“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” – Al Gore

The idea of how the future will look obviously leads into the question of the people who will compose this brave new world. We’ve thought a lot about the idea of community and how you cultivate a group of individuals that will engender intellectual capital and social action. What is the base that you want to build on if you choose to look at the future as a blank slate to be drawn upon? I thought that I would highlight a few people who have gotten us talking lately…

Kiff Gallagher who is the mind behind the Music National Service Initiative which is launching a “MusicanCorps.” Based on the AmeriCorps model (which he helped create) and funded by the Hewlett Foundation, this program will put enable musicians to give one to two years of service to under-served communities to bring music to schools.

Kjerstin Erickson of FORGE who made the leap of faith to put her non-profit’s budget problems out for the world to see. Sean Stannard-Stockton picked up her story and connected her with Curtis Chang of Consulting Within Reach and together they are chronicling the story of the tough decisions it takes to bring an organization to solvency.

The B Corporation folks for the truths they hold to be self-evident:
- That we must be the change we seek in the world.
- That all business ought to be conducted as if people and place mattered.
- That, through their products, practices, and profits, businesses should aspire to do no harm and benefit all.
- To do so requires that we act with the understanding that we are each dependent upon another
and thus responsible for each other and future generations.

Jill Finalyson of Socialedge.org for bringing social capital to socialedge. We’ve been excited by the threads currently running, including Peter Deitz’s “Case for Online Support for Social Entrepreneurs” and Marc Dangeard’s “Social Capital & Social Business”.

Xavier Hegelson of Better World Books for being a great example of founder who turned into an ambassador and business development representative for his company, allowing the company to grow to greater scale.

The Hungry for Obama folks who showed the power of youth and action. We can’t wait to see where that energy is transferred to next.

I sat at dinner last night after the panel discussion with friends from Change.org and Hungry for Obama. As we talked until the restaurant closed, I began to think that with young, passionate people like this as a base to build off of, our community has a chance to go very far indeed.

I set out to interview the Ideablob finalists and winner who were in attendance for the inaugural Social Capital Markets Conference (SoCap08). For those not already in the know, Ideablob is an online community sponsored by Advanta Bank comprised of entrepreneurs and small business owners who share their ideas. In addition to the feedback and support provided by a community of like-minded peers each month the site’s users vote for their favorite idea. The winner is awarded a $10,000 cash prize to either turn their idea into reality or increase the scope and scale of their project. If you have an idea stewing and want a shot at the prize or if you just want to check out this month’s contenders head over to http://www.ideablob.com.

One winner is Aaron Fleishman, a senior at Pennsylvania State University majoring in Chemical Engineering who developed a venture to provide needy constituents in developing communities with access to inexpensive computer-based health stations. The project, Mashavu – a Swahili word for ‘chubby-cheeked’ uses basic on-site health assessment tools that hook up to mobile phone networks and send the information out to doctors around the world for health advice and medical recommendations. The system uses relatively inexpensive off-the-shelf components that can then be assembled locally. Mashavu has deep value in disaster relief situations in addition to facilitating regular health screenings for those who would not have access otherwise. Aaron’s biggest challenge in bringing Mashavu to the world is finding the time to devote to the venture while balancing a full scholastic load.  Aaron appreciated the collection of social entrepreneurs at SoCap08 and when I asked him whether he considered himself a social entrepreneur his answer was telling: “Yes, we’re trying to implement the venture using entrepreneurial tools and not structuring ourselves as a charity. We strive to achieve Mashavu’s sustainability in the developing world. That said our goal is to create a multi-million smile enterprise versus a multi-million dollar enterprise.” Aaron and his team plan to have 5 Mashavu stations up and running by fall, 2009. For more information please visit http://www.mashavu.com.

While she may not have won the prize, Abigail Glaum-Lathbury is also a successful social entrepreneur. The clothing line she started her first year after graduating from Art Institute of Chicago, Elmidae, is committed to making more than just another pretty garment. In addition to implementing eco-friendly innovations such as using remaindered fabrics, Abigail pays a fair living wage to all of her employees. She produces her hand-made clothing in the United States using low-impact fibers such as bamboo. Abigail was brought up ‘green’ and as the line started to grow she had an inherent desire to apply her life values to her bourgeoning business. The biggest challenge in scaling her business is finding lenders/investors who understand her commitment to producing at her standards as opposed to the lowest cost-basis (aka ‘Made in China’). Her comment on SoCap08: “It was refreshing to be in an environment with companies and people that are working on making money making a difference. The best part was the quantity and quality of people in attendance and the sessions were amazing.” Abigail is expanding her existing line and launching a new, more economical in the near future. For more information, please visit http://www.elmidae.com.

Our third and final Blobber (colloquialism for an Ideablob user) is Natalie Carter of the Earth Garden Project. Natalie’s up-and-coming venture seeks to combat hunger and malnutrition among women around the world by teaching school children and their teachers the skills needed to grow vegetables first at school and then at home. Originally from South Africa Natalie is currently studying International Development and Environment Studies at UCLA. Her idea didn’t originate from her studies but rather from an intense experience when she was not able to eat for 24 hours. Natalie sympathized for the millions of women and children for whom this was a daily reality and resolved to make a difference one school at a time. I asked Natalie if she would label herself a Social Entrepreneur and she replied “At the moment, I wouldn’t necessarily call myself a social entrepreneur, but I think I’m one in the making.  Because I am still working on the project and putting all the pieces together, I can’t justify calling myself as a social entrepreneur.” Natalie’s biggest challenge is a combination of the challenges facing Aaron and Abigail – namely, finding capital to support her vision and balancing the project with the studies. She would love to connect with other organizations that recognize common ground with the Earth Garden Project to discuss synergies. For more information, check out Natalie’s idea page by searching for the Earth Garden Project at http://www.ideablob.com.

Next Monday, Kevin Jones will join Premal Shah of Kiva.org to speak at the third awareness2action event. The topic of conversation will be on how values-based businesses continue to build momentum and turn a down market into a real opportunity for change. A great piggyback on my earlier comment on the Van Jones mentality that “a breakdown can lead to a breakthrough.”

You are invited to an exclusive panel and mixer to learn about and share thoughts around what’s changed and how to deal with it with — specifically focused on engaging site users and consumers — led and attended by some of the biggest changemakers in the Bay Area.

Panelists
Premal Shah, President of Kiva.org
Kevin Jones, Principal at Good Capital

Schedule
Mixer, 7pm - 7:30pm
Panel / Q&A, 7:30pm - 8:30pm
Mixer, 8:30pm - 9:30pm

Cost
None. Rather than charge for admission, they’re aiming to raise $400 through donations to cover costs of hosting these events, and to make a collective donation to Kiva.org, in the spirit of the holidays. Please bring cash or check to the event, or PayPal sahuja [at] stanfordalumni [dot] org in advance with what you’d like to give.

Limited attendance
This is an invite only event with room for 80 attendees, we encourage all SoCap Media friends to rsvp here to save a spot.

We’re off to NYC for the Social Capital Markets Mixer. The Mixer will take place in the Refectory at the Desmond Tutu Center in Chelsea. We are almost at capacity for this event, so it should be an energetic and fun night. We look forward to seeing you there!

Event: Social Capital Markets Mixer

Date: Wednesday, December 03, 2008 from 5:30 PM - 7:30 PM (ET)

Hosts: Good Capital, SoCap, and Criterion Ventures

Sponsors: Mission Markets, Growth Philanthropy Network, and City Light Capital

Location:
Desmond Tutu Center
180 10th Ave.
New York, NY

For more information click here: Social Capital Markets Mixer

Just came across this blog by Mike Lee on Socialedge on Sustainable Capitalism in Emerging Economies. There are some interesting responses on where the private and public sector need to meet in order to create a strong structure for a support system for serving the BOP.

For everyone not in attendance at the Social Finance Forum, happening right now, there are a number of ways to get engaged with the action. Here are a few:

• Twitter feed: Watch sff2008 for microblog on the conference proceedings.  If you’re on Twittering the conference, please tag tweets with sff08.
• Presentations on Slideshare are tagged with sff08.

So far there have been panel conversations around clean/green tech, microfinance, and scaling international dev programs to name a few.

#sff08 BYoung: panel trend: it’s tough to get enough scale to make a BIG difference. It’s creative entrepreneurial ways of finding solutions

#sff08 BKopperson: in europe, the renewable sector is really grassroots. 50% of renewable in Germany is locally owned.

What do incarcerated youth and Oscar-winning producers have in common?

For one thing, both are constituencies served by the Bay Area Video Coalition, one of the four ‘Big Bet Investments’ supported by ZeroDivide that presented at SoCap08 as part of our ‘Pitching in Action’ panel.

All four pitches are now up online in podcast form here. In addition to providing insightful snapshots of the current status of innovating social enterprises, I found the sessions to be interesting examples of how to “pitch a community enterprise venture to potential investors and other entrepreneurs.”

After you give the podcasts a listen here’s my question - If you had $50K to invest in one of the four companies, which one would you pick and why?

Watch this 9 minute interview with SVT Founding Partner, Sara Olsen, filmed during SoCap08. Sara discusses social enterprises and “gourmet carbon” work conducted by Patricia Ruiz Corzo’s Grupo Ecologico Sierra Gorda in Mexico.

‘Gourmet carbon’ in Mexico from JD Lasica on Vimeo.

All of the companies that present at Investors’ Circle are both socially or environmentally responsible and financially sound. However, some are operating in undeveloped markets, have lower prospective returns, and incur higher levels of risk for the potential to build out a new kind of mission-driven business. These are our “Activists.” At the same time, “Influencers” are working to expand established markets and bring the products and services of double-bottom-line businesses into the mainstream. At the top right are our “Pioneers.” These are companies with the potential to become the next Stoneyfield Farm or Evergreen Solar: leaders in the field proving that businesses built around social or environmental missions can also become huge financial successes.