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2012 Conference at a Glance

The 2012 Social Enterprise Conference convened more than 680 professionals, students, alumni, and faculty members on October 5.

 

 

 

 

The conference’s theme centered around Aligning Strategy to Maximize Impact, which focused on the importance of creating social change at all stages of business and across all types of sectors.

Among the day’s highlights were three keynote addresses, which focused on: the role of entrepreneurs in international development and sustainable global impact; the need for all sectors, including nonprofit, for-profit and governmental entities to respond to societal problems; and the implementation of corporate social responsibility as a core strategy for large, multinational corporations.

The speakers included:

FERNANDO FABRE, President, Endeavor Global, a nonprofit that works to transform emerging countries by supporting “High Impact” entrepreneurs, was joined by moderator CHRIS HAYES, host of Up with Chris Hayes, MSNBC, to discuss how Endeavor’s support for entrepreneurs has helped stimulate economic growth in developing countries. (Watch here)

DR. PAUL FARMER, Founding Director, Partners In Health, and one of the world’s global health leaders, gave an inspiring mid-day keynote. Dr. Farmer discussed his work in Haiti and other developing countries and addressed the need for public/private partnerships, as well as governmental involvement, to create lasting impact. (Watch here)

JOE SIBILIA, CEO, CSRwire.com, moderated the closing plenary, which included CSR executives JENNIFER CROZIER, IBM; RICHARD HALL, Intel Corporation; and CAROLINE ROAN, Pfizer. The discussion focused on how these companies have integrated corporate social responsibility and sustainability as a core component of their corporate strategies. (Watch here)

The Social Venture Pitch session, the most well attended session of the day, featured emerging for-profit social entrepreneurs who pitched their enterprise to a panel of impact investors and advisors — all in eight minutes. The entrepreneurs were considered for a potential investment of $250,000 – 500,000 by Jalia Ventures / Serious Change, LP. The session highlighted the common interaction between investor and entrepreneur, the questions and thoughts that come up when impact investors encounter an entrepreneur who wants to generate both financial and social returns, and what key elements entrepreneurs should convey in their elevator pitch.

The breakout sessions focused on four core areas — scale and metrics, financing solutions, innovation and mobilization, and corporate strategy refined — and covered topics across sector and areas of expertise including education, impact investing, philanthropy, media, emerging markets, community development, and more. See videos from the conference sessions.

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