This Week in Social Entrepreneurship
- Forbes released its annual 30 Under 30 lists, including an entire list dedicated to some standout changemakers—30 Under 30 Social Entrepreneurs. Included among these shining stars revolutionizing the notion of entrepreneurship is one of StartSomeGood’s very own Vineet Singal who co-founded Anjna Patient Education. Anjna Patient Education creates innovative health education programs at free clinics using mobile technologies. Back in 2011, Vineet and his team raised $3,415 to start interactive modules in the waiting room at Schuman-Liles Mental Health Clinic. We’re so proud to see a StartSomeGood crowdfunding alum continue to do amazing things.
- It pays to invest in girls and women—and Echoing Green agrees. Women Deliver, in partnership with Echoing Green, is hosting a Social Enterprise Challenge to highlight the innovative ideas that impact the health and well-being of women globally. This year, all semi-finalists of the Echoing Green Fellowship will be entered to win a full scholarship to attend the Women Deliver 2013 conference in Malaysia. The top 10 finalists will be invited to attend the conference and participate in a pitch-off in front of a panel of serious investors. The prestigious annual Echoing Green Fellowship provides start-up capital and assistance to high potential social entrepreneurs to start their businesses. The application deadline is January 7th, 2013.
- Generation Waking Up provides youth the opportunity to become positive contributors among their peers and within their communities. The 2013 Summer Leadership Training in Australia is a chance to join other young Australian and worldwide changemakers in building a generational movement to transform the world. Young people between the ages of 15 and 30 are invited to join the GenUp Summer Leadership Training program to develop their leadership skills, expand their capacity for creating change, transform themselves into change agents, and strengthen their skills in teamwork, public speaking, and networking. Training begins January 9, 2013 and lasts through January 13—apply today!
- The League of Intrapreneurs Competition is looking for game-changing solutions for business and society. The inaugural class of the League of Intrepreneurs will consist of the top 15 entrants to this competition. If you’re building better business from the inside, you could become part of this elite global network of changemakers and get profiled on Fast Company’s Co.EXIST blog. Enter or nominate someone by January 15, 2013 for the chance to be featured as an elite intrapreneur and receive consulting support from Accenture Development Partnerships.
This Week in Social Entrepreneurship
- For decades, The Coady International Institute at St. Francis Xavier University has been been educating development professionals from around the world to address contemporary global issues. Over the past year, the International Centre for Women’s Leadership launched the Global Change Leaders Program to educate emerging women leaders from the global south. This certificate course educates through field-visits, mentorships, and relationships with a global network of other women leaders. If you are a proven woman leader from the global south looking to further enhance her development, apply to this program before December 3rd.
- Wanted: Forbes Magazine is seeking 30 Awesome Social Entrepreneurs under the age of 30. Do you know an ambitious, creative, business minded, young social innovator? Whether their entrepreneurial wits are bettering their own community or igniting global change, e-mail Erin Carlyle at ecarlyle@forbes.com or give her a shout-out on Twitter at @erin_carlyle with the hashtag #Forbes30 to let her know what change your favorite social entrepreneur is initiatiating.
- What are you doing to get ready for Halloween? Carving pumpkins, buying candy to hand out to trick or treaters, picking out your costume for PictureHealing and HUB LA Present and Roozt’s Halloween party? The LA Social Enterprise community is celebrating the re-launch of DIY Custom Charity Apps in a very festive fashion so don’t miss out!
- “Who Cares?” a Portuguese language film translated to English showcases the social entrepreneurs who DO care and who see the world’s most pressing problems as opportunities to change the world for the better. Learn from some very impressive social innovators who have sought, achieved, and continue to work for change that betters the world around them. Catch a sneak peak with Ashoka here or visit whocaresthefilm.com. It’s more than a film—it’s a movement!
- The Schwab Foundation presents Social Entrepreneur of the Year. This competition is looking for an individual who has pursued positive change through transformation of an especially challenging issue in the world today such as poverty alleviation, education, or health. Criteria to be selected include innovation, financial sustainability, and direct social impact. The Schwab Foundation could be searching for you—are you the do-gooder who fits the bill? Apply by October 31st!
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
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.
