The Meet reSET series introduces you to the staff and board members behind reSET. Today, we’re talking with board member Susan Coleman, Professor of Finance Emeritus, University of Hartford.

reSET: What drew you to being a board member of reSET?

Susan Coleman: Throughout my career as a professor of finance, I have always believed and taught my students that the creation of economic and social value are not mutually exclusive but rather mutually reinforcing.   That premise is at the core of how I believe firms can and should operate to maximize not only profits but also benefits to people and our planet.   I was drawn to reSET by its focus on social enterprise and by the work it does with aspiring social entrepreneurs and their ventures.   Since its launch in 2007, reSET has taken the lead in fostering social entrepreneurship in Connecticut, and represents an important and essential component of our entrepreneurial ecosystem.

reSET: Why is social enterprise important for a city like Hartford?

SC: Hartford is a wonderful city with a proud history of both innovation and social consciousness combined with economic prowess.   It has many advantages including a diverse and comparatively youthful population, an abundance of established industries and firms, and an increasingly vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem. Like many cities today, however, Hartford faces a number of challenges stemming from higher than average levels of poverty and unemployment and lower than average levels of educational attainment.   These, in turn, lead to additional challenges in the areas of hunger, homelessness, health, urban blight, crime, and civic engagement.   Social enterprises are important and essential for cities like Hartford because of their mission develop innovative solutions for pressing social and economic needs that are simply too big and too encompassing for government to “fix” by itself

reSET: What advice do you have for social enterprise startups?

SC: You are embarking on an exciting journey which like all entrepreneurial journeys will have its ups and downs.   One of your biggest ups will be actually seeing the impact of your firm, not only on profits but on real people and the planet.   Your hard work and creativity will go toward making our community and our world a better place.   I would be remiss in my responsibility to you, however, if I failed to point out that there will be bumps in the road and sometimes really big ones.   The good news is that you are not alone.   Organizations like reSET offer various types of support including education, training, advocacy, and access to an extensive network of contacts who can help you secure the resources you need to launch and grow your firm.   As someone who has watched, studied, and taught social entrepreneurship for some years, I like to think that we have reached a turning point as we enter this new year and new decade.   In particular, we have reached the point at which a “critical mass” of leaders, decision makers, educators, and consumers recognize the legitimacy and role of social enterprise as a means for generating innovative solutions for systemic social and economic challenges.   From the standpoint of social enterprise and social entrepreneurs like you, I believe that the best is yet to come, and I am deeply honored be even a small part of your journey as a reSET Board member.

About Susan Coleman

As a professor of finance at the University of Hartford’s Barney School of Business, Dr. Susan Coleman taught both graduate and undergraduate courses in entrepreneurial and corporate finance for over thirty years. Her research has been concentrated in the area of entrepreneurial finance with a particular focus on the ways in which women entrepreneurs secure financing for their firms.   Dr. Coleman’s work on this topic is widely published and cited in hundreds of refereed journal articles. She has co-authored two books on women-owned firms, A Rising Tide: Financing Strategies for Women-Owned Firms (2012) and The Next Wave : Financing Women’s Growth-Oriented Firms (2016).   Dr. Coleman has also written on the topic of social entrepreneurship and co-authored a book titled Creating the Social Venture (2016).    

Dr. Coleman is an active angel investor and a limited partner in the Next Wave Impact Fund.   In 2017 she was named to the Board of Directors for the Next Wave Foundation, a 501c(3) nonprofit organization focused on developing education and training programs designed to increase the number of women angel investors in the U.S. and abroad. Dr. Coleman is also a member of the Board of Directors for the reSET Enterprise Trust which provides a broad range of services and support to social entrepreneurs seeking to launch and grow their firms.

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