Join Us
- If you are interested in working with a social enterprise this summer, either by joining a group call (where your contact information is not shared unless you decide to do so) or as a direct mentor, please let us know which companies would be of interest via this form.
- If you’ve never worked with us before, please schedule a 30 minute conversation with our Executive Director, Ian Fisk, via calendly.com/ian-fisk.
Who We Are
Most of our mentors have created, managed, invested in, or studied multiple-bottom-line companies. Some are subject matter experts. Most are entrepreneurs themselves. You can see a sample of mentors who have worked with us recently here.
What We Do
Our current partnership with Unlock Capital works as follows:
Unlock Capital identifies the companies to support. All of the companies must have a social and or economic aspect as part of how they do business — usually including creating jobs in underserved communities.
The MCN then host a group call with potential mentors and the entrepreneur so they can choose each other on the basis of finding value in what they had to say to each other. Every aspect of our program is designed to create mentoring relationships that are interesting, engaging and valuable for everyone involved.
Once the potential mentor has been given a chance to get to know the entrepreneur, they can then opt-in for either ongoing mentorship or a one time subject matter expert call.
If the mentor offers more support, the entrepreneur is provided with their name, email, and public bio (LinkedIn, or whatever is provided.)
From time to time, we run programs without a sponsor. Those programs as described here..
Why We Do It
Our mentors have a front row-seat with world-changing social entrepreneurs, helping them to launch and scale their ideas. Our alumni have gone on to collectively earn or raise more than 2 Billion USD. They are addressing some of the hardest challenges in the world, such as:
- Increasing the amount of healthy food and healthy farmers in our world, like Ignitia, & Elevated Honey,
- Bringing healthy food and drink to your table, like Kuli Kuli, Back to the Roots, Runa, & The Jackfruit Company.
- Providing access to financial services, like Tala, First Access, & Kopo Kopo.
- Improving the quality of, and access to, health care, like Access Afya, PACE MD, Sproxil, Maternova, & AYZH.
- Creating safer living and working conditions for women, like Wello Water & Pinkcollar.
- Generating affordable, clean, and renewable energy, like Husk Power Systems, ARED, & Gham Power.
- Cleaning the water, air, and/or environment for those who need it most, like Folia Materials, Chakr Innovation, and Sanivation.
- Creating a path out of poverty for employees, like Wash Cycle Laundry,
- Training and educating people to make their way in the world, like GogyUp
- Designing sustainable products, like WholeForest, & Yellow Leaf Hammocks.
Connections to potential mentees where you choose each other. All you commit to is reading and reviewing 2 or 3 business plans during the review period. If *you* decide you’d like to continue to engage with the company, you make that offer. If they decide that your advice was valuable to them, they will reach out to you. You can remain anonymous to the entrepreneurs if you wish.
Ongoing opportunities to connect with leaders who are addressing the same challenges that you are. Not only do you connect to the entrepreneurs, but there are numerous opportunities to connect with other members of our global mentor community as well.
Related Links
- Overview for Reviewers and Mentors (Detailed)
- Best Practices for Mentors and Mentees
- Partial List of Recent Mentors