After getting his degree in social work, Don Leyrer, 62, spent the first half of his career in the field, including housing abused children, before moving on to law enforcement as a probation officer.
The second half of his career was all about business, working as an executive for high-profile Fortune 100 companies. As senior vice president of Comdata Corporation, he helped grow revenues from $25 million to $160 million.
When the time came for him to do just what he wanted, Leyrer was searching for an intersection between his business savvy and his drive to help others. But the concept of social enterprise or social entrepreneurism was foreign to him.
“I had never even heard the terminology before,” he admits.
Social entrepreneurs look for business solutions to social problems, and Leyrer embraced the concept with vigor and is now on the board of directors of the Nashville Chapter of the Social Enterprise Alliance, a membership organization for enterprising nonprofits and social purpose businesses. The organization’s goal is to promote financial and sustainable social innovation.
“It has been going on for years, but I have really just heard of it in the last five,” Leyrer says of social enterprise. “But in just the last two years I have seen an unbelievable increase in activity from people reaching out. We have so many Millennials who are moving to Nashville, and they are asking about how they can get involved. It is really amazing.”
Leyrer points out that Nashville is already being recognized as one of the top places (continue reading)