Mentor Capital Network
13th Annual Gathering
The best of what we have to offer you is each other
Session Descriptions | Speakers | Entrepreneurs
Thursday, September 29, 2016
ShareSpaceDC at 2121 14th St NW, Washington, DC 20009
12:00 – 5:30pm Working session with entrepreneurs and mentors.
5:30 – 7:30pm Informal happy hour at ShareSpaceDC
Friday, September 30, 2016
FHI Conference Center is located on the 8th Floor of 1825 Connecticut Avenue NW Washington, DC 20009.
9:00 – 9:30am Introductions and Overview
9:30 – 10:15am Panel Discussion on the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem moderated by Avary Kent of Conveners.
- While social entrepreneurs have been with us since we’ve been starting businesses, the “field” of organizations dedicated to supporting them is relatively new. Various programs: business plan competitions, university courses, incubators, accelerators, focused co-working spaces, and other related programs have all sprung up. What has their affect been on the individual entrepreneur? A discussion on our efforts to create an ecosystem that supports both the companies and the entrepreneurs who run them. Featuring entrepreneurs who have been supported, people who have designed and built programs to support entrepreneurs, and (mostly) individuals who have been on both sides of that divide. Featuring:
*** Vanessa Ferragut, Greenease
*** Laurin Hodge, Mission: Launch
*** Ben Powell, Agora Partnerships
10:15 – 10:45am Break
10:45 – 12:00pm Andy Shallal, Busboys and Poets Interviewed by Ian Fisk of the Mentor Capital Network.
12:00 – 12:15pm Presentations from MCN Entrepreneurs
12:15 – 1:30pm Lunch
1:30 – 1:45pm Presentations from MCN Entrepreneurs
1:45 – 3:00pm The Investors’ Perspective, moderated by Vanessa Grellet of Nexus Impact Investing Group
- Investors and donors presented an overview of what they are looking for from and with entrepreneurs. Featuring:
*** Jake Cusack, CrossBoundary
*** Mary Galeti, Shiplake Partners
*** Stefan Friedman, CoPilot Ventures
1:45 – 3:00pm Building Effective Partnerships, co-hosted with Conveners.org.
- True systemic change requires multi-stakeholder collaboration. However, without the proper planning and organization, such cooperation can be challenging to implement in practice. In particular, successful partnerships require clear advanced communication, a foundation of trust, common objectives, and shared understanding of how work will be achieved. We invite you to join us for a special co-hosted session to talk about our experiences in building partnerships.
3:00 – 3:15pm Break
3:15 – 4:15pm Panel Discussion: How we are (and are not) Supporting Refugees, led by Christine Mendonça, and featuring Won Hee Chang.
- 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. Social entrepreneurs have a unique opportunity to rethink their market, and expand to providing their solutions to these growing populations.
4:15 – 4:25pm Break
4:25 – 5:30pm The Continuum of Scaling from BAD to BEST by Tami Kesselman.
- 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.
5:30 – 6:00pm Friday Wrap-up and Event Updates
7:00 – 10:00pm Evening Garden Reception and Dinner at the home of Wayne and Dina Curtis.
Saturday, October 1, 2016
DC Impact Hub at 419 7th St NW, #300. Washington, DC 20004.
9:15 – 9:45am Introductions and Recap of Friday’s Events
9:45 – 10:30am Panel Discussion on the our local food ecosystems. Moderated by Chris Bradshaw of Dreaming Out Loud.
- Local entrepreneurs discuss how they are helping to grow the local foods ecosystem.
*** Ann Yang, Misfit Juicery
*** Jimmy Edgerton, Watusee Foods
10:30 – 10:45am Break
10:45 – 12:15pm Presentations from our Finalists.
- Bébé Burkinabè (f.k.a. known as Drink to Life) creates and distributes vitamin fortified liquid and powder drinks to support healthy pregnancies and child development in West Africa.
- Kulisha produces a low-cost, high-quality sustainable fish feed made from insects for use on aquaculture farms in Kenya.
- Manta Biofuel isa Baltimore based biotechnology firm that has developed a three step method for producing renewable crude oil from algae: Grow, Harvest and Convert.
12:15 – 12:30pm Presentations from MCN Entrepreneurs
12:30 – 1:30pm Lunch on site
1:30 – 1:45pm Presentations from MCN Entrepreneurs
1:45 – 2:30pm Speaker: Tom Chi, Head of Product Experience at X (Formally Google X).
2:30 – 5:15pm Prototyping Workshop with Tom Chi.
- Tom Chi is passionate about teaching the Prototype Thinking techniques he and his teams used to build Google Glass, Self-Driving Cars, Microsoft Outlook, and Yahoo Answers. Over the past 5 years, Tom has focused on teaching these techniques around the world in short workshops and seen it deeply transform individuals and teams. The ones that make it part of their practice have sped up key parts of their business by 10x or more. After teaching hundreds of entrepreneurs, corporate executives, and teams, he is working to make this material more widely available, affordable, and intensive. If you’re working toward building a more prosperous and connected world, and you’d be interested in unlocking radically new ways to solve your toughest problems in life in business, this is the workshop to take.
3:45 – 5:15pm Social Enterprise Around the World. Moderated by Abby Robinson of Atlas Corps.
- What does Social Enterprise look like in different countries. Featuring:
*** Pascal Masuba, Atlas Corps – Sierra Leone
*** Anesu Masube, Atlast Corps – Zimbabwe
*** Oluwole Odetayo, Wennovation Hub – Nigeria
*** Ben Younkman, Village Capital – Latin America
5:15 – 5:30pm Closing Remarks and Finalist Announcements for the Chuck Dell Prizes
- 1st: Bébé Burkinabè (f.k.a. known as Drink to Life) creates and distributes vitamin fortified liquid and powder drinks to support healthy pregnancies and child development in West Africa.
- 2nd: Kulisha produces a low-cost, high-quality sustainable fish feed made from insects for use on aquaculture farms in Kenya.
- 3rd: Manta Biofuel isa Baltimore based biotechnology firm that has developed a three step method for producing renewable crude oil from algae: Grow, Harvest and Convert.
5:30pm – 8:30pm Evening Reception at the Impact Hub DC