Technical Assistance Professionals

 

One of the biggest barriers to the rapid emergence of the Fourth Sector is a shortage of technical expertise. There are not enough lawyers, accountants, marketing consultants, management consultants and other professionals to meet the unique needs of Fourth Sector entrepreneurs.

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Technical assistance professionals can help by:

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• developing the necessary expertise and organizational capacity to service Fourth Sector entrepreneurs-—and then providing those services. Lawyers can develop by-laws for social entrepreneurs that embed mission and stakeholder governance. Accountants can help social entrepreneurs account for the social and environmental impacts of their organizations. Marketing specialists can help Fourth Sector enterprises communicate the special types of value they’re creating.

• sharing their know-how with other technical assistance professionals.

• developing tools and models that promote understanding and reduce the cost and complexity of running a social enterprise.

 

By developing the requisite expertise and offering services geared toward Fourth Sector entrepreneurs, technical assistance providers will be supporting what is already a sizable market opportunity, and will grow into a much larger one in the years ahead.