Sparkseed and Moneythink Beating Out the Competition
Reposted from Ted Gonder’s blog.
Moneythink, is one of twelve finalists in the Sparkseed Social Innovation Competition. Sparkseed is an awesome organization that funds college social entrepreneurs. We at Moneythink are crossing our fingers that we’ll be selected as one of a few winners and get to experience the incubation and prizes awarded to Sparkseed winners.
Notably, Sparkseed is also a winner of a similar-type competition, hosted by the Financial Times. Here’s the press release:
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Financial Times Award Signals Shift in Social Change
Small Nonprofit Wins with Big Vision
NEW YORK, NY (March 25, 2010) – Last night, the Financial Times Social Innovation Awards confirmed the rise of a new force: student innovation. The Social Innovation Awards present a forum for organizations to highlight their latest methods for addressing social needs and promoting better business. Though some of the largest and most well-known corporations were among those competing for recognition, a small non-profit, Sparkseed, went home with the prestigious Best Social Investment Strategy award.
Sparkseed uses a unique approach to help young risk-takers apply business principles to address the world’s toughest problems. Founder Mike Del Ponte guides Sparkseed in identifying, incubating, and investing in the next generation of social entrepreneurs.
As the recent success of Facebook demonstrates, college students can build revolutionary organizations with global impact. Sparkseed works to harness such capability to develop a new class of young entrepreneurs interested in social return on investment.
As Del Ponte explains, “Students have the creativity, passion, and drive to address issues like climate change, poverty, and global health through novel ventures. But they often lack the means to turn outside -the-box thinking into ideas that yield social dividends. Arming this untapped brain trust with the right resources will have untold benefits for society.”
Sparkseed has supported 31 ventures since 2007 and will select ten more on 1 April. By leveraging an impressive network of partners, Sparkseed provides mentoring, skills training, executive coaching, and consulting to each of its student-led ventures. And by investing capital directly in the student ventures, Sparkseed provides validation and financial resources to best student ideas in hopes of yielding social returns and financial sustainability.
To learn more about Sparkseed and the ventures it supports, please visit www.sparkseed.org.
To contact Mike Del Ponte for information about the organization or for broader commentary on social innovation, please e-mail mike@sparkseed.org. Biography and high-resolution photos available upon request.
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Be on the lookout for Moneythink’s upcoming article in the Chicago Tribune!