Marché des Savoirs: 5@7 du Réseau des entrepreneurs sociaux du Québec, ce soir!

E-180 et À go, on change le monde! unissent leurs forces pour présenter le premier Marché des savoirs, inspiré de l’approche communautaire d’échange de connaissances de E-180. Seront réunis entrepreneurs sociaux aspirants et accomplis du Réseau des entrepreneurs sociaux du Québec!

Venez vous rafraîchir et découvrir qui, à l’intérieur ou à l’extérieur de votre réseau, aurait envie de partager un peu de sa sagesse avec vous.

C’est un rendez-vous à:

L’Amère à boire, 2049 Rue Saint-Denis et sur Twitter au #E180!

Bientôt ici-même: des photos de Heri Rakotomalala et une liste des participants toujours à la recherche d’un acolyte!

The story behind E-180 in the Havard Ed. Magazine

Nobody teaches us how to be a great social entrepreneur. Just like many other things in life, one has to figure it out by herself, or to find the resources to make it happen. The know-how, the network and the cash, of course.

It’s been 2 years that I’m working on E-180, and we are just about to see the work coming into fruition. The pace has been slower in the last couple of months for one simple reason: I had to commit to a (great) full-time job in order to release some of the financial and emotional pressure that was created by the entrepreneurial lifestyle. My friend Peter Deitz wrote a great post on Social edge about personal debt and social entrepreneurship:

A perfect storm has formed around the failure of philanthropic capital to address the needs of social entrepreneurs, the ease with which personal debt can be accessed, and the stubborn enthusiasm that social innovators often bring to their projects.

There’s not a lot of room for mistake when each dollar is crucial. But after a year of funded knowledge-building (called J.O.B), I’m ready to jump full steam in the project that I’m wholeheartedly committed to.

The Harvard Ed. Magazine wrote an article on E-180 back in January 2010, and it’s my pleasure to share it with you as a reintroduction to our work, after almost a year of silence. It explains the why and how of it of this dream of mine. And in a couple of days, we’ll be able to make a great announcement, that could accelerate the course of the events… Stay tuned!

A gift from @socialedge: The Top 100 Tweeps to Follow for Social Entrepreneurship

Thanks to @startingbloc, I just came across this FANTASTIC resource created by Social Edge.

Organized by categories, you’ll find the Top 100 Tweeps to follow on Twitter for Social Entrepreneurship, as well as the main hashtags linked to social entrepreneurship. I heart Tops.

This is going to be HOT!

We’re sold out at the Montreal Girl Geek!

Our presentation at the Montreal Girl Geek Dinner is already sold out! I will be discussing social entrepreneurship and the web in a talk called “The Good, the lucrative, and the web-friendly”.

Wow. I can’t wait to meet y’all over there!

If you wanted to attend and won’t be able to, please drop us a line: it’s always a pleasure to meet new people and share thoughts and ideas on our passions. Plus, I will post notes and thoughts after the event.

And for those of you who will be present tomorrow, be ready for cold calling, self-development exercises and team work. Just kidding. Kinda.

I’m an educator after all.

Pop!Tech looking for Social Innovation Fellows

So many outstanding initiatives in the marvelous world of social entrepreneurship. Pop!Tech is now looking for its 2009 of Social Innovation Fellows:

Each year, PopTech selects 10-20 high potential change agents from around the world who are working on highly disruptive innovations in areas like healthcare, energy, development, climate, education, and civic engagement, among many others. Fellows work in both the for-profit and not-for-profit worlds, have a minimum of 3-5 years experience, and are working in organizations that are well positioned for sustainable growth.

Fellows participate in an all-expenses-paid, multi-day intensive program focused on insights and tools for accelerating and scaling “big bet” innovations, such as branding, media relations, social/Web2.0 media, finance, leadership, digital storytelling, design for impact and organizational development. Interactive training sessions are led by eminent innovators and acknowledged leaders in these fields. To learn more

Watch their video:

GoodCompany: Incubator for social entrepreneurs

I am amazed every day by the amount of information I gather from Twitter. This one comes from @mangojess, whose tweet led me to discover GoodCompany Ventures, this great incubator for social entrepreneurs now open for applications:

GoodCompany Ventures catalyzes start-ups with innovative solutions to big, unmet social needs. GoodCompany entrepreneurs are offered a great place to work in Philadelphia, a community of like-minded entrepreneurs, and access to a network of capital sources and expert advisors. We champion models that offer investors financial return and social impact. To learn more

The amount of the investment is not clearly indicated on the website. They mention that “GoodCompany will facilitate a first investment round by assembling representatives from leading VC firms and angel investors” without specifying when. They are also looking for mentors, investors and interns.

Stay tuned for more incubators for social entrepreneurs: the Global Social Entrepreneurship Institute will be launching the selection process for its first class in October.

Open source Social Entrepreneurship curriculum

We just created, through Topicki, an open source Social Entrepreneurship curriculum.

Social entrepreneurship has been around for a little while now, but it seems to have exploded lately. The interest it stirs makes it the next big social trend, according to many.

This is a good thing, since social entrepreneurship aims to address large scale social challenges through the creation of for-change ventures (for or non-for-profit).

What are the tools needed by emerging social entrepreneurs to succeed in their endeavor? Which topics should be covered, which mentors should be invited?

This is an open source social entrepreneurship curriculum: edit it and use it!

Business Week is looking for social entrepreneurs

As found on NetSquared, Business Week is looking for the most promising social entrepreneurs in the U.S.

We are looking for companies that aim to both turn a profit and solve social problems. To do so, we’re asking for your suggestions of for-profit companies based in the U.S. that are tackling social problems in new and innovative ways here or abroad.

Qualifications

For companies to be eligible, they must:

* be for-profit companies based in the U.S.
* be tackling social problems in new and innovative ways in the US or abroad
* have been in operation for at least one year

Learn more and nominate a company!

Our Top 25 Social Entrepreneurship websites

They say that social entrepreneurship is the new green… One thing is certain: social entrepreneurship’s following will grow very fast in 2009, especially after the election of you-know-who.

Social entrepreneurship has almost as many definitions as it has institutions promoting it. For us, the meaning of social entrepreneurship is very well encompassed by the two words composing it :

Entrepreneurship : To create a new venture.

Social : For the common good.

To help find your way in this field, we mapped out what we believe are the best resources to get the news, the money and the training linked to the marvelous world of social entrepreneurship. In no particular order:

Update (02/06/09): Thanks so much for the great feedback! Please note that this list doesn’t aim to be the ULTIMATE social entrepreneurship websites list, nor a billboard: it is simply the resources we use and refer to the most. Look out for the additions to the list.

03/02/09: We recommend you visiting The Top 50 Social Entrepreneurship blogs to watch in 2009. Great resource.

Best Social Entrepreneurship News websites

1. E-180

Ok, that’s us. We keep you posted on social entrepreneurship, consensual education and social media. News, fellowships, training programs, resources.

2. CSR Wire

CSRwire is the leading global source of Corporate Social Responsibility news.

3. Change.org – Social entrepreneurship

The social entrepreneurship blog @ change.org. Nathaniel is the founding Director of the Center for Global Engagement at Northwestern University, which works annually with hundreds of students in dozens of countries around the world through curricular programs and student project incubation.

4. Stanford Social Innovation Review

Strategies, tools and ideas for nonprofits, foundations and socially responsible businesses

5. Fast Company – Social Responsibility

Fast Company often features articles on social responsibility and social entrepreneurship. They also organize every year the Social Capitalist Awards. Along with the 45 world-changing nonprofits, they also honor ten companies not only striving to make a profit, but to also make a difference.

6. Social edge

Social Edge is the global online community where social entrepreneurs and other practitioners of the social benefit sector connect to network, learn, inspire and share resources. A Skoll Foundation initiative.

7. NextBillion.net

NextBillion.net brings together the community of business leaders, social entrepreneurs, NGOs, policy makers, and academics who want to explore the connection between development and enterprise.

8. Alltop : Social entrepreneurship

The best of blogs on social entrepreneurship, from Guy Kawasaki’s Alltop.

9. Alltop : Good

The best of blogs on social good, from Guy Kawasaki’s Alltop.

Best Social Entrepreneurship Fellowships and Funding websites

10. Ashoka

Ashoka is the global association of the world’s leading social entrepreneurs—men and women with system changing solutions for the world’s most urgent social problems. Since 1981, they have elected over 2,000 leading social entrepreneurs as Ashoka Fellows, providing them with living stipends, professional support, and access to a global network of peers in more than 60 countries.

11. Echoing Green

Since 1987, Echoing Green has provided seed funding and support to more than 450 social entrepreneurs with bold ideas for social change in order to launch groundbreaking organizations around the world. They provide seed money, in the early stage of a social venture.

12. Skoll Foundation

The Skoll Foundation’s mission is to advance systemic change to benefit communities around the world by investing in, connecting and celebrating social entrepreneurs. Their main funding program is the Skoll Awards for Entrepreneurship

13. Tides Foundation

Since 1976, Tides Foundation has worked with donors committed to positive social change. They put resources and people together—strengthening community-based nonprofit organizations and the progressive movement through innovative grantmaking.

14. Schwab Foundation

They identify the world’s leading social entrepreneurs: Over the past eight years, the Foundation has been selecting 20-30 social entrepreneurs annually from around the world into its network of leading social entrepreneurs. The social entrepreneurs are selected from more than 1000 candidates that apply every year either to a national “Social Entrepreneur of the Year” competition or directly to a regional selection of the Foundation.

15. Reynolds’ Foundation

The Reynolds’ Foundation funds two great social entrepreneurship fellowships : one for Harvard graduate students and one for NYU graduate students.

+ Unltd

UnLtd is a charity which supports social entrepreneurs – people with vision, drive, commitment and passion who want to change the world for the better. They do this by providing a complete package of funding and support, to help these individuals make their ideas a reality.

Best Social Entrepreneurship Training Programs websites (non-academic)

16. Net impact (Multiple locations)

Net Impact is an international nonprofit organization whose mission is to make a positive impact on society by growing and strengthening a community of leaders who use business to improve the world. We offer a portfolio of programs to educate, equip, and inspire more than 10,000 members to make a tangible difference in their universities, organizations, and communities.

17. StartingBloc (Boston, New York & London)

StartingBloc’s curriculum is delivered through their signature program – The Institute for Social Innovation. The Institute is a two-month program anchored by four one-day conferences. They provide students and young professionals with the training, education, and networks necessary to turn any career into a socially responsible one.

18. Global Social Benefit Incubator (Santa Clara, US)

The Global Social Benefit Incubator (GSBI™), a program developed by Santa Clara University’s Center for Science, Technology, and Society in partnership with Social Edge. It assists social benefit entrepreneurs in developing business plans that enable their organizations to reach increasing numbers of beneficiaries.

+ School of Social Entrepreneurs (Multiple locations: UK, Australia)

The SSE runs practical learning programs aimed at helping develop the individual entrepreneur and their organization simultaneously: our approach, and belief, is that social change is people-powered, and that the most valuable assets and resources we have are human ones.

Best Social Entrepreneurship Training Programs websites (academic)

This list was published by CNN Money in 2007.

19. Babson College (Boston, MA)

The Arthur M. Blank Center for Entrepreneurship is the hub for entrepreneurial activity at Babson. The center’s mission is to lead the global advancement of entrepreneurship education and practice through the development of academic, research, and outreach initiatives that inspire entrepreneurial thinking and cultivate entrepreneurial leadership in all organizations and society.

20. Columbia University (New York, NY)

Columbia offers the Social Enterprise program, where students develop a perspective on how to apply business skills to social enterprise endeavors and align personal and professional values in careers that result in social benefits to a broader community. The curriculum explores social enterprise within four focus areas: Public and Nonprofit Management; International Development and Emerging Markets; Social Entrepreneurship; and Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability.

21. Cornell University (Ithaca, NY)

At the Center for Sustainable Global Enterprise, they believe the private-sector has a critical role to play in helping solve the world’s most pressing environmental and social problems. They work directly with companies around the world to identify, understand, and capitalize on these competitive opportunities.

22. Duke University (Durham, NC)

A research and education center based at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, the Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship (CASE) promotes the entrepreneurial pursuit of social impact through the thoughtful adaptation of business expertise.

23. Harvard University (Boston, MA)

Grounded in Harvard Business School’s mission to educate leaders who make a difference in the world, the Social Enterprise Initiative aims to inspire, educate, and support current and emerging leaders in all sectors to apply management skills to create social value.

24. New York University (New York, NY)

The Satter Program in Entrepreneurship is to educate, challenge, and inspire social entrepreneurs to leverage intellectual, social, and financial capital resources with a focus on social change, innovation, and impact.

25. Stanford University (Stanford, CA)

Their Center for Social Innovation aims to inspire and educate social innovators, providing knowledge and ideas that strengthen the capacity of current and future leaders to champion social change.

+ Oxford Saïd Business School (Oxford, England)

The Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship was launched in 2003 at the Saïd Business School, Oxford University, to promote the advancement of social entrepreneurship worldwide. In addition to delivering innovative teaching programmes, the Skoll Centre has developed a portfolio of research which employs theory but that is also valuable to practitioners in the field.

Best Resources for Social Entrepreneurs

+ Center for Social Innovation (Toronto, Canada)

The Centre for Social Innovation is a social enterprise with a mission to catalyze social innovation in its home base of Toronto and around the globe.

Anything we missed?

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Praise for a tweet: Kawasaki meets Bornstein

It always feels good when the work you put into something has meaning for others. We just found this article on Nathaniel‘s blog at Change.org mentioning a @e180‘s tweet that got a lot of traction yesterday.

Watching people discover social entrepreneurship on Twitter is one of the best ways to get a sense of how the language of the field is permeating. I’ll often see tweets about content that was created years ago, but just got someone hooked. A number of people yesterday retweeted a link from @e180 about an interview that serial entrepreneur, author, and tech evangelist Guy Kawasaki did with “How to Change the World” author David Bornstein. (more…)

Here is the full interview.

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