Social Entrepreneurs and Grant Professionals: Sustaining Environmental and Energy Resources

Social entrepreneurs transform opportunities into action for social and economic development and serve as leaders and change agents in private, nonprofit, and governmental sectors throughout the world (Martin, R. L. & Osberg, S., 2007). Grant professionals, not unlike social entrepreneurs, help design innovative solutions to environmental and societal challenges. National and international demands for energy accessibility and affordability are increasing and carry burdens of social and environmental injustices (International Energy Agency, 2011). Such demands and concerns of climate change and the interdependence of energy and environmental resources require expertise beyond a single sector. Social scientists, social entrepreneurs, and grant professionals have information and skills to increase social and economic development in response to the human side of these concerns. This article provides suggestions for grant professionals who work to diversify resources and bring the entrepreneur’s vision to fruition in the quest for sustaining environmental and energy resources.