What have we learned during this first year of immersion with social entrepreneurs, reviewing their personal stories, accomplishments, frustrations and challenges? I have come to the conclusion that the world has little idea yet of the power of social entrepreneurs to ensure that the poor and excluded participate actively in, and benefit from, the global economy. And while the world applauds the millions made by business entrepreneurs, equivalent social entrepreneurs rarely receive wide recognition or support for their contributions. On the contrary, even when they are successful they face continued political and financial constraints that impede them from scaling up or deepening their efforts. Let me offer a few examples.

Ismael Ferreira, the son of a sisal farmer in Bahia, Brazil, initiated APAEB with other impoverished farmers so that they could collectively market their crop of sisal (a plant used to produce fiber). To do so, he spent four years fighting with business interests and the government to attain export rights. He finally succeeded in forging links with foreign markets. Today, APAEB has sisal processing plants, a carpet factory and annual revenue of $7 million from sales of its products to Brazilian and foreign buyers. What makes Ismael a social entrepreneur and not just another businessman? All profits of APAEB are reinvested into activities that benefit the community. Visiting Valente, APAEB's base, one readily perceives the qualitative difference in living standards between its inhabitants and those in nearby towns. But despite tangible, powerful results, APAEB faces major constraints, the main one being to secure export financing by convincing traditional lenders that APAEB is a solid investment.

Takao Furuno is a Japanese farmer with a different problem common to outstanding social entrepreneurs. Furuno, committed to environmental sustainability, came upon an ancient practice in Asian rice farming: releasing ducks in rice paddies to remove weeds. But, unlike traditional practice, Furuno discovered that ducks were much more than just weed and pest controllers. They are actually the engines of rice production and soil maintenance. Because of his perfecting and spreading this technique since 1988, today more than 75,000 small rice farmers throughout Asia have taken up his method. Rice yields from farmers using Furuno's method are almost twice that of conventional plots in the same area, and "duck rice" is sold at 20-30 percent higher than chemically fertilized rice. But in the past 30 years the use of chemical fertilizer on Asian rice has grow from three to 40 times faster than the growth of rice yields. To stem this tide, Furuno does not need money. He needs legitimacy and access to networks that will support his uphill battle against enormous vested interests and power that lie with the agro-industrial complex and governments they support. Most social entrepreneurs have three major interrelated needs: legitimacy/credibility, opportunities for networking among themselves and with others who can mobilize support for their initiatives, and financial and/or in-kind resources. The order of priority of these needs will vary, but in all cases absence of any one of the three will constrain the entrepreneur in bringing the initiative to scale and achieving long-term sustainability.

Credibility and legitimacy come from sticking to established theory and practice. Social entrepreneurs tend to defy traditional practice. Most perceive them as modern-day Don Quixotes unless, to paraphrase Rodrigo Baggio, Founder and President of CDI in Brazil, "Something happens that overnight converts a once-considered 'crazy person' into a 'social visionary.'"

Traditional constraints include gender, as many women social entrepreneurs can attest. Suraiya Haque, founder of Phulki in Bangladesh, said she believes that the secret of her success was stubbornness. Suraiya was born and married into comfort. So it was quite against the judgment of her husband and sons that she pursued her dream to open up a day care center for children of garment factory owners, first in her garage. Now Phulki is well established in textile factories around the country.

Gisèle Yitamben from Cameroon founded ASAFE based on her belief that African women could develop into successful entrepreneurs if provided training and development support, alternative financing and access to e commerce. ASAFE today supports thousands of women entrepreneurs in Cameroon, Guinea, Benin, Chad and the Democratic Republic of Congo. ASAFE is actively engaged with technology companies and business incubators to help African entrepreneurs overcome the digital divide. It has had to grow quickly to respond to the demand it has generated. But Gisèle has found few second-stage financing mechanisms that will allow ASAFE to scale up as needed. Hundreds of foundations support start-ups, needlessly reinventing the wheel. Few financing mechanisms are available that can provide significant capital to proven social entrepreneurs with high potential for replication and scalability. What are the lessons learned for seasoned social entrepreneurs? "The biggest thing we have learned after 30 years of existence is that there are no definite victories or defeats. The most important thing is to keep on going," said Mirai Chatterjee of SEWA. Mirai has been working for more than 10 years with SEWA, founded by another social entrepreneur, Ela Bhatt. In 1972, Bhatt, a lawyer with the Textile Labor Union in Ahmedabad, was the first to organize and empower poor, self-employed women, increasing their bargaining power, economic opportunities, health security and legal representation. Today SEWA is the largest labor union in India and has influenced national and international policies in support of informal employment around the world. Even with such a claim and a paying membership base of 380,000, SEWA is looking for support for its fledgling SEWA Insurance--soon to be company-- and funds for leadership training and capacity building of grassroots women so that they can be strong managers of their own cooperatives and producer groups.

What can the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship offer social entrepreneurs of this caliber? For one, being accepted into the Schwab network of outstanding social entrepreneurs will do much to further the legitimacy of social entrepreneurs in their home countries, where they need it most. The Foundation also works with the World Economic Forum to identify those with substantive contributions to Forum discussions who can be included at regional Forum meetings. Such participation connects them to a different network of high-ranking individuals in the corporate and public sectors, giving their work more exposure and possibly support for expansion.

But the critical need that even the most outstanding social entrepreneurs have is for flexible, longer-term financing. We are not talking about philanthropy. We are talking about investment with a high rate of social and, in many cases, also a financial return. The Schwab Foundation is committed to working with other individuals and organizations to launch a Global Exchange for Social Investment (GEXSI), a mechanism that matches high quality initiatives with investors committed to social value creation. There is an urgent need to identify second-stage financing mechanisms and networking platforms so that social entrepreneurs with replicable models can find the financial and in-kind support they need.

Pamela Hartigan is Managing Director of the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship.