Some reflections on Martin Luther King and non-profit leadership

After spending some time on the production line at the Greater Boston Food Bank, and given the past weekend celebrating Martin Luther King, one reflects on what Martin Luther King might have done in light of what we had seen and experienced, at the Greater Boston Food Bank as well as the larger set of social issues that we are exposed to in our daily lives.

Social Media for Social Entrepreneurs

With Twitter and Facebook revolutionizing the business of marketing, can social activists lag behind? How does one turn followers into funders? Motivate movements with your messages? And leverage social networks to create social change? The experts on this panel have shown others how to maximize their impact with the latest online tools and techniques and they will help you figure out the right approach to integrating social media within your strategies. Find out more about the panel at
http://blog.ambientengines.com

Sustainable Business Models for Social Ventures

A new breed of ventures has begun innovating revenue models to build greater capacity and sustain operations. These approaches leverage the power of markets and have discovered the sustainable power of partnering with their customers to meet their social needs. More details at
http://blog.ambientengines.com

Valuing Social Enterprises

As a number of young entrepreneurs launch their social enterprises, one of the areas they all struggle with is attracting socially conscious investors. A challenge for all is how to evaluate a social focused business on metrics other than strict return on investment. More details at http://blog.ambientengines.com

Using cell phones to change the world

Jhonatan Rotberg, was sent to MIT by Telmex, one of Latin America’s largest telcos, and teaches NextLab where he tries to bring cellular technology to the other 90 percent of the world. One of the labs startups, CelEdu, offers cellphone-based games and quizzes to teach basic literacy skills in India. Ranjani Saigal from the TIE Social Entrepreneurs Group helped connect CelEdu students to Tara Aakshar. Read the entire article at http://blog.ambientengines.com

An Investors perspective of Microfinance

An Investors perspective of Microfinance – Over the past years, microfinance has grown increasingly prominent and found its way into the common vernacular. As microfinance has become increasingly mainstream, major investors have started to take positions in microfinance companies. What are the potential returns and social impacts that investors see in this segment? More details at http://blog.ambientengines.com

ForSE 2009 Agenda Details

ForSE 2009: Forum for Social Entrepreneurs promises to continue the tradition of interactive and engaging forums that we have produced in the past. In-depth discussion with a panel of practitioners and experts in four parallel panels. Dissect the daily workings of a social entrepreneur and help brainstorm solutions. Refine your pitch and wow a panel of judges during the Pitching session. More agenda details at http://blog.ambientengines.com

ForSE 2009 Pitch Contest – Pitching SE: How Good Leaders Sell Smart Ideas

For the first time ForSE 2009: Forum for Social Entrepreneurs, will have a pitch contest for aspiring social entrepreneurs. If you have an idea with significant social impact, here is your chance to pitch it and to wow a panel of expert judges and win a prize. Send in a short summary of your idea to pitch@tie-se.org

ForSE 2009: Forum for Social Entrepreneurs on Oct 23 at Babson College

Our annual conference on Social Entrepreneurship – ForSE 2009: Forum for Social Entrepreneurs will be held on Friday October 23. This time we are working together with Babson College’s Net Impact Undergrad organization to host it at Olin Hall on Babson College’s lovely Wellesley campus.

Why we need Social Investors

The latest Time Magazine has a great article about social entrepreneur Reed Paget and his startup Belu that has grown from $13,000 in 2004 to nearly $4 million in 2008 while providing water in corn based bottles that can be composted and redeploying its profits to projects that bring clean water to deserving regions of [...]