Giving Back : Using Your Influence to Create Social Change

Business entrepreneurs have always played a key role in America’s financial growth. Now social entrepreneurs are also being recognized for their significant contributions. Management expert Peter Drucker insists that "social entrepreneurship…is as important as economic entrepreneurship. More important, perhaps. In the United States, we have a very healthy economy but a very sick society….Fortunately there are enough successes around so that we know it can be done—and also how to do it."

The "successes" featured in this book come from a variety of backgrounds and represent a spectrum of social and spiritual concerns. They are practical idealists who use modern tools and technology to share the age-old love of God with the disadvantaged—from at-risk kids to dysfunctional families to impoverished minorities to the homeless. They include social entrepreneurs such as:

· Ken Blanchard, best-selling author (over 13 million books in print) and international business consultant
· Elayne Bennett, founder of Best Friends and wife of former Secretary of Education William J. Bennett
· Bob Buford, best-selling author (over 200,000 books in print) and foremost authority on social entrepreneurs
· Juan Benitez, former Cuban refugee and president of Micron Technology, who now helps the poor around the world

Throughout this book, Oster and Hamel highlight practical principles that will help you use your resources, abilities, and influence to create positive social change and improve the world your grandchildren will inherit.

MERRILL J. OSTER is the founder of Oster Communications Inc. and is a past recipient of the Iowa Entrepreneur of the Year award. He lectures widely on world business issues and has led delegations of business leaders to over thirty-five countries. Merrill is cofounder of Pinnacle Forum, an organization that creates venues where cultural gatekeepers can explore the connection between faith and society. He is the author or coauthor of several books, including The Entrepreneur’s Creed (Broadman, 2001).

MIKE HAMEL is a former pastor who served churches in Colorado, Oregon, and Illinois for more than fifteen years. He has interviewed scores of business leaders for his various books, such as The Women’s Ministry Handbook and The Entrepreneur’s Creed. His articles have appeared in Life@Work, First Priority, and Focus on the Family magazines. Mike and his wife, Susan, live in Colorado Springs and have four grown children.