What is the 'third sector'?

When business gurus talk of the 'third sector' they mean the social sector as compared to the government or private sectors. They write of it as the most rapidly growing sector and the one with the greatest potential for sensing and addressing the pressing needs of society.

Social Innovation

Social innovation is designing new approaches to resolving issues of major concern to society - and fast. It involves being close to issues, sensing what is emerging, taking risks, trusting in feedback, care with language, working with complexity, challenging status quo practices and paradigms, doubting, learning and adjusting, building and rebuilding prototypes until an initiative is born. Then it requires the nurturing into mainstream thinking, finding funding solutions and scaling the initiative in order to achieve broad reach and societal change.

The social profit organisation (SPO)

This may be our most important innovation. We have designed a structural template for focused social action by a small team that uses the legal form of private company, but with a specially worded constitution to ensure that funds stay within the company. The purpose is to return a social benefit to humanity rather than a financial benefit to shareholders.