Talk:Social entrepreneurship/Social entrepreneur

I have long been interested in the Nobel Prize for peace winner in Africa, Wangari Maathai. She changed the way that agriculture and resource management was done in Kenya and this ballooned into an international organization that is trying to revolutionize the way agriculture conservation is practiced all over the world, taking into account sustainability, and reforestation. She reeducated the women of Kenya in tree planting and environmental conservation after being: "The first woman in East and Central Africa to earn a doctorate degree, Professor Maathai obtained a degree in Biological Sciences from Mount St. Scholastica College in Atchison, Kansas (1964). She subsequently earned a Master of Science degree from the University of Pittsburgh (1966). Professor Maathai pursued doctoral studies in Germany and the University of Nairobi, obtaining a Ph.D. (1971) from the University of Nairobi where she also taught veterinary anatomy. She became chair of the Department of Veterinary Anatomy and an associate professor in 1976 and 1977 respectively. In both cases, she was the first woman to attain those positions in the region. "Professor Maathai was active in the National Council of Women of Kenya in 1976-87 and was its chairman from 1981-87. In 1976, while she was serving the National Council of Women, Professor Maathai introduced the idea of community-based tree planting. She continued to develop this idea into a broad-based grassroots organization whose main focus is poverty reduction and environmental conservation through tree planting. With the organization which became known as the Green Belt Movement Professor Maathai has assisted women in planting more than 40 million trees on community lands including farms, schools and church compounds."

It seems to me that she is exemplary in terms of social impact and grassroots movements. While she is exceptional, I believe that the basic characteristics that she brings to the table that make her successful are- passion, intelligence, drive, charisma, stubbornness, empathy and a broader perspective of the issues that she was confronting.