144 Paraphrasing his words, Social Business is a fully-fledged, financially sustainable and autonomous enterprise that operates to achieve a specific social goal. A Social Business does not generate losses, nor does it distribute dividends, and it is managed and controlled by altruistically motivated private investors. Social Businesses mainly operate in the fields of poverty reduction, social justice promotion, and environmental sustainability on a global scale. The mechanisms that regulate its activities are those pertaining to the classical market. Any profits generated are to be reinvested in the business in order to expand its impact, through the improvement of the product/service offered or the creation of other Social Businesses that can help address additional socio-environmental issues. In other words, the foundations of Social Business lie in combining the most virtuous market dynamics with the responsibility and awareness of innovators ready to revolutionise the rules of the game and place the well-being of both people and the planet at the centre of the enterprise's interests. Profit thus becomes a means, and no longer the goal. We could envisage Social Business as the fusion of the socio-environmental objectives typical of the public and nonprofit sectors with the efficiency and organisational effectiveness of the private sector. In a contemporary scenario characterised by multifaceted crises, largely caused by anthropic actions and by intrinsically unsustainable and exclusionary business models, Social Business and the social entrepreneurs who promote it emerge as a catalysing and generative force for positive impact. It is indeed difficult to imagine that business-as-usual corporations, owned by shareholders oriented towards maximising their short-term investments, would constitute an economy capable of facing the challenges of the millennium – ever increasing poverty, inequalities, climate and biodiversity crises, among others. The framework outlined by the Sustainable Development Goals enshrined in the United Nations' 2030 Agenda, agreed upon in 2015, offers an integrated platform useful for guiding and shaping the impact of Social Business on many different frontlines and challenges. By acting on specific goals and sub-goals, social entrepreneurs become agents of systemic change: through their social innovations, they can trigger transition mechanisms towards more sustainable and responsible economic, cultural, and social paradigms. In the broad panorama of global challenges, few initiatives can boast the scope and ambition as this Agenda. It is a manifesto of hope, a collective commitment to embrace fundamental values such as universal respect and equality, human dignity, and environmental sustainability. With the unanimous endorsement of the 193 UN member countries, this ambitious plan aims to revolutionise the world by 2030, by addressing complex and interconnected issues. But what makes the 2030 Agenda so outstanding is its inclusiveness. Unlike the Millennium Development Goals, each and every individual and sector is here being represented and called upon to contribute to change. Even some fringes of the private sector have embraced this mission, implementing forms of Social Business that have qualified companies as highly strategic partners for the nonprofit and institutional world in the journey towards a better future. Success stories are plentiful. From the We Collect company, originating from the Zero Waste Laos movement, where young activists flank local governments and companies in processes of environmental sustainability, to the Nai Nami agency in Kenya, which offers opportunities to street youths as tour guides in Nairobi, the world teems with enlightening examples. In Italy, from North to South, organisations such as Libera Terra and Rifò are committed to regenerating soil and clothing free from human exploitation, while social cooperatives such as Malefatte and Made in Carcere, the micro-bakery Frolla, and the Artismo atelier are demonstrating that ethical entrepreneurship can regenerate not only objects but also people's lives, whether they are in detention, marginalised, or persons with disabilities.
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