Nexus

Social Finance 2.0: Fundraising and Innovations Workbench

Bnuako@scu.edu (Beverly Nuako) — Thu, 16 May 2013 14:49:00 PST

What is the future of innovation? How can we successfully integrate investments in sustainability and social change?

GSBI Online Accepting Applications for New Cohort

Bnuako@scu.edu (Beverly Nuako) — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 11:50:00 PST

Applications are now being accepted for GSBI Online, the online version of Santa Clara University's highly regarded, 11-year-old training program for worldwide social-entrepreneur ventures, the Global Social Benefit Incubator (GSBI).

Head of the Class:The Global Social Benefit Incubator Announces 2013 Social Enterprise Recipients

acastellitto@scu.edu (Tony Castellitto) — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 12:32:00 PST

The newly named GSBI Accelerator program has been revamped to focus on investment-ready social enterprises that have the potential to vastly increase their impact on the lives of the poor—as CSTS strives to improve the lives of 1 billion by 2020. This year’s cohort of 15 was selected through a competitive process that began last November.

Video: A Vision to Accelerate Economic Growth

emgonzalez2014@gmail.com (Eliza Gonzalez) — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 11:52:00 PST

Quality livelihoods depend on access to energy. Paul Meissner, Ph.D., GSBITM director, is joined by leading social entrepreneurs in clean energy to share findings from the Center’s recent field research.

SAID Conference 2013 Features GSBI Alumni

eberkenmeier@scu.edu (Erin Berkenmeier) — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 11:46:00 PST

Come hear GSBI Online alumni Gemma Bulos with the Global Women's Water Initiative speak about "Maximizing Potential through Entrepreneurship and Education" at The Stanford Association for International Development's.

When Worlds Collide: Platform Technologies for Social Benefit

cstsmarketing@gmail.com (Thane Kreiner ) — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 13:40:00 PST

Executive Director Thane Kreiner predicts “… in the next 10 years, the convergence of technology and business model innovations could disrupt how energy is produced, distributed, and priced – not just in the frontier markets of the developing world, but also in the developed world.”

Celebrating Holiday Cheer and Impact Investing

eberkenmeier@scu.edu (Erin Berkenmeier) — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 11:41:00 PST

Earlier this week the Center was delighted to host a holiday reception to celebrate the accomplishments of the last year, like the graduation of several GSBI Online cohorts, and the first year of our GSB Fellowship program.

Finding myself in the Solar Revolution of Uganda

K2Petersen@scu.edu (Kirsten Petersen) — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 15:00:00 PST

Our own GSB Fellow, Kirsten Petersen, has been updating her blog on her experience working with GSBI Alumni, Solar Sister in Uganda.

There's More To Fighting Poverty Than Writing Big Checks And Claiming Tax Deductions

eberkenmeier@scu.edu (Erin Berkenmeier) — Mon, 03 Dec 2012 17:30:00 PST

In this season, it’s easy to forget that nearly 4 billion people on our planet live in poverty, on a daily average of less than the cost of one Starbucks specialty coffee.

Santa Clara University Welcomes Applications from Investment-Ready Social Enterprises to Attend GSBI Silicon Valley Training and Mentoring Program

EBerkenmeier@scu.edu (Erin Berkenmeier) — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 11:56:00 PST

Applications are now open for Santa Clara University’s Global Social Benefit Incubator (GSBI™), an 11-year-old program that helps social entrepreneurs create greater impact in their poverty-alleviating missions.

Husk Power Systems Set to Scale Reliable and Renewable Energy Solution to Underserved Rural Areas around the World

EBerkenmeier@scu.edu (Erin Berkenmeier) — Fri, 26 Oct 2012 11:25:00 PST

We are excited to share this news from GSBI Alumni Husk Power Systems! Husk Power Systems, Inc. (HPS), an innovative company providing renewable and affordable decentralized energy solution to underserved communities, is pleased to announce that the company has raised Series A equity financing of US $5 million from co-investors.

Santa Clara University Team Selected to Design New Capital-Investment Approach for Developing-World Entrepreneurs

EBerkenmeier@scu.edu (Erin Berkenmeier) — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 00:00:00 PST

Team of SCU Students and Silicon Valley industry veterans among five winners of the Argidius-ANDE Finance Challenge.

Applied Materials Announces Commitment with CSTS at the Clinton Global Initiative

eberkenmeier@scu.edu (Erin Berkenmeier) — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 15:42:00 PST

At The Clinton Global Initiative 2012, Applied Materials announced their commitment with Santa Clara University’s Center of Science, Technology and Society (CSTS) as part of a continued effort to help social entrepreneurs improve their ability to scale (grow) their business and create significantly more impact. The partnership coincides well with this year’s CGI theme of “Designing for Impact” since support from Applied Materials enables CSTS to provide business model and organizational capacity training, as well as expert mentoring, to 18 social entrepreneurs in India and China over the next three years.

CSTS is working on a few fronts in this partnership. We are updating our Energy Map which was launched one year ago to help reserachers and practitioners understand the industry of alternative energy in developing countries. As mentioned, we are also excited to have the support of Applied Materials so we can continue to help India, which is well represented in our program, and expand into China.

The Tech Awards to Honor Global Innovators Who Use Technology to Benefit Humanity

rmontez@thetech.org (Roqua Montez) — Wed, 26 Sep 2012 16:49:00 PST

Enter the “techmanitarians” – a dozen international innovators who toil with unequaled resolve to eliminate these and other persistent global challenges. Their noble achievements will be recognized Thursday, Nov. 15, 2012 at the Santa Clara Convention Center during Silicon Valley's leading awards program, The Tech Awards.

SF Chronicle: "Global Social Benefit Incubator still strong"

EBerkenmeier@scu.edu (Esha Chhabra) — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 12:15:00 PST

Shivani Siroya is a petite woman hammering away at a tall task - building a model of credit scores for the poor in India. On a recent weekday in Santa Clara, she took her audacious enterprise before a group of investors, professors and entrepreneurs from Silicon Valley - many of whom have never worked or lived in India.

NextBillion.net: "Ten Years in Social Entrepreneurship: The 19 innovators who presented at GSBI represent broader entrepreneurship trends"

TKreiner@scu.edu (Thane Kreiner) — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 15:00:00 PST

Individually and collectively, they reflect broader trends in social entrepreneurship and entrepreneurship more generally—especially the rise of women as pioneers in social entrepreneurship, the pursuit of energy solutions that are independent of grids or other infrastructure, the use of mobile platforms, and focus on increasing agricultural productivity in Africa.

Dowser.org: "Mentoring Global Startups in Silicon Valley"

eberkenmeier@scu.edu (Paul Meissner) — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 16:32:00 PST

Every year, I look forward to mid-August, when the cohort of social entrepreneurs comes to the Global Social Benefit Incubator.

Huffington Post: "Models for Scaling Social Enterprises"

TKreiner@scu.edu (Thane Kreiner) — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 18:54:00 PST

It's easy to identify financial-first enterprises that have scaled to a truly global level in many sectors: soft drinks (Coke, Pepsi), financial services (HSBC), petroleum-based fuels (Royal Dutch/Shell), consumer products (P&G), mobile phones (Samsung, Nokia, Apple), etc.; the list goes on with products and services reaching billions.

Dowser.org: Could the Blackout be Fuel for India's Energy Entrepreneurs?

JKoch@scu.edu (Jim Koch) — Thu, 02 Aug 2012 17:37:00 PST

The collapse of India’s power grid cast 670 million people into darkness—nearly one in 10 inhabitants of our planet. It called into question the dominant logic of a fragile centralized power system with chronic outages, growth in demand that greatly outstrips new capacity, yet leaves a fourth of India’s population without basic electricity.

Forbes.com: 10 Life-Or-Death Lessons For Social Entrepreneurs

ABruno@scu.edu (Al Bruno) — Thu, 02 Aug 2012 11:07:00 PST

For the past decade, my colleagues and I have helped more than 150 social entrepreneurs from all over the world hone their business plans, which they are able to pitch for 15 exhilarating minutes to Silicon Valley financiers and executives. Through our ten years running this mentoring program, called the Global Social Benefit Incubator, we’ve culled some top tips for anyone looking to develop their business plan and pitch it to potential funders or partners.