Santa Clara University’s Seventh Annual Global Social Benefit Incubator Competition Opens on Social Edge January 6, 2009.

[January 2, 2009, Palo Alto, CA] What does Binti Africa Foundation, a social venture that works to ensure that every adolescent girl in sub-Saharan Africa has access to sanitary pads, have in common with Naandi Foundation’s Community-based Safe Drinking Water Program in India?  Does an organization like Meds & Food for Kids (MFK), which prevents and treats malnutrition in Haiti, have anything to do with CraftNetwork, an e-commerce platform that enables customers to browse the unique stories and rich cultures behind Indonesian handcrafted products?

Yes, these social ventures do have something powerful in common.  All of the founders of these organizations came together in Silicon Valley and helped each other figure out how to scale their respective social ventures through a unique program, the Global Social Benefit Incubator run by Santa Clara University’s Center for Science, Technology and Society.  The Global Social Benefit Incubator (GSBI™) is a capacity building program for leaders of social benefit enterprises. The rewards of this motivating two week in-residence program for social entrepreneurs last well beyond the two weeks because of the network of support woven from their experience with fellow attendees and the ongoing support of Silicon Valley veteran start-up mentors.

Who will join Binti, Naandi, and other GSBI alumni this year?  A whole new crop of social entrepreneurs have the chance to enter the Global Social Benefit Incubator application process, which starts in January on Social Edge, the online community for social entrepreneurs and an initiative of the Skoll Foundation. Information on the online application for Santa Clara University’s seventh annual is available now at www.socialedge.org. Social benefit entrepreneurs from around the world can begin their online application on January 6th. Up to 20 candidates, who best demonstrate a sustainable and scalable approach to addressing urgent human needs throughout the world, will each receive a full scholarship valued at US$25,000.

“Through the access to world-class resources, participating social benefit entrepreneurs will be able to accelerate their innovations. This is a transformational program for people with the power and vision to change the world,” says Jim Koch, Professor of Management at Santa Clara University, Co-Founder and Director of the Global Social Benefit Incubator (GSBI). “The incubator brings together grass roots innovators and Silicon Valley executive mentors with university faculty to support the scaling up of innovative solutions that serve the common good all over the world.”

In the past, participants have come from Costa Rica, India, Namibia, Philippines, Rwanda, Argentina, Cambodia, Paraguay, Ecuador, Bangladesh, Jordan, Laos, Nepal, Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, Canada, Haiti, Indonesia, Vanuatu, and the United States. The cross-cultural community and personalized mentorship help social entrepreneurs accelerate progress. Alumni like Matt Flannery, GSBI 2006 participant and Founder of Kiva, the online global microlending venture, still benefits from the experience in this collaborative environment: "Through the GSBI I made trusted connections with people across the world. I now work with one of the GSBI participants I met there and have partnered with another."

The process of applying to the GSBI itself provides great value to social entrepreneurs. Applicants go through a series of three exercises designed to help them write and revise key sections of their business plans based on feedback from mentors at Santa Clara University and others in the Social Edge community. The rigorous application is rewarding, with many applicants commenting that they learned a tremendous amount by going through the process. “Applicants receive advice on their business proposition, their strategy and their application. This interaction helps them convey their story in a more compelling way and helps them clarify their impact and strategy for scaling their ventures. All of which will in turn help them secure future funding and support,” says Victor d'Allant, Executive Director of Social Edge.

Starting immediately, social entrepreneurs around the world should visit http://www.socialedge.org/features/gsbi to apply online. There is no application fee. Applicants can prepare their applications now and post them online during January and February 2009.

Out of those who complete the three-part online application process, up to 20 candidates will be selected to attend the Global Social Benefit Incubator August 16 - 29, 2009 in California on a full scholarship. The scholarship covers tuition, room, and board for the two-week intensive immersion program focused on venture planning, beneficiary analysis, business models, metrics and successful scaling strategies. Selected candidates are responsible for their travel expenses (airfare, ground transportation, passport, visa). The winners will be announced no later than April 3, 2009.

More information can be found at:
Social Edge, A Program of the Skoll Foundation http://www.socialedge.org/features/gsbi
Global Social Benefit Incubator at Santa Clara University http://www.scu.edu/sts/gsbi/

Contact:     Victor d’Allant, Social Edge
650.331.1036
vdallant@skollfoundation.org

Sherrill Dale, GSBI
408.551.6027
gsbi2009@scu.edu


About Social Edge
Headquartered in California's Silicon Valley, Social Edge, www.socialedge.org, is the global online community where social entrepreneurs and other practitioners of the social benefit sector connect to network, learn, inspire and share resources. It provides expert content for guidance, videos and podcasts for inspiration, and discussions and other resources written by those in the field of social entrepreneurship. Features include blogs by social entrepreneurs sharing how they are building their social ventures and discussions on vital topics led by experts in social entrepreneurship. Social Edge is a program of the Skoll Foundation, www.skollfoundation.org, which was founded in 1999 by eBay's first president, Jeff Skoll, to advance systemic change to benefit communities around the world by investing in, connecting and celebrating social entrepreneurs.

About the Global Social Benefit Incubator
The Global Social Benefit Incubator (GSBI™), www.scu.edu/sts/gsbi/, combines 4 months of on-line preparation with an intensive two-week residential program at Santa Clara University that enables successful social benefit entrepreneurs, who have demonstrated their commitment to applying technology to address urgent human needs throughout the world, to scale their endeavors and achieve sustainability. The GSBI combines classroom instruction, case studies, and best practices with carefully matched mentoring on the specific challenges of each participating organization. Presented by the University’s Center for Science, Technology, and Society and the Leavey School of Business Administration, the GSBI offers the unique context of a Jesuit university dedicated to social justice combined with leading executive resources of Silicon Valley.