Monthly Archives: August 2008

More Than Just Fish Stories…

Social Entrepreneurs want things to be different. Is that too much to ask? I think most people would agree that there are plenty of resources in the world. Most people will also agree that the allocation and distribution of these resources are extremely inefficient. So we want to change it.

Most people will tell you to “Go Fish” when you tell them you want to use business to create a positive social impact. In some cases at least–they’re right.

During my recent expedition to meet with more Social Entrepreneurs in Utah, I had the great opportunity to meet with just such a demanding individual; Ben Nolte, the founder of Big Amazon Fish and Adventure Giving. Ben is an intelligent and personable business man who was intrigued by the challenge of bringing sustainable social change to a segment of the world he deeply cares for: The Amazon. His conquest to raise public perceptions of indigenous Amazon and divert more tourist spending dollars to build social infrastructure has been a risky business.

Re-distributing tourist dollars is a simple but effective idea. According to Adventure Giving, just 1% of the Adventure-Tourist industry could provide more than 60 million dollars for communities in need. — Nice. The cool part is that figure doesn’t even begin to measure the socio-economic collective impact of more people experiencing service and sacrifice for others. —

Things can be different. Don’t believe me? Go fish!