December 1, 2005

Social Edge and Santa Clara University Partner to Select 10 Candidates Who Will Attend the Summer 2006 Session of the Global Social Business Incubator for Free

PALO ALTO, Calif.—December 1, 2005—Social Edge and Santa Clara University partner to select 10 candidates who will attend the Summer 2006 session of the Global Social Business Incubator for free.

Social Edge, the online community for social entrepreneurs, has been selected to be the online component of the Global Social Business Incubator at Santa Clara University.

Starting immediately, social entrepreneurs around the world should visit http://www.socialedge.org/gsbi/ to apply online. After registering, they will be asked to go through a series of three exercises.

“Here is the interesting part: they will not be alone! Social Edge community members and business school students will log on to help aspiring social entrepreneurs, and give advice on their business proposition, their strategy and their application,” says Victor d'Allant, Executive Director of Social Edge.

Presented by Santa Clara University’s Center for Science, Technology, and Society and the Leavey School of Business Administration, the Global Social Business Incubator offers the unique context of a Jesuit university dedicated to social justice combined with leading resources from Silicon Valley.

During the two-week in residence program, to take place in early August, participants will develop know-how in critical areas of business planning, including technology and service innovation, target marketing, business models, finance and organizational capacity building. The GSBI combines classroom instruction, case studies, and best practices with carefully matched mentoring on the specific scaling and sustainability challenges of each participating organization.

“Through the access to world-class resources, participating social benefit entrepreneurs will be able to accelerate their technological innovations. This is a transformational program for people with the power and vision to change the world,” says Jim Koch, Professor of Management at Santa Clara University.

Applicants have until January 15th, 2006 to complete their online application. Social Edge members and business-school students will then score their proposal. The 10 leading candidates will be announced no later than February 20th.

Finalists will be granted a full scholarship to attend the Global Social Benefit Incubator in August 2006. The award, which covers tuition, room and board for the two-week training program, is valued at US $15,000. There is no application fee. Candidates are solely responsible for their travel expenses (airfare, ground transportation, passports, visa) and miscellaneous expenses, if any.

More information can be found at http://www.socialedge.org/gsbi/