Social Entrepreneurship Boot Camp Application Period Closes Jan. 31

The Winthrop Rockefeller Institute, the Clinton School of Public Service, the Arkansas Regional Innovation Hub and the University of Arkansas Office of Entrepreneurship will host a Social Entrepreneurship Boot Camp to be held July 17-19, 2015, at the Institute on Petit Jean Mountain.

However, the deadline to apply is fast approaching.

Applications for the boot camp will be accepted now through Jan. 31 and can be found at www.rockefellerinstitute.org/SEbootcamp.

The boot camp will provide training for new and aspiring social entrepreneurs, focusing on such topics as business skills, legal issues, scalability, measuring impact, ethics and benefit corporations.

Participants will also receive one-on-one mentoring from established business leaders and social enterprise experts.

Those interested are encouraged to submit an application through the website.

Applicants are encouraged to apply in teams, though individual applications will also be accepted. Notification of participation will occur by March 30.

Selected attendees will then be required to complete a “lean canvas,” a particularly accessible model for describing and organizing business ventures. Each team’s or participant’s “lean canvas” will be developed throughout the boot camp, and the end result will be a solid business plan for each social enterprise.

Steve Clark, founder of Propak Logistics and co-founder of Rockfish and Noble Impact, will serve as the boot camp’s keynote speaker. Also confirmed to serve as a speaker and mentor is Trish Flanagan, founder of Picasolar and Show Me Solar Power, and co-founder of Noble Impact.

“In Arkansas and around the world, young people are gravitating toward social entrepreneurship as a pathway to pursue the aspirations of their generation,” Clark said.

The boot camp follows in the success of the 2013 panel discussion on social entrepreneurship developed by the Institute and the Clinton School.

“This concept of doing well by doing good, of businesses designed to have a positive social impact, has the potential to be an important part of our state’s future,” said Dr. Marta Loyd, executive director of the Institute. “Our partners bring immense practical experience and intellectual resources to the table. With their help, we look forward to the new enterprises that will surely be launched as a result of this program.”