Nexus
The following postings have been filtered by tag event. clear filter
-
Wednesday, Sep. 7, 2011
The in-residence component of our signature Global Social Benefit Incubator concluded last week, with 18 field-based social entrepreneurs returning to their 9 countries to implement the business plans they developed while at Santa Clara University. The culmination of their two weeks on campus is always the business plan presentations, attracting a diverse and high-level audience of over 350.
Each of the social entrepreneurs has 15 minutes to present their business plan to a panel of Silicon Valley leaders, after which they receive feedback and have only a moment to respond. The Center videotapes the presentations so that the social entrepreneurs can continue learning from the experience. Our goal is to help more social entrepreneurs help more of the global poor, with a “big hairy audacious goal” of positively impacting the lives of 1B by 2020 – 25% of the current global poor. The UN projects an additional 2 B people on the planet by 2050, with all but 50 M in the developing world. Successful and sustainable social enterprises act as nuclei for economic growth in the communities they serve. By doing so, they essentially create emerging markets.
The GSBI exemplifies what I call “practical social justice.” The 18 social entrepreneurs we heard from last Thursday did not offer theories about how to change the world: they showed us how it’s done.
Imagine a world where the 1.5 B people 'off the grid' – in Africa, Latin America, Asia, India – have light for children to read and parents to work after night falls; where people can charge their mobile phones without traveling all day; where sustainably generated power can be sustainably stored; where smallholder dairy farmers can keep their cows’ milk cold long enough to sell it; where the very poor in Haiti can cook using 40% less fuel, reducing deforestation at the same time. Imagine a world without energy poverty.
Imagine a world where Filipino women living near garbage dumps; or Roma, also known as Gypsies, in Slovakia; or African slum youth; can all earn a living wage and be proud of their work.
Imagine a world where West Africans earn a living growing biofuels for their own communities; where solar lanterns light up East African villages through an Avon-style model, employing local women.
Imagine a world where the voiceless, poorest of the poor in India can tell their stories to the world, and effect change in their own communities.
Imagine a world where even, or especially, the unbanked can use their mobile phones for secure financial transactions with any merchant; where Filipino microenterprise owners can scale their businesses to a living income while providing essential goods and services.
Imagine a world where rural Haitians can sustainably grow their own protein-rich food; where poor Mexican children have enough micronutrients for their brains to develop. Imagine a world of healthy people.
If you can imagine all of the above, thank you for joining us; if you cannot, you missed a unique opportunity to see how these dreams are becoming reality through the vision and very hard work of the 2011 cohort of GSBI social entrepreneurs.
I was honored, and humbled, to be in their company. Each of them is an amazing human. Collectively, they are the promise of a more just, humane, and sustainable world.
Next year will mark the 10th anniversary of the GSBI. Mark your calendars for the August 23, 2012 business plan presentations, a window into how to change the world for the better.
List of this year's GSBI social entrepreneurs
Posted by Thane Kreiner, Ph.D., executive director of the Center for Science, Technology, and Society at Santa Clara University |
Permalink
-
Tuesday, Aug. 2, 2011
-
Wednesday, Jul. 20, 2011
In this Xconomy piece, our Executive Director, Thane Kreiner argues “yes”. Based on the work featured in our recently released report Coordinating Impact Capital, A New Approach to Investing in Small and Growing Businesses he argues that a more “venture capital” type approach to funding social entrepreneurs would increase efficiency for both the entrepreneur (whose time is best spent building their enterprise rather than fundraising) and the investors (who struggle with issues like investing in companies located half a world away).
The study, which the Center for Science, Technology, and Society undertook with generous support from the Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs, asked 45 impact investors over six months to share with us their investment methods, profit expectations, geographic focus, due-diligence practices, and other factors. Our goal was to unearth some knowledge that could catalyze a more coordinated, venture-capital-style system for social-venture startups.
To learn more about the study, Coordinating Impact Capital, A New Approach to Investing in Small and Growing Businesses attend the unveiling of the study: July 26 from 4 to 6:30 p.m. at Santa Clara University’s Arts & Sciences Building, Wiegand Room, 500 El Camino Real, Santa Clara, Calif. 95053. Register here
-
Monday, May. 9, 2011
This year, three of the 2011 GSBI class are focused on alleviating many of the malnutrition and food scarcity problems that plague Mexico, Nigeria, and Haiti.
Kurago Biotek (Mexico) has developed nutritional supplements using biogel technology to mix probiotics, prebiotics, and vitamins for better overall health.
Haiti Community Development (Haiti) promotes the production of the highly nutritious, locally grown Moringa for overall health benefits and economic development.
Centre for Community Development - Nutrition On Your Doorstep (Nigeria) addresses Haiti’s food security needs through solarpowered production means.
Please join Santa Clara University's Center for Science, Technology, and Society for a day of business plan summary presentations by all twenty 2011 Global Social Benefit Incubator entrepreneurs from around the world.
Save the Date: GSBI 2011 Business Summary Plan Presentations
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Mayer Theater, Performing Arts Complex
Register Here
-
Wednesday, Mar. 30, 2011
The Tech Awards, presented by Applied Materials, was launched in 2000 and is an annual international awards program that honors innovators from around the world who are applying technology to benefit humanity. It inspires global engagement in addressing the world's most pressing problems by recognizing individuals and organizations that utilize innovative technology solutions. Laureates are inducted each year into The Tech Awards Network (TAN) that provides access to resources and mentoring aimed at increasing organizational impact. The Tech Museum, Applied Materials, and Santa Clara University’s Center for Science, Technology and Society (CSTS) collaborate to insure that laureates benefit from the educational, networking, and leadership opportunities in Silicon Valley.The Tech Awards Gala 2011 will be held on Thursday, October 20, at the Santa Clara Convention Center.
The Tech Awards focuses on five categories: Environment, Economic Development, Education, Equality and Health, which were inspired by the 15 Global Challenges identified in the State of the Future report (published by the Millennium Project of the American Council of the United Nations University. Individuals, for-profit companies, and not-for-profit organizations are eligible. Candidates are nominated and then invited to submit applications. International panels of judges review the applications and select 15 laureates.
Three laureates in each category are honored and one laureate per category receives $50,000. They are honored at an annual Gala event and inducted into TAN, which extends the award program from an annual event to a year round program. Laureate benefits include The Tech Awards Showcase, media interviews, filming, marketing materials, seminars, workshops, speaking engagements, networking opportunities, and more. In addition to the opportunities provided by the Silicon Valley community, CSTS provides the laureates with additional chances to network by connecting them with the Santa Clara University community and its network of social entrepreneurs worldwide. Each year the laureates are invited to participate in the Center's annual fall conference that looks at the theme of how to take technology innovations to scale through collaborations among The Tech Awards laureates, large NGOs, corporate partners, and the Center's Global Social Benefit Incubator (GSBI) program. This year’s conference will bring examples of successful social entrepreneurship to the wider Silicon Valley community. Based around interactive panel discussions, the agenda will focus on providing tangible examples from entrepreneurs who have built their social ventures into self-sustaining organizations that provide real, on the ground impact to those living in systemic poverty. This year's conference will take place on October 19, 2011 on the Santa Clara University campus. Nominations are accepted through March 31, 2011. The Tech Awards program requires participation in a two-step nomination process:
Step 1: Submit Nomination
Submit a nomination for yourself, or another organization. Nominations for The Tech Awards 2011 are now open until March 31, 2011.
Step 2: Application and References
If your nomination is accepted, you will be invited to submit a more detailed application and required to provide references (e.g., business colleagues, professors, mentors, or members of the group applying).
Learn More About the Application Criteria and Categories
|
.jpg)
