For young girl entrepreneurs, it’s crucial to have plenty of strong, female role models to look up to. This helps show them that not only are their dreams and goals a real possibility, but that their gender does not impact the difference they can make in the world.
VentureLab Girl Startup students sharing their business idea at Pitch Day.
To help young girl entrepreneurs everywhere, we’ve rounded up a list of some of the most awe-inspiring female social entrepreneurs out there. Learn more about these rockstars!
Wendy Kopp, Teach for America
Wendy Kopp is the founder of Teach for America, a groundbreaking educational organization that aims to fight educational inequality by sending recent college grads to teach in at-risk urban and rural schools throughout the country. Kopp came up with the idea for this model when she was still in college and, upon graduation, officially launched Teach for America.
In its first year, Teach for America sent out 500 recent college grads to schools around the U.S. Today, the program has grown exponentially, and it has now sent out more than 33,000 teachers and reached over 3 million children throughout the nation. Teach for America has inspired a range of other programs, such as Venture for America and Code for America, that aim to address structural inequalities. Kopp’s one idea had a ripple effect that continues to create change!
Linda Rottenberg, Endeavor
Linda Rottenberg is the founder of Endeavor, a non-profit organization that aims to spark economic growth by nurturing potential entrepreneurs all over the world. Rottenberg launched the company in 1997, and since then, Endeavor has grown immensely. The organization has 350 employees, as well as 20 affiliates throughout the Middle East, Latin America, Africa, Europe and Southeast Asia. By 2015, the organization plans to be in more than 25 countries across the world.
To date, more than 400,000 jobs have been created as a result of Endeavor’s efforts, and Endeavor entrepreneurs have generated annual revenues in excess of $7 billion total.
Jill Vialet, Playworks and Museum of Children’s Arts
Jill Vialet’s contributions to the social entrepreneurship scene are two-fold. She founded Sports4Kids, now called Playworks, which aims to create safe, inclusive school environments that allow children to play, imagine, create and thrive. The company was launched in two Berkley, California elementary schools in 1996, and today serves more than 380 schools and 425,000 students across the country.
Vialet also founded the Museum of Children’s Arts, known as MOCHA, in Oakland, California. MOCHA is dedicated to celebrating the art and creativity of children, and even offers an “artist in residency” program. This program brings established artists to work with children in pediatric wards of hospitals across the country. Under Vialet’s leadership, MOCHA reaches more than 20,000 children annually.
Lindsay Stradley, Sanergy
Lindsay Stradley was one of the founders of Sanergy, an organization that aims to bring adequate sanitation options to communities in Africa. More than 2 billion people in developing countries don’t have access to proper sanitation, and 1.6 million children fall victim to sanitation-related diseases ever year. Lindsay and her partners sought to change these statistics by offering a new, innovative sanitation model.
Sanergy offers safe, clean public toilets throughout developing communities. Residents pay a small fee to use them, and Sanergy then uses the waste to provide fertilizer, electricity and other useful byproducts to communities throughout Africa. Sanergy’s work provides more than $177 million to the Kenyan marketplace annually. By the end of 2017, Sanergy aims to serve more than 500,000 people and have more than 6,000 toilets in place.
Become an Entrepreneur Yourself
If these world-changing women have inspired you, consider becoming a social entrepreneur yourself. Enroll in one of our many social entrepreneurship classes, and get started on your career today!
