Impact Entrepreneurs' Work Around the World in 2012

At Impact Entrepreneurs, our mission is to unleash the power of business for social impact, and our vision is a world in which all life flourishes. In 2012, we were honored to support a number of inspiring social entrepreneurs, and intrapreneurs, working on ventures demonstrating the amazing potential of business tools to generate positive change. From the entrepreneurial professors and students at our parent institution of PSU, to Portland’s rapidly expanding base of social innovators, to the global changemakers who participated in our training programs in Cambodia and Turkey, we saw firsthand the remarkable drive, insight and talent of those transforming the world for the better. Below, we link to a few of their stories from the past year.

Graduates of the 2012 Circuit Program, L to R: Lindsey Newkirk, Jon Zintel, Ahmed Abidine, Caren Prentice, Arnold Strong

In Portland, the Social Innovation Incubator graduated its very first Vector Program members, Sustainable Harvest and Preciva, and a new cohort of Circuit Program members. This January, we welcome the next cohort of startup social entrepreneurs in the Circuit Program.

We celebrated PSU’s induction into the prestigious Ashoka U Changemaker Campus Consortium, a recognition of the university’s efforts to advance social entrepreneurship and an exciting opportunity to enhance our impact.

As one element of our Business Leadership Program, employees of The Standard worked on pro bono consulting projects with local nonprofits, helping both sides to see the power of business tools for generating social impact.

Ready Public Charter School, one of the pro bono projects of Business Leadership Program participants.

In Istanbul, we celebrated the graduation of the fourth Mercy Corps cohort of our Entrepreneurial Leadership Program, which trains NGO managers in leadership effectiveness, business fundamentals, and social innovation. More than 150 participants from over 30 countries have now completed the program.

Ejaz Ali, a graduate of our Replication School in Cambodia, used what he learned in the program to develop and launch a new impact sourcing venture that will provide employment to an estimated 2500 women, refugees, and other underserved groups in Northern Pakistan.

The fourth year of our Social Enterprise Field Studies program in India gave graduate students the opportunity to work directly with Indian social entrepreneurs addressing some of the world’s most challenging problems. Participants wrote about their life-changing experiences in the program blog.

Photo taken at CARE India, a field study partner.

Through our programs, we seek to assist social innovators at every stage of their personal and professional journey, whether they are discovering the field for the first time, launching their own ventures, or seeking to accelerate their organizational growth and build staff capacity. We are humbled by the wonderful individuals and organizations we have the good fortune to work with, and look forward to continuing our work with them—and to working with you—in the coming year.

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