This Week in Social Entrepreneurship
- The ability to pitch your business idea is such a vital skill for any entrepreneur, but it’s especially important for social entrepreneurs. Pitching your idea with confidence and ease will help you attract potential funders, supporters, and even partners. But, pitching isn’t easy and it takes a lot of practice and determination. The School for Social Entrepreneurs in London is hosting a workshop on January 22nd that will prepare you for pitching with tips and tricks that will help you better connect with your audience. To register your interest and learn more, head on over to the School for Social Entrepreneurs and make your first step of the new year to help make your business idea a success.
- Nashville social entrepreneurs—the time is now to start preparing for the Nashville Social Enterprise Alliance’s Business for Good Competition in March. The competition seeks to ignite the next generation of social entrepreneurship in Nashville, TN. The first annual contest is offering $20,000 worth of prizes in the form of capital, incubation space, branding services, and legal and technical experience. Submissions need to be sent in by January 31st and finalists will be announced in February and invited to present their ideas in front of a panel of judges in March.
- Despite popular entrepreneurial belief not everyone thrives in the hectic trial-by-error environment that is starting a business without the proper structured education. If you are more comfortable learning in a classroom setting, the Amani Institute, in collaboration with Ashoka East Africa and The Amsterdam School of Creative Leadership, is offering a certificate course in the practice of social entrepreneurship in Nairobi in February this year. This one-month certificate course will help you understand the role of social entrepreneurship in addressing social challenges. By the end, you should come away with all the knowledge you need to set up a program or project to address a social need that you care about solving. Check out the course objectives and apply today.
- This January, The Center for Collaborative Change is hosting the What Works Summit. Last year, the Center for Collaborative Change in Newark, NJ funded a Community Youth Mapping Project by raising $2,750 on StartSomeGood. We’re elated to witness their success on other projects that are helping the Newark community and want to encourage our readers to attend. The summit will focus on (Re)Building Community Trust Between Community and Police. A significant mistrust exists between Newark residents and their police force and The Center for Collaborative Change wants to identify best practices for police-community relations that can be implemented in Newark. Newark is an important city in New Jersey and New Jerseyans from all over should understand the significance that Newark’s success plays on the future of the state. On January 23rd, Come share your ideas with Newark and meet national experts and community leaders from all over the US.
StartSomeGood News
Model NATO Youth Summit is fostering political responsibility through leadership, innovation, and strategic thinking. This is the first conference of its kind and will bring together participants from all over the world to discuss global issues. This summit will take place from July 8th-13th in Brussels, Belgium and is seeking funding to cover venue and travel expenses.
Kitechild is a non-profit organization that creates projects to ensure that orphans grow up leading happy and healthy lives. These projects help orphanages implement sustainable sources of income to improve living conditions and increase orphans’ access to education. Kitechild’s campaign, Chicken COOP, will help provide five orphanages in Kenya with the materials needed to raise their own chickens.
The CORE Academy is designed to help children build motivation through four important elements: Confidence, Ownership, Relevance, and Engagement. This motivation is developed outdoors, through martial arts, outdoor education, community service, and creative expression. CORE Academy is raising funds to build a cabin for activities purchase the recreation materials needed for the Academy to get officially up and running.
Hope Empowered utilizes creativity, mentoring, and entrepreneurship as tools to empower people who are vulnerable and disadvantaged. Hope Empowered has founded the Academy for Youth Entrepreneurship, where Australian primary school students are encouraged to dream, invent, and change their world by creating micro businesses. It’s time for the Academy for Youth Entrepreneurship to expand and grow, and funds raised in this campaign will help Hope Empowered cover the costs associated with re-running a pilot program and packaging the program for national expansion and licensing.
The Alekii Centre in Kenya is empowering children who are victims of poverty and HIV/AIDS by providing them with a quality education. The HELPING Project (Hope, Education, Love, and Protection through Inspiring Goals) teaches young orphans to raise goats, sheep, pigs, and cows to provide themselves with income to support their basic needs. This campaign will fund the Alekii Centre’s purchase of these farms animals that will be used to generate income for young orphans.
The Center for Collaborative Change connects people, ideas, and resources to make Newark, NJ a thriving and safe community. The Center’s Community Youth Mapping Project mobilizes the youth as catalysts for positive community change. In teams, they go through their neighborhoods and identify resources and opportunities that exist. Help Youth Revitalize Newark—this campaign will help the Center hire a staff of three to support this youth project.
CA Bikes Academy teaches at-risk youths in the Bay Area how to make and repair bikes—marketable skills that they can use when looking for jobs. In addition, the bikes that are made through this program are sent to Africa through CA Bikes Uganda, where they are distributed to people in need. This campaign will help get CA Bikes Academy up and running, providing funding for a work space and tools.
Bus of Books provides young people in the rural and remote indigenous communities of Australia with the resources they need to learn how to read, and, henceforth, succeed. Bus of Books puts books into the hands of young people in remote regions of Australia and encourages schools, communities, and businesses to provide community service through book drives and fundraising events. December 8th is Youth Literacy Day—this campaign will help schools celebrate this day by providing them with books to help youths learn to read.
Youth Awareness Resource Network (YARN) builds relationships through the power of a story. It encourages relationship building between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians through the power of story and engagement. This campaign will help YARN build its website and establish its brand through marketing.
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Social entrepreneurs, have all these new campaigns 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.
