LA Social Entrepreneurs: Apply To StartingBloc Institute for Social Innovation!

I attended StartingBloc in February of 2010.  The snow in Boston kept my flight grounded for two days, and so I missed the first two entire days of StartingBloc action, speakers, and networking.  When I arrived, friendships had been made, likely intro’s had been made that would lead certain social entrepreneurs to success, and minds and hearts had been changed by virtue of the dynamic speakers.  And then I walked into the Tufts University auditorium on the morning of day three, and I began a process that likely has changed my life and has served as an invaluable network for the social enterprise with whom I work, The Hub LA.

So how can one’s life be changed in just three short StartingBloc days?  Let’s start with perspective.  When you are at StartingBloc, you can walk up to anyone you want and your first question can be “so what are you doing to change the world?”  And that person will have an answer and will be delighted to tell you.  Beats the heck out of a Los Feliz coffee shop, for starters.  But there’s so much more.  Because as you continue dialoguing with all these young world-changers (did I mention everyone is the same age as you and super hip?) you realize that everyone wants to make everyone else’s dreams come true.  Which sounds too good to be true.  Ironic.

I for one, had an idea for an organic farm to bring to Detroit.  Another young woman I met founded a kitchen to serve food in Washington, DC, where you pay for the people that ate before you (it’s called Karma Kitchen, check them out online here).  Jimmy was founding a paper-thin eco-footwear line called Paper Feet.  Maria had founded a social enterprise to empower street youth in Kenya (called Kito International, it has received critical acclaim and I encourage you to check it out).  Amit was Director of Marketing for 1298, the for-profit social enterprise funded by Acumen Fund providing subsidized ambulance services in Mumbai, and doubling the number of ambulances in that city.  Leticia was founder of CREA, providing food products to America made by low-income Mexicans.  And Varvyn had an idea for a taxi service for women, by women, so the fairer sex could return home from nightlife soirees safely and comfortably.

Says Maria of Kito International about her StartingBloc experience:

The above group (myself excluded) is throughly impressive and exemplary of the types of fellows one can expect at a StartingBloc Institute.  Sitting in the audience as social entrepreneur after social entrepreneur stood in front of the crowd to pitch their world-changing idea, I was filled with a passion I hadn’t known before.  Before StartingBloc, social entrepreneurship was what made sense to me as a way to spend my life contributing something meaningful to the world.  After seeing the pitches from people in India, and Canada, and Mexico, and of course the United States, I realized something profound – I felt it – there are people in serious need in the world.  And social entrepreneurs exist because those people need our help.

The thought couldn’t help but permeate my mind as Jeff, senior designer at IDEO, impressed as much with his knowledge of the plight of impoverished third-worlders as much as the strikingly innovative and thoughtful solution his team conceived (and then successfully executed, I will add) to improve the plight of people living in the most unsanitary conditions in the world.  People in the village where IDEO worked would throw their shit in a plastic bag and then toss it out of their house windows.  The smell of excrement wafted through the village.  IDEO designed a toilet that, in addition to being for-profit and affordable for community members (what amounted to pennies per use), kept sewage where it needs to be – underground, and out of the way of aroma-sniffing noses and playing children.  What’s more, the team conducted a needs assessment in a carefully-planned community-involved approach that brought in community leaders, enlisted their support, and resulted in a long-term solution that proved both mechanically successful and socially acceptable.  What good are toilets if no one in the community wants to use them?

Yes, social dynamics are a tricky subject when introducing a social enterprise to a new community.  And yet at StartingBloc, they are as simple as a smile, a hello, and what’s your favorite social enterprise?  Our days were packed with talks from such thought leaders as Dan Pallotta, who consults for non-profits and writes for Harvard Business Review.  Our case study competition to bring sustainability to Waters Corporation united eight StartingBloc Fellows together per team, and each team member offered insightful ideas that expanded each of our perception of how things get done competently in the world.  One winning team assisted Waters in authoring this report.  But the point of this paragraph is to tell you that people in StartingBloc are friendly, and eager to talk shop about social entrepreneurship in-depth whether in Fletcher Hall or over hors d’oeuvre at an after-hours meetup.

So all of that being said, StartingBloc is now coming to Los Angeles!  You can certainly brave the Boston gusts and New York freeze (and if you do, I guarantee with the right coat it will be well worth your time).  But if you prefer sunshine and palm trees while constructing a world-changing mindset and a world-class professional network, I highly recommend applying to the Los Angeles StartingBloc Institute For Social Innovation taking place in February of 2011 (hmm, what world-changing social enterprise is launching right around then?  Hint:  You’re reading its blog!).  Start an application at http://www.startingbloc.org/application, and if you submit by October 1st you receive a final decision by October 15th!  Sounds like a sweet Southern California breeze to me.

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