This Week in Social Entrepreneurship

Applications for The Impact Engine’s first ever class, Impact 1, in Chicago close on June 30th at 5:00 pm EST. Impact 1 runs for 12 weeks in Chicago, starting on September 10th. Social ventures that participate will receive $20,000 in seed capital, mentoring, business development, introduction to investors, media exposure, and physical office space in return for a 7% equity stake for The Impact Engine.
NY+acumen is hosting Spark! New Leadership for a New World on June 28th, a fundraiser for the Acumen Fund. This will be a Ted-like format, where four change igniters will speak about ideas that matter to them. The speakers for this year’s event will be Paul Reickhoff, founder and executive director of IAVA, Dee Poku, founder of WIE Network, Alfa Demmalash, co-founder and CEO of Rising Tide Capital, and Adam Braun, founder of Pencils of Promise. In addition, attendees will have the chance to mingle with Acumen Fund Partners, staff, alumni, and former Fellows.
DC+acumen is hosting #SocEntDC Happy Hour on June 20th from 6-8 pm to celebrate and kick off summer and the exciting events that are happening throughout the season. This happy hour is part of a larger series that occurs every 3rd Wednesday of the month in DC where social entrepreneurs gather to collaborate and connect, all while enjoying a drink or two with some great company. Don’t forget to RSVP!
What does it mean to be a social entrepreneur? This is what the Ashoka changemakers ask in a recent article. “Social entrepreneurs are the heart of the Ashoka Changemakers community. They inspire communities around the world to create lasting change. Social entrepreneurs possess an undying passion to make a difference. They recognize a pressing need within their communities, and then set out to fill that need with a radical new solution.” As Ashoka founder Bill Drayton has famously said, “Social entrepreneurs are not content just to give a fish or teach how to fish. They will not rest until they have revolutionized the fishing industry.” So, are you a social entrepreneur?
So you want to be a social entrepreneur—Molly Barker’s Five Tips for Start-up Social Entrepreneurs can get you started! The formula seems pretty simple: Identify a problem, mull it over, craft a solution, write a plan, start your business, but Molly Barker proposes a different process. She started Girls on the Run to help boost girls’ self-esteem through running. Once she had the idea, she let it “marinate” for three years and then piloted it without an actual set-in-stone business plan. She let changes happen as they were needed and involved the girls from the program in the process. Read about her five tips in this Forbes article and you can see there is no special formula for starting your business—you just need passion, drive, and determination (and her five helpful tips, of course!)