already seriously considering social entrepreneurship. Even for those who are deep into the developmental stage or in the piloting stage, this course can also serve as a fundamental structure and reminder for how to properly design a solution for a pressing societal need. I will absolutely reference my notes and readings from this course in the future. For those briefly exposed to the realm of social entrepreneurship and enterprise, I'd advise you to seriously consider devoting a few hours a week for four weeks to develop and strengthen your understanding of the core of social enterprise.

By María J V P

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Jun 1, 2020

I absolutely loved it the teacher was great at explaining through videos, the amount of work was perfect for the time given and the weekly quizzes really reflected and assessed what was learned during the lessons. Although the readings and discussions were optional, I highly recommend them as they were fun to complete and very insightful. Furthermore what I value the most of this course is what was teached which was the importance of social impact through your social enterprise. It was really inspiring and opened my eyes to a whole different and fresh business perspective. Thank you for this enriching experience.

By Yeabsira M

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Oct 11, 2019

Really well done course! It was succinct, gave great examples, flowed from one topic to the next without any confusing transitions. As someone who has been in the social entrepreneurship space for some time, I was glad to take this and remember so much that was laying dormant. Absolutely recommend to others - regardless of whether or not you're new to the space, want to start a business or are already running one, this is a solid force to help you get the ideation brain cells going.

By Ishaan B

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Sep 17, 2018

This course is full of meaningful content which is easy to understand and is essentially action oriented learning. I already have my social initiative called SHAPE (Society for Harassment Awareness Prevention and Education) which is operating in Chandigarh, North India. This course equipped me with a very clear insight on how to go about running my initiative in a more efficient manner. I thank Professor Frumpkin and the entire team for thinking of developing this valuable resource.

By Sarel v d W

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Apr 21, 2018

Was a bit sceptical at first with the limited real life case studies, but the course has grown on me and given me critical tools to get my own social enterprise off the ground. It will help me think my idea through thoroughly, develop the right plans in order to secure the necessary resources to pilot and later scale my enterprise.

By Natalia M

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Sep 13, 2020

I highly recommend this course for those who are interested in learning about and or establishing their pub Social Enterprise. Prof. Frumkin provides detailed explanations about social enterprises, business modeling and positioning and provides a detailed toolbox of how to think about a concrete social enterprise.

By LI Y

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Mar 26, 2018

I found it very useful even after working in the non-profit sector for more than a decade. It's very clearly structured, easy, comprehensive and enlightening. Definitely helpful for anyone that wants to design a social enterprise or to learn/reflect on their impact pathway.

By Jay M J

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Apr 17, 2020

Wonderful course on Social Innovation, Social Entrepreneurship and Social Impact Strategy! I learned a lot from this course. I just hope they fix the grammar and spelling issues though given that the overall quality of the content is really good. Thank you!

By Vendy S

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May 22, 2020

Learned a powerful yet extensive understanding about what social entrepreneurship is about. Great for those who have no idea about social impact and would like to know more about a business or an organisation that would like to make a sustainable cause!

By Sammy M

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Nov 15, 2022

i would highly recommend this course to anyone thinking of starting a non-profit organisation or any for of social enterprise. It gives very practical steps to carrying out the work and is a brilliant guide to how to set up and scale your venture.

By Aaron R

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May 3, 2020

Great content and offers really good frameworks and ways to examine how social entrepreneurs should approach their work. Easy to follow and a great source for beginners as well as those who are looking to either refresh or scale their missions.

By Mariant H (

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Apr 15, 2019

Very practical material. Every lesson built on the previous one, which made learning the topic very fun. Instructor is very thorough and to the point. I would recommend this to any person considering careers that would make a social impact.

By Ada D

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Nov 2, 2017

Wonderful!!! A great way to organize your thoughts and make your plan more efficient if you want to make a social impact. Thanks Coursera for offering this great tool for social entrepreneurs!

By Lea H

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May 30, 2017

Very informative with lots of practical touch points and examples! I genuinely enjoyed taking part in this online course and it has significantly shaped my own research for my master's degree.

By Hala A S

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Aug 7, 2020

I have enjoyed the course tremendously. Would like to maintain access for some time to the course material and resource. Some links to resources and registration are not working. Also some resources are a bit outdated. Would also like to recommend featuring some videos and case studies of real social entrepreneurs to talk about their experience and challenges. I feel a section on social entrepreneurship in a digital world needs to be added and the content needs to be slightly reviewed and updated following the coronavirus pandemic.

By Monty M

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Aug 14, 2020

Course content was very helpful and well-delivered. Would benefit from updating it to 2020, but principles remain valid. Did not care for the quizzes, finding I could surprisingly not pass on the first take, due to the way point values were assigned and expected answers on a few high-point questions being debatable.

By Marein V

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Apr 14, 2020

overall a good introduction in this field - however, i think that adding more questions/tasks/discussions in between the video´s would make the course more interesting and appealing to finish!

By David T

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Jun 13, 2020

Too broad and more

its should be called "Social Impact Strategy: Tools for Entrepreneurs and Innovators for dummies"

By Danielle S

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Nov 5, 2017

Good course. Great showcase of tools. Need to figure out ways to help students apply tools while in course.

By Derick O

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Sep 20, 2018

The course gives one tools and skills required to start and run social enterprises that are sustainable, scalable and above impactful. The emphasis of the course on the need for learners to practically apply what they have learnt by going on to the actual environment and speaking to stakeholders in order to get their perspective and clearly understand the pain points before coming up with a solution was quite eye opening and empowering. The examples that were given to illustrate the various points were very relevant and also made it easy to understand concepts of social Entrepreneurship. This course inspired me to want to undertake the "Executive Program for Social Impact Strategy".

By Nikoloz A

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Oct 15, 2021

What can be hard for online course is boring, long videos in which a student (like me) can lose concentration but in this case, the videos are short and to the point. With every theoretical explanation, professor provides examples from his book and also he provides very nice and clear real world examples which help tremendously. I am glad that I took this course because I gained more knowledge and information about how to do thorough research on the idea that I might have or any future plans regarding business/social enterprise and what does it take to make social impact, social change, and thus changing the world for the better.

By Dhaval P

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Dec 16, 2020

The course approach is well laid out, logical, comprehensive yet letting the learner dwell through the process by analyzing the questions poised at every step. Theory followed by case studies, discussions and reading around the subject makes one go deeper into thoughts which in my opinion is helping one to iterate and deliberate on the options one is considering. Frameworks at every stage of the course is a perfect approach. Quiz at the end of the sections are to be taken honestly and as challenge. I thoroughly enjoyed the course and look forward to more such courses. Thank you Professor.

By Deleted A

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Aug 6, 2020

This course will benefit a broad range of entrepreneurs - from those thinking about it to those who have been in business for years. It offers a clear, concise way to think about your idea and/or organization and how to make decisions based on reality. It has given me and my business partners a common language and systematic approach to move forward at every stage. Thank you for not only a class full of up to date relevant content but also an online course that was easy to follow.

By Michael S

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Oct 29, 2016

Excellent interface - super accessible and easy to navigate. The content itself was easy to digest and set up in a sequential, progressive manner that made it both enjoyable and simple to follow for either starting entrepreneurs or seasoned veterans in the field! Thanks for the opportunity to learn, grow and for the skills and tools that I'll carry with me to continue to build a social enterprise that will hopefully create the impact I dream of in this world.