Tag Archives: Conference

Seeding Labs, winner of $50K MassChallenge Social Impact Prize to speak at ForSE 2010

Posted on October 22, 2010 | Leave a comment

Yesterday MassChallenge, the year long business competition, announced the winners of the grand prizes. With over $1 Million in prizes, this has drawn international attention as one of the largest business plan competitions. Starting with a pool of over 450 applicants, the judges winnowed it down to a final list of 111 selected companies that were provided free space for three months and mentoring to help them refine their business ideas and pitches. 26 teams were chosen from these finalists to the final round to make their pitch to a world renowned panel of judges.

The competition was fierce as this was not some college level biz plan competition. Several companies were startups by veteran entrepreneurs. Progressive thinking MassChallenge also included a category for enterprises with significant Social Impact.

Last night Seeding Labs learned that they were the winners of the $50,000 prize for their entry in the social impact category. Seeding Labs mission is to support and expand scientific research in developing countries by providing affordable reclaimed laboratory equipment and facilitating connections within the global scientific research community. Their simple focused approach won over the judges. Seeding Labs has been on a tear having recently been invited to the TED Global conference as a TED Fellow; was awarded the Young Professional Award by the Massachusetts Nonprofit Network; and have been named a PopTech  Social Innovation Fellow.

Seeding Labs is one of the featured speakers in the Technology Track for ForSE 2010: Forum for Social Entrepreneurs to be held on Saturday, October 30 at Northeastern University. For information and to register for ForSE 2010: http://www.forumse.org

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Posted in Conference, Social Ecosystem, Social Entrepreneur, social Innovation

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ForSE 2010: Forum for Social Entrepreneurs, Oct 30 Northeastern University

Posted on October 19, 2010 | Leave a comment
This picture shows a panorama of Boston (USA).

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For the fourth year, TIE Social Entrepreneurs Group together with Northeastern University’s Social Enterprise Institute and the Netimpact Undergrad organization will be hosting ForSE 2010: Forum for Social Entrepreneurs.  ForSE 2010 brings together social innovators, leading business professionals, investors, donors, government officials, academics, and students to share new technology and business ideas with the potential for significant social impact.

We have a terrific line up of keynote speakers and panelists this year including

  • Prof. Kasturi Rangan, who is co-chair of Harvard’s Social Enterprise Initiative and Malcolm P. McNair Professor of Marketing
  • Gianfranco Zaccai, co-founder, Chairman, President and Chief Design Officer of Continuum, a design consultancy that has delivered significant designs for social impact globally.

We are excited to note that two of our invited panelists – Dr. Una Ryan and Sam White – were subsequently listed as one of Boston’s top 15 Innovators by the Boston Globe. Also participating are Pradip Sarmah, Ashoka Fellow and founder of the Rickshaw Bank; Josh Biber, Executive Driector, Teach for America; Brian Milder, Managing Director, Root Capital; and many others. Four tracks on Health, Sustainability, Technology and Education promise engaging conversations with committed leaders delivering significant social impact. An Unconference session after the panels, allow you to continue the conversation with the panelists in a more informal setting.

And if you know of promising social entrepreneurs, this year we have our second Pitch contest where they can refine their pitch, test their ideas and wow a panel of seasoned judges. Click here for info on the Pitch Contest.

Sign up soon as we have limited attendance to 250 registrants and we have consistently sold out in past years. More details of ForSE 2010 at the website at: http://www.forumse.org You can register at the TIE Boston site.

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Posted in Conference, Education, Health, Information Technology, micro-finance, microfinance, mobile technology, Social Business, Social Entrepreneur, social Innovation, sustainability

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Thinking about a social enterprise? Pitch your idea and win

Posted on September 30, 2010 | Leave a comment

Pitching SE- How Great Leaders Sell Smart Ideas 

Pitching SE is your opportunity to refine your pitch, focus your ideas and wow a panel of seasoned judges. A panel of experienced non-profit and social investors will evaluate your pitch, and provide feedback and constructive advice.

Eligibility

You don’t need a business plan – just a business idea with significant social impact.

Your idea can be for a non-profit or for-profit or any combination.

It needs to be early stage/less than a year old – operations started after September 1, 2009.

How to apply

Applicants should be a registered attendee for ForSE 2010 and is required of all applicants, It is non-refundable if you are not selected. Applicants should mail the following information to pitchforse@tie-boston.org by 11.59 pm EST October 21, 2010.

  • Name of organization.
  • Names of team members.
  • School affiliation (if applicable).
  • A two page (1000 word) Executive Summary of the business idea.
  • Brief bios (1-2 para) of team members. This will not be counted towards the 2 pg limitation. Continue reading →

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Posted in Conference, non-profit, Social Business, Social Ecosystem, Social Entrepreneur, social Innovation, Venture Capital, venture philanthropy

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Another successful year for ForSE 2009

Posted on November 5, 2009 | Leave a comment

Another successful conference on Social Entrepreneurship was held on October 23rd, this time at Babson College in Boston’s Wellesley suburb. Details on the conference and photos were posted in a local e-magazine, Lokvani.com and are reproduced below for those who could not attend. Continue reading →

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Posted in Conference, Education, Social Business, Social Ecosystem, Social Entrepreneur, social Innovation, sustainable development

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Social Media for Social Entrepreneurs

Posted on October 21, 2009 | Leave a comment

Panel Description for ForSE 2009

One of the most popular panels in the past and one that promises to be very interesting at ForSE 2009, is on Social Media for Social Entrepreneurs.  With Twitter and Facebook revolutionizing the business of marketing, can social activists lag behind? Successful grassroots efforts have helped spread the word to thousands, even millions. But the devil is in the details. 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.

Panelists

  • John Haydon, Social Media Consultant @johnhaydon
  • Dan Croak, Thoughtbot @croaky
  • Tushneem Dharmagadda, Director, US Operations India School Fund @tushneem

Moderator

  • Kate Brodock, Founder & Principal, The Other Side Group @just_kate

You can prepare for this panel by reading a thoughtful piece by one of the panelists, Tushneem Dharmagadda, on his blog that describes four tips for Social Entrepreneurs to leverage Social Media. For more advice and great posts on social media strategies, check out @johnhaydon and @just_kate blogs.

Finally the afternoon will include a real live interactive case study highlighting the challenges Lokvani.com, a South Asian community portal and e-magazine with over 40,000 subscribers, faces as it tries to integrate the new media tools into its online strategy. Join Lokvani team members and the content experts to help brainstorm ideas for solving Lokvani’s challenges.  The session will be moderated by Kimi Ceridon (@kalepatech), Founder of Kalepa Tech, a design firm with deep social impact experience.

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Posted in Conference, Information Technology, non-profit, Social Ecosystem, Social Entrepreneur

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