Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and Social Change
6-Week Professional Development Online Course
Start Date: July 1, 2025Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and Social Change
6-week online course Start date: July 1, 2025If you’re in the social innovation space, this 6-week online entrepreneurship course will inspire you, help you understand the challenges of the start-up process, and offer the space, structure, and support for you to flush out your idea.
It’s perfect for impact-oriented entrepreneurs, from social enterprise to the non-profit space or even an intrapreneurship venture within an existing organization.
Social-impact initiatives are rising, upholding powerful missions while maintaining financial sustainability. Get in on the action! Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and Social Change will attempt to break down that perception for participants to see the social sector as a place of opportunity, both to ‘do good’ but also to innovate and build a sound business model.
The course inspires and connects participants, offering space and structure for participants to begin developing their business plan for a socially beneficial venture and think about the complexities of growing and managing it.
Who should take this online entrepreneurship course?
o Anyone who needs one-on-one guidance to write a business plan, start a project, or set off in a new professional direction
o Anyone looking to add a social impact project to their current work or organization
o Anyone going through a significant change in life or considering a new career
Course Format
This is an online course. Each week, a new module opens that includes videos, articles, and forums for discussions that can be completed offline at a convenient time for the participant.
The course also includes live sessions, which are not mandatory but highly recommended for creating connections with other participants and digging into course materials. Live session times are announced approximately one week before the course begins, as we do our best to take into account the time zones present in each class when we decide on session times.
What to expect: Course skills and Benefits
Flip the circles to learn more!
Business Plan
Develop a ‘social enterprise business plan’ for creating a new organization (or a new project within an existing organization).
Certificate
You’ll get a certificate from the Centre for Executive Education within the United Nations established University for Peace.
Develop Your Strengths
Reflect on your strengths, passions, and how to channel those into an endeavor that is also financially viable.
Personalized Feedback
Close communication with your course facilitator to gain crucial, personalized feedback.
Entrepreneurship Analysis
Examine the challenges and rewards of entrepreneurship in organizations which deliver social goods and services.
Dynamic Learning
You’ll get an engaging, dynamic experience that allows you to connect and learn by doing.
Build Skills
Build the knowledge, skills, and perspectives necessary for responding creatively and successfully to challenges.
International Network
Deep relationships with a tight-knit, international network of alumni.
This course counts as part of the Diploma in Social Innovation or Global Leadership Diploma.
- Week 1: Understanding the Landscape: Who are Social Entrepreneurs?
- Week 2: Mission, Vision, and Legal Status
- Week 3: Developing a Business Plan: Clarifying Strategy and Structure
- Week 4: Measuring Impact and Evaluation
- Week 5: Scaling your Social Enterprise
- Week 6: Sustaining Positive Change: Leading the Social Enterprise
The final deliverable is developing a business plan that includes all the tools learned during the course.
Abhinav Khanal is the Co-Founder & Executive Director of Bean Voyage. This non-profit social enterprise provides training and market access to smallholder women coffee producers in Costa Rica and Nepal. He is also the Co-Founder & Chief Thought Officer at Little Big Fund, which provides knowledge, networks, and micro-grants to early-stage non-profit leaders worldwide. He is a Cordes Fellow, Resolution Fellow, Trust Scholar, Watson Scholar, and a One Young World Ambassador. Abhinav has a B.A in Political Science from Earlham College.
Alonso Muñoz is an instructor in the Department of Environment and Development at the University for Peace (Costa Rica). He also coordinates the Programme in Responsible Management and Sustainable Economic Development (RMSED). He holds a B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Costa Rica and an M.Sc. in Business Administration. He has worked in the private sector as a consultant and entrepreneur. He has volunteered on various national and international projects regarding peace education, migration, environmental impacts of systems, and Social Enterprises. He is a novelist, a blogger, a peace advocate, an entrepreneur, and passionate about social and ecological development.
Shelley Bragg is the co-founder and Marketing and Development Lead for The Centre of GOOD Travel, a New Zealand-based social enterprise focused on transforming travel for a thriving world. For two decades, Shelley led marketing, communications, and business development teams in education, tourism, and the non-profit sector and more recently started sustainability consulting for businesses across various sectors. Shelley is motivated to support purpose-led organizations that are committed to more sustainable futures. Shelley is also the Asia Tour Manager for the Kliptown Youth Program in Johannesburg, South Africa, served on the Board of Directors for the South African Thai Chamber of Commerce, and has founded several different organizations. She recently completed her Masters in Philosophy in Sustainable Development, with a focus on value creation beyond profit within Sustainable and Regenerative Business Models. She is currently based in Cape Town, South Africa, but has had the privilege of calling many different countries “home”.
This is a 6-week online course starting in July 1, 2025. This course runs two to three times a year, so if this isn’t a suitable date for you, ask us about future offerings at centre@upeace.org.
$895 tuition rate. Upon completion, a certificate is awarded by the Centre for Executive Education at the University for Peace, established by the General Assembly of the United Nations.
Enroll with someone else, and each will receive a 10% discount.
Have a question? Contact us at centre@upeace.org, or visit our Frequently Asked Questions section.
