Engage Deeply. Build Solutions. Create Lasting Change
The Entrepreneurship for Social Impact (ESI) Minor brings together civic engagement and entrepreneurial action. You’ll develop both the understanding to see societal issues and the entrepreneurial skills to build sustainable solutions—creating meaningful change in the communities whom you serve.
- Engage in civic and political discourse while developing entrepreneurial solutions to societal challenges
- Work with host communities to understand needs and goals, and co-create solutions that address real problems
- Learn from practitioner faculty who’ve built social enterprises that make a difference
- Graduate ready to take action, working across differences to achieve social impact
Where Entrepreneurship Meets Social Impact
Real social change requires both empathy and strategy. You need to understand why problems occur and how they manifest in communities. You also need the entrepreneurial tools to prototype and develop solutions that solve these problems. The ESI Minor helps you achieve these goals.
From the civic side, you’ll explore how social systems work, how movements create change, and how to partner authentically with communities.
From the entrepreneurial side, you’ll learn to identify opportunities, design solutions, mobilize resources, and iterate based on real feedback.
These perspectives strengthen each other. Deep civic understanding ensures your solutions address real needs and respect community wisdom. Entrepreneurial methods help you move from awareness to action, from good intentions to measurable impact.
What You’ll Develop
Through community partnerships, real projects, and learning from faculty who’ve created social change, you’ll develop:
Civic Engagement Skills
- Identify and understand systemic challenges that shape societal issues and community needs.
- Develop authentic, collaborative partnerships with communities to co-create solutions.
- Examine and address issues of justice, equity, and inclusion in decision-making and action.
- Organize and mobilize collective action through civic movements and initiatives.
Entrepreneurial Skills For Social Enterprises
- Acquire fluency in the language of business
- Know how to start new initiatives to solve problems with effective solutions
- Identify opportunities and take action
- Adopt an experimental and iterative approach to find a scalable solution
Authentic, Empathetic Leadership
- Have explored your purpose, motivations, and core beliefs
- Have confidence in your own agency and resourcefulness
- Believe in your ability to learn what it takes to solve real problems
- Have acquired a human-centered, ethical approach to business and leadership
- Lead with cultural humility
- Build coalitions across differences
Your Social Impact Journey
18 credits bridging Entrepreneurship and Civic Studies courses
Entrepreneurship requirement (3 courses)
- Required course: ENT141: Entrepreneurship For Social Impact (f/k/a Innovative Social Enterprises) . Starting in Spring 2025, ENT141 will also meet the Foundational Requirements for the Entrepreneurship Minor.
- Electives: Two additional Entrepreneurship Courses. We strongly recommend ENT193.04 Nonprofits, philanthropy and impact and a Core Entrepreneurship Course – use the filter buttons below to browse recommended elective courses.
Civic Studies requirement (3 courses)
- Required Course: CVS 0020/PHIL 0020/PS 0020: Introduction to Civic Studies
- Electives: Two additional Civic Studies courses from the approved list spanning courses in civic action and social movements, civic skills, social conflict, inquality and violence, and courses that inspire you to think about justice.
Entrepreneurship Courses
TML/ENT010 Preparing New and Aspiring Leaders
TML/ENT011 Developing Financial Literacy
TML/ENT013 Essentials of Marketing
TML/ENT014 Planning your career pathway
TML/ENT015 Living a Life of Purpose (2 credits, Second Half)
ENT090 Paths to Entrepreneurship (2 credits, Second Half)
ENT100 Creativity, Innovation & Entrepreneurial Thinking
ENT101 Entrepreneurship and Business Planning
ENT103 Entrepreneurial Finance
ENT105 Entrepreneurial Marketing
ENT106 The Science of Sales
ENT107 Entrepreneurial Leadership
EE185/CVS149/ENT109 Societal Aspects of Design
TML112/ENT112 Vocal Arts for Personal And Professional Life
ENT141 Entrepreneurship for Social Impact – f/k/a Innovative Social Enterprises
ENT142 Nonprofits, Philanthropy and Impact
CS150 Entrepreneurship for Computer Scientists
ENT159 Art Entrepreneurship
ENT161 Consumer Product Ventures
ENT162 Bringing Products To Market
ENT163 Entrepreneurial Business Law
ENT164 Introduction to Making
ENT193.02 Lean Software Leadership
ENT193.04 Starting A Small Business
TML/EM/ENT193.05 Introduction To Intellectual Property
TML/EM/ENT193.06 Business Essentials
ENT194.01 Inside the Classroom (aka Classroom Operations Officers, or COO)
ENT198 Entrepreneurial Internship
ENT199 Entrepreneurial Field Study
ENT280/NUTR280J Nutrition and Entrepreneurship (Boston Campus)
ENT/EM/TML330 Transfer Credit
Civic Studies Courses
Where Entrepreneurial Leaders Create Impact
ESI alumni are making a difference everywhere:
- Social Venture Founders delivering sustainable solutions to big challenges
- Nonprofit Innovators expanding how organizations serve communities
- Corporate Social Responsibility Leaders building purpose into business
- Community Organizers driving grassroots change
- Policy Advocates advancing justice and equity
- Impact Investors funding ventures with measurable benefits
- Impact Consultants helping organizations maximize social good