WHAT: Kickoff to the first-ever St. Louis Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation Competition (SEIC).
WHERE: Simon Hall, Olin School of Business, Washington University in St. Louis.
WHEN: 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday, September 8.
WHO: The Skandalaris Center for Entrepreneurial Studies, in partnership with the YouthBridge Association, is hosting the event, which will feature a conversation with University City Loop social entrepreneur Joe Edwards.
WHY: To connect the many people in St. Louis who are working on new solutions to community problems.
WHAT IS SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP? Social entrepreneurship uses entrepreneurial skills to craft innovative processes, approaches, and solutions to help resolve social issues.
ABOUT THE COMPETITION: The St. Louis Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation Competition is the first of its kind in the region. Participants will receive feedback from a panel of social investors and judges who are experts in social entrepreneurship and innovation. Both existing and new not-for-profit organizations are invited to participate. Washington University will work with YouthBridge and other community partners to offer workshops and public events that will assist participants in developing sustainable plans for their concepts. Funding of $65,000 will be awarded to teams with the best concepts.
ABOUT THE PARTNERS:
The Skandalaris Center stimulates a campus-wide environment of collaboration, innovation and entrepreneurial creativity. This expands learning, understanding and economic opportunities for students, faculty and the St. Louis community. The Center supports entrepreneurship in all academic disciplines and defines it as “the process of seeing novel opportunities, acting energetically, and using limited resources and collaboration to create new value for others.”
The YouthBridge Association is a 135-year-old organization that was previously known as the General Protestant Children’s Home for children. YouthBridge’s mission evolved to fund and support multiple innovative youth-focused social ventures, some of them located on its 19-acre Creve Coeur campus. YouthBridge has supported and funded ventures designed to operate as independent entities following the association’s initial support. YouthBridge’s goal is to support more ventures that can benefit from the organization’s initial support and then grow into self-sufficient entities.
Joe Edwards is the owner and developer of Blueberry Hill, The Tivoli and The Pageant. He’s a visionary entrepreneur, and creative , passionate innovator whose work serves as a model for neighborhood stabilization and urban revitalization. His latest role is as president of the nonprofit Loop Trolley Company, whose mission is to restore trolley service between the Loop and the Missouri History Museum in Forest Park.