Can-do people

Zhenzheng De Wenti Jiejuezhe By: Ruth Shapiro Publisher: China Renmin University Press Year to publish: 2014 Price: 54.9 yuan ($8.86) Pages: 269

In the Chinese version, she brings together the "original initiators" of big charities in the US and in China, to talk about individual approaches toward delivering social good and highlighting the differences between traditional charitable organizations and modern-day philanthropy.

A PhD from Stanford University, Shapiro now works as the head of Keyi Strategies, a US-based consultancy she founded.

"In the world there are two kinds of people－keyi people and bu keyi people (can-do people and can't-do people). We all know them. We meet 'bu keyi' people all the time ... You say, 'Can we do this? They say, 'oh no, we never do that'. But there are other people who would say, 'Yes, let's try'," Shapiro tells China Daily of her motivation to write the book.

"Social entrepreneurs are the kind of people who don't see obstacles. They see ways to get around them. They are very inspirational to me, and I think they can be very inspirational to many people. Telling their stories, hearing what they did and how they did it, that is the main contribution of the book and the main reason to do it."

Soon after The Real Problem Solvers was published in the US, Chinese private publishers CheersPublishing got in touch with her, expressing their wish to print a Chinese version of the book. A little while later, China Renmin University Press, a top public publishing house, also got involved in the project.

Shapiro then decided to interview Chinese social entrepreneurs to add a new dimension to her book.

"It wouldn't be so interesting if it only focused on the US. There is so much interesting work and so many interesting people here (in China)," she says.

"Social entrepreneurs are all those people who use their business skills, thinking, strategies and tools to solve a social problem. Some of them even use profit, but not all of them.