Tag Archives: sustainability

12 wonderful wishes you can share for 2012

Posted on December 26, 2011 | 1 comment

As we tick down another year and look back at all the milestones of the past year and plan for the next, it is time to also consider some of the wonderful organizations that are making an impact around the world.

Here is my list of a dozen that are making a difference in no particular order. Most of them are young organizations that are just getting started and an opportunity for you to get involved and help them on their way.

  • Greentown Labs http://greentownlabs.org/ An incubator for clean technology ventures that allows entrepreneurs to get down and dirty constructing their next generation green machines. Setup as a nonprofit and collaborative, Greentown provides a unique location for startups that need to build stuff.
  • Sol Solution http://www.sol-solution.org/ A nonprofit that helps underprivileged schools to save on expenses by installing solar solutions to offset their electricity expenses.
  • Social Capital http://www.socialcapitalinc.org/  Social Capital inc has worked over the past 10 years to strengthen communities by connecting diverse individuals, neighbors and organizations and bringing them together through civic initiatives
  • ABAN http://www.aban.org/ Is a young organization that I came across during a visit to University of North Carolina that was started by a team of passionate students that works with the street girls of Accra to help them learn a trade, make a living, and secure a future as well as helping them transform their city into a healthier environment.
  • Space with a soul http://www.spacewithasoul.org/ is another innovative nonprofit that provides shared office space and services to nonprofits. A great landing place for emerging nonprofits as they get started.
  • Peace First http://www.peacefirst.org/site/ Peacefirst works to build a safe and productive environment at schools by teaching students the skills of conflict resolution and civic engagement.
  • Samarthanam http://www.samarthanam.org/ Samarthanam is a nonprofit registered in India and the US that provides quality education, accommodation, nutritious food, vocational training to help empower the visually impaired, disabled and underprivileged in India. It runs a free middle school for underprivileged youth including the visually handicapped.
  • Merrimack Valley Sandbox http://www.uml.edu/mvsandbox/default.html Launched in 2010 November by the Deshpande Foundation, the Merrimack Valley Sandbox works with students in the Lowell/Lawrence area through partnerships with colleges and community organizations to build leadership and entrepreneurship within the Merrimack Valley.
  • LifeCity http://mylifecity.com/  LifeCity helps encourage green businesses in Louisiana through its membership organization where customers get discounts to green businesses and products and green businesses certified by LifeCity get greater visibility and support from LifeCity members.
  • Peacetones  http://peacetones.org  Peacetones supports talented, unknown artists from developing nations build their careers while giving back to their communities.
  • Vision Aid http://visionaid.org/ VisionAid works to help people with visually related disabilities in underserved areas to lead a life of independence and dignity.
  • Ummeed http://ummeed.org/ is a nonprofit that works with children with developmental disabilities in Mumbai and is one of the few that helps bring professional support to this segment of society in India.

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Posted in Education, environment, Health, Hygiene, India, international development, non-profit, Philanthropy, Recycle, renewable energy, Schools, Social Ecosystem, Social Entrepreneur, social Innovation, Solar, sustainability

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Sustainable Business Models for Social Ventures

Posted on October 17, 2009 | Leave a comment

Panel Description for ForSE 2009

In decades past, many non-profits have achieved only temporary success and limited scale due to dependence on grants and donations. A new breed of ventures has begun innovating revenue models to build greater capacity and sustain operations. These approaches leverage the power of markets to meet social needs. Whether they’re building a socially responsible brand of clothing, providing renewable energy solutions, or bringing banking to the poor, these organizations have discovered the sustainable power of partnering with their customers.

Hear from a panel of innovative organizations that are thinking outside the box in terms of building sustainable models. Click here to register.

Panelists

Moderator

  • Prof Nitin Joglekar, School of Management, Boston University

Equal Exchange – Special In-depth Case Study and solutions brainstorming

Case Presenter: Rodney North, The Answer Man, Equal Exchange

Moderator: Gaurav Rohtagi, Principal, Continuum

Equal Exchange, the Massachusetts-based employee-owned worker co-operative best known for introducing Fair Trade coffee to American grocery stores in that late ‘80s.

Equal Exchange has over 100 employees in 6 states and $35 million in annual revenue. They’ve recently won six different awards for their environmentally and socially responsible business practices including the Social Innovation Award from the Financial Times newspaper and the World’s Most Democratic Workplace award from WorldBlu.

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Posted in Conference, non-profit, Rural Development, Social Business, Social Ecosystem, Social Entrepreneur, social Innovation, sustainable development

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ForSE 2009 Agenda Details

Posted on October 14, 2009 | Leave a comment

ForSE 2009: Forum for Social Entrepreneurs promises to continue the tradition of interactive and engaging forums that we have produced in the past.

The opening keynoter is Andre Potter, Executive Director, Massachusetts Office of Small Business and Entrepreneurship. After the plenary session the Forum will split into four parallel panels for an in-depth discussion with a panel of practitioners and experts on cutting edge issues in the social sector:

  • Sustainable Business Models for Social Ventures
  • Valuing Social Enterprises
  • Social Media for Social Entrepreneurs
  • An Investors perspective of Microfinance

More details on each of the panels in a subsequent post. Continue reading →

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Posted in Conference, micro-finance, non-profit, Philanthropy, Social Business, Social Ecosystem, Social Entrepreneur, social Innovation, sustainable development, venture philanthropy

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

Posted on October 13, 2009 | Leave a comment

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

Complete details on the contest are below.

Pitching SE: How Good Leaders Sell Smart Ideas

Cutting through the clutter to get the attention of foundations and other social investors is not easy. To win donor support, SE leaders must sell clear and compelling stories that differentiate them from other organizations.

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, 2008.

How to apply

Applicants should be a registered attendee for ForSE 2009.

Applicants should mail the following information to pitch@tie-se.org by 11.59 pm October 14, 2009.

  • 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.

Selection process

Entries received will be evaluated by a team consisting of ForSE 2009 organization committee members and judged on the following criteria

  • Social Impact
  • Innovation
  • Feasibility of idea
  • Sustainable business model

The top FIVE entries will be notified by October 17th and will be asked to present to the panel of judges at ForSE 2009 on October 23rd at 3 pm. All other entries will be eligible for the Wild Card selection which will happen live during the Pitching SE session on the day of the conference. The panel of judges at the Pitching SE session will, at their discretion and time permitting, select up to two additional entries to pitch.

Final Pitching SE Session

The selected finalists will have two minutes to pitch their ideas to a panel of judges and the conference audience. Following their presentations, the panel of judges will ask clarifying questions of the finalist. The judges will score the presenters on the following criteria:

  • Innovation
  • Potential Social Impact
  • Feasibility
  • Sustainability of model
  • Presentation clarity and persuasiveness

After the five finalists have completed their presentations, the judges, at their discretion, will select up to two additional Wild Card entries to pitch. Entrants need to be present to qualify. These Wild Card entries will also be evaluated on the same criteria and will be eligible for the awards. All the presentation scores will be tallied and a winner identified by the end of the Pitching SE Session.

Awards

The winning finalist will be eligible for a combination of monetary and in kind consulting award.

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Posted in Conference, non-profit, Philanthropy, Social Business, Social Ecosystem, Social Entrepreneur, social Innovation, sustainable development

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

Posted on October 13, 2009 | Leave a comment

Once again we are holding our annual conference on Social Entrepreneurship – ForSE 2009: Forum for Social Entrepreneurs 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.

We also have a number of interesting panels and speakers and, for the first time, a Pitch contest that will allow emerging social entrepreneurs to wow a panel of seasoned judges.

The forum brings together social innovators, leading business professionals, investors, donors, academics, and students to help share new technology and business ideas that have significant social impact.

If you are interested in meeting emerging social entrepreneurs, hearing of innovative ideas for social impact and supporting young innovators as they launch their concepts, this is the event to attend. If you are an aspiring social entrepreneur, this is your chance to pitch your idea at the pitch contest and to wow a panel of seasoned judges.

This years keynoters will include Pamela Hawley who was a co-founder of Volunteer Match, one of the earliest online volunteer matching sites, and who later founded and currently runs UniveralGiving.org, an online site that channels donations and volunteer hours to non-profits around the world; Leonard Schlesinger, President of Babson College, one of the leaders in entrepreneurship; Andre Porter, Executive Director of Massachusetts’ Office of Small Business and Entrepreneurship; and Carol Cone, Founder and Chairperson of Cone LLC, an innovator in Cause Branding and CSR programs for corporations.

We have tried to keep ForSE very affordable for our attendees, many of whom are students or starting non-profits and social entrepreneurs. The registration fee for attendees is nominal ($20 for students /$35 for affiliates of BU and TIE /$/75 for all others) for a full day conference including meals. However these discounted fees will only be available only until October 19th.

I urge you to sign up as soon as possible as the past two years we sold out days before the event and many were disappointed. We try to make the event as interactive and intimate as possible and keep total attendance capped to 250. If you are interested in attending I would encourage you to register soon. The fees will go up substantially after October 19th.

Click here for more info and to register.

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Posted in Conference, creative capitalism, Investment, Micro-enterprises, micro-finance, microfinance, non-profit, Philanthropy, Social Business, Social Ecosystem, Social Entrepreneur, social Innovation, sustainable development, Venture Capital, venture philanthropy

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