Fw: News from Social Venture Network

"When you do the common things in life in an uncommon way, you will command the attention of the world." George Washington Carver What is Social Entrepreneurship? Statement of Faith You can find other "Market with Meaning" but you definitely want to see "Profit with Purpose". I personally "Believe in Kingdom Transformation" because I know there is only ONE "Life for Significant". 社會企業家的事業 my facebook  &  my twitter  &  my blog --- 2010年7月31日 星期六，SVN <craigr@svn.org> 寫道﹕ 寄件人: SVN <craigr@svn.org> 主題: News from Social Venture Network 收件人: incubator.hou@gmail.com 日期: 2010年7月31日,星期六,上午5:16 Having trouble viewing this email? Click here You're receiving this email because of your relationship with Social Venture Network. You may unsubscribe if you no longer wish to receive our emails. SVN Networker Dear Friends, At SVN, we believe that the best solutions emerge by connecting transformational ideas and passionate leaders in new ways. As social entrepreneurs seek ways to address increasingly urgent social and environmental challenges, they face the innovation imperative. We created the Social Venture Network Innovation Awards to honor and support highly innovative social enterprises, bring them into the SVN community, and give them access to a network of successful entrepreneurs, investors, and leaders who can help them expand their impact.  It is my pleasure to announce the winners of the 2010 SVN Innovation Awards:  Green For All, Hot Bread Kitchen, Sungevity, KOMAZA, and BTTR Ventures.  See below for more information about our award winners. Special thanks to our award sponsors, Utne Reader, Mary's Gone Crackers, Hanson Bridgett, Main Street Resources, Halloran Philanthropies, and Generocity.  I hope you will join us in honoring our award winners and networking with hundreds of successful social entrepreneurs at our Fall Invitational, to be held in Long Branch, New Jersey, October 21 - 24, 2010. In the spirit of connection, you will soon be receiving a copy of our Member Directory and Annual Stakeholder Report, which is full of exciting news about the collaborations and innovations emerging from the SVN community.   Thank you for your support, Deb Nelson Executive Director July 2010 In This Issue Network Updates Featured Sponsor Members in Action Welcome New Members Events Network Updates Announcing the 2010 SVN Innovation Award Winners The winners of the fourth annual SVN Innovation Awards represent the next generation of social venture entrepreneurs who are actively changing the way the world does business. BTTR Ventures Berkeley, California BTTR Ventures grows delicious specialty mushrooms in coffee grounds waste collected from local cafes. Once harvested, the mushrooms are rushed to stores just hours after picking. BBTR Venture's closed-loop agricultural model has already turned 50,000 pounds of coffee grounds into 7,500 pounds of gourmet mushrooms and even more compost. Green For All Oakland, California Green For All is dedicated to improving the lives of all Americans through a clean energy economy. Green For All works in collaboration with the business, government, labor, and grassroots communities to create and implement programs that increase quality jobs and opportunities in green industry - all while holding the most vulnerable people at the center of the agenda. Hot Bread Kitchen Brooklyn, New York Hot Bread Kitchen is a nonprofit social enterprise that creates better lives for low-income women and their families by paying women while they learn the skills necessary to launch food businesses and achieve management track positions in bakeries. To help offset costs, Hot Bread Kitchen sells delicious multi-ethnic breads inspired by the bakers and the many countries that they come from using local and organic ingredients when possible. KOMAZA San Francsico, California and Kenya KOMAZA is a non-profit social enterprise committed to reducing rural poverty in Africa by connecting smallholder farmers with high-value markets. KOMAZA offers high-value trees with financial, training and marketing services to enable poor farmers to incorporate sustainable forestry business into their regular farming cycle. Working in areas affected by desertification, the forestry projects also have measurable environmental impacts. Sungevity Oakland, California Sungevity is a residential solar panel installer and leaser that is dedicated to bringing easy and affordable solar electricity to mainstream America and beyond. The startup offers free online "iQuotes" by using satellite and aerial photography to estimate the size and cost of a solar installation. Sungevity's leasing program means customers can pay no money down and receive proactive monitoring, maintenance, cleaning, and insurance of their home solar system.   A Fond Farewell and "Ciao" to SVN's Lars Olson Our terrific membership and development manager, Lars Olson, will be leaving SVN in mid-July to pursue a masters at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. We'll miss the great energy and connections Lars brought to SVN, and look forward to hearing about his adventures in Italy and Washington, DC. SVN Officially Recognized as a San Francisco Green Business Due to SVN's continued efforts to reduce waste and conserve water and energy, spearheaded by Jessica Aebi, SVN has officially been awarded a Green Business Certificate through the San Francisco Department of the Environment and the SF Green Business Program. Stay connected with SVN news and updates on our social media sites: Featured Sponsor: Mary's Gone Crackers Founded in 2004 by SVN members Mary Waldner and Dale Rodrigues, Mary's Gone Crackers manufactures delicious gourmet, organic, gluten-free and vegan food. In addition to their five flavors of crackers and three flavors of pretzels (Sticks & Twigs), the company is pleased to announce their new offering, a unique and delicious line of cookies called love Cookies! Like all of Mary's Gone Crackers' fabulous products, love Cookies are made without gluten, wheat, dairy, nuts or eggs and are certified organic and kosher. Love Cookies are made with the finest ingredients and are perfect as a mid-day snack or an after dinner dessert. All three flavors - Chocolate Chip, "N'Oatmeal" Raisin (no oats!) and Ginger Snaps-are made with real whole food ingredients, so you actually feel good after eating them!   Mary's Gone Crackers love Cookies are available nationally in grocery stores and natural food stores. For more information about Mary's Gone Crackers, please visit www.marysgonecrackers.com Members in Action Michael Martin Helps James Cameron take Avatar Eco-Message to Congress and the Streets of LA Long-time SVN member Michael Martin, CEO and Founder of EFFECT Partners, teamed up with James Cameron to amplify and leverage Avatar's environmental message surrounding the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day. Events kicked off with a panel discussion on Capitol Hill on how to best engage the public with the environmental movement. Martin helped facilitate the event which included Cameron, Sigourney Weaver, Thomas Friedman and Joe Scarborough. The panel discussion was followed by a screening of Avatar for members of Congress. Additionally, Martin facilitated meetings with Cameron and environmental leaders in DC. On Earth Day, EFFECT Partners produced an event for 5,000 inner-city youth at the Nokia Theater in LA for Cameron in conjunction with the Mayor's office. The event included a screening of Avatar and a Q&A with Cameron and the stars of the movie. Additionally, students were encouraged to write a short essay around environmental action. Winners were awarded scholarships of up to $5,000.  While on-site, students also received "Eco-Warrior Training" giving them actionable steps they can take to be more environmentally responsible. Josh Knaeur on "The Art of the Spinoff" in Inc. Magazine "I couldn't glow enough about what happens here," SVN member Josh Knauer told Inc. for a recent article about the agile business strategy of Maya Design. Maya's secret sauce is its institutionalized strategy to spin off promising and complementary business plans, including mapping software firm Rhiza Labs, where Knauer is CEO. "I can't think of a better model than Maya's for starting slightly disruptive technology companies," Kanuer said. Click here to read the full article. D.light Design Lights Up with $5.5M in Funding D.light Design, founded by 2009 SVN Innovation Award Winners Sam Goldman and Ned Touzun, has secured $5.5 million in Series B financing. D.light Designs manufactures solar powered lanterns for families without access to reliable electricity. The funding was led by new investor Omidyar Network and includes all major Series A investors - Acumen Fund, Nexus Venture Partners, Gray Matters Capital, Draper Fisher Jurvetson and Garage Technology Ventures. Click here to read the full press release. WikiPositve Building an Online Database of Socially Responsible Businesses WikiPositive, an open-source, collaborative online platform, is now beginning to sign on social entrepreneurs, organizations and companies to build a database  of products and services. SVN member Ben Bingham is guiding the research being posted to WikiPositive by the Benchmark Research team and will soon be hosting regular open WebEx discussions to review postings. The site will showcase companies and organizations of all shapes and sizes, including both for-profits and non-profits and is aimed at everyone from investors  and philanthropists to students and journalists. Visit www.wikipositive.org to register and learn more. SVN members may contact Ben Bingham directly or Rachael Stephens at stephens@benchmarkam.com for more information. Preserve: Netflix for Your Toothbrush Preserve, headed by SVN member Eric Hudson, has recently launched their new Mail-Back Pack. Now when you order a new toothbrush from Preserve, made from recycled yogurt cups, it arrives in a pre-addressed pouch that you can use to send it back to Preserve when it's used up to be re-recycled. Click here to order yours. Suzanne Biegel Steps Up as Investors' Circle's Acting CEO Long-time SVN Member Suzanne Biegel is excited to report that she has taken the role of Acting CEO of Investors' Circle. She'll be working from London, with the IC team in the Bay Area. She'll be back to the States once a month, and is embarrassed about her new carbon footprint. Suzanne is appreciative of all of the input she has received from SVNers throughout the first phase of IC's strategic planning. She's hoping to engage the SVN community as IC moves forward and can be reached at sbiegel@investorscircle.net.  Eric Henry Asks: "Do You Know Where Your Shirt Was Made?" Speaking at the 2010 BALLE Conference, SVN member Eric Henry of TS Designs, Brian Morrell of Mortex Apparel Manufacturing, and Ronnie Burleson of Burleson and Sons Farm discussed growing, ginning and spinning cotton all in the American South East. Click here to see the video. Welcome New Members The following organizations have had members join the Network since last month's Networker. Click here to learn about membership. Coyuchi Good Things Green Capitopia Coyuchi Bamboo Sushi Stirfy Seminars and Consulting Anna Sova Luxury Organics Mission Motors Company Events Film Premiere: Carbon Nation August 10, 2010 Chicago, Illinois Carbon Nation is a positive, solutions-based, non-preachy, non-partisan, big tent film about tackling climate change while boosting the economy, increasing national and energy security and promoting good health and a robust environment. Please join the film's director and produce

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