The urban sportswear company FUBU was given the first Asper Award for social entrepreneurship in a ceremony that took place of the Faculty Club after a forum for global entrepreneurship yesterday.President of CanWest Global Communications Leonard Asper '86 started the project as a way of giving back to his alma mater, "beyond the obligatory $100 or $200 check."

The Asper Award honors an individual or company which has displayed extraordinary leadership and innovation in the field of global entrepreneurship, according to a Brandeis International Business School press release.

"Like this school, entrepreneurship is about being part of something that is being creative," Asper said. "Anyone can create a car, but if you can not commercialize the product and bring it to the people, you have nothing."

Keynote speaker Bill Drayton, a Macarthur fellow and the chair and founder of the nonprofit company, Ashoka, spoke about developing social entrepreneurship around the world. Drayton defines social entrepreneurship as a person recognizing when a society is stuck, and taking actions to try and change that.

"Entrepreneurship can change the world," Dean of the Brandeis International Business School Peter Petri said. "It applies to all dimensions of human activities and is becoming an increasingly essential part of the school's teaching."

Drayton spoke about the progress that social entrepreneurship has made in the past half century all over the world.

"The social half of the world's entrepreneurs stepped up in the last half century," Drayton said about the advancement his field is making in the world. "We are compounding productivity in the social arena nine to 10 percent a year, when the business world is compounding productivity only two to three percent."

Following the forum was a fashion show and the presentation of the Asper Award to Team FUBU: CEO and Founder Daymond John, Co-Founder and President of FB Entertainment Carl Brown, FUBU Vice President J. Alexander Martin, and Co-Founder and Vice President of FB Entertainment Keith Perrin.

FUBU was founded in Queens N.Y. in 1992 by John, who began selling hats outside of his mother's basement and then selling them on the street to earn easy money.

"Daymond came up with the idea of putting logos on our hats, and we did that for about six months until we ran out of money," Perrin said about the very beginnings of FUBU. "Then we stopped for a while and teamed up with Alex, and then we started selling again for about six months until we ran out of money."

In 1994 Team FUBU combined forces with Bruce Weisfeld '83 and Norman Weisfeld, and began marketing their product to the mass market. They started working on their biggest line yet, an extensive sportswear line, which was to debut in 1995.

"The break came when we hooked up with LL Cool J," Perrin said. "We asked him to just wear a shirt. We didn't want him to do anything but wear the shirt, and from there other artists began to pick up on us."

FUBU has had a vast impact on the social landscape in America according to John, bringing in many elements of black culture into mainstream society such as the Fat Albert, Muhammad Ali, and recently with the new FUBU Platinum Harlem Globetrotters line.

"The real reason we came out with FUBU is that at the time there was this stereotype that Timberlands only made boots for drug dealers," John said. "Now, I have never sold drugs but I own about a dozen pair of Tims. What we wanted to do was make a product for Generation Y."

FUBU has also helped to guide young African Americans who are in similar circumstances as Team FUBU members were when they started. All members of Team FUBU have gone to inner city schools to help young black students believe they can accomplish more.

"Now the kids from the streets are networking," John said. "They learn that there are other things they can do outside of play basketball or sell drugs. When we were starting to get big we would go on tour with rap artists and bring kids with us. We'd go down to South Carolina and they would see everybody swarming us, trying to buy the clothes off of our back,"

In 1999, Team FUBU established the FUBU Foundation as a way for the Founders to stay in touch with and help out the community. Additionally it is designed to serve as a source of inspiration and encourage for the black community.

"I wanted to see more money going into educating the community that teaches teenagers how to help themselves write business plans and get money from the bank," Brown said.

To date, FUBU continues to receive awards and contribute to social entrepreneurship and activism. In the past, FUBU has received awards from the NAACP for entrepreneurship, the Pratt Institute Award, the Christopher Wallace Award and a citation of honor from the Queens Borough President.

"This company is based around three things: persistence, open-mindedness and innovation," Weisfeld said of how FUBU has been able to accomplish all of its goals. "That is why it is so successful.