We are developing a Certificate Course for Adult Social and Creative Entrepreneurs

Written By Doric Earle

We are currently developing a Certificate Course for Adult Social and Creative Entrepreneurs, designed to help individuals turn passion, purpose, and ideas into meaningful impact.

As we shape the course content, we’d love your input.

What do you need to succeed as an entrepreneur?
Share your thoughts with us at Dearle@smu.edu

What We’re Exploring So Far

This course is being built around the real questions and challenges entrepreneurs face:

Foundations

  • What is entrepreneurship?

  • What is social and/or creative entrepreneurship?

Purpose & Passion

  • What drives you?

  • What is your big idea?

Ideation & Problem-Solving

  • What are the key pain points you want to address?

  • Are you solving a problem—or helping people see the world differently?

Your Story & Strengths

  • What assets do you already have?

  • What’s your backstory—how did you get here?

Building Your Framework

  • Mission: How will you bring your vision to life?

  • Vision: What is your big, bold, audacious goal?

  • Values: What do you believe—and how will that align with supporters, customers, investors, and your team?

Help Us Build Something Meaningful

This course is designed to be practical, reflective, and rooted in real-world impact. Your feedback will help ensure it meets the needs of aspiring and current entrepreneurs alike.

Doric Earle

After 30 years of managing large technology consultancies, Dr. Doric E. Earle reinvented himself and is now dedicated to helping communities, social enterprises and entrepreneurs achieve collaborative, engaging and sustainable solutions. A Ph.D. in Public Affairs with a focus on urban planning informed his work, which uses economic development, communication and community engagement as a catalyst to unlock potential in underserved communities. Earle has leveraged his course work and student teams to engage a variety of nonprofits in the community to apply social innovation best practices. These community engagement efforts, along with academic research insights, are creating a three-pronged approach to community activation: economic (entrepreneurship), housing/place building and agricultural/environmental.

Social impact is integrated into all of his work, including his co-founded, community-based real estate platform the Dallas Unity Fund LLC and co-founded award-winning urban farm, Restorative Farms, where he is also the volunteer CFO. Earle learned the nuances of social impact through extensive Board of Director and consulting work with Dallas nonprofits including Frazier Revitalization, Bridge Lacrosse, Green Careers Texas, Carter’s House, Braincharge, and Miles of Freedom, to name a few. In addition, Earle is utilizing these local nonprofits and social enterprises as engaged learning opportunities for his SMU students. These efforts will drive collaboration between the community, SMU, and other educational institutions and like-minded partners in pursuit of addressing the needs of disinvested and underserved communities.

Earle is also co-director of the SMU Impact Lab, Director of the SMU-in-London Program, an SMU Hunt Institute Fellow, recipient of the 2023 UN Day Global Leadership Award and Director Nonprofit & Arts Leadership Advisory for the Meadows School of the Arts’ Division of Corporate Communication and Public Affairs.

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Social Entrepreneurship in Action: Restorative Farms in Dallas