Social entrepreneurship is a form of leadership that permanently changes the way problems are addressed on a global and local scale. Social entrepreneurs take innovative and creative approaches to develop sustainable solutions to a range of problems from poverty, malnutrition, and homelessness and to lack of access to education, health care and dignified work. These methods allow social entrepreneurs to develop and implement pattern-breaking solutions for previously intractable social problems in ways that are sustainable and have a long-term orientation.

The  programme offered by Roosevelt University creates opportunities for students to learn about social entrepreneurship through courses, workshops, speakers, and student-run organization events.

A "meta-profession," social entrepreneurship is best understood as an approach that can be taken up by a variety of professional disciplines or fields. To realize effective and lasting change, social entrepreneurial efforts cannot be relegated to one or two sectors. Policy makers, public service systems, private and nonprofit concerns are all critical components of sustainable impact.