| Register Today – Only 2 Weeks To Go! Please register today for MCN’s Annual Gathering and join entrepreneurs, mentors, and investors from our Network for 2+ days of eye-opening conversations, networking opportunities, and the chance to learn from the industry’s most talented and passionate voices. Whether you are a budding social entrepreneur, a seasoned professional building your 5th startup, or an experienced impact investor, we expect you’ll come away from this weekend with new contacts and friends that share your passion for impact. *** Panel: Off-Grid Technologies and Refugees *** 230 million humans are on the move on any given day, and over 65 million qualify as refugees. While only 10% of the refugees live in formal camps, all refugees and migrants are living in conditions that can be considered base of the pyramid. Join Christine Mendonca, the co-founder of Humans on the Move, to discuss how social entrepreneurs have a unique opportunity to rethink their market, and expand to provide their solutions to these growing populations. *** Presentation: Continuum of Scaling from BAD to BEST *** This interactive session gives impact investors and social entrepreneurs an invaluable heuristic framework for incorporating systems thinking up front, leading to dramatically improved risk mitigation and better financial & impact returns. The session doubles as an experience lab as TBL Alpha Advisory founder, Tami Kesselman, takes the room through deep dive examples of “they should have seen this coming,” and helps participants apply the framework to ensure their own endeavors avoid common pitfalls that otherwise undermine results. You don’t want to miss this! *** Workshop: Rapid Prototyping with Tom Chi *** Tom Chi, the former head of Product Experience at Google X, will be hosting a 2 1/2 hour prototyping workshop during the Annual Gathering. He will teach hands-on skills for making rapid progress on key challenges in your business. The workshop is designed for entrepreneurs who are in the process of actively bringing a new product or service to the world, or significantly innovating on a current one. *** Keynote Speaker: Andy Shallal *** We’re pleased to announce that Anas “Andy” Shallal will be the keynote speaker for our Annual Gathering, speaking on Friday, September 30th. Andy is an artist and social entrepreneur and the founder of Busboys and Poets, Share Space DC & Mulebone Restaurant. His concepts create an environment where racial and cultural connections are consciously uplifted. Spaces to feed the mind, body and soul and where art, culture and politics take center stage and collide. With 6 locations in the Washington Metropolitan Area, Busboys and Poets has become home for progressives, artists and intellectuals including such notables as Howard Zinn, Cornel West, Alice Walker and Nikki Giovanni to name a few. *** Kick-Off Community Happy Hour *** Whether you’re able to join us for the full conference or not, we welcome you to join us on Thursday, September 29th from 5:30pm – 7:30pm for a kick-off happy hour at ShareSpace DC. ShareSpace is located at 2121 14th St., NW. Dates: September 29 – October 1, 2016 Location: ShareSpace DC, FHI Conference Center and Impact Hub DC, in Washington, DC Cost: General Entry tickets are currently $320 |
| Entrepreneur Interview with Mitra Ardron, CEO of Lumeter Dorrit Lowsen recently interviewed the CEO of Lumeter, Mitra Ardron. Some key takeaways from this interview include:Raising money is very difficult. Impact investors still struggle to recognize the role B2B has to play in the impact space.Due diligence activities in the impact investing space are extremely time consuming for entrepreneurs, often with little to show for the time spent.Measuring Impact costs more than it’s worth. Measurement isn’t free and even if you’re out talking to beneficiaries anyway, asking a lot of extra measurement questions can cloud the responses to questions you really need to ask.Working B2B means dealing with local businesses in emerging markets that may have very different ideas about how business gets done. It’s important to avoid compromising your own standards while recognizing that you may not change attitudes towards issues such as women in the workplace or “borrowing” of content from others. |
| Congratulations to Fresh Coast Capital! MCN Alumn Fresh Coast Capital was named as Conservation Innovation Grant Recipient by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. This $940,800 grant will be used to install a pioneering green stormwater infrastructure project in Peoria, Illinois, and is part of a $26.6 million investment by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) into projects that will spur innovative conservation initiatives. |
| Running for Money: Bébé Bukinabè (Drink to Life) Justin Karfo, a co-founder of MCN Finalist Bébé Burkinabè (Drink to Life) is running half marathons to raise money for his startup. We encourage you to learn more about this effort and help them raise the funds they need to jumpstart this great social enterprise. |
| Can’t make the Annual Gathering but want to support other entrepreneurs? Please donate today! Together we make the Mentor Capital Network, and we depend on you. What makes you awesome is your passion and your desire to actively support entrepreneurs as they strive to find environmentally friendly and socially impactful ways to address the world’s biggest problems. All we can offer you is each other. To that end, we strive to develop meaningful ways to build connections with, to learn from, and to inspire each other. The Mentor Capital Network is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, and depends entirely on the support of donors like you. If you like the work that we do to support start-up and growing social enterprises around the globe, please contribute today. PLEASE DONATE TODAY! The Mentor Capital Network is a trade name of the William James Foundation, a registered 501(c)3 organization. All donations are tax-deductible. |