The Social Ecosystem

Another successful year for ForSE 2009

Raj Melville — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 05:27:11 +0000

Another successful conference on Social Entrepreneurship was held on October 23rd, this time at Babson College in Boston's Wellesley suburb. Details on the conference and photos were posted in a local e-magazine, Lokvani.com and are reproduced for those who could not attend. For details go to http://blog.ambientengines.com

World’s largest Business plan competition looks to help social entrepreneurs

Raj Melville — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 21:52:44 +0000

To help jumpstart job growth in Massachusetts, a unique public/private partnership, Masschallenge.org, was launched earlier this year that hopes to attract hundreds if not thousands of interested entrepreneurs to Massachusetts by unveiling what it claims is the world’s largest business plan competition. It hopes to change the way business plans are run by providing the winning teams with $1 million in seed funding in six different categories. With these incentives from MassChallenge and the support of the Massachusetts Government, the many entries the "Social Development and Non-profit" category will attract could help create the next new growth cluster in the state. Read my comments on this at http://blog.ambientengines.com

Social Media for Social Entrepreneurs

Raj Melville — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 03:12:03 +0000

With Twitter and Facebook revolutionizing the business of marketing, can social activists lag behind? How does one turn followers into funders? Motivate movements with your messages? And leverage social networks to create social change? The experts on this panel have shown others how to maximize their impact with the latest online tools and techniques and they will help you figure out the right approach to integrating social media within your strategies. Find out more about the panel at http://blog.ambientengines.com

Towards a Greener Future

Raj Melville — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 23:55:45 +0000

At the "Making Green Economy Real" conference at Bentley University, Prof. Bill Moomaw, one of the authors of the IPCC report that shared in the Nobel Peace Prize with VP Gore, provided a terrific overview of what was needed for the US to really go green. Prof. Moomaw described some of the symptoms of how far behind the US is from the rest of the world in focusing on energy efficiency. However he said there was still hope that with a commitment to change, the future could be significantly better. Read the entire article at http://blog.ambientengines.com

Sustainable Business Models for Social Ventures

Raj Melville — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 17:03:38 +0000

A new breed of ventures has begun innovating revenue models to build greater capacity and sustain operations. These approaches leverage the power of markets and have discovered the sustainable power of partnering with their customers to meet their social needs. More details at http://blog.ambientengines.com

Valuing Social Enterprises

Raj Melville — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 17:26:36 +0000

As a number of young entrepreneurs launch their social enterprises, one of the areas they all struggle with is attracting socially conscious investors. A challenge for all is how to evaluate a social focused business on metrics other than strict return on investment. More details at http://blog.ambientengines.com

Using cell phones to change the world

Raj Melville — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 14:43:48 +0000

Jhonatan Rotberg, was sent to MIT by Telmex, one of Latin America’s largest telcos, and teaches NextLab where he tries to bring cellular technology to the other 90 percent of the world. One of the labs startups, CelEdu, offers cellphone-based games and quizzes to teach basic literacy skills in India. Ranjani Saigal from the TIE Social Entrepreneurs Group helped connect CelEdu students to Tara Aakshar. Read the entire article at http://blog.ambientengines.com

An Investors perspective of Microfinance

Raj Melville — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 02:12:39 +0000

An Investors perspective of Microfinance - Over the past years, microfinance has grown increasingly prominent and found its way into the common vernacular. As microfinance has become increasingly mainstream, major investors have started to take positions in microfinance companies. What are the potential returns and social impacts that investors see in this segment? More details at http://blog.ambientengines.com

ForSE 2009 Agenda Details

Raj Melville — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 01:45:00 +0000

ForSE 2009: Forum for Social Entrepreneurs promises to continue the tradition of interactive and engaging forums that we have produced in the past. In-depth discussion with a panel of practitioners and experts in four parallel panels. Dissect the daily workings of a social entrepreneur and help brainstorm solutions. Refine your pitch and wow a panel of judges during the Pitching session. More agenda details at http://blog.ambientengines.com

ForSE 2009 Pitch Contest – Pitching SE: How Good Leaders Sell Smart Ideas

Raj Melville — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 16:02:00 +0000

For the first time ForSE 2009: Forum for Social Entrepreneurs, will have a pitch contest for aspiring social entrepreneurs. If you have an idea with significant social impact, here is your chance to pitch it and to wow a panel of expert judges and win a prize. Send in a short summary of your idea to pitch@tie-se.org