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YouthBridge SEIC and Skandalaris Seminar Series
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Strengthen Your Nonprofit Compete to win your share
of $100,000 in seed money!
Register for the YouthBridge Social Enterprise & Innovation Competition (SEIC) and the Washington University Skandalaris Seminar Series
Funding your nonprofit organization - or your idea to start one - is an on-going challenge. YouthBridge exists to help nonprofits get capitalized and be sustainable so they can successfully serve their worthy causes. To do that, we believe nonprofit leaders must think like entrepreneurs and manage their organizations much like a for-profit business.
Each year YouthBridge, in partnership with Washington University's Skandalaris Center for Entrepreneurial Studies, sponsors the YouthBridge SEIC and the free, four-hour session Skandalaris Seminar Series: Developing Entrepreneurial Skills, Perspectives and Relationships.
Register now at ideabounce.com.
Download the Brochure in pdf.
The purpose is to energize the St. Louis region's entrepreneurial spirit with entrepreneurial education and an exciting business plan competition, in which winning nonprofits may receive seed money to put their plans into action. Nonprofits that do not win the competition often find other funding through this experience, or at least walk away more knowledgeable, more connected and better equipped to grow their organization.
This is one of the largest social enterprise business plan contests in the United States. In its first six years, 28 competitors were awarded nearly $750,000. New and established nonprofits may enter to compete for cash awards, in-kind services and mentoring by InnovateVMS, the Venture Mentoring Service of Innovate St. Louis*. Those who present the best social enterprise business plan are selected as winners by judges from academic, business and nonprofit organizations in the St. Louis community. Awards for the 2011-2012 competition will be granted from the following community partners.
- YouthBridge: $35,000 to fund a venture serving children and youth
- Lutheran Foundation of St. Louis: $30,000 to fund an organization promoting a healthier community
- Skandalaris Center: $25,000 to fund a venture with an innovation solution to effect social change
- Daughters of Charity Foundation of St. Louis: Up to $30,000 to fund an organization serving the poor and vulnerable
With a $5,000 award to the best student team and in-kind support from Skandalaris sponsors, the total amount awarded will be more than $100,000.
*Innovate VMS offering mentoring for social and commercial entrepreneurs. Find more information at innovatestl.org/IVMS.
The Skandalaris Seminar Series consists of four lectures and four panel discussions held over a seven-week period. It is free and open to the public. All are welcome to attend part or all of the series selecting the topics that are of interest. The seminars provide practical skills, and the panel discussions offer an opportunity to hear accomplished social and commercial entrepreneurs discuss how they applied those skills in their own venture and personal development. Each day concludes with a networking reception where you can continue the conversation and connect with others.
For Additional Information
If you have questions, please contact Rex Reed, Executive Director, Agency Services, at 314-985-6777 or rexr@youthbridge.org.
History of this Event
In June 2005, YouthBridge and Washington University's Skandalaris Center each pledged $500,000 to fund a five-year initiative to develop a program to stimulate social entrepreneurship. The program, then called the Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation Competition, is an opportunity for nonprofits to learn business skills, collaborate, receive feedback and compete annually for more than $100,000 in awards. We invited other universities, institutions, community groups and foundations to join us in the SEIC as we searched for innovative approached to social problems.
In August 2009, YouthBridge renewed its partnership with Washington University's Skandalaris Center for Entrepreneurial Studies to fund the annual SEIC with an additional $450,000 pledge. The YouthBridge SEIC is unique in St. Louis, and in terms of monetary awards, is one of the largest competitions of its kind in the United States.
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