Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Columbia Business School: Social Enterprise Conference 2009


On Friday, October 9, the Columbia Business School will host its annual Social Enterprise Conference. The conference aims to highlight leading ideas and bring together professionals interested or working in the field of social enterprise, with deeper dive discussions and cross cutting themes.

Craig R. Barrett, retired CEO & Chairman of Intel
Nancy Barry, President & CEO of Enterprise Solutions to Poverty
Alex Friedman ’98, CFO of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
Thomas Gensemer, Managing Partner of Blue State Digital & 2008 Barack Obama presidential campaign social networking strategist
Jimmy Wales, Co-founder of Wikipedia

This event will explore social innovation at the intersection of business and social enterprise, international development and the green economy. To learn more about session topics and featured speakers, please visit: www.gsb.columbia.edu/socialenterprise/conference2009/


Questions? Please contact:
Ivana Urbankova (IUrbankova10@gsb.columbia.edu) or
Mara De Monte (MDeMonte10@gsb.columbia.edu)



Thursday, September 24, 2009

Reminder: AngelAfrica Enterprise Forum on Sept 25th & 26th

ANGELAFRICA ENTERPRISE CONFERENCE 2009

Date: September 25 & 26, 2009
Time: 7:30am - 4:00pm
Location: Desmond Tutu Center, 180 10th Ave (between 20th & 21st Streets) New York, NY 10011 MAP

Africa Social Enterprise Forum Special Limited Promotion!
Bring a friend to the conference on us--FREE--when you purchase your full conference pass for the AngelAfrica Enterprise Conference

About the Conference
Join us for the AngelAfrica Enterprise Conference, an annual event which showcases innovations and opportunities in investment, economic development and entrepreneurship on the African continent.

The 2009 conference will gather 250 over two full days to jointly showcase their leadership and innovation in Africa's private and social sectors.

Full Conference Schedule

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Acumen Fund Fellows Mixer and Multimedia Party


The Bubble Lounge and Acumen Fund welcome you to join the returning Acumen Fund Fellows on Tuesday, September 22 from 6 - 11 pm for an evening of drinks, live music, and multimedia work from around the globe. Meet the Fellows, listen to music from DJ VRL and view photography and video footage from various social enterprises in India, Pakistan and Kenya.

Tickets are $15 in advance, $20 at the door. Ticket price includes one complimentary drink.

In addition, the Fellows' photography will be available for purchase online prior to the event. To view and bid on photography from this year's Fellows , please visit AcumenBubble.cmarket.com.


All ticket sales, online auction, and live auction proceeds and a portion of bar proceeds go to benefit Acumen Fund.


Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Women's Social Entrepreneurship Panel

When: Monday, September 21, 2009

6:30-7:00: Registration/Networking

7:00-8:30: Panel Discussion/Q&A



Where: The Feldenkrais Institute,134 West 26th Street, 2nd Floor



Cost: $10 (light refreshments included)



RSVP by September 20th to: http://womeninsocialentrepreneurship.eventbrite.com


Moderated by Ann MacDougall, Chief Management Officer at the Acumen Fund, the conversation is ideal for anyone, male or female, who have ideas and need inspiration, interested in learning more about the field of social entrepreneurship and meeting with like-minded individuals.


Women play a key role in traditional and social entrepreneurship globally, and living in New York we are surrounded by women who are in the midst of changing the world through entrepreneurship. 

Through a conversation with our panelists, including Elizabeth Scharpf and Katie Orenstein--two uber-entrepreneurs and Echoing Green fellows-- and Amini Kajunju, CEO of Workshop in Business Opportunities, we will highlight the power of women in this field, both domestically and internationally, feature the various models of social entrepreneurship (non-profit, for-profit, hybrid), and discuss the challenges and opportunities that female entrepreneurs face.


Moderator: Ann MacDougall, Chief Management Officer, Acumen Fund

As Chief Management Officer, Ann manages Acumen's core operating activities and is a member of its management committee. Before joining Acumen Fund, Ann MacDougall spent 17 years at PricewaterhouseCoopers, in various senior roles. Most recently she lived in Paris and held the role of Global Deputy General Counsel. Prior to that, she was US General Counsel and a member of that firm's ten person management committee. Before PwC, Ann worked at US West and the NYC law firm of Sage Gray Todd & Sims. Ann holds a JD from Brooklyn Law School and a B.A. from Tufts University.


Panelists:


Elizabeth Scharpf

Elizabeth is starting a business called Sustainable Health Enterprises (SHE) in Rwanda that will provide a sustainable model to provide affordable sanitary napkins for women and young girls. Elizabeth, a recent Harvard MBA and MPA-International Development graduate, is an entrepreneur who spent most of her professional career starting up ventures or advising businesses on growth strategies in the health-care industry. Previously, she worked for a boutique management consulting firm, the Clinton Foundation, and the World Bank in South America, Asia, and East Africa, respectively.
http://www.echoinggreen.org/fellows/elizabeth-scharpf


Katie Orenstein

Katie is a journalist who has started a company called the Op-Ed Project, which aims to train more women and minorities to take part in global debates (op-eds, political commentary, even Congress are dominated up to 85% by well educated white males). An author and journalist, Catherine Orenstein has written for the op-ed pages of The New York Times, The Washington Post, and the Miami Herald, and her commentary has been nationally syndicated. A graduate of Harvard (BA) and Columbia (MA), she is a fellow at The Woodhull Institute for Ethical Leadership, a women’s think tank
http://www.echoinggreen.org/fellows/katie-orenstein 




Amini Kajunju

Amini Kajunju is the CEO/COO of Workshop in Business Opportunities (WIBO) which is a private non-profit organization that is committed to assisting men and women with the drive to become successful entrepreneurs. WIBO’s flagship 16-week workshop, “How to Build a Growing Profitable Business” is currently conducted in nine underserved communities of New York City.

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Two New Volunteer Opportunities with Acumen Fund

Acumen Fund's New York office is currently looking for two volunteers to assist their Communications and Finance teams, respectively. Please see below for descriptions on each opportunity.

Communications Volunteer

The Acumen Fund Communications team is currently looking for a volunteer to write, edit and manage content on two of our key online properties – the Acumen Fund blog and website. This is a 3-month, full-time volunteer position. The volunteer will be expected to work out of Acumen Fund’s New York office.

The Communications Volunteer will be a key member of Acumen Fund’s communications team, working with Acumen Fund staff (across functions and geographies) to ensure timely, accurate, compelling content on the website and blog, and to support internal knowledge building. This is an unpaid position, but you’ll learn a lot about the sector as well as the inner workings of Acumen Fund and have the opportunity to share your words with the ever-expanding Acumen Fund community.

The ideal candidate will have a facility for the written word (and for the technology needed to share such words), as well as a passion for Acumen Fund’s vision and mission.

Click here for the full position description. Apply by sending a cover letter and resume to mtada@acumenfund.org. Please include the job title “Communications Volunteer” in the subject line. Deadline for applications is 5:00pm EST September 30.

Finance Volunteer
The Acumen Fund Finance team is looking for a volunteer who is interested in doing some investment research by calling financial institutions, preparing schedules of investment income from our investments, and doing bank reconciliations. The time commitment will be a few hours a week. The ideal candidate will have some accounting and/or finance skills, and possess strong Excel macro skills. Interested parties should send their resume and a short cover letter to: aattavane@acumenfund.org.

Monday, September 7, 2009

Lessons From the Field: A Discussion with Acumen Fund Fellows

NYU Stern’s Berkley Center for Entrepreneurial Studies, the Stern Social Enterprise Association, and Acumen Fund invite you to join us as three of the 2009 Acumen Fund Fellows share an insider’s perspective about working at social enterprises in the healthcare and energy sectors in India and Kenya. The Fellows will lead interactive discussions around three topics:

Expect the Unexpected: Adjusting to Unforeseen Circumstances
Ramakrishnan Hariharan, Upper Hill Eye & Laser Center (Kenya)

Will Surekha Dial an Ambulance? Market Research at the Base of the Pyramid

Joanna Harries
, 1298 Ambulance Services (India)

Barriers and Breakthroughs: True Tales of BoP Sales

Heidi Krauel, D.light Design
(India)

Time:

5:30pm - Registration

6:00-7:30pm - Panel and Discussion

Networking reception to follow

Location: Cantor Boardroom (Room 11-75), Kaufman Management Center, Stern School of Business, New York University

44 W 4th Street, New York, NY 10012

RSVP:
NYU Stern Students, click here.
All others guests, click here.

Space is limited


Thursday, September 3, 2009

Jacqueline Novogratz and Tim Brown at UC-Berkeley on Sept 8th

On Tuesday, September 8, the Blum Center for Developing Economies at UC-Berkeley will be hosting Tim Brown, the CEO of IDEO and Jacqueline Novogratz, CEO of Acumen Fund, in a session called Putting the People First: Human-Centered Poverty Alleviation.

In a discussion moderated by Acumen Fund board member Stuart Davidson, Tim and Jacqueline will discuss innovative approaches to global development and the ways that IDEO and Acumen Fund have worked together to find solutions that start with the poor as people.

The event is free and open to all but reservations are recommended. For more info and to RSVP, go here.