Academy for Entrepreneurial Leadership | Illinois

M. Paola León Arizmendi
School of Social Work

Abstract: Asociación de Artesanas y Artesanos del Sur Andino: A Case Study of Social Entrepreneurship in a Peruvian Indigenous Community

Social entrepreneurs have been identified in the literature as the catalyst necessary in society to fill in the gaps and shortcomings of our governments in addressing social issues. Prahalad, for example, recognizes that there is a source of innovation and opportunity in the world’s poor. The Bartolomé de Las Casas Center in Cusco, Peru has been following his admonishment to recognize the poor as resilient and creative entrepreneurs for the last 23 years. Through their Casa Campesina program the Center has been empowering, advising and training the indigenous peoples of the rural Andean South, to help them to overcome obstacles to better themselves and their communities.

This project will develop a detailed case example to exemplify the social entrepreneurship arts-related program operated by this organization, the Asociación de Artesanas y Artesanos del Sur Andino (Andean South Artisan Association). This association was formed four years ago, and brings together 239 artisans from ten different communities in Cusco and Apurimac. The intent is to detail a developing country example of social entrepreneurship by this group of indigenous people, and also to document issues the group faced in various entrepreneurial steps such as idea generation, opportunity assessment, and financial development.