Social Entrepreneurship Certificate for Social Sector Leaders

Key Learning Objectives:

• Find out which culture you prefer and how it compares to others through a pre-assessment
• Explore how key entrepreneurial concepts and skills that make for-profit businesses competitive can be applied to nonprofit organizations to make them more sustainable and successful
• Understand the basic elements of an entrepreneurial mindset that will offer a practical framework for improving employee ownership as well as enhancing entrepreneurial activities

Organizations are navigating tectonic shifts in the social sector that require new skills and strategies to create long-term impact. The complicated challenges facing contemporary nonprofit organizations demand a dynamic brand of leadership. An entrepreneurial outlook can help transform organizational culture by meaningfully engaging the abilities, talents and passions of board, staff and supporters. 

Session Date: Friday, September 15th 

Key Learning Objectives:

• Find out the origin of social entrepreneurship and how it has shifted the charitable sector
• Explore the various players within social change and why the game is evolving
• Understand basic strategic frameworks that will offer ways to scan your environment and help shape your business model

Before moving forward with social change, a strong understanding of the game is vital. Success or failure at social change is not only about the business model, but also the external forces that shape your idea. Find out why social change is so complicated and how change can be masterminded by any social entrepreneur. 

Session Date: Friday, September 29th 

Key Learning Objectives:

• Learn why storytelling works and how marketers use it successfully to create messages that “stick”
• Discover how to build a storytelling culture by marrying stories with data for an impactful pitch
• Uncover tricks of the trade (with a social sector twist), including feasibility assessments and business plans, pitches, prospectus and feasibility

Every day, people are bombarded by 6,000 media and marketing messages. For social change to happen, we must build an army of supporters through the power of storytelling. We also need funding and financing to support our ideas, and the corporate world provides us with some time-tested tools to build confidence in our business model. 

Session Date: Friday, October 13th 

Key Learning Objectives:

• Learn the value of creativity at any stage of work
• Uncover ways to bring creative exercises to improve your market research for new work or offerings as well as rethink your existing work
• Find reliable ways to not miss the mark and ensure that your work is co-created with those you serve 

Creativity is the cornerstone of entrepreneurship. But there is a common misconception that you can only be creative if you are in a creative profession. That’s simply not true. Creativity can be taught, and moreover, it can leveraged to start something new or improve upon existing work. It can also be a fun way to engage staff, volunteers and clients to be part of the solution. 

Session Date: Friday, October 27th

Key Learning Objectives:

• Explore a research-based approach to sustainable social innovation
• Leverage practices to help you and your organization think in a more innovative way
• Define your unique process for opportunity assessment to separate the good ideas from the truly great ideas

Universities and media are increasingly using the term “innovation” as a powerful way to disrupt current norms, but to be more than just a passing fad, true innovation needs to be coupled with discipline. 

Session Date: Friday, November 10th

Key Learning Objectives:

• Discuss shifting impact from a program evaluation tool to an integral part of your culture
• Share tools and tricks of the trade for efficient and effective data-driven decision-making
• Learn why change management techniques are important tools for every social entrepreneur  

While data collection and measurement are hot topics at every social sector conference, social entrepreneurs have a unique vision of the role of social impact. It is about establishing a culture that supports curiosity, learning and growth. 

Session Date: Friday, December 1st

Key Learning Objectives:

• Understand what social enterprise is and whether or not your organization is ready to pursue it
• Learn about how to best pursue social enterprise through take-home tools and exercises
• Study characteristics of successful social enterprises to model their strategies 

In the face of increasing competition for funding, more social entrepreneurs and nonprofit leaders are achieving their mission and making money to support their cause through social enterprise.

Session Date: Friday, January 12th

Key Learning Objectives:

• Understand the definition of scale and the varied pathways – beyond bricks and mortar – for promising scaling strategies, including collaboration, social movements and public policy
• Determine key steps to scale successfully
• Discuss varied strategies – with successful and unsuccessful case studies – on how to truly scale your idea widely as a social entrepreneur

Scale is the “holy grail” for social entrepreneurs, but they often start considering how to scale their idea too late or miss some important steps to truly be successful. 

Session Date: Friday, January 26th

Key Learning Objectives:

• Learn how to determine your unique value proposition as a social sector organization
• Unlock the 4Ps and 5Cs of nonprofit marketing and leverage them for your marketing strategy
• Share unique marketing challenges in the social sector, including social marketing and cause branding
• Discuss case studies surrounding nonprofit and social enterprise marketing and lessons learned

Marketing is both an art and science. And, in the social sector, it can be a bit more complicated with multiple customers to determine the optimal strategy. Social entrepreneurs take the best marketing tools from business with slight adjustments for the social context.  

Session Date: Friday, February 9th

Key Learning Objectives:

• Study operations, legal structure and finance, specifically for the social sector
• Learn how to identify and mitigate risk early and often
• Discuss lessons learned from a case study

The difference between an innovator and entrepreneur is that innovators create ideas while entrepreneurs create business models to support companies that take ideas to scale, with the potential for them to outlive their initial creator. Part of their success is navigating the largest risks for any organization – operations, legal issues and financial solvency. 

Session Date: Friday, February 23rd

Key Learning Objectives:

• Discover the range of strategic opportunities for social sector organizations (e.g., CSR, strategic CSR and Conscious Capitalism) as well as tools for impact and measurement (e.g., ESGs and SDGs) and how to integrate DEI across all levels of the organization
• Become acquainted with the diverse array of changemakers at small businesses and Fortune 500 companies who are pursuing the greater good through examples showcasing their work
• Learn how to bring this mindset and know-how to your social sector initiatives

August 19, 2019, was a turning point in American capitalism when the influential Business Roundtable adopted a “Statement of Purpose of the Corporation,” which committed corporate America not only to maximizing profits, but also to creating value for all stakeholders. Now, businesses – large and small – are rapidly developing strategies to help the community, foster an inclusive workplace, take stances on policy issues and pursue philanthropic activities that have both real and perceived impact.

Session Date: Friday, March 8th