In mid November, I visited with inspiring colleagues at three New York area organizations that have developed a diverse array of thriving social enterprises.
Steven Brown and Bill Mistretta were kind enough to offer me tours of
Greyston Foundation's programs and their legendary
Greyston Bakery in Yonkers, where local residents make all of the brownies for Ben & Jerry's ice creams.
Like Inspiration Corporation,
The Doe Fund and
Project Renewal provide job training and both transitional and permanent employment to their participants through their social enterprise ventures. These opportunities are invaluable for men and women seeking to overcome homelessness, poverty and/or addiction, or a way forward after incarceration.
Dennis Piervicenti, my old colleague from NYC's Department of Homeless Services, along with Lee Allman and Joanna West took time to tell me stories about the development of The Doe Fund's impressive array of ventures, including their mature Ready, Willing & Able street cleaning enterprise as well as newer back office printing, catering, property management and pest control businesses.
At Project Renewal, one of NYC's oldest and largest organizations addressing homelessness, I paid a return visit to Barbara Hughes, who oversees all of the organization's substantial food service operations. I met Barbara in her office a few years ago to learn about the development of Comfort Foods, Project Renewal's catering company, which primarily serves the contracted-meals catering needs of nonprofit partner agencies.
Common threads in my conversations were the need for adequate unrestricted reserves and clear business strategy to grow a venture and navigate in challenging conditions. The tensions between mission and venture have been constants in my talks with social entrepreneurs around the country, and my suspicion is that this tension forces deeper consideration of business decisions resulting in more holisitic and sustainable solutions.
