Growing Knowledge Together: Purpose-Driven Paths – The Motivations Behind Social Enterprise Founders

Guest blog by Dr. Julia Fursova, Assistant Professor, School of Leadership Studies, Interdisciplinary Leadership Studies Program, UNB

Starting a Social Enterprise (SE), like any business, comes with significant risk. Leaving behind the security of a 9-to-5 job often means trading it for a 24/7 commitment to bring a vision to life. Many founders begin their social enterprise journey as a side project while continuing to work full time, investing countless hours of unpaid labour into building something meaningful.

To better understand what drives these individuals, we began with a few key questions:

What motivates women and non-binary founders to launch their initiatives?

What compels them to take that first bold step toward turning an idea into action?

What is the deeper “why” that sustains their persistence and commitment?

Interestingly, no one cited “money” or “making a living” as their primary motivation. Instead, their responses centered around a desire to do things differently—whether by reimagining how business can be done or by bringing entrepreneurial thinking into the non-profit and charitable sectors.

Let’s take a closer look at what inspires founders to approach business with a new mindset. By exploring the motivations behind social enterprise, we may uncover insights into how we can collectively shift from “business as usual” to “business with purpose.”

Three key thematic categories emerged in response to questions about what motivates social enterprise founders:

• Responding to community needs and priorities
• Aligning paid work with personal values
• Drawing from lived experience

These themes are not mutually exclusive—in fact, they often reinforce one another. For example, lived experience can offer founders unique insights into how best to serve their communities. In turn, responding to those community needs allows them to align their professional work with deeply held personal values, which are often reflected in the mission and vision of their social enterprise.

Figure 1: Key Motivation Categories

‘Responding to community needs and priorities’ emerged as the most complex among the thematic categories under the umbrella of ‘Motivations’. The theme is compounded of the following sub-themes:

• Enhancing democratic processes
• Creating opportunities for education and training
• Community building efforts aimed at specific demographic and cultural groups.

The sub-theme of enhancing democratic processes reflects a strong desire to bridge the gap between grassroots communities and decision-makers. It includes efforts to foster dialogue, advocate for accessible services (such as low-cost or free options), and reduce stigma associated with accessing these services. These initiatives aim to create inclusive spaces for communication among diverse individuals and communities.

Another key driver for SE enterprise founders is their personal connection to or solidarity with specific demographic or cultural groups. Many founders are motivated by a commitment to support community-building initiatives among youth, creatives, Indigenous communities, Black communities, and Communities of Colour.

Figure 2: Responding to Community Needs and Priorities

Aligning Work with Core Personal Values

Some social enterprise (SE) founders expressed disillusionment with their experiences in the corporate and non-profit sectors. They felt these environments often failed to support work that aligned with their core personal values—such as social justice, equity, inclusion, decolonization, and diversity.

Driven by a desire to create meaningful, paid work for themselves and others who share these values, these founders envisioned a world where empathy and care are foundational principles, and where all individuals can live with dignity and peace.

By launching social enterprises, they sought to build teams or collectives rooted in shared purpose. These collaborations aim to align skills with social impact, foster a sense of fulfillment, and contribute to transformative systems change.

Figure 3: Aligning work with core values

Lived Experience

The lived experiences of social enterprise (SE) founders play a crucial role in sustaining their motivation. For individuals from immigrant or Indigenous communities—or those who have personally faced challenges such as food or housing insecurity or limited access to essential services—these experiences offer a unique and powerful perspective. This vantage point fuels a strong sense of purpose and deep commitment to values like equity, inclusion, and community care.

These personal histories not only shape the values and motivations of SE founders but also directly influence the nature of their work—for example, the types of products or services their enterprises provide.

Additionally, personal factors such as life stage and career development—particularly for founders in midlife—can significantly contribute to the decision to launch a social enterprise, often reflecting a desire for meaningful impact and alignment with long-held values.

Figure 4: The Role of Lived Experience

Next Steps

Stay tuned for our next blogpost, where we focus on how SE founders hold the balance between purpose and profit!

Social Enterprise Research Team:

• Dr. Julia Fursova, Research Lead, School of Leadership Studies, UNB
• Ryca McCullough, BPhil., Data Collection
• Ellie Petersen, BPhil., Data Collection and Analysis
• Hillary Russell, BPhil., Knowledge Mobilization