BOSTON -- Aug. 4, 2003 -- Professors from Harvard Business School (HBS) and a number of leading management education institutions in Latin America, including Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, and Mexico, are meeting this week (August 3-6) on the HBS campus to take part in a research colloquium titled “Partnering for Progress in Latin America.” All the participating schools are founding members of the Social Enterprise Knowledge Network (SEKN).

The mission of the SEKN is to advance the frontiers of knowledge and practice in social enterprise in Latin America through collaborative, case-based research; shared learning; and the strengthening of business schools’ capabilities to serve their communities.

According to the members of the Network, “There is a pressing need in Latin America for an enriched management education that increases the inclination and capabilities of business leaders to engage effectively in the social sector to foster sustainable development. There is a parallel and equally urgent need to strengthen the managerial capacity of leaders of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that are key implementers of socioeconomic change and betterment. Societies will achieve meaningful progress only when there is a dynamic and responsible business sector and a vigorous and capable civil society. Development possibilities are even greater if these two sectors are able to join forces in collaborative undertakings.”

The SEKN was formed in 2001 by HBS and a group of top Latin American business schools (Argentina: Universidad de San Andres Universidad Torcuato Di Tella CEDES; Brazil: Universidad de Sao Paulo; Chile: Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile; Colombia: Universidad de los Andes; Costa Rica: Instituto Centroamericano de Administracion de Empresas; and Mexico: Instituto Technologico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey Escuela de Graduados en Administracion y Direccion de Empresas) in partnership with the AVINA Foundation. Other schools will be included in the future.

All the members of the SEKN see social enterprise as central to their mission and have made a major institutional commitment to developing social enterprise research and courses as an integral part of their educational programs.