Unique Accelerator Program for SF Bay Area Social Entrepreneurs Seeks Applicants
SANTA CLARA, Calif., May 24, 2018—Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship at Santa Clara University and Catholic Charities of Santa Clara County are soliciting applicants for a free, three-day, capacity-building workshop for up to 40 social entrepreneurs who are positively impacting the lives of those in need in the San Francisco Bay Area.
The San Francisco Bay Area GSBI® Boost will take place July 24–26, 2018 in San Jose, Calif., and will allow participating social entrepreneurs to gain valuable business knowledge. With an emphasis on improving strategic thinking, social entrepreneurs will more effectively articulate their business plans to demonstrate impact, growth, and long-term financial sustainability. It also will bring together local Bay Area social business leaders for an unparalleled networking event.
Miller Center has 15 years of experience helping more than 800 social enterprises around the world attain operational excellence and prepare for investment through its signature Global Social Benefit Institute (GSBI®) programs. Boost participants will be accompanied by Silicon Valley mentors with expertise in innovation and entrepreneurship.
“We are tremendously excited to partner with Catholic Charities to bring our time-tested GSBI approach for supporting social entrepreneurs to organizations here in the San Francisco Bay Area,” said Cassandra Staff, chief operating officer of Miller Center. “Even in the worldwide capital of innovation, many suffer from lack of access to basic resources.”
Social entrepreneurship helps impoverished communities in a way that is sustainable. Social entrepreneurs home in on opportunities to provide innovative, large-scale solutions to local and worldwide problems.
“Not only will these leaders work directly with Silicon Valley mentors, they will have a rare chance to collaborate with and learn from other leaders who are working to create innovative solutions to poverty in our area,” said Gregory R. Kepferle, CEO of Catholic Charities of Santa Clara County.
After the Bay Area GSBI Boost program, up to 20 participants will have the opportunity to matriculate into the GSBI® Online accelerator—a six-month, mentored, virtual program where organizations develop business models and strategies to sustainably grow their enterprises. Those selected for the GSBI Online accelerator program will have an opportunity to showcase their plans for scaling with a justifiable ask at a Silicon Valley event.
The Bay Area GSBI Boost seeks social venture leaders who:
• Lead an existing for-profit, nonprofit, or hybrid social enterprise
• Deliver solutions that impact vulnerable, low-income, and/or underserved populations in the Bay Area
• Have, or plan to have, an earned income component to their business model
Applications close June 1, 2018, and can be accessed at: www.scu-social-entrepreneurship.org/bayareaboost/.
About Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship
Founded in 1997, Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship is one of three Centers of Distinction at Santa Clara University in California. Miller Center accelerates global, innovation-based entrepreneurship in service to humanity. Its strategic focus is on poverty eradication with an emphasis on climate resilience and womenís economic empowerment. To learn more about the Center or any of its social entrepreneurship programs, visit www.scu.edu/MillerCenter.
About Catholic Charities of Santa Clara County
Catholic Charities of Santa Clara County has worked to strengthen families and build economic self-reliance for the poor and vulnerable in the county for more than 62 years. Each year, more than 500 employees and 1,000 volunteers serve more than 40,000 individuals of all cultures and beliefs through 34 programs. Program areas include behavioral health, youth and family services, economic development, employment, housing, immigration legal services, older adult services, refugee resettlement, refugee foster care, emergency services, and more. Catholic Charities is working to reduce poverty with social change goals that target the alleviation, prevention, and reduction of poverty in our communities. To learn more, please visit www.catholiccharitiesscc.org.
About Santa Clara University
Santa Clara University, a comprehensive Jesuit, Catholic university located 40 miles south of San Francisco in Californiaís Silicon Valley, offers its more than 9,000 students rigorous undergraduate curricula in arts and sciences, business, and engineering; masterís degrees in business, education, counseling psychology, pastoral ministry, and theology; and law degrees and engineering doctoral degrees. Distinguished nationally by one of the highest graduation rates among all U.S. masterís universities, Californiaís oldest operating higher-education institution demonstrates faith-inspired values of ethics and social justice. For more information, see www.scu.edu.
Media Contacts
Deborah Lohse | SCU Media Communications | dlohse@scu.edu | 408-554-5121
Caroline Ocampo | Catholic Charities SCC | cocampo@catholiccharitiesscc.org | 408-325-5122
Adelene Gallego Ramos | Catholic Charities SCC | aramos@catholiccharitiesscc.org | 408-325-5123
Image courtesy Centro Community Partners