2015 Annual Gathering

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The Agenda listed below is from the 2015 Annual Gathering, which was held at the United Nations in New York City.

——————————————–Thursday, July 9, 2015———————————————-

9:30 AM : Welcome from the United Nations and the Mentor Capital Network
Conference Room 1. Featuring:

10:00 AM : MCN Research on Mentor/Entrepreneur Match
Conference Room 1. Led by Dr. Matt Lee of INSEAD Business School in Singapore
(Via video)

10:15 AM : William James Sustainable Business Plan Competition
Finalist Presentations (Part 1 of 2)

Conference Room 1

Finalist presentations for the William James Sustainable Business Plan Competition. Companies will present to a panel of judges: Wayne Curtis (MCN Board, Curtis Consulting), Dawn Edwards(Pomegranate Consulting), Nicole Van Der Tuin (First Access), and Ian Fisk (MCN). The audience can participate in the Q&A portion. Thursday’s presentations will be from:

  • David Evitt of Estufa Doña Dora (clean, efficient cookstoves in Guatemala)
  • Charles Gillig of RemitRight (a cost comparison website for international money transfers, providing services to El Salvador, Mexico, India, Vietnam, and the Philippines.)

11:05 AM : Company Updates

Conference Room 1

MCN Entrepreneurs provide updates on their work around the world. Featuring:

  • Seisei Tatebe-Goddu – Covalent

11:15 AM : Panel “Where New Technology Meets Old Culture”

Conference Room 1

A panel discussion among entrepreneurs who are providing toilets, clean water, power, and other technologies to customers who have not previously had easy access to them and have built up cultures around what was available to them. Panelists:

12:00 PM : Lunch

The UN Cafeteria

1:00 PM : Keynote from Paul Saginaw – “Creating Community with Business”

Conference Room 1

Paul Saginaw co-founded Zingerman’s Delicatessen, opening the doors on March 15, 1982. All he wanted at that time was a great corned beef sandwich and an organization with soul. Zingerman’s started as 1,300 square feet of combined restaurant and specialty food retail space, run solely by Paul, his co-founder, and two employees. The Zingerman’s Community of Businesses now has 17 partners, employs over 500 people, and generates over $40 million in annual sales from Zingerman’s Delicatessen, Catering, Mail Order, Bakehouse, Training, Coffee, Roadhouse, Creamery and Candy Manufactory businesses. Mr. Saginaw will talk about how creating an ecosystem of companies has been an effective business incubator.

1:45 PM : Panel: “Supporting Entrepreneurs with More than Money”

Conference Room 1

Panel discussion among representatives of incubators, accelerators, and entrepreneur support organizations about the best ways to provide (non-financial) support to social entrepreneurs. Panelists:

3:00 PM : “Cleantech Green Grab – A Look Behind the Curtain of a Real Investment Pitch”

Conference Room 1

Professional Investors give the audience a “look behind the curtain” of a real investment pitch. The investors will be led by MCN Board Chair Stefan Friedman.

Three companies will be featured:

  • Kevin Adair pitches Fuego Del Sol Haiti, which designs, manufactures and distributes the improved cookstoves and related technologies that connect ecological biomass cooking with Haitian culture and thus creates long-term living-wage jobs.
  • Jason Force pitches Iron Goat, which uses an automated in-field manufacturing technique to produce pelleted products from hay and other grassy crops.
  • Cynthia Koenig pitches Wello, which designs and delivers affordable innovations that save time and increase opportunities for people who lack access to water.

3:00 PM : Getting the Most Out of Your Mentor!

CR-A – 50 Minutes.
Led by Christine Mendonça, founder of Shore to Shore Advisory.

Featuring Sophie Eckrich, CEO and Co-founder of Teysha.

3:00 PM : Achieving Growth Valuations for Social Enterprises
PDR-4 – 50 Minutes.

Led by Ravi Mantha.

3:30 PM : Conveners.org Meeting

CR-B – 85 Minutes.
A gathering of individuals who manage or help to manage convenings that support social enterprise and social entrepreneurs. Primarily for members of the Conveners.org organization, but other conveners are welcome to observe.

Hosted by Avary Kent of Conveners.org.

4:00 PM : BRANDIDOTE: High-Impact Branding

CR-A – 50 Minutes

Explore the 7 dimensions of a solid brand system that will help articulate your stories to the folks who matter in a way that resonates with them, engages them, and inspires them to action. Led by Scott Tillitt, founder of Antidote Collective, Beahive, and Re>Think Local.

4:00 PM : Leveraging IT for Success: Plan, Build and Maintain

PDR-4 – 50 Minutes.
Led by Johan Hammerstrom. President of Community IT Innovators.

5:00 PM : Company Updates

CR-1

MCN Entrepreneurs will provide updates on their work around the world. Featuring:

5:20 PM : Keynote from Sasha Dichter, “Innovation & Impact”

CR-1 – 20 Minutes.
Sasha Dichter, Chief Innovation Officer, Acumen

6:15 PM : Evening Gathering

Thanks to the generosity of Stefan Friedman, the MCN has reserved a private room at The Perfect Pint: Midtown East, which is a 10 minute walk from the United Nations – 203 East 45th Street New York, NY 10017.

——————————————–Friday, July 10, 2015———————————————-

9:30 AM : Company Updates

CR-1 – 20 Minutes

MCN Entrepreneurs will provide updates on their work around the world.

  • Lauren Thomas – Mozambikes (Remote Presentation from Mozambique)
  • Sahed Mahmud – Eccolizer

10:00 AM : William James Foundation Sustainable Business Plan Competition
Finalist Presentations (Part 2 of 2)

CR-1 – 50 Minutes

Finalist presentations for the William James Sustainable Business Plan
Competition. Companies will present to a panel of judges: Wayne Curtis (MCN Board, Curtis Consulting), Dawn Edwards (Pomegranate Consulting), Nicole Van Der Tuin (First Access), and Ian Fisk (MCN). The audience can participate in the Q&A portion. Friday’s presentations will include:

  • Emily Woods of Sanivation which provides household sanitation and affordable fuel in Kenya.
  • Thomas Seoh of Eqalix which is developing the first plant-based skin substitute wound dressing to replace currently marketed products that are made from sources (cadavers, embryonic materials, cows, pigs) that are culturally sensitive in much of the world.

11:00 AM : Panel “Financial Innovation for Social Benefit”

CR-1 – 50 Minutes

Panelists coordinated by Wall Street Without Walls will present a variety of recent innovations in financial engineering from around the world that are designed for social and environmental benefit. Featuring:

12:00 PM : Lunch 

The UN Cafeteria

1:00 PM : Keynote from Tyler Gage – “Where Mission Drives Margin”

CR-1 – 40 Minutes

Tyler Gage is the Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Runa, a social enterprise that makes energizing beverages with guayusa (“gwhy-you-sa”), an Amazonian “super leaf” that has as much caffeine as coffee and double the antioxidants of green tea. Runa now supports over 3,000 farming families in Ecuador that grow guayusa organically, and Runa products are sold in over 8,000 stores across the US and Canada. Tyler turned down a Fulbright grant so that he could co-found Runa, for which he was named a Forbes “30 Under 30 Entrepreneur” in January 2013 and the Citizen Leader of the Year Award in January 2014 by the Specialty Food Association. For his work with Runa, Tyler has been featured in National Geographic, Men’s Fitness, and Richard Branson’s book “Screw Business as Usual.”

1:45 PM : Company Updates

CR-1 – 60 Minutes

MCN Entrepreneurs and Partners will provide updates on their work around the world.

3:00 PM : BEST Practices for Scaling Impact
CR-1 – 45 Minutes.
Presented by Tami Kesselman, Chief Solutions Officer at SolveForGood.

3:00 PM : Cross-Sector Collaborations

CR-A – 50 Minutes.
Led by: Carly Leinheiser, Associate Attorney at Perlman & Perlman, LLP

3:00 PM : Martyrdom in Social Change: How to Avoid Burnout and Build a Support System

PDR-4 – 50 Minutes.
Led by Kimberley Jutze, Chief Change Architect at Shifting Patterns Consulting and Sarah Brooks, Professional Coach.

3:00 PM : Target Markets and Buyer Personas
CR-E – 50 Minutes.

Led by Sunita Kumar, founder of Nourish Nutrition, Inc.

3:45 PM : Company Updates

CR-1

MCN Entrepreneurs will provide updates on their work around the world. Featuring:

  • Mitra Ardron – Lumeter Networks (Remote Presentation)

4:00 : How to Use “Knowledge of Change”
CR-1 – 50 Minutes.
Presented by Jo Singel, founder of WORLD+.

4:00 PM : Investor Readiness
CR-A – 50 Minutes.

Led by Christine Mendonça, founder of Shore to Shore Advisory.

4:00 PM : Creating a Vibrant, Engaged Workplace Culture
CR-E – 50 Minutes.
Led by Neal Henderson, founder and president of FrontRow Performance Coaching.

4:00 PM : Liability Insurance for Startups
PDR-4 – 25 Minute.

Led by Samit Shah and Alexandra Wrobel of Zurich Insurance.

5:00 PM : Keynote from Hazami Barmada, Office of the UN Youth Envoy 

CR-1 – 20 Minutes

5:20 Announcement of Chuck Dell Prizes in the William James Sustainable Business Plan Competition and Next Steps for the Green Grab event
CR-1 – 20 Minutes. Featuring: