Social ROI: A Social Entrepreneurship Blog

The Tech Awards is an international awards program that honors innovators from around the world who are applying technology to benefit humanity.

The Tech Awards program inspires global engagement in applying technology to humanity’s most pressing problems by recognizing the best of those who are utilizing innovative technology solutions to address the most urgent critical issues facing our planet. People all over the world are profoundly improving the human condition in the areas of education, equality, environment, health, and economic development through the use of technology. It is the goal of The Tech Awards to showcase their compelling stories and reward their brilliant accomplishments.

To submit a nomination, click here.

Good Intentions are Not Enough.

hat tip to Marginal Revolution

The Legatum Center is now accepting applications for the 2010-2011 Fellowship, with a deadline of February 10, 2010.  Led by Professor Iqbal Quadir, the Center administers a competitive fellowship program for incoming and current MIT graduate students, across all academic and professional disciplines, who demonstrate the potential to create innovative, sustainable, for-profit enterprises that promote prosperity in low-income countries.  The Fellowship provides financial assistance, business plan coaching, specialized seminars, and opportunities to engage with some of the world’s leading thinkers and change-agents.  Recognizing that even the best innovations can be rendered useless if not distributed effectively, the Center works closely with Fellows to design not just innovative products and services, but also workable, affordable, and sustainable business distribution methods.

Applicants will need to submit an online application and two letters of recommendation.  Prospective applicants can find more information, video, profiles of current and past Fellows, and the online application at http://legatum.mit.edu/fellowship.  Please direct any questions to legatum@mit.edu.

The Mind Trust’s Education Entrepreneur Fellowship is a nationally  unique incubator for transformative education ventures. The Fellowship offers  promising education entrepreneurs the opportunity to develop and launch their break-the-mold education ventures and the support necessary for success. Fellows  receive two years of salary, benefits, a stipend for travel and professional development, and more. With this support, fellows will be able to realize their  visions and achieve extraordinary results for some of the nation’s most underserved students.

Fellowship ventures target underserved or disadvantaged populations with  solutions that attack the root problems in the delivery of public education.  The Fellowship is for people who envision entirely new approaches to the challenges of public education, and possess the relentless drive necessary to exploit opportunities to fulfill their visions.  Fellows join a growing network of education entrepreneurs dedicated to forging dramatic change in public education.

For the third cohort of fellows, The Mind Trust plans to select three highly capable people by November 20, 2009.  Each fellow works with The Mind Trust staff to establish an appropriate start date.

Fellows are full-time employees of The Mind Trust throughout the Fellowship. Fellows receive a $90,000 annual salary and a full benefits package that  includes medical, dental, and retirement benefits. Fellows will receive a $20,000 stipend to support their work, which can be used for customized  training, travel or other reasonable purposes.  The Fellowship is a full-time responsibility; fellows should not have additional employment, consulting  contracts, or other professional responsibilities.  Fellows may live anywhere in the United States during the Fellowship, but will be required to participate in meetings with their cohort of fellows in Indianapolis at least quarterly.  In addition, Fellows must include Indianapolis as part of their initial growth  plans.

Important Dates and Application Information

The Mind Trust is now accepting Statements of Intent online through July 31, 2009.  Select applicants will be invited to submit Full Applications.  Full  Applications are due September 25, 2009.  Statements of Intent and Full Applications are accepted only via The Mind Trust’s online application form.  Visit www.themindtrust.org for the application form and more information on the Education Entrepreneur Fellowship.  Fellowships for the third cohort will be awarded by November 20, 2009.

After 22 years inspiring a community of 500 entrepreneurs, investors and nonprofit leaders working together to build a more just and sustainable economy, Social Venture Network (SVN) is looking to honor and support the “next generation” of social entrepreneurs with the 2009 SVN Innovation Awards. Winners of the 2009 Awards will be honored during a special ceremony at the 2009 SVN Fall Conference at the Estancia La Jolla this October 22-25, and will also receive a year-long membership in SVN, waived registration and travel and hotel expenses to attend the Fall Conference, waived registration for the 2010 SVN Member Gathering, recognition on SVN’s website for a full year, publicity in other media outlets, and advice and mentoring from members of the SVN community.

To be eligible, applicants must currently hold positions as C-level executives (CEO, President, Executive Director, etc.) at a business or nonprofit having a positive social or environmental impact, and their organization must be less than five years old. The Awards are open to both current SVN members and individuals who aren’t members of SVN.

To learn more about the Awards or to download an application, please visit http://www.svn.org/awards.

For more than 22 years, SVN members have transformed the way the world does business. From the organic revolution to fair trade to socially responsible investing and so much more, our members pioneered a movement that has proven that business can truly be used as a tool for making the world a better place.

As SVN looks to the future, we’re committed to inspiring and supporting the next generation of innovative, socially responsible business and nonprofit entrepreneurs. That’s why we created the Innovation Awards. The goal of the Awards program is to recognize the leaders of emerging enterprises, bring them into the SVN community, and give them access to a network of 500 successful socially responsible business and nonprofit leaders, investors, and other resources and connections that can help them achieve success with their own enterprise.

For more information please check out svn.org

YIP is a new social entrepreneur training in Järna, Sweden, for youth aged 18 to 25 who want to create a positive social change in the world. It’s basically a course in how to bring your own initiative into being. YIP brings in experienced international course leaders to teach a wide array of topics, teaching the skills needed to run a project. There is also artistic work and internships.

The first year started up last August, and we have 39 participants from 18 countries (all continents represented), speaking 25 different languages. From the very first day, the participants have shown that they abound with initiative. (I am amazed they get time to sleep!) The impressions from friends and relatives following the participants from home is strong: some have tears of joy when seeing how participants are blossoming and taking responsibility for the world and their own life.

You can also read more about the program at the web site: http://www.yip.se (You can read participant contributions here) I can also recommend you the public lectures podcasts. The participants are currently organizing the conference “360° Exploring Community” (http://www.360theconference.se/), 11-17 July.

Application for the next YIP year closes 30 June 2009.

The Engineers for Social Impact Fellowship is a unique program that connects top engineering talent to credible social enterprises driving market-based solutions to development in India. It serves a dual need: matching talented students with worthy social enterprises and increasing awareness of for-profit approaches to development.

The Engineers for Social Impact (E4SI) fellowship program has commenced its second annual rigorous recruitment process to match the most talented ten undergraduate students from fifteen elite Indian engineering schools with partner social enterprises that focus on development by means of sustainable for-profit entrepreneurship. E4SI fellowships promise to be highly entrepreneurial in a way that combines the best of consulting, technology, and social innovation. Fellows will gain unprecedented access to the development sector as they work with leading social entrepreneurs, attend leadership workshops at the Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad, and pitch their ideas to thought leaders as they join an outstanding cohort of exceptional young leaders.

Please see this press release (PDF) for more information.

Deadline: April 17, 2009

The Gleitsman Program in Leadership for Social Change encourages individual commitment and leadership by recognizing the exceptional achievement of those who have initiated positive social change. We seek those individuals whose vision and courage inspire others to join with them in confronting and challenging injustice.

As we begin our search for nominees for the 2009 International Activist Award, we invite you to advise us of those individuals whose efforts you feel should be recognized.

The 2009 International Activist Award will honor those who have struggled to correct social injustice in the world (US activists are the focus of our award in alternate years). The honorees will receive $125,000 and will receive a specially commissioned sculpture designed by Maya Lin, creator of the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, DC. The award is not presented posthumously, nor is it granted to groups or organizations.

Please complete this nomination form and forward it with supporting materials to us postmarked not later than APRIL 17, 2009. The honoree for the 2009 International Activist Award will be announced in the summer of 2009 and must be available to travel to Cambridge, MA for the award presentation in early fall.

A guest post from Ann Logue, author of Socially Responsible Investing for Dummies.

Social Investing and the Modern Market

By Ann Logue

Social investing is a fine idea: investors get to flex their capitalist muscles to help fund companies that are changing the world while pressing companies that are a little less than perfect to improve their policies. As I write this, though, it’s early 2009 and capitalism is a mess. Businesses with great ideas are having a hard time attracting shareholders and lenders because everyone is so darn scared!

Of course, the name of the game is buying low and selling high, so a beat-up stock market can be a great opportunity to buy into companies that meet your social objectives and that also are likely to do fine once the economy settles back into its groove. How do you find these? Start by knowing what your social goals are: is your interest the environment? Human rights? Religion strictures? That will affect the universe of companies that you will want to look at.

Then, you want to go to the financial statements and news reports to see how the company is responding. Is it cutting back its work on green technologies in order to save money? Or is it expanding its efforts because it has some cash, sees where the markets are going, and knows that its competitors are a bit weak?

As a general rule, the companies that will get through this recession best are those that have little debt and a lot of cash and equivalents on their balance sheets, as those companies will be able to do the best. Likewise, families that have little debt and good savings will also fare better than their profligate neighbors!

If you aren’t up to doing the research on specific companies, the many socially responsible mutual funds and exchange traded funds are available at bargain prices because the securities in them have been beaten up. (There are exceptions, mainly funds that target Muslim investors and thus have no exposure to bank stocks. Alas, social investment is no protection against market forces.)

Finally, the low prices on so many stocks are going to force changes in transparency. The federal government, which has become a de facto shareholder in many banks, is raising questions about executive compensation. (Hint to CEOs: if your company needed a federal bailout, you did not do a good job.) Those hedge funds, private equity, and investment firms with money to invest may look at troubled companies and press for changes that lead to a more sustainable business for decades to come.

If you don’t have money to invest right now, at least pay attention: this bargain-basement market will create interesting events for socially minded investors who want to watch and learn.