Tag Archives: Barack Obama

Startups have a chance to share $1 Million in prizes in MassChallenge, world’s largest competition

Image representing MassChallenge as depicted i...

Image via CrunchBase

Last year I had the opportunity to participate as a judge and mentor in the inaugural competition, MassChallenge. This is a serious business competition that has shown it can attract top quality concrete job creating ideas from round the world. Over 450 entries applied and 110 finalists were incubated for 3 months including free office space, introductions to VC, funders, customers and team resources.  Sixteen finalists split $1 Million including $100,000 for the top finisher. Seeding Labs, profiled elsewhere on my blog, won $50,000 as the Social Impact finalist and also was offered free office space for another nine months.

If you have a venture and are looking to make it to the next level I strongly encourage you to apply to the 2011 accelerator. If you have any questions please reach out to the organizers at contact@masschallenge.org or apply online at www.masschallenge.org/enter. Continue reading

A new beginning

As the world watches the inauguration of the new president Barack Obama, it is an opportune time to renew a commitment to service and social upliftment. Yesterday was Martin Luther King Day in the USA and the incoming president took the opportunity to exhort the nation to dedicate itself to a day of service. The President-elect launched a service initiative, Renew America Together.

“Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday [is] a day to be remembered and celebrated not as a day off, but as a day on,” said Obama.

More importantly, it is not just on this day but every day that one rededicates oneself to serve. In the words of Martin Luther King, Jr.:

“Everybody can be great… because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love.”

September 27 ServiceNation Day of Action

Twenty years ago, Alan Khazei started a youth movement in Boston called City Year, a service corps that helped inspire Americorps. Alan has since moved on to take his passion for citizen engagement forward and started another organization, Be the Change, Inc that strives to get citizens participating in the conversations, discussions and debates that affect us as a democracy. One of the initial programs of this organization is ServiceNAtion.org – a movement to promote a culture of service among Americans. Continue reading