The Need for AISE

We see ourselves participating in a global ‘social movement’ for the creation of social and environmental value and wealth. We recognise that this may be achieved through exploring alternative business models for the generation of sustained income. Often this may mean addressing disadvantage, access-equity issues, and poverty in the creation of more 'mission-driven' sustainable social enterprise organisations and their communities in Australasia.

We consider that we can make a difference through networking within local community contexts linked with global networks of connections and partnerships. We see that the latter needs to extend out to the very centres of world power and wealth and back again to these same local community contexts.

In the contemporary context of Australian social enterprise there are a few but excellent number of social enterprise support organisations. None of these except AISE however has a strategic direction that has:

• A strategic focus on the networking of small to medium enterprises (SMEs) and micro (social) enterprises.
• A membership network based on principles of mutuality rather than fee-for-service.
• A strong emphasis on practitioner-based and ‘applied’ research to generate ‘really useful knowledge’ that supports social enterprise operations and policy formation.
• The planned intent to provide solutions to practical problems facing communities.
• Established collaboration with universities and schooling with their potential to create a future generation of social entrepreneurs.
• Enterprise learning and e-learning for social and business skills-development based on knowledge generated from research and enquiry.
• An emphasis on the construction and design of social enterprises from the ground up.
• A passion to explore “mission-market” relationships through doing social enterprise with practitioners and using ethical and participatory approaches.
• An engagement in scholarly activities through linking learning and IT research especially in contexts of new technologies.

The need for AISE is also reflected in the fact that unlike many similar support organisations we deliver and broker products and services that aim to infuse and permeate social enterprise within all layers of social enterprise organisations. We adopt an integrated and holistic approach to the development and sustainablity of social enterprises.

We aim to promote and grow interest in social entrepreneurship and the ‘entrepreneurial spirit’ that must accompany the ‘movement’ for social change in the 21^st century.

» More about our history and the origins of AISE

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Get a more comprehensive overview of AISE by clicking on FAQs under Who We Are