SOCAP OPEN is now closed. Thank you to everyone for participating and helping build a great SOCAP13. See the 2013 winners below! The top 23 entries are all coming through to SOCAP.
Engineering an Ecosystem to Amplify Social Enterprise
Suzanne Smith, Flywheel: Social Enterprise Hub
As the number of social enterprises grows exponentially, so does the number of organizations being launched to support them. Although there were a few early pioneers – REDF, ENP and NEsST, all founded in 1997 - most of the social enterprise support organizations have emerged only in the last few years. Some provide a specific resource that social enterprises need to thrive, such as mentoring or capital, but many have developed place-based, comprehensive ecosystem models. In this panel, these ecosystem builders - Flywheel: Social Enterprise Hub in Cincinnati, Social Enterprise Greenhouse in Rhode Island, and X, will discuss their unique spin on place-based innovation - how to start, what works best, and the future of ecosystem building.
community, ecosystems, innovation, marketplace, nonprofits, place-based innovation, policy, social enterprise
Panel
Intermediate
Suzanne Smith, Executive Director - Flywheel: Social Enterprise Hub (Cincinnati, OH)
Kelly Ramirez, Executive Director - Social Enterprise Greenhouse (Rhode Island)
If approved, we'd include another 1-3 organizations who are building social enterprise ecosystems in North America (e.g. David LePage, Enp - Canada).
We are interested in having a moderator and have some ideas (e.g. Kevin Lynch, SEA), but are also open to others (e.g. Carla Javits, Jim Fruchterman).
We have recently published two articles in a three-part series on Social Enterprise Ecosystems in SEE CHANGE magazine -
1) http://www.seechangemagazine.com/articles/features/406-engineering-an-ecosystem-to-amplify-social-enterprise
2) http://www.seechangemagazine.com/articles/features/442-mapping-the-social-enterprise-ecosystem