England's top 25 social entrepreneurs will spend the next three years spreading the word that social enterprise is a valuable and fulfilling career choice.

The Social Enterprise Ambassadors will act as role models for new entrepreneurs. The announcement of their appointment this week is a key part of the Government's Social Enterprise Action Plan, launched by prime minister Gordon Brown last year.

“I want to inspire driven people with values who want to use the instincts that might otherwise have made them hugely successful in other spheres, to go into social enterprise,” says one of the ambassadors Tim Smith, co-founder of the Eden Project.

Other ambassadors include: Liam Black, who leads the Fifteen Foundation which supports Jamie Oliver's Fifteen restaurant concept; John Bird, founder and editor in chief of the Big Issue; and Penny Newman, chief executive of Caf