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January 15, 2010: Join Social Entrepreneur Corps – Get Academic Credits!
The Miami University (Ohio) Center for Social Entrepreneurship, part of the Farmer School of Business, is in the process of creating a way for students to earn academic credit associated with participation in Social Entrepreneur Corps four and eight week programs in Guatemala, Ecuador and Nicaragua.  Presently, up to six (6) credit hours are being planned.  This option is contemplated to be open to both Miami University students and those students from other universities (assuming institutional credit transfer requirements are met). To earn academic credit, students would participate in online instruction (readings, videos, blogs, discussion boards) prior to starting their Social Entrepreneur Corps program. After returning to the US, students would then be responsible for completing a research paper related to the topics of social entrepreneurship, informed by their academic preparation and their time on the ground in Social Entrepreneur Corps.  Further details are forthcoming in the weeks ahead.

January 15, 2010: Join our new Ashoka Fellows Flex Program!
Work with and Learn from the Leading Social Entrepreneurs in the World! Social Entrepreneur Corps has been in conversations with the Ashoka office in Peru and select Ashoka Fellows throughout Latin America about designing a new flexible internship program. We are now ready to launch!

The concept is to provide opportunities for Social Entrepreneur Corps Alumni  and other qualified applicants to intern with other Ashoka Fellows (and possibly Ashoka regional offices)  semi-independently with start dates throughout the year. This as a great opportunity for you  to learn from a variety of the  leading social innovators in the field who are working in different “spaces” and environments. This can be a great way to further improve your language capabilities and gain broader expertise and experience while making an impact.  We believe this is a real “win win” and fortunately so do a growing number of Ashoka Fellows.

These programs will be on a “first come first serve” basis so if you are interested I would encourage you to contact us as soon as you are ready. The first two Ashoka Fellows that we are launching with are Albina Ruiz of www.ciudadsaludable.org  (http://www.ashoka.org/fellow/3718)  in Peru and Gustavo Gennuso of www.fundaciongentenueva.org.ar  (http://www.ashoka.org/node/3187)  in Argentina. There will certainly be more to come!

Please visit our Intern with Ashoka Fellows page for more information about this exciting new initiative.

January 15, 2010: Honored to be Selected as Ashoka Globalizers!
With our MicroConsignment Model and Social Entrepreneur Corps as the basis, we were recently very honored to be selected one of the inaugural 25 practitioners to participate in the new Ashoka Globalizer (www.ashokaglobalizer.org) program. “After defining and developing the practice of social entrepreneurship around the world, Ashoka now aims to leverage its global reach, selection process and network of social and business entrepreneurs to link initiatives ready for global scale to the strategic, intellectual and financial support to go global.”This new program seeks to identify Ashoka Fellows within the network of 2,500 world-wide with the greatest potential for catalyzing global systems change. Amongst other aspects, these Fellows “will be aggressively marketed throughout the Ashoka network to ensure that their compelling social innovations are recognized by the broadest possible global audience”. We will all be meeting in Vienna in April.

Learn more by clicking here...

December 10, 2009: Imagine Cup
The world’s premier student technology competition, Imagine Cup is one way Microsoft is encouraging young people to apply their imagination, their passion, and their creativity to bring to life technology innovations that can make a difference in the world – today. Now in its eighth year, the Imagine Cup has grown to be a global event. In 2009, more than 300,000 students from 142 countries entered the Imagine Cup competition.

This year’s theme is "Imagine a world where technology helps solve the toughest problems."

The Imagine Cup is focused on finding solutions to real-world issues. The competition encourages the world's most talented software designers, programmers, game developers, and digital media enthusiasts to tackle, head on, issues related to: hunger relief, poverty, education, disease control, healthcare, the environment, and other crucial problems facing our world today.

Register by clicking here...

December 9, 2009: Sparkseed.org
Sparkseed.org is a nonprofit organization that exists to develop the next generation of social entrepreneurs and increase their impact on society. Each year Sparkseed selects up to 10 student-led social ventures and provides them with six months of high-impact support from Sparkseed.

Sparkseed Innovators receive:

* Seed money - up to $11,000
* Web tools - web site, graphic design, phone lines, & more; worth $10,000
* Mentoring & consulting to generate income, attract media attention, and scale ventures
* Access to the Sparkseed network

Also...

* Applicants must be college students, but not graduating seniors.
* You can apply individually or with a partner.
* This is not simply a grant; this is a social innovator development program. While seed funding is provided to selected social innovators, you should not apply for this reason. The training, tools, and connections that we offer are the real value-adds.

Check it out at www.sparkseed.org.

December 9, 2009: INVENNOVATIONS LAUNCH - Sign up for our newsletter and spread the word!

Invennovations.com, our new free development resource, is up and running - check it out at www.invennovations.com.

Get more involved by:
SIGNING UP - for the Invennovations monthly newsletter at http://eepurl.com/eKeN.
SPREADING THE WORD -Tell your friends! Send an email to campus groups!

Have questions/feedback on the site? Send us an email at info@invennovations.com.

November 20, 2009: Deshpande Sandbox Fellowship for 2010-2011
Interested in making a tangible difference in today's world? Are you ready to be part of a new, innovative approach to international development? Do you want to use your knowledge and experience to have a large-scale impact in another part of the world?

The Deshpande Foundation's Global Exchange Program puts into practice their vision for global exchange specific to development and innovation. Fellows work to address challenges at NGOs working in the fields of Agriculture, Livelihood, Education and Health.

The fellowship is a year-long program for dynamic professionals or post-graduate school candidates who have experience working in on-the-ground development and/or social entrepreneurship and are seeking an extended experience working on these issues. Fellows are matched according to the skills and project needs defined by each specific NGO in order to ensure a mutually beneficial experience.

Visit http://deshpandefoundation.org/sandbox-fellowship.html for more information and to apply now - the deadline in January 4th, 2010!

October 2009


We are excited to announce that Social Entrepreneur Corps is officially expanding into Nicaragua for Summer 2010! We will be replicating our highly-successful programs developed in Guatemala and Ecuador in order to serve vulnerable populations and innovative development organizations and initiatives in five regions of Nicaragua. Find out more information about Nicaragua by clicking here...Apply now if you are interested.

October 2009


On October 1st, together with Global Citizen Year (www.globalcitizenyear.org), Social Entrepreneur Corps launched its latest program, Emprendedores Juveniles, geared towards recent high school graduates. Read more….

Emprendedores Juveniles offers gap year students a seven month long internship focused on youth helping youth.  Participants engage as apprentices who, as a consequence of focusing on achieving goals that help others, will gain unique knowledge, indispensble skills and a more sophisticated global perspective. They will support CESolutions and Soluciones Comunitarias initiatives as well as partner with local schools and organizations to create programs and projects for rural youth. Click here to learn more about this new GAP Year Program.

October 2009


In July, President and Co-Founder Greg Van Kirk was asked to write an article/case about the development of the MicroConsignment Model for INNOVATIONS Journal. INNOVATIONS is a quarterly journal about entrepreneurial solutions to global challenges. It is published by MIT Press, and jointly hosted at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, George Mason University's School of Public Policy, and MIT's Legatum Center for Development and Entrepreneurship.  Read more…

 Authors published in INNOVATIONS to date include Larry Brilliant, Rita Colwell, Bill Drayton, Peter Eigen, Frank Fukuyama, Mary Robinson, Klaus Schwab, and Tim Wirth. The full text of selected articles from INNOVATIONS are available for free download at http://www.mitpressjournals.org/innovations/

October 2009


During the 2009/2010, Social Entrepreneur Corprs will be partnering with Better World Books (betterworldbooks.com) to hold book drives on various university campuses around the country. The drives will be led by Social Entreprenuer Corps Fellows (former participants) to raise funds for our rural education project at the La Pista Centro Explorativo in Nebaj, Guatemala.  If you are interested in participating in this project at your school, please send an email to izzy.peer@socialentrepreneurcorps.com.