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Social Enterprise: Student Expands Class Project to Fight Obesity and Hunger
Fumitsugu Tosu (MPA DP ’11) graduated from SIPA with a plan – to fight obesity in wealthy countries and malnutrition in poor ones, all at the same time. That is the mission of TABLE FOR TWO, a Japanese social enterprise Tosu is helping to launch in the United States.
TABLE FOR TWO USA works with restaurants and cafeterias to give their customers the option of buying smaller-than-normal entrees and contributing a portion of the purchase price to fund school feeding programs in Africa.
The business plan for TABLE FOR TWO USA sprang from SIPA’s Creating a Social Enterprise class, and a student team comprising Tosu, Fabian Suwanprateep (MIA ’11), and Sofia Fernandez del Castillo (MPA ’11).
Social enterprises are nonprofit or for-profit organizations that use a business model to accomplish a social mission. In the spring 2011 course, eight student teams designed social enterprises to tackle a variety of challenges. They ranged from providing college loans in Mexico to managing public toilets in Indian slums. Each team was paired with an adviser from their field of interest.
“The course really came out of student demand,” says Sarah Holloway, who teaches the course. “There was great interest in starting organizations.”
Holloway, an adjunct assistant professor at SIPA, started an organization called Mouse in 1997 to provide information technology in New York City public schools. She advises students to make a compelling case for their idea and craft a sound plan for generating the necessary revenue.
TABLE FOR TWO USA focuses on partnering with larger restaurant chains, universities,and corporate cafeterias. A former chairman of the National Restaurant Association served as the students' adviser and helped them make connections in the industry, Tosu says.
Tosu is TABLE FOR TWO USA's first full-time employee in the United States. He hopes to make it a nationwide effort. With about a billion hungry people and a billion overweight people, it is an idea that could make a difference around the world.
Tim Shenk, June 6, 2011