Kiva is now recruiting for its fall class of Fellows. The Kiva Fellows Program offers individuals a rare opportunity to travel abroad and witness firsthand the impact and realities of microfinance, by working directly with a host microfinance institution (MFI). The Kiva Fellow is an unpaid, volunteer based position designed to increase Kiva's impact and to offer participants a unique insider experience. Past participants have found the fellowship to be a great first step in a career in microfinance or international development.

Please visit our website for application deadlines:
http://www.kiva.org/about/fellows-program.

Successful Kiva Fellows tend to share certain skills and characteristics:
* Overseas experience (preferably in developing countries)
* High degree of flexibility, self-motivation and problem solving
* Excellent writing skills
* Enthusiasm for Kiva!
* Familiarity and comfort with various web applications
* Dedication to working in the field with a microfinance institution
* Ability and commitment to fundraise for their trip
* Sincere interest in microfinance
* Longer stays (4 months +) are preferred

Past Kiva Fellows with the following skills have found great success in the program:
* Fluency or advanced communication ability in French, Spanish, Russian, or other language in a country where Kiva has a presence
* Background in economics/finance/consulting will greatly enhance your ability to provide support to the host MFI

Kiva Fellows Program Mission Statement
The Kiva Fellows Program ignites passion in our Fellows to engage in microfinance and empowers them be a voice for Kiva and our field partners. Fellows gain in-field microfinance experience, and an appreciation of the innovative and purposeful grassroots efforts that our network of MFIs implement through their work on Kiva. Kiva motivates our Fellows to seek ways that they can add value to our partnerships and to Kiva. We challenge them to view microfinance both in its successes and struggles from the ground up.

Kiva Fellow Core Responsibilities:
The Kiva Fellow is an integral part of the Kiva Team, acting as Kiva's eyes and ears in the field and helping to extend limited resources to maximum effect. Kiva Fellows fulfill tasks set out in a Work Plan, defined by Kiva along with the host microfinance institution (MFI).

IISC is launching a new skill-building offering: Collaborative Social Change: Designing for Impact in a Networked World which will be offered in September at our learning centers in two locations:

San Francisco, California: September 16-18, 2008
Cambridge, Massachusetts: September 23-25, 2008
 
Story after story has been coming our way here at IISC illustrating the exciting ways in which new collaborative tools and technologies are allowing social change agents “to do old things in new ways and new things that we never dreamed possible.” These tools – along with network-centric ways of thinking and acting – are heightening awareness of the potential and need for collaboration in our complex and changing world. All of this comes as our understanding of the adaptive nature of social and environmental problems deepens, as our world continues to flatten and shrink, and as the very rates of change accelerate. As Clay Shirky writes in Here Comes Everyone, “We are living in the middle of a remarkable increase in our ability to share, to cooperate with one another, and to take collective action…Most of the barriers to group action have collapsed and without those barriers we are free to explore new ways of gathering together and getting things done.”

With this potential comes some anxiety and uncertainty. When everything seems possible, where and how do we begin? What are the right tools to use and in which situations? IISC’s challenge has been to figure out how to combine our deep experience in collaborative methodology, our understanding of network theory, and that growing potential of the power of Web 2.0 into our large-scale, multi-stakeholder consulting practice. In our experience, the tools for collaboration – whether we’re talking about Web 2.0 or person-to-person interactions – aid us in developing truly innovative and broadly embraced strategies. These strategies, when grounded in “the love that does justice” and new thinking, will result in much greater social impact.

And that’s what brings us to the launch of our newest offering: Collaborative Social Change: Designing for Impact in a Networked World. CSC – as we are calling it – offers you the opportunity to explore the implications of working in a world where barriers have collapsed and where people have extraordinary potential to connect in new ways. You will develop the skills to design collaborative multistakeholder processes and build networks for social change including:

•  IISC’s Collaborative Change Framework and its applications.
•  The fundamentals of network theory as applied to networks for social change and the potential power of network mapping.
•  The power of thoughtful design to cultivate and nurture networks for social change and an array of collaborative process design skills including building relationships in support of networks for social change, stakeholder analysis and engagement strategies, planning frameworks and change methods, process mapping, technical tools to support collaboration, and roles to support each phase of the change process.
•  An awareness of the impact of your deepest aspirations, sense of purpose, and sources of power and motivation on your work. 

We’re becoming increasingly and acutely aware that the global challenges we face call for something more than the focused and passionate efforts of individuals or single organizations. We must develop our capacity to collaborate and build networks in order to have the broad-based and sustained impact called for by these challenging times.

This learning experience will be most powerful if you come with a project in mind – one you’re currently working on or one you’re considering launching. And to maximize your capacity to put the learning into action, we encourage you to come with a colleague.

Our nonprofit rate for the three-day workshop is $650; the foundation rate is $1,000. For more information, or to register for the workshop, visit us at www.interactioninstitute.org or call Chris Toppin at 617.234.2750. We hope you will consider joining us.
And as always, we are interested in hearing about your successes, challenges, and thoughts on the front lines of collaboration for social change.

Social Innovation Japan invites social innovators and social entrepreneurs from around the world to attend
Social Entrepreneur Gathering 2008 on Friday 19th and Saturday 20th September, 2008.

Overview of SEG 2008
Friday 19th and Saturday 20th, September
Academy Hills, Roppongi Hills, 6-10-1 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo Japan

The guest speaker and key note speakers are as follows:

19th Sep

• Guest Speaker

• Key Note Speaker

20th Sep

• Key Note Speaker

For more information contact:
Noriko Saito
NPO Social Innovation Japan
E-mail: n.saito@socialinnovationjapan.org

 

SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP:
FROM SPIRITUAL VALUES TO EFFECTIVE ACTION
A weekend workshop at Esalen with
John Marks and Susan Collin Marks
November 28-30, 2008
Esalen Institute
Big Sur, California

To Register, go to www.esalen.org


There is a growing longing in many of us to do something that will have an impact on the state of the world – to be a change agent. We envision infusing our spiritual values into the world’s political, economic, and social life, transforming existing systems to create a kind and dignified world for all. We want to be social entrepreneurs.

This workshop will offer the accumulated experience of Search for Common Ground (Search), which grew out of meetings at Esalen in the early 1980's into the world's largest nongovernmental organization working in conflict transformation.  Search now has over 350 staff working in 18 countries on four continents.  The keys to Search’s growth have been creativity and nimbleness, both reflected in the range of its work, which includes TV and radio soap operas in 11 countries reaching millions of people, a project to stop the use of child soldiers, multi-ethnic kindergartens in the Balkans, a Common Ground News Service in the Middle East, the use of sports and the arts to bridge enmities throughout Africa, Asia and the Middle East, and consensus building among polarized communities in the United States.
 
Search founder and president John Marks and senior vice president Susan Collin Marks have both been awarded prestigious Skoll Fellowships for Social Entrepreneurship.

John and Susan will guide you in focusing and defining your own vision of social entrepreneurship.  They will present the Principles of Social Entrepreneurship and, drawing on their profound experience as social entrepreneurs, offer you individual coaching, as well as drawing on the wisdom of the group.  They will lead you through the many possibilities that arise when you commit to your inner vision of social change. You will leave inspired to follow the call of your heart!

As a part of it’s effort to achieve a sustainable food system in California, Roots of Change is seeking Action Fellows who have an unrivaled commitment to bold ideas and whose leadership is a tremendous force for change.

Eligible Fellows will receive stipends and expenses to participate in intensive and facilitated leadership retreats, and will work with their peers to develop collaborative projects aligned with Roots of Change goals. Fellows will gain knowledge, build skills, identify allies, and will add to the active core of the Leadership Network.

Does that sound like you or someone you know? If so then please consider applying, or forwarding this info to the right person. Fellows must currently live in California.

Please link to http://www.rocfund.org/campaign/announcement-of-action-fellowships-2008.html for more information. Applications must be received by July 20, 2008.

Ethical Markets is presenting three Live, Interactive Webcasts featuring women angel investors who are actively seeking women-owned businesses to invest in.  Kemila Velan will be moderating while the investors will be answering questions from entrepreneurs who are trying to build sustainable and socially responsible companies for the future. It's like an online business school taught by experts.

It's FREE. All participants have to do is sign up for our free monthly newsletter to get an invitation.  Here are the details:


EthicalMarkets.com will host “The Power of Yin,” a new series of online TV shows this Fall featuring women angel investors discussing society’s greatest challenges and answering questions from women entrepreneurs about building the socially responsible companies of the future.
 
The pilot show on May 28, 2008 featured Diane Bowers of the Florida Angel Investment Network and Susan Preston of CalCEF Energy Fund answering questions like:
 
* In socially responsible investing, we have a generational view.  Does this manifest in female ventures?
* How does being a successful businesswoman affect your personal relationships?
* I am a one-person operation and know from the perspective of angel investors this may not be strong positioning for the company. What if human resources is tied into the round of funding I need?
 
Barbara Boxer, who founded Women Angels, LLC in Milwaukee, Miami and Chicago, will lead the series on Sept. 10 at 1pm EST to talk about connecting the dots for women entrepreneurs using her vast social network.
Boxer is one of the original angel investors in TEMPUR-PEDIC and owned an international mail-order business of diagnostic equipment for 25 years.
 
Hazel Henderson, creator of Ethical Markets Media and a contributor to the book, “The Power of Yin,” will be the featured guest on Oct. 8 to discuss virtual technologies and how they can reduce one’s carbon footprint. Henderson has been an investor in solar and wind companies since the 1970s.
 
The final show of the season takes place at the Investor’s Circle Conference in Boston on Nov. 12 during “Education Day” featuring MC Suzanne Biegel and 200 investors and women entrepreneurs.
 
WHAT: The Power of Yin Online TV Show
WHEN:

• WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10 1-2pm: Connecting the Dots with Barbara Boxer, Women Angels LLC
• WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 8 1-2pm: Reducing Your Carbon Footprint with Hazel Henderson, Ethical Markets Media
• WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 12 1-2pm: Education Day at Boston Harbor hotel featuring Suzanne Biegel, Investor's Circle

WHERE: www.EthicalMarkets.com/?cat=16

COST: FREE for attendees. Sponsorship opportunities available to companies who want to target angel investors and women entrepreneurs.
 
To sign up for The Power of Yin newsletter and for more information, please visit
 http://www.ethicalmarkets.com or email winwin@ethicalmarkets.com

Stories of Change: Social Entrepreneurship in Focus Through Documentary

STORIES OF CHANGE Objective:

The Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program and the Skoll Foundation have partnered in a three-year initiative to explore how independent feature-length documentary film can advance knowledge about social entrepreneurship.

The Stories of Change Fund will consider independent feature-length documentary projects in all categories of development, production and post-production. Completed films are note eligible. Film projects must be completed by 2010. Grant awards will be made on a case-by-case basis and may range up to $150,000 US per film.

This is a one-time only RFP.

Grants will be awarded based on the following criteria:

• All films must highlight and /or include a contemporary social entrepreneur, their organization and a focus on the issues in which the entrepreneurs are seeking a systemic and positive change.
• All films must be feature length (over 65 minutes).
• All films must be independently produced, with creative control held by the producing/directing team.
• Films must display directorial vision/aesthetic and have the potential for theatrical release.

Sundance Documentary Film Program is part of the non-profit Sundance Institute. Dedicated to the discovery and support of artists, grants will be awarded to independent documentary film projects selected from the applicants. Sundance Institute reserves the right to solicit proposals. Please note that Sundance Institute seeks no licensing rights in the documentary film projects we support. Details of the contract will be presented to projects that are finalists.

This will be a competitive fund please make sure the project is appropriate to the guidelines. Questions can be directed to dfpskoll@sundance.org.

The submission period is open from June 15, 2008 until the deadline of Friday, August 15, 2008. If you think your film meets the above criteria, please continue the online application below.

Filmmakers will be notified no later than December 1st if their submission has reached the final selection.

Learn more.

Read the FAQ.

Apply now.

The Young Professionals of Chicago is hosting a charity event on Wed., July 23 at the Metropolitan Club in the Sears Tower at 6:00 in the evening. The theme of the event is social philanthropy/entrepreneurship. There will be a panel of 3 speakers, each of whom has an inspiring story to tell about how they began their non-profit organizations.  To sign up: http://ypchicago.org/event_calendar/index.jsp#263. If you are in the Chicago area please consider attending.

The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers) annual conference is the premier Geography research conference in the UK and attracts over 1,000 delegates from all over the world.

The conference will takes place in August (27th-29th) and this year the research team at UnLtd are running a session on the subject of Geographies of Social Enterprise/Entrepreneurship.

For social and cultural geography, social entrepreneurs not only present the opportunity to make contributions to recent work on mobility, migration, well-being and place, and emerging geographies of the UK economy.

Topics may include:
• Geographical patterns of social entrepreneurial activities
• The role of Social Enterprise, Voluntarism and Charities in shaping places
• The concepts of space within the third sector, and how its geometry changes as result of social enterprise
• The merits and demerits of mapping social impact
• The relevance of non-spatial mapping to better understand social entrepreneurial activity.

Register now.

JusticeMakers is an international competition for innovations that end torture, arbitrary detainment, and abuse. The competition will award $5,000 to the eight best proposals for concrete, achievable action.

Announced by International Bridges to Justice (IBJ), this initiative launched on June 26th, the United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture.

Participation is free, and open to anyone with an idea and a familiarity with his or her country's criminal justice system. Don't miss out! Register here. 

Important Dates:
August 14th: Application Window Closes
August 21st: Semi-Finalists Announced
Setptember 8th: Public Rating & Judging Begins
September 24th: Public Rating & Judging Ends
October 12th: Winners Announced

Interested? Apply Here.
Applications are being accepted until August 14.

Not competing?
Join the JusticeMakers community and interact with criminal justice experts from around the globe.

For more information watch the JusticeMakers video, or read the Press Release .

Excerpts from the press release:

"Much of the time, curbing torture is more a question of resources than it is a question of politics and treaties," said IBJ Founder and CEO Karen Tse. "I have seen criminal defenders, police, and civil society come together to uphold criminal justice in some of the most challenging legal climates."

JusticeMakers was inspired by people such as IBJ Fellow and Cambodian lawyer Ouk Vandeth -- passionate, creative individuals who deliver due process rights to the accused.

A former policeman turned criminal defender, Ouk is an apt symbol for hope as the world pauses with the United Nations to commemorate those who have fallen victim to the most vile of human rights abuses.

"Ending torture isn't an unattainable goal," said Ouk. "It is just about guaranteeing people the legal protections afforded to them by law."

• Discuss a paper that positions Social Enterprise in a wider context
• Define Social Enterprise: what it is and what it is not!
• Contribute your own examples of successful Social Enterprises
• Consider The SEEP Network’s future role in the Social Enterprise field

CALLING ISRAEL'S NEW LEADERS!

CALLING ALL SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURS!

NIS 214,000 Fellowship and Mentoring!

Do you have an idea that can change Israeli society? Do you need assistance and professional guidance in order to realize your dream?

Are you a Social Entrepreneur with a practical vision and deep commitment to positive social change who has great leadership and entrepreneurial abilities?

We will provide you with assistance and professional guidance and help you turn your vision into reality through the Social Entrepreneur (SE) Fellowship Program – a joint venture of the Israel Venture Network (IVN) and the New Israel Fund (NIF).  

Fellowship includes:

    * A monthly stipend of up to NIS 7,500 for the entrepreneur which allows him/her to devote full time to developing and growing the initiative.
    * Mentoring by leading business men & women who are members of the IVN network.
    * Training in relevant fields to the initiative by Shatil, the NIF training and empowerment center for social change organizations.
    * Opportunity for exposure and professional networking

For important information on the application process including the criteria for applying and the online application form, please go to:
www.ivn.org.il  under 'Social Entrepreneur Fellowship Program'.

The application deadline for this year is midnight July 31st, 2008.  Applications will not be accepted after this date.
The winning Fellows will be announced online.

The FRONTLINE/World Social Entrepreneurs Film Program is a grant opportunity, open to public and academic libraries, that supports a screening and discussion of a series of short documentary films on social entrepreneurs around the world. The library program seeks to connect communities to the concept of social entrepreneurship and to promote dialogue on a local level. Funding for the library program is provided through a grant from the PBS Foundation and the Skoll Foundation.

FRONTLINE/World is the award-winning PBS international news magazine that turns its lens on the global community, covering countries and cultures rarely seen on American television. Our special Social Entrepreneurs Series home page features the stories of people whose ideas and organizations create new and sustainable markets and services that benefit underserved communities everywhere in the developing world. Entrepreneurs change the face of business; social entrepreneurs change society by creating solutions to social problems that leap beyond charity and encourage the development of systematic solutions that help eradicate poverty, enhance educational opportunities, provide better health care and champion social justice. Thirteen short programs are available to view in full online, and three new programs will air in May and June 2008.

Grant Opportunity Summary:
Forty (40) public and academic libraries will receive grants of $500 each and support materials from the FRONTLINE/World Social Entrepreneurs Film Program. Libraries will hold a FRONTLINE/World Social Entrepreneurs film viewing and discussion program, and at least one related program (panel, lecture, forum or other format) on the topic of social entrepreneurship in partnership with a local or regional community organization.

The goal of the FRONTLINE/World Social Entrepreneurs Film Program is to engage the general public, students and professionals in a discussion with leaders in business, humanitarian aid, academia and/or social activism on the concept of social entrepreneurship as a way to create meaningful solutions to social problems in developing countries, in contemporary society and in our local communities.

How to Apply:
Review the guidelines and complete the application on the following pages. E-mail application to libraries@flworld.org.

Application Deadline: August 1, 2008 (receipt deadline)

Libraries will receive an e-mail confirming receipt of their application. Libraries will be notified if their applications are accepted or not by August 10, 2008.

Are you passionate about making the world a better place? Have an idea about how to make your fellow students and your school more socially responsible? Want to turn that idea into a reality?

Conscious Lifestyle is accepting applications for its venture program.

Applicants must be full-time students at a high school or university in the U.S. or Canada.

Submit an application for the chance to win:

• Up to $1,000 in start-up funding
• Web space on consciouslifestyle.org
• Monthly skill-building workshops
• Mentoring from a high-performing professional
• Access to a network of social entrepreneurs

To learn more, make sure to check out our FAQs and Selection Criteria.

To apply, download the documents below and email your action plan to mike@consciouslifestyle.org.

Application Deadline: August 1, 2008.

 

The Global Student Entrepreneur Awards has an amazing prize package available to the student entrepreneurs who can impress the judges and win the competition!  The total prize package for the 2008 Global Student Entrepreneur Awards is estimated at over $100,000 in cash and business products and services donated by Entrepreneurs’ Organization members.

Undergraduate students from the United States of America and from countries other than the three listed below please click this link to nominate:  CLICK HERE TO NOMINATE FOR THE 2008 GLOBAL STUDENT ENTREPRENEUR AWARDS!

Regional Competitions in Canada, Sweden, and Puerto Rico are hosted by Global Student Entrepreneur Awards Partners

Note: Although the global deadline for nominations is 31 August 2008, we highly encourage that you submit your nomination as soon as possible as regional competitions begin in Spring 2008.

The Global Student Entrepreneur Awards welcomes nominees from any country around the globe.  In locations where we do not have a regional program established, nominees will be judged virtually by a panel of entrepreneurs.

The deadline for nominations globally is 31 August 2008!

1. First - review the criteria at http://www.gsea.org/awards/who-is-eligible/ to ensure that the person you are nominating qualifies to compete for the Global Student Entrepreneur Awards.
2. Once you’ve reviewed the criteria and you’re sure the student entrepreneur is eligible to compete, head over to http://www.gsea.org/nominate/ to complete the nomination form.
3. Once we’ve received the nomination form, we will contact the student entrepreneur nominated to continue with the process.  To see the process involved, please refer to http://www.gsea.org/awards/how-the-gsea-works/.

Please contact Global Student Entrepreneur Awards at info@gsea.org or +1.250.391.6035 with any questions regarding nomination or the Global Student Entrepreneur Awards competition.

On June 10, The Timberland Company announced the global launch of the Earthkeeper campaign, a movement to recruit one million people to become part of an online network designed to inspire real environmental behavior change.