Social Edge, a global online community for social entrepreneurs launched by our friends at the Skoll Foundation, is holding their seventh annual Global Social Benefit Incubator (GSBI) contest for leaders of social benefit ventures in need of capacity building, business plan consultation and peer mentoring. What can you win? Twenty organizations with sustainable and scalable approaches to addressing some of the world's urgent human needs will be selected for participation in a 4-month online preparation course and an intensive two-week in-residence program at Santa Clara University. The training is worth $25,000 and participants can expect ongoing mentoring and collaboration.
The application process involves three business planning exercises-- defining their value proposition, target market and social business model. By the nature of the application process, each participant, regardless of whether they are selected for the scholarship, will benefit from going through the planning exercises and receiving the mentoring and feedback provided by faculty and Social Edge members. Hardika Shah, a GSBI mentor describes the online application process as being nearly as valuable as winning the contest itself. Specifically she notes "the online application forces organizations to step back and assess the current market and competitive landscape and reconcile their original hypothesis, vocalize their value proposition and business model in the current market climate."
Social Edge hopes that the exercises and collaboration will benefit the entire social venture community, accelerating knowledge sharing and understanding of foundational principals behind scaling and sustainability. Check out last year's GSBI class for some interesting social ventures.
The first step in the application process is due this Friday, January 16. For more information, or to apply, go to Social Edge.
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