Fall 2014 GSBI® Accelerator Program Applications Open Sept. 2
Deborah Lohse
Up to 20 Scholarships for Social Enterprises Available
SANTA CLARA, Calif., August 26, 2013 — Applications for the Fall 2014 GSBI® Accelerator program open on September 2 and will be accepted through October 31. Up to 20 ventures will be selected and enrolled in the lauded 10-month social-enterprise capacity-development program.
The GSBI Accelerator helps social entrepreneurs understand and fill gaps in their organizations that prevent them from rapidly increasing their impact, or “scaling,” and helps make them investment-ready for “impact capital” investors.
The 2014 GSBI Accelerator program runs from February 2, 2014, through November 30, 2014, and includes a ten-day in-residence “accelerator boot camp” at Santa Clara University, a leading Jesuit university in the heart of Silicon Valley, California.
Information on the application process can be found at: http://www.scu-social-entrepreneurship.org/gsbi-apply
The 10-month GSBI Accelerator combines best practices of online learning with a proven curriculum honed over 11 years of experience, complemented by experienced in-country and Silicon Valley mentors, to provide social entrepreneurs the tools to help them scale their enterprises and prepare them for financial investment.
At the end of the in-residence or “boot camp” portion, entrepreneurs present to a select audience of impact investors, philanthropists, corporations, and government agencies. With GSBI’s successful track record, the Accelerator program draws the best practitioners in the social impact world. The 2013 GSBI Accelerator Cohort recently presented to almost 200 premiere investment professionals, corporate and foundation executives, and Silicon Valley leaders with entrepreneurs returning home having tapped into Silicon Valley acumen and potential funding.
The GSBI Accelerator program is run by Santa Clara University’s Center for Science, Technology, and Society. In addition to GSBI, the Center also houses an Impact Capital Program, which provides thought leadership and financial innovations to drive impact investing into underserved sectors, with an emphasis on investment readiness for social entrepreneurial ventures.
For more details about the GSBI Accelerator program, visit http://www.scu.edu/socialbenefit/entrepreneurship/gsbi/
For questions regarding the program, please send an email to gsbi@scu.edu.
About the Center for Science, Technology, and Society
The mission of the Center is to accelerate global, innovation-based entrepreneurship in service to humanity. Its flagship GSBI® programs include the GSBI Accelerator, GSBI Online, and GSBI Network, which have served over 200 social enterprises over the past 11 years. The Impact Capital program improves the capital match between social entrepreneurs and impact investors. The Global Social Benefit Fellows Program provides practice-based action learning opportunities for undergraduates with GSBI Alumni.
About Santa Clara University
Santa Clara University, a comprehensive Jesuit, Catholic university located 40 miles south of San Francisco in California’s Silicon Valley, offers its more than 8,800 students rigorous undergraduate curricula in arts and sciences, business, theology, and engineering, plus master’s and law degrees and engineering Ph.Ds. Distinguished nationally by one of the highest graduation rates among all U.S. master’s universities, California’s oldest operating higher-education institution demonstrates faith-inspired values of ethics and social justice. For more information, see www.scu.edu.
Media Contacts:
Beverly Nuako | CSTS Marketing Manager | 408-551-6048 | bnuako@scu.edu
Deborah Lohse | SCU Media Relations | 408-554-5121 | dlohse@scu.edu