After graduating from Harvard University, Yale Law School and Balliol College in Oxford University, Bill Drayton worked a few years with consulting firm McKinsey & Co. before serving as assistant administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency under President Jimmy Carter.
Then he decided he wanted to upset the idea that change is impossible.
Drayton is now the chief executive officer of Ashoka, a global organization dedicated to supporting its 1,400 fellows as a venture capital fund for social innovation.
Known in business circles as the "father of social entrepreneurship," he is a pioneer in promoting the rise of the citizen sector.
Drayton spoke Thursday night as part of the Carolina Entrepreneurial Initiative Speaker Series.
His idea of entrepreneurship, however, is decidedly unconventional. Through Ashoka, he has brought about an entirely new type of "social entrepreneurs" who use business to remedy social problems across the world.
"(Ashoka is) interested in Florence Nightingale and not local tobacconists," Drayton said.
He founded Ashoka out of his desire to reunite the business and social sectors. He said the separation of the two is a "historical accident."
Although the business sector has been moving rapidly ahead of the social sector for centuries, Drayton said, he believes the social half is catching up as a viable opportunity for growth and productivity.
