Social-Entrepreneurism Facing Conflict

By Carolina Garza

Most recently our Community and Intergroup Conflict department was presented with a case in which two social/community activists set out on a joint business endeavor that sought to empower community (aka social-entrepreneurism).  The two quickly faced conflict because of personal things happening in one another’s lives.  APADRC was called upon to help facilitate dialogue and help the two resolve past issues in order to get their social entrepreneurism back on track.  APADRC felt honored to be considered a resource for a conflict of this nature because resolving the dispute meant saving an important community empowerment project.  In the end, the two were able to fulfill their goals for the mediation session and were able to make an informed decision for the future of the business and their personal relationship.  We encourage community activists experiencing internal conflict in their partnerships or any other matters that stall the process of fulfilling projects to contact APADRC for conflict resolution services.