[The weekly wrap] The top social entrepreneurship stories from the week that went by

Every week we bring you the best social entrepreneurship stories from around the world. This week we have stories about a new open source social good map, the county of Cornwall (UK) becoming the first social enterprise zone, Villgro investing in three social enterprises and why women are more responsible entrepreneurs than men.

1) Putting Social Good on the Map

As social enterprise grows globally its impossible to know what happening in all corners of the world

Igniter founder Michael Lewkowitz is leading a team of developers to build a social change digital platform using open source software that will be made publicly available.

Igniter is collaborating with the J.W. McConnell Family Foundation, MaRS, Ashoka and CatalystsX for the project

2) 4 Reasons Women Are More Responsible Entrepreneurs Than Men

Are women really better suited to be responsible entrepreneurs? Social responsibility is second nature to female entrepreneurs. According to the 2013 U.S. Trust Insights on Wealth and Worth the answer is yes.Women are more likely to pursue their passions and strive to create a positive impact. They are also have bigger hearts than men, and won’t so things like moving the company to another state, eliminating staff or reducing employee benefits in response to increased tax burden.

3) What Entrepreneurs Can Learn From Nelson Mandela: Reflections on Thought Leadership

Nelson Mandela passed away this week and he was known for his political activism. This article claims that he planted the seeds for social entrepreneurship. Could this be true? Read the article to find out.

4) Hong Kong’s social enterprise pioneers

Glitzy Hong Kong is a financial hub, and boasts of a highly wealthy and educated citizenry.

The sixth annual Social Enterprise Summit of Hong Kong that was began in 2008 has been hard at work to bring the social sector to the fore. The former British colony might just have all the ingredients to emerge as a major social enterprise hub.

5) Cornwall declared first rural social enterprise zone

Cornwall in the UK became the first social enterprise zone was accredited by Social Enterprise UK (SEUK). The county is home to social enterprises like Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen Cornwall, the Eden Project and Community Energy Plus. Is this the sign of things to come for other counties in the UK?

6) Success at Scale: How CARD Bank activated 480,000 poor savers in the Philippines:

A 4-year project funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and executed by Grameen Foundation where they worked with a local Philippines financial entity called CARD Bank has helped open 480,000 new active savings accounts and create the backend for implementation of mobile financial services. All of the savings accounts are for the largely unbanked, poor.

7) Villgro invests in three social enterprises – OneBreath, Ecozen Solutions and Artoo

Villgro announced three new additions to their investment and incubation portfolio – OneBreath, Ecozen Solutions and Artoo. Villgro has made equity investments in all three companies and is providing mentoring, access to relevant networks and talent, to help these social enterprises.