Around New Zealand, there are hundreds – if not thousands – of charities, entrepreneurs, communities, and whanau, investing their time, energy, passion, and resources into social enterprise. They are doing this as a means to end. A means to include more people in the economy, to regenerate the environment, to create and redistribute resources, and to innovate around intractable problems. To say, ‘we are empowered, equal, creative, caring, determined, optimistic, and we are taking charge of our future’.
Social enterprise can do all of these things and represents a systems solution to many of the complex challenges we face. Social enterprise is business but it is business in service to people, conducted in a very human way. It is also a movement that is growing, global, and entirely relevant to the fast changing world we’re moving into.
The individual social enterprise work going on in New Zealand is excellent; world-class. But what we have lacked up until now is the connectedness, intention, knowledge, and coherence that will make our collective effort more productive and powerful. We have lacked the presence of an identity, the guidance of good information, and the grunt of a supporting infrastructure.
This report helps to start solving this problem, giving sound advice and informed guidance for people finding their way in social enterprise as doers, supporters, or customers. It comes at a time when exciting progress is being made across our emerging sector, and contributes to a more strategic approach to building a world-class environment for more social enterprises to startup and succeed.
Ākina’s mission is to contribute to a sustainable, prosperous, and inclusive New Zealand through the growth of social enterprise. We applaud and welcome important resources such as this, which will help bring about these goals.
To access the book click here!
Alex 
Hannant
CEO of Ākina Foundation
