"Some men and women see things as they are and say why; I dream things that never were and say why not?"
— George Bernard Shaw
Social Venture Club
Our mission is to provide a forum for students to explore the intersection of non-profit and for-profit sectors, as well as the investors who support these two sectors' efforts in promoting social responsibility.
The resulting initiatives and ventures (whether they be for-profit or non-profit) are the focus of the Social Venture Club. Through interaction with club members, faculty, and community leaders, we will pursue a three-pronged theory of change encompassing: Awareness, Career Development, and Action.
For the 2006-2007 school year, the club will be focusing on three areas:
- Non-Profits,
- Corporations,
- and Socially Responsible Investors and exploring the strategies used by these firms to achieve results.
Non-Profits
Leading non-profit organizations where the competition for funding is intense, strategic mission is vital to success, and there are many challenges that are different than those facing for-profit enterprises.
Common Good Ventures, which is a non-profit that promotes business practices and revenue maximization among other non-profits.
American Red Cross is a large non-profit that applies management techniques similar to those of for-profit companies.
Corporations
Both large and small corporations can achieve results based on double or even triple bottom lines. These arenas can be categorized as 1) the manner in which companies conduct business, 2) the manner in which companies produce goods, and 3) how companies' policies affect the environment.
GAP Inc: GAP has committed to a Code of Conduct in which the factories in which is contracts are held to strict labor conditions to protect workers who create GAP merchandise.
Terra Pass: A for-profit company that pursues its bottom line by pursuing an environmentally friendly objective (offsetting the climate effects of billions of dollars of CO2).
Seventh Generation: This for-profit company competes against traditional products with a line of household items that do not harm the environment.
Socially Responsible Investors
Socially Responsible Investors provide social sector capital flows that include, but are not limited to, microenterprise finance, community investment trusts, tax-credit finance, new socially-focused finance vehicles, community banking, social venture capital and so on.
Stanford Endowment: the manner in which Stanford invests responsibly in endeavors supporting education while also maintaining a 19.5% return
Microfinance organizations, such as Kiva, support entrepreneurs around the world by administering small loans. Many microfinance organizations also provide business advice and other types of support.
Foundations: The Bay area is home to a number of foundations including The David and Lucile Packard Foundation, the Lauder Foundation, and numerous others with unique approaches to grant decision-making
Private Equity/Venture Capital companies, such as Draper Richards Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, which fund early-stage grants to social entrepreneurs with a vision of changing the world
Join us as we learn about and discuss these issues through a wide menu of brown-bag-lunches with accomplished experts in the field, small group dinners with Alumni, wine and cheese with GSB professors, site visits to local organizations, and some fun social events where socially-minded 1st and 2nd years can get to know one another!
Student Leadership
- Jane Chen
- Ellen Kim
- Lloyd Nimetz
Contact Us
Email the Social Venture Club leaders.
