甚麼是社會企業?

Social Enterprise

社會企業(社企)是使世界變得更美好的企業。社企無處不在,他們在我們的社區及街道上—從咖啡店和寵物店,到便利店、洗髮鋪、網上商店、休閒中心和精品店。 社企就是我們社區的一部分!

社會企業沒有統一的定義。一般而言,社企是私人企業,透過企業策略和自負盈虧的營運方式,以為弱勢社群創造就業機會, 提供產品及服務為社會目標。

社企宗旨是要達致特定的社會目標,例如提供社會所需的服務 (如長者支援服務) 或產品、為弱勢社羣創造就業和培訓機會、保護環境、運用本身賺取的利潤資助轄下的其他社會服務等。社企獲得的利潤主要用於再次投資其業務,提升社群, 以延續「社會公益」,「經濟效益」雙底線的目的。

社企其中一大類別為就業融合社會企業(Work Integration Social Enterprises, WISEs)。WISE 專注通過更廣泛的工作機會(如工作經驗、簡歷寫作、面試練習、培訓等)從而改善弱勢社群的就業前景。


What are Social Enterprises?

Social enterprises (SE) are businesses that are changing the world for the better. Social enterprises are in our communities and on our streets – from coffee shops and pet stores, to convenient stores, salons, online shops, leisure centres, and boutiques. SEs are immersed into our community!

SE does not have a unified definition. In general, an SE is defined as a privately owned business with an aim to fulfil certain public social values or mission such as providing services or products that the general public require (i.e. elderly aiding services), providing employment opportunities and/or training to the underprivileged, promoting fair trade, protecting the environment, or using their profits to support other social services in need. Profits earned will be principally reinvested to support their social mission and improve their services.

The aim of SEs is to fulfil societal objectives which will "do good" to the society, with the double bottom line approach for "social objective" and "financial goal".

SE that hires the socially disadvantaged are called Work Integration Social Enterprise (WISE). WISE focuses on improving employment prospects for the socially disadvantaged  through a wider range of work-based opportunities (i.e. work experience, CV writing, interview practice, training, etc.)