The Center for Transformative Action is hosting the first annual “Finger Lakes Social Entrepreneurship Institute” to be held at Cornell University and downtown Ithaca from Thursday, September 13 to Saturday, September 15, 2012.

Social entrepreneurs are creating thriving social ventures by redefining what for-profit and non-profit means. They are bridging social and ideological differences because they know that listening for shared values, common objectives, and opportunities for mutual benefit helps create local economies that are just, sustainable, and work for everyone.

The Institute will bring together new and experienced social entrepreneurs to share best practices and co-create new possibilities. Using the book "The Business Model Generation" as a guide, participants will come together from all over New York State to learn how to reinvent their mission-driven enterprises to have greater social impact while meeting the financial, environmental and social challenges of today.

The Institute will offer dozens of workshops and panels, including: how to blend for-profit and non-profit purposes; developing networks for local investing; taking a holistic approach to grant writing; identifying mentors and key partners; evaluating and communicating impact; and co-creating inclusive community leadership, all while learning how to use equity as the driver for growth.

Our goals are:

• To provide practical skills to new and experienced social entrepreneurs to create thriving nonprofit and for-profit social ventures.
• To develop a cadre of regional social entrepreneurs with the tools to create diverse, financially sound, and ecologically sustainable ventures that prioritize equity.
• To empower people of color, low-income individuals, and young people to become successful social entrepreneurs.
• To create a robust, supportive regional network of nonprofit and for-profit social entrepreneurs who are contributing to local, sustainable, and just economies that have equity as the driver for growth.

The fee for the entire three-day institute is $275, and includes a local foods breakfast and lunch on Friday and Saturday, plus snacks and drinks throughout the weekend. Some scholarships are available. Online registration closes August 24. 

The Institute opens Thursday September 13 at 3:00 pm, with an opening plenary at 7:00 pm that is free and open to the public, “The Promise of Social Entrepreneurship: Creating a Local Economy that Works for Everyone.” This plenary will feature Svante Myrick, Ithaca Mayor, on social entrepreneurship; Kirby Edmonds, Training for Change Associates and Dorothy Cotton Institute fellow, on the Building Bridges Initiative; Anke Wessels, CTA Director, on transformative action; and Jan Rhodes Norman, Local First Ithaca and Ithaca BALLE, on building local economies. This plenary will be held in the Hollis E. Cornell Auditorium in Goldwin Smith Hall.

On Friday, participants will hear from Desiree Adaway (http://desireeadaway.com/), a dynamic speaker and experienced social entrepreneur who is the principal and founder of the Adaway Group, based in Asheville, North Carolina. She will speak at our breakfast plenary. Ms. Adaway is a strong, strategic business professional with the breadth and depth of having worked with organizations of all sizes in various phases of transition. She brings insight and expertise to her clients from having served in senior-level roles in the nonprofit and grants management sectors for such renowned organizations as Habitat for Humanity International, where she was the Senior Director of Volunteer Mobilization, and Rotary International, where she was the director of their largest Humanitarian Grants program. Her industry expertise includes fundraising, grants management, environmental, social justice, and faith-based initiatives. She will also assist in our small working group sessions, and will no doubt be a huge asset to the institute.  

Full details will be updated regularly on our website:

http://centerfortransformativeaction.org/SE-Institute.html. 

Follow us on twitter for updates on the Institute as well as special announcements: @TransformAction.

For more information or to request a scholarship, please contact CTA Executive Director Anke Wessels, 607-255-5027, or emailakw7@cornell.edu. 

Sponsors: the Center for Community Engaged Learning and Research; Entrepreneurship@Cornell; the Iscol Family Program for Leadership Development in Public Service; and the Park Foundation.

Supporters: Alternatives Federal Credit Union; Buffalo Street Books; Cayuga LION; Challenge Industries; Cornell Design for America; Cornell PopShop; ELab; Finger Lakes Reuse; Grants Champion; Groundswell Center for Local Food and Farming; Local First Ithaca; Miller Mayer; Natural Investments; New Roots Charter School; Referral Institute;Singlebrook Technology; the Society for Social Entrepreneurship and Collaborative Action; Strebel Planning Group; Sustainable Tompkins; TFC Associates; Think Topography.