In 2007, I helped found an annual conference on Social Entrepreneurship in partnership with Boston University and the Deshpande Foundation called the Forum for Social Entrepreneurship or ForSE for short. ForSE brings together social innovators with leading business professionals, investors, donors, government officials, academics, and students to facilitate the sharing of new technology and business ideas along with hard-earned management learnings to foster informed discussion and action on new social venture concepts.
The response last year to ForSE 2007 was overwhelming. The oversubscribed event was a first-of-its-kind opportunity for Boston’s emerging and established social enterprises to identify and recruit talent, meet potential partners to support their organizational growth, share best practices with peers, and interact with senior executives from Boston’s leading companies, non-profit/social ventures, foundations, philanthropies, and beyond.
We have a great line up of topics and speakers with Gerald Chertavian, Founder and CEO of Yearup as the keynote speaker and a Keynote panel led by Nishith Acharya, Executive Director, Deshpande Foundation. Additional speaker details are being constantly updated.
This year we have added a case discussion session where you have an opportunity to get engaged with emerging social entrepreneurs as they discuss their challenges of scaling and growing their organizations.
Agenda for ForSE 2008 includes:
- Keynote Speaker Gerald Chertavian, CEO and Founder, Year Up
- Keynote Panel discussion led by Nishith Acharya, Executive Director, The Deshpande Foundation
- Multiple tracks addressing key issues including
- Adapting to Climate Change
- Mobile Solutions for the Masses
- Beyond Microfinance: Opportunities for change
- Sustainable Ventures for non-profits
- Building a Sustainable Food Supply
- Cultivating a Generation – Engaging Young Entrepreneurs
- Each track will include:
- In-depth discussions with a panel of practitioners and leaders in the field
- Helping emerging social entrepreneurs solve their business challenges in intimate case discussions and feedback sessions
- “How to” workshops with hands-on experts experienced in building social enterprises
When: Friday October 10th, 2008 8.30 am to 6.30 pm
Where: Graduate School of Management, Boston University, 595 Commonwealth Ave., Boston Ma 02215
Registration for the ForSE 2008: Forum for Social Entrepreneurs is now open.
Go to http://www.bu.edu/forse
Click on the ForSE 2008 link on that page.
Registration is limited. Register early for the discounted registration rates available to the first 180 registered attendees.
The Social Ecosystem 