‘Social Entrepreneurship’

The Wharton Venture Capital Club and Wharton Social Impact Club are seeking social entrepreneurs to participate in the 2011 Sustainable Venture Capital Competition (SVCIC), which will be held on Penn’s campus on February 26, 2011.  SVCIC brings together social entrepreneurs and venture capitalists who are active in impact investing to offer MBA students exposure to the investment process.  Student teams act as VCs for a day to evaluate social enterprises and develop an investment thesis that considers both financial and social returns, and then present their recommendations to a panel of VC judges, who will provide feedback to both the students and entrepreneurs.

As a participating entrepreneur, you will have the opportunity to practice your investment pitch, which will afford the following benefits:

• An audience of VC judges from prestigious US firms; judges expected from Acumen Fund, Calvert, Grassroots Business Fund, and Burrill & Company
• The chance to expose your business plan to a large, savvy audience of students, venture capitalists, professors, advisors and spectators on the day of the competition
• Coverage of your business plan in the Wharton Journal, which is distributed to 1500 of the nation’s top MBA students
• Solid due diligence questions from top business school students
• Written deliverables from teams, along with oral feedback from students and judges

We are seeking entrepreneurs pursuing a double or triple bottom line business across any industry.  Ideally, the organization would have some revenue or initial traction with customers, and be actively pursuing or considering pursuing early stage financing.

Please respond to Sean Dowling (sdowling@wharton.upenn.edu) if you wish to be considered for this competition, and provide the following byFebruary 11^th, 2011:

• Your business plan in its current form for review
• Confirmation of your availability (or that of a C-level executive) from 9am to 4pm on Saturday, February 26, 2011

Don’t hesitate to reach out to Sean if you have any questions in the meantime, and please pass this along to any friends or colleagues you think might be interested.

Net Impact/Energy Conference at Darden

January 31^st – February 2^nd

Social Entrepreneurship Panel on Feb 2nd starring:

• Jack Benson, Principal and Business Manager, Reingold
• Wendy Brown, Founder, Center for Nonprofit Excellence
• Mike Curtin, CEO, D.C. Central Kitchen
• Mary Ann Leeper, Darden School of Business (Moderator)
• Valeria Merino, VP of Venture, Fellowship and Integration, Ashoka

The theme of this year’s event is People + Planet = Profit: Rewriting the Business Equation.  This two day event will include speakers and networking opportunities with over 25 leading experts in their fields.  

Schedule of Events

Monday, January 31^st

§  Darden Cup Competition: Two Darden Cup Challenges (see below for details)

9:30 – 10:00 am, Pepsico Forum

§  Leadership Speakers Series: Thomas Farrell, Chairman, President & CEO, Dominion Resources

1:30 – 2:30 pm, Room 50

Tuesday, February 1^st

§  Panel Discussion: Public Private Partnerships

1:30 – 2:30 pm, Room 170

§  Keynote Address: John Reid, Vice President of Corporate Social Responsibility, The Coca-Cola Company

6:15 – 7:00 pm, Room 50

§  Networking Reception

7:00 – 8:00 pm, Piano Room

Wednesday, February 2^nd

§  Panel Discussion: Corporate Social Responsibility

9:00 – 10:15 am, Room 130

§  Panel Discussion: Renewable Energy Financing

9:00 – 10:15 am, Room 120

§  Panel Discussion: Social Entrepreneurship

10:45 am – 12:15 pm, Room 130

§  Panel Discussion: Energy Management

10:45 am – 12:15 pm, Room 120

§  Lunch

12:15 – 1:15 pm, Piano Room

§  Leadership Speakers Series: Larry Schweiger, President & CEO, National Wildlife Federation

1:30 – 2:30 pm, Room 50

§  Panel Discussion: International Development

2:45 – 4:15 pm, Room 130

§  Panel Discussion: Renewable Energy

2:45 – 4:15 pm, Room 120

For More Information and to Register Please Click: http://www.darden.virginia.edu/web/MBA/Student-Life/Organizations/Net-Impact/Events/

A letter from Ian Fisk, Director of the William James Foundation:

As the William James Foundation’s Socially Responsible Business Plan Competition enters into our eighth year, I am enjoying watching our community of sustainable entrepreneurs change from a group that we support to a group that supports each other. Together, we’ve accomplished some amazing things recently, which I wanted to share with you.

Through our competitions, more than 430 reading judges have assisted over 365 entrepreneurial teams. Those teams have launched hundreds of businesses – more than 115 of which are active today. We have awarded more than $350,000 worth of in-kind prizes & cash, and by this December we will reach 10,000 pages of constructive feedback. Several people who joined our community as reading judges are returning to us as entrants, & vice-versa.

For the past several years, we’ve seen a 50% increase in entrants per cycle.  To handle this, we added three excellent people to our team. Deb Parsons, recently the co-director of the Investors’ Circle, is overseeing our work with the angel investor and venture capital community. Florence Navarro comes from the world of international economic development, including the UN and the World Bank Group, and is coordinating our international outreach. Paulina Migalska brings her experience from the Social Enterprise Alliance, the Points of Light Foundation, and Ashoka to manage our corporate partnerships.

I am most excited to see the success of our entrants.
*  Nuru Light was honored by the United Nations
*  President Bill Clinton told the world what we already know – that “[Sproxil] is a genuinely remarkable achievement…[it's] empowering… putting people in charge of their own healthcare.”
*  PowerMundo is partnering with NESsT to bring Peruvian made sustainable products and services to the marketplace
*  Atayne was featured on the home page of AOL Small Business

Help us lengthen that list. If you or someone you know someone who is launching or managing a for-profit company with a defined social and/or environmental goal, that is either pre-revenue or less than two years from first revenue, let them know about our competition. send them to http://www.williamjamesfoundation.org. Our best source of quality entrants has always been our readers and past entrants who know the value of the assistance we provide. This year’s deadline is Friday, December 3rd.

Around the world, there are many entrepreneurs with viable business ideas that have socially and environmentally positive benefits. We’re helping to test, share, scale, and champion those ideas. Our goal for the year ahead is to double the number of entrepreneurs we have been working with, and continue to help our existing community of readers and judges support each other. Thank you for everything you’ve done to support the William James Foundation, sustainable business, and your communities.

Sincerely,
Ian T. Fisk

Executive Director
The William James Foundation
http://www.williamjamesfoundation.org