Daniel Bornstein’s book on social entrepreneurs adds an important consideration to our look at how new media/internet (blogs, wiki media, citizen journalism, etc) that we’ve talked about (here, here, here and here) can improve the quality of health care in developing countries. Bornstein sees social entrepreneurs (Those who bring business and management skills for social ends) as “transformational forces”, people with a vision, fixed determination and an indomitable will; a critical part of the “global citizen sector” bringing social change to developing countries in ways not possible by governments or large corporations.

As he documents in his book, social entrepreneurs focus heavily of health and social welfare issues unaddressable by official or market forces: HIV, poverty, hunger, child neglect and abuse, for example. So here are a selected few of the lessons learned from successful programs that are worth thinking about:

• Putting Children in Charge — Successful programs working with youth found ways to put them in charge of problem-solving and decision-making. This strategy helped create enthusiasm, develop skills and build confidence. The social entrepreneurs were all trying to do “one big thing: help children succeed in a world that was fundamentally different from the one in which their parents and grandparents had grown up.”

• Enlisting “Barefoot” Professionals — Social entrepreneurs almost intuitively turned away from “professionally intensive models” to those that mobilize ordinary citizens to take on the problem. These pograms put problem-solving knowledge directly into the hands of families and community members.

• Unleashing Resources in the Community You are Serving — With limited funds, social entrepreneurs have had to devise new creative ways to attack large scale problems using the energies and capabilities of the people within the local community.

• Linking the Citizen, Government and Business Sectors for Comprehensive Solutions — Social entrepreneurs often pursue a “cross-sectoral strategy” to get what they want. They put together programs , campaigns, events, that are attractive or play to the ‘good corporate citizenship’ businesses as well as appealing to actions governments can take given the political and economic environment.

As I think is obvious from this brief description, social entrepreneurs and new media strategies go hand in hand. New media strategies can amplify the impact of these programs and individuals. Social entrepreneurs give meaning and purpose to new media activities. And both share many of the same public values important to health care development.