The School for Social Entrepreneurs runs a year-long program that gives social entrepreneurs personal and business support to grow their venture to be more effective.

The 13 students graduating from the 2010 program are working on a range of social initiatives and enterprises, including a café for public housing tenants in Telopea, an Indigenous employment program called Career Trackers, and a Sydney City Farm and Sustainable Living Centre.

CEO of School for Social Entrepreneurs (SSE) Australia, Benny Callaghan, said that since launching the Sydney School, graduating students had attracted over $3.2 million in funding for their ventures and are responsible for creating 38 jobs and 256 volunteering positions.

The SSE Australia is based on the UK SSE, which has been established for over ten years. The Sydney SSE was opened in early 2009 and the Melbourne School was launched in April 2010.

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Applications are open for the 2011 program and bursaries are available to cover the costs of the program.

In other news, a new research project has been launched to compile a rule book for a Social Stock Exchange in the UK.

The research, which is being funded by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, is focusing on the production of a set of rulebooks for the Exchange that will require companies to be more transparent about their social impact.

Working with the UK charity CAN, the rule book will include guidance notes for issuers, corporate advisers and investors who will operate on the new exchange, covering topics such as trading rules and governance structures.