Category Archives: non-profit

The 140-Character Mission: Social Media & Social Entrepreneurship

Posted on April 15, 2009 | 1 comment

The TiE Boston Social Entrepreneurs Group put on a great interactive panel discussion on using Social Media for non profits. The panelists represented a spectrum of cutting edge users in the social media space. They included (with their Twitter ids)

  • Ken George, New Media Production Manager, WBUR Boston (@kengeorge)
  • Brian Halligan, CEO and Co-founder, HubSpot (@bhalligan)
  • Gradon Tripp, Founder, Social Media for Social Change (SM4SC) (@gradontripp)
  • Joe Waters, Director of Cause Marketing, Boston Medical Center (@joewaters)
  • Kate Brodock, Other Side Group (Moderator) (@just_kate)

After the introductory discussion two non-profits presented their current online challenges and asked the panel for direction/advice

  • Sam Vaghar, Managing Director, Millennium Campus Network (@samvaghar)
  • Julie Soforenko, Marketing and Outreach Coordinator, ACCION USA

It was a terrific session with some great insights and ideas.  I have tried to capture some of the nuggets from the evening in no particular chronological or preconceived order. Continue reading →

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Posted in Information Technology, non-profit, Social Business, Social Ecosystem, Social Entrepreneur, social Innovation

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A new era of service by Barack Obama

Posted on March 19, 2009 | Leave a comment

I am reproducing the entire text of an editorial by President Barack Obama that appeared on TIME Magazine’s website today.

It was a precursor to the news later in the day that one of the two pieces of Service based legislation – the GIVE Act – was passed with a strong bi-partisan majority of 321 to 105 in the House. The senate version of the bill – the Kennedy/Hatch Serve America Act – is awaiting final approval. If the two bills are finally reconciled and passed, they will, according to the New York Times, “be [the] largest expansion of government-sponsored service programs since President John F. Kennedy first called for the creation of a national community service corps in 1963.”

This is indeed a new era of Service

Continue reading →

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Posted in non-profit, Philanthropy, Politics, Service, Social Ecosystem, Social Entrepreneur, social Innovation

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Bill Drayton – Social Entrepreneurship’s Rock Star

Posted on March 4, 2009 | 1 comment

I was lucky to attend the HBS SE Conf 10th Anniversary Keynote Panel.  The panel consisted of Bill Drayton, founder of Ashoka and granddaddy of social entrepreneurship, David Gergen, presidential advisor emeritus and ubiquitous political commentator, Jon Greenblatt, founder of Ethos water, and Clara Miller, CEO of Nonprofit fund. More on the panel in a later post.

The hall was packed. Over a thousand people filled the room, lined the wall and crowded the passageways. It was great to see the energy behind this. Continue reading →

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Posted in Conference, international development, non-profit, Philanthropy, Politics, Service, Social Business, Social Ecosystem, Social Entrepreneur, social Innovation, sustainability, venture philanthropy

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HBS SE Conference Keynote by Linda Rottenberg of Endeavor

Posted on March 4, 2009 | 5 comments

The opening keynote to the 10th annual HBS Social Enterprise Conference was a truly inspirational presentation by Linda Rottenberg from Endeavor, Inc.  Endeavor helps mentor and grow entrepreneurs in developing countries. It has screened over 18000 candidates and selected 400 entrepreneurs, who have generated over 86,000 jobs and $2.5 billion in revenue.

Linda traced the arc of social entrepreneurship as it accelerated over the past decade from an idea to formally becoming a key movement. Here are some of my notes from the session.

She pointed out that the long path was facilitated with three key developments.

  • When Bono became the symbol for AIDS in Africa with his RED Campaign, he made social activism cool
  • When Prof Muhammad Yunus won the Nobel Peace prize, he instantly became the visible leader from within the field.
  • When Bill Gates went beyond establishing his foundation and stepped down from Microsoft to focus exclusively on his philanthropic work and presented his vision of Creative Capitalism, he made social entrepreneurship mainstream.

It is clear that government cannot solve all social problems. Businesses on the other hand are not always there to fill in the gaps. This is where social entrepreneurs come in. Continue reading →

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Posted in Conference, international development, Micro-enterprises, non-profit, Philanthropy, Social Business, Social Ecosystem, Social Entrepreneur, social Innovation, sustainability, venture philanthropy

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ForSE 2008: Forum for Social Entrepreneurs – Ready to roll

Posted on October 9, 2008 | Leave a comment

The response to ForSE 2008 was as strong as last year and we had to close registration as we reached capacity. This promises to be an engaging and exciting event with a terrific line up of speakers and cases.

Will provide updates after the event.

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Posted in Conference, Education, non-profit, Social Ecosystem, Social Entrepreneur, social Innovation

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