Posts tagged Ashoka Changemakers

This Week in Social Entrepreneurship

  • Join See Think Make July 7th-8th at the School of Visual Arts in NYC for a weekend of workshops that will provide you with the tools to get your ideas off paper and make them real. See Think Make has limited the event to 30 spots in order to maximize opportunities for feedback, facilitate conversation, and enhance connections between participants. Early bird tickets are available through 6/22! Email t@seethinkmake.com to sign up.
  • G2012 Mexico and Ashoka Changemakers just launched the G2012 Mexico Financial Inclusion: Innovative Solutions for Unlocking Access competition. This competition is looking for social entrepreneurs with innovations that address barriers to financial inclusions such as accessibility, affordable products, and lack of incentives to provide for low-income communities. The deadline for submissions is September 12th.
  • Villgro has launched SEED, a high-touch mentoring program for social entrepreneurs looking to grow their enterprises. The 6 month program, beginning October 30th, includes both in-residence and out-of-residence modules for a full germination period to enable social enterprises to bloom into healthy organizations. Applications are due by June 30th and the ten admitted entrepreneurs will be announced September 4th.
  • Mix and mingle with social entrepreneurs, journalists, members of VC firms, and other professionals at the Social Entrepreneurs Mixer in San Francisco, June 28th at 6:30 PM. The two hour event will include an opportunity for networking as well as a pitch session from the 15 hottest start-ups. Tickets are available online for a discounted price up until the start of the event and at the door for full price.
  • Don’t forget—Social Entrepreneurs Need to Make Money Too! An often overlooked yet integral part of founding a successful social venture is earning revenue. Inflows of resources, such as revenue, are required to sustainably carry out the mission of an organization. This article offers tips for social entrepreneurs to create an appealing pitch for investors such as creating a sensible sustainability plan and advice for measuring your social impact.
  • This week is A Good Week! Social innovation agency A Very Good Company, has launched this unique event designed to encourage people, businesses, and communities do something good for someone else. This event was created to bring people together to celebrate the Good in the world and to find ways to make more Good happen. Check out the A Good Week site and see how you can get involved in A Good Week, which started on June 18th and runs through this Sunday, the 24th.

Rachael Casagrande

I am currently working towards a BS in Information Design and Corporate Communication at Bentley University. Before college, I hadn’t any idea where I wanted life to take me so I decided to just let the wind blow me around a bit. The following summer, I shipped myself off to Romania through Learning Enterprises where I volunteered running English camps. The children I met there made me realize how much just one hello, one meal, or one hug can really grow change in someone’s life. After coming back to the US I’ve been keeping myself busy working odd jobs, studying and taking every opportunity I can to mesh my business degree with my love for positive change. 

This Week in Social Entrepreneurship

  • Nominations for the PopTech Social Innovation Fellows program opened this month. Nominees that are chosen as fellows are given the opportunity to participate in a training program designed to accelerate innovations. Whether you are nominating someone else or yourself, what does it take to become a PopTech Fellow? Based on previous nominations, the most successful were specific and cited examples of leadership, could clearly describe the innovation and impact, had a set path and timeline for achieving goals, and described the nominee’s passion and personality. Make sure to check out PopTech’s list of tips before submitting your nomination on April 3.
  • Join the Ashoka Changemakers on March 20th for an Asia #SocEntChat on Activating Empathy. This Twitter chat, Learning and Empathy in Asia, will take place from 2 pm to 4 pm Indian Standard Time (that’s bright and early for east coasters—4:30 am to 6:30 am EST). Some topic discussions will include learning innovation and changing education systems, but it’s really up to the participants to drive where the conversation goes. Participate by following the #SocEntChat hashtag and remember to include it in your tweets to make them visible to the chat. For the U.S. dwellers that value their sleep, you can catch a transcript of the conversation here after the chat concludes.
  • University of California’s Haas School of Business is hosting Berkeley Entrepreneurs Forum: Entrepreneurs and the Decisions They Make on March 22. This event will discuss the unique set of challenges that a social entrepreneur faces when starting a new venture. Featured speakers include Sean Blagsvedt, CEO of Babajob.com, Daniel Hoffer, co-founder and CEO of CouchSurfing.org, and Ned Tozun, President and co-founder of d.light. 
  • The Bold Academy is accepting student applications through March 22. This is a 4-week experiential program that helps college students and recent college graduates find their full potential. This is for the idealists who want to change the world but can’t figure out how to get started. It provides the practicality students need to start to carve out paths for the future. Apply today and take the first step of your journey to create a meaningful career.
  • How are you making a difference in the world? This is what The Zeitgeist Young Minds 2012 competition is asking. If you are between the ages of 18 and 24 and are doing something to make a difference in the world, this is your chance to share it and compete for a chance to join the world’s top innovators and leaders at Google’s Zeitgeist. Upload a 60 second video and tell everyone how you are making a positive impact by March 19.
  • A very special congratulations to HourSchool for winning Pitch Some Good, hosted by StartSomeGood and Center61 in Austin during SXSW this week. And a special thank you to all those who participated and Rackspace for providing the grand prize. Stay tuned for more reflections on this event from Vanessa very soon! 

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Social entrepreneurs, have you been inspired to start your own good?  Do you have a social enterprise, a non-profit, or an amazing idea that needs some momentum to take off?  Visit our site to find out how to start your own campaign today.  Still have questions?  We have answers—check out our FAQ section.

This Week in Social Entrepreneurship

  • Are you leading positive change in your community? Are you between the ages of 18 and 29 and the founder or leader of a social change project or organization? The 2012 YouthActionNet Global Fellowship is looking for exceptional social entrepreneurs just like you—20 of them to be exact—to participate in a year-long program that includes a seven day leadership retreat, skills training in communications, media outreach, presenting, and new media technologies, and a membership in the YouthActionNet global network of fellows. The application deadline is March 12th so if you are interested in becoming part of this prestigious network of social change projects, consider applying today.
  • This weekend in Boston, Harvard Business School and Harvard Kennedy School of Government present the Social Enterprise Conference. Organized and presented completely by the students, this year’s conference theme is Innovation, Inclusion, & Impact. The conference includes several keynotes, including Lauren Bush and Bill Drayton, workshops, a pitch competition, and a career fair. If you’re interested in joining, there’s still time—you have until the end of today to register. 
  • Ashoka Changemakers is kicking off International Women’s Day celebrations with a Twitter #SocEntSummit called #ChangemakeHERS on March 6th between 3:30 am and 7:30 am EST (1:00 pm to 5:00 pm IST). The summit will celebrate all the outstanding women social entrepreneurs of the world. Join the conversation that day by following the #SocEntSummit hashtag and including it in your tweets. 
  • Just starting off and looking to build your brand on the cheap? Brands For The People is meant to connect social entrepreneurs with design and brand strategies for a fraction of the cost of major agencies. For a basic package, Brands For The People charges less than $1,000! Now, the right branding is accessible to anyone. As founder Andrea Shillington said to GOOD for an article recently, “We will rest when businesses make a profit without being greedy. We will exhale when we’ve helped hundreds of thousands of startups become world famous brands.”

The 6th annual DoGooder Nonprofit Video Awards is presented by See3 and YouTube, in association with Cisco and the Case Foundation. The awards help spotlight nonprofits that are doing an exceptional job of using video to create impact and tell their stories. The four submission categories account for small, medium, and large organizations, in addition to a category for the best storytelling video. 

This year, See3 is excited to announce a new special award being offered by the Case Foundation—it will be awarding one video from each submission category with a $2,500 for being the most fearless. The Case Foundation is looking for the biggest risk-takers, experimenters, and those not afraid to step outside the box and do something completely different to inspire the viewer and make a lasting impression on audiences.

Overall winners in each category also receive very special prizes, including cash and products from Cisco, free registration to next year’s Nonprofit Technology Conference, and their video submissions featured on the YouTube Homepage on April 5, 2012. If your nonprofit tells a compelling and original story that is making a lasting impact through video, this is your chance to shine! Enter the competition via the contest website by February 29, 2012 for a chance to be featured on YouTube and win a ton of other amazing prizes.  

Keep up with the lastest contest news by following the DoGooder Nonprofit Video Awards on Twitter @dogooder and with the hashtag #dogooderawards and don’t forget to submit your video by Wednesday, February 29th. 

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Social entrepreneurs, have you been inspired to start your own good?  Do you have a social enterprise, a non-profit, or an amazing idea that needs some momentum to take off?  Visit our site to find out how to start your own campaign today.  Still have questions?  We have answers—check out our FAQ section. 

This Week in Social Entrepreneurship

In our “This Week in Social Entrepreneurship” series, each Friday we will feature the top stories in Social Entrepreneurship for the week that we find to be noteworthy, novel, and thought-provoking.  What are your favorite stories this week in Social Entrepreneurship?  Let’s start a discussion!

  • It’s holiday season and we can all have a tough time balancing work and family, but it can be especially difficult for social entrepreneurs, who tend to be extraordinarily driven and passionate.  These traits often take a toll on the work-life balance for social entrepreneurs.  At the same time, taking a break from all the long hours and stress is essential for health and happiness.  Ashoka’s Changemakers has some advice for unplugging during the holiday season.  First, when you are with family, be with family.  Ignore your smartphone, unplug, and really BE PRESENT.  Second, take enough time off.  Finally, practice self-empathy.  Take care of yourself! 
  • Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus is at it again—the microfinance guru and serial social entrepreneur is now entering the restaurant business.  He is partnering with a Japanese food and beverage company called Watami Group to start a social business restaurant chain in Bangladesh.  The social business will create jobs, train food service professionals, provide healthy foods and promote local fare.  Yunus is looking to launch and then spread the business, setting up restaurants and training schools for professional schools throughout rural Bangladesh.  Yunus is the epitome of inspiration—setting the bar for what so many social entrepreneurs aspire to become.
  • A few weeks ago, we highlighted McKinsey’s Social Innovation Video Competition—asking users to submit a social innovator that inspires them.  Well, now McKinsey has narrowed the competition down to the top 11 finalists.  Check out the video submissions and vote for your favorite!  
  • Are you a young social entrepreneur?  Some of the most innovative and revolutionary businesses right now were started by young entrepreneurs—Twitter, Facebook, Livingsocial, etc.  This generation has so much potential to change the world.  When we shift our focus to social causes we come up with some really amazing, changemaking ideas.  Mashable has come up with a list of Four Young Social Entrepreneurs to Watch.  Also, Rutgers Business School recently featured alumni entrepreneurs—The Intersect Fund founders—in a recent article and asked them for advice on growing social businesses.  Take a look at these entrepreneurs and their ventures and turn to them for your inspiration and motivation.
  • Speaking of motivation—make sure to check out Fast Company’s 10 Essential Steps to Successful Social Entrepreneurship.  Jeffrey Hollender, founder of Seventh Generation, uses his experience to give some useful advice in ten clear and easy to follow steps.  The standout for me—“make sure that your enterprise introduces something good, not just less bad”.  What’s your favorite piece of advice from Jeffrey?

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Social entrepreneurs, has all this great SocEnt news inspired you to start your own good?  Do you have a social enterprise, a non-profit, or an amazing idea that needs some momentum to take off?  Visit our site to find out how to start your own campaign today.  Still have questions?  We have answers—check out our FAQ section. 

This Week in Social Entrepreneurship

In our “This Week in Social Entrepreneurship” series, each Friday we will feature the top stories in Social Entrepreneurship for the week that we find to be noteworthy, novel, and thought-provoking.  What are your favorite stories this week in Social Entrepreneurship?  Let’s start a discussion!

  • Have you been looking for a comprehensive guide to all the essential resources and tools to meet your social change needs?  SoJo aims to connect changemakers to the resources and tools they need to become full-fledged social entrepreneurs.  SoJo is still a work-in-progress, but the team is sharing its Beta site with the world so that it can start making a difference for social entrepreneurs as soon as possible. This is your opportunity to get in at the beginning—start looking around SoJo’s site, provide feedback so you can find the resources that really matter once SoJo launches out of Beta, and follow along SoJo’s journey on the blog documenting its progress.  
  • It’s officially the holiday shopping season.  Don’t you want to make sure that you are shopping with impact this holiday season?  Check out this awesome “shopping for good” gift giving guide by Ashoka’s Changemakers.  It includes apps to download that will rate products on how ethically they were made or their health, environmental and social impact, places to buy one-of-a-kind gifts while supporting small and local businesses and even a locally grown food finder for Locavores trying to plan their holiday meals.  Expecting a lot of gifts this year that you don’t need?  Do you want to encourage your loved ones to use your designated gift money to give to charities instead?  Send them over to Shift My Gift and tell them there are people that need the money more than you and the best gift they could give you is the gift of charity.
  • Two weeks ago, we encouraged you to check out the 2011 Social Enterprise Bootcamp.  If you weren’t able to attend, Dowser has provided social entrepreneurs a list of key takeaways from the event.  No business can change everything—pick one and do it well.  Expect and anticipate hurdles and work on how you are going to overcome them.  Starting a business is not easy—make sure you are doing what you love.  Make sure you design keeping your consumer’s needs in mind.  Value your product/service correctly—be sure not to undervalue it.  Don’t forget the importance of basic logistics.  Finally, reflect on what you learn.  Taking the time to soak it all in is essential to retaining this new knowledge.
  • We’re sure you all remember Simon Mainwaring, the amazing author behind We First, who we want to thank again for participating in our monthly SocEnt book club conference call.  Simon has just released a free Social Branding training video that we really suggest you check out.  It’s a great supplement to We First: How Brands and Consumers Use Social Media to Build a Better World.  If you haven’t read We First yet, what are you waiting for?  Strategy + Business named it the best marketing book of 2011!  Check out Simon’s book and training video today for expert advice on transforming your social branding strategy.
  • Forbes has a long, storied 94-year history.  For the first time in that 94-year history, it has put together Impact 30—a list of the world’s 30 leading social entrepreneurs.  The list includes Jacqueline Novogratz of Acumen Fund, Daniel Epstein of Unreasonable Institute, the minds behind B Lab and d.light design and Tom Szaky of Terracycle, among many others.  We want to congratulate all the amazing social entrepreneurs on this list for their amazing accomplishments—but we also want to give a very special congratulations to Darell Hammond of KaBoom.  Darell’s book, KaBOOM!: How One Man Built a Movement to Save Play was featured in our SocEnt book club back in September of this year.  Check out Forbes’ list, read more about these amazing individuals and join us in congratulating each and every one of them.  These are the people inspiring us all to make a huge difference in this world and for that, we thank them.

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Social entrepreneurs, has all this great SocEnt news inspired you to start your own good?  Do you have a social enterprise, a non-profit, or an amazing idea that needs some momentum to take off?  Visit our site to find out how to start your own campaign today.  Still have questions?  We have answers—check out our FAQ section. 

    This Week in Social Entrepreneurship

    In our “This Week in Social Entrepreneurship” series, each Friday we will feature the top stories in Social Entrepreneurship for the week that we find to be noteworthy, novel, and thought-provoking.  What are your favorite stories this week in Social Entrepreneurship?  Let’s start a discussion!

    • The Transformative Action Institute promotes university curriculums that teach key skills that make social entrepreneurs successful.  Comprehensive studies show that the most successful social entrepreneurs possess seven competencies: leadership, optimism, grit, resilience, creativity and innovation, empathy, and emotional and social intelligence.  Each and every one of these traits can be developed with practice—you don’t have to be born with creativity, you can learn and develop it.  The Transformative Action Institute has been teaching a course on the key skills of successful entrepreneurs since 2005.  It piloted the program at UCLA and now has reached over 30 universities worldwide.  To learn more about the program, check out this Stanford Social Innovation Review article, which highlights the mission and goals of the Transformative Action Institute.
    • The Global Social Entrepreneurship Competition (GSEC) is taking applications through November 9.  This is a leading international social business plan competition.  University student teams from around the world are encouraged to pitch their creative business solutions to poverty in the developing world.  Prizes come in the form of funding and professional support.  Are you a university students with an innovative market-based approach to solving poverty in the developing world?  Consider applying today!
    • On October 31, our world population reached 7 billion.  As one can imagine, this growing population presents a slew of new challenges for us as social change agents.  On its blog, Echoing Green quantifies some of these challenges for us.  Some of the statistics that stand out the most—By 2050, we expect a world population of 9 billion and will need to increase our current food production by 70 percent.  Thirty-seven out of one hundred people in this world have jobs.  Only 20 out of 100 people reside in housing that is considered livable.  Some of the biggest challenges we face are the shift of the majority of the population into cities and climate change.  Now more than ever, we need innovative approaches to take on these emerging challenges.  
    • Have you been yearning to chat with other social entrepreneurs?  Want to get involved with the social entrepreneurship community on Twitter?  You should consider joining Ashoka Changemakers for its frequent #socenchats, usually held on Wednesdays from 3 to 5 PM EST.  Next week’s chat (Nov 9th) will discuss citizen media.  This is a chance for all you online activists to chat with Changemakers, Google, and the finalists in Google’s citizen-media competition.  Participate by following the hashtag #socentchat on Wednesday, November 9th from 3 to 5 PM EST.  Don’t forget to use #socentchat in all your tweets that are part of the discussion!

    Last but not least, our featured SocEnt news story this week:

    Imagine if study abroad were a vehicle to end poverty. Would you GO?

    Calling all students who want to explore new thinking on international development and social entrepreneurship. Join the 2012 Innovation Institute powered by ThinkImpact—Apply now!

    ThinkImpact provides applicants the chance to join the Innovation Institute—the premier social entrepreneurship education program for undergraduate and graduate students in rural Africa. Innovation Institute scholars learn about a new culture while exploring entrepreneurship in emerging economies. The 2012 Institute runs from June 20 to August 12.  Experience the Institute in Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda or South Africa. Want to learn more? Watch this video about the Innovation Institute!

    Innovation Institute Scholars will:

    • Explore market-based solutions to poverty in emerging economies 
    • Earn college credits while learning about a new culture
    • Live in a rural village with a host family, creating lifelong friendships
    • Explore the scenic beauty of Africa on Safari
    • Be part of a diverse and innovative team
    • Launch ideas in the real world

    Read about a day in the life of a scholar at the Innovation Institute. Are you interested in becoming a Scholar at the 2012 Innovation Institute? Sign up here to receive the latest updates from the ThinkImpact Team. Think you might be qualified to be an Advisor and want to join the ThinkImpact staff next summer? Check out the eligibility requirements and apply today!

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    Social entrepreneurs, has all this great SocEnt news inspired you to start your own good?  Do you have a social enterprise, a non-profit, or an amazing idea that needs some momentum to take off?  Visit our site to find out how to start your own campaign today.  Still have questions?  We have answers—check out our FAQ section.