Kickoff for 2nd Annual Social Entrepreneurship & Innovation Competition.

Cardinals Care Vice President Tim Hanser will serve as the Keynote Speaker

St. Louis , September 20, 2006 -The kickoff for the second annual Social Entrepreneurship & Innovation Competition, sponsored by Washington University, YouthBridge Association, and the Incarnate Word Foundation will take place on Thursday, September 28 at 5:30 PM.  The event includes a series of workshops designed to help non-profit organizations better sustain their missions through better business practices.  The event culminates in the final competition, which last year awarded more than $100,000 in grant money to deserving local non-profit organizations.

 “After a successful first year, we are excited to be commencing our second season of this competition,” said Norm Moenkhaus, Executive Director of Operations and Development for YouthBridge. “Response from the community has been overwhelming and our list of speakers continues to include directors from the area’s most visible charities.”

This year’s keynote speaker of the kickoff celebration will be Tim Hanser, Vice President & Group Director, Community Outreach/Cardinals Care.  Hanser will discuss the charitable organization landscape in St. Louis and discuss the issues facing non-profit organizations today.

Cardinals Care is the team’s community foundation whose mission is caring for kids.  Since it’s inception in 1997, Cardinals Care has distributed over $10 Million to care for kids in the community. Cardinals Care builds ballfields, funds youth baseball, and supports agencies to help kids in the areas of health, education, mentoring and the arts.  In addition, Cardinals Care funds many off-field activities including:  health screenings; asthma screenings and follow-up; vision, hearing and dental screenings; an extensive summer reading program; bike helmet fittings; mentoring; a scholarship program; and field trips to some of St. Louis’ finest cultural institutions such as the Art Museum and the Science Center.

Event Information
The kickoff for the second annual competition will take place on Thursday, September 28 at 5:30 PM.  The general public is invited to attend the event being held in Uncas A. Whitaker Hall on Washington University’s Danforth Campus.  The competition brings together non-profit organizations from the St. Louis area to present their business models to a panel of local judges.  This panel awards grant money based upon the depth and presentation of the plan.

About YouthBridge Association
Youthbridge Association was originally known as the German General Protestant Orphan’s Association. This Association was created in 1877 and has served over 25,000 children of the St. Louis community since its inception.  Today, Youthbridge is an organization that incubates new and more efficient ways to organize and deliver not-for-profit services to the youth in our community by blending modern business applications with traditional social service agency practices.

About Skandalaris Center for Entrepreneurial Studies
The Skandalaris Center for Entrepreneurial Studies at Washington University plays an important role in the local entrepreneurship community. Beyond training students to lead businesses in the future in order to strengthen the labor pool, the Center fosters networking, supplies resources for ideas to mature, and provides a forum in which these ideas can partner with venture capital. As an early resource along the idea-to-business path, the Program acts as a funnel through which the idea starts on its way to becoming a business. In this role, the Center serves the needs of both upstream and downstream "customers," with several customers appearing in multiple roles along this journey.

About Incarnate Word Foundation
The mission of the Incarnate Word Foundation is to provide support for St. Louis, East St. Louis, and the greater Missouri community where help is most needed. Their plan is to support or create faith-based ministries that foster healthy lives, promote spiritual growth, and support the building blocks that create healthy communities.