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Exploring The Motivation Of Social Entrepreneurs In Creating Successful Social Enterprises In East Africa, Caroline N. Wanyoike, Matilda Maseno

New England Journal of Entrepreneurship

Purpose – This paper aims to investigate the motivations of social entrepreneurs in East Africa to create a social enterprise and their identified links to successful social entrepreneurship in East Africa. Design/methodology/approach – The authors employed a qualitative method by performing thematic analysis on a set of interviews on social entrepreneurs from East Africa who are Ashoka fellows. Findings – The findings suggest that intense personal experiences linked to past-life events as well as a high achievement orientation towards improving livelihoods and creating impact serve as key triggers for social entrepreneurship. Successful entrepreneurship focusses on system change at national and …