Kingston, NY / March 19, 2019
The Global Center for Social Entrepreneurship Network (GCSEN Foundation) recently launched its Social Venture Research Institute, including an innovative Social Venture Fellowship Program for faculty, administrators and business leaders. The new program debuted on the campus of Wheaton College in Norton, MA and was supported by the leadership of Wheaton College President Dennis Hanno and the visionary Diana Davis Spencer Foundation of Bethesda, MD.
Since 2015, GCSEN has regularly conducted several highly regarded Bootcamps for college students and adult learners, and its leadership has taught Social Entrepreneurship undergraduate courses at Wheaton College (MA), SUNY New Paltz, Vassar College (Poughkeepsie, NY), and St. Peter’s University (Jersey City). GCSEN also offers online blended learning courses for those interested in creating an internship in their own Social Venture. Now, the organization has accelerated its offerings by initiating an intensive “prac-ademic” two-day Fellowship experience, specifically designed for college faculty, key administrators and business leaders.
The Social Venture Research Institute (SVRI) program features innovative learning experiences and activation methodologies and was designed in collaboration with industry thought leaders to foster the growth of “4P” social enterprises across the world: businesses that exist for the benefit of People, Planet, Profit, and Place. Key outcomes for Fellows include a deeper understanding of the field of social entrepreneurship, a grasp of hands-on tools that can be used at their respective organizations, and the addition of impactful leaders and champions to their own social entrepreneurship communities. Participants have access to the GCSEN Business Formulation Toolkit and GCSEN online courses SE 101, 102 & 103, earning a SVRI Certification upon completion, and have access to GCSEN’s life-long online support community.
GCSEN Founder & President Mike Caslin said, “SVRI is at the cutting edge of Social Entrepreneurship research, education and leadership. Every campus and business can benefit from learning what GCSEN has tested and proven, and now offers. Participants in our programs consistently rate it as a life-changing experience, with significant knowledge gains and ten-time increases in business formulation rates. The positive ripple effects our programs have on individuals and on campuses has been dramatic, and we continue to build on our successes.”
Participating in the initial SVRI Fellowship Program was Monica Dean, Smith College’s Administrative Director of its Entrepreneurship Center, who wrote, “I really enjoyed the SVRI Workshop and I look forward to continuing to participate.” Charles Venti, on the faculty of Rutgers University, wrote, “The SVRI experience has enriched my perspective in the power of Social Entrepreneurship.” Brandon Lane, Program Manager, The Met Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship, Providence, Rhode Island wrote, “Wow! What a truly magical and life-changing experience. I am excited to take the content, knowledge, and love back to our campus!” Mike Storz, President of Chapel Haven, Inc., New Haven, CT., a full service residential and community agency teaching adults to live independently said, “What an unbelievable experience! I got so much out of it, everything that I needed to bring back to my agency. I cannot thank you enough.”
Also participating were John Cary, Affiliate Associate Professor, Business School of Management, Marist College; CC Chapman, Visiting Instructor of Business Management, Wheaton College; Dawn Fregosa, Owner & CEO, professional development and career & technical educational curricula firms www.collaborativebusinessadvisors.com, www.collaborativeeducationadvisors.com; George Chris Napolitano, Lecturer, SUNY New Paltz School of Business; Jason Reuben and Moiz Reuben, Co-Founders & CEOs, Baguette Atelier; Zvia Schoenberg, Director NFTE, NY Metro Area; Michael Sheridan, Lecturer, SUNY New Paltz School of Business; Jodie Woodruff, Director, The Met Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship, Providence, Rhode Island; Jennifer Greene, Program Director, NFTE New England; Mark LeBlanc, Professor of Computer Science, Wheaton College.
With an increasing demand for Social Entrepreneurship courses and Boot Camps delivered on GCSEN’s dynamic platforms, the organization developed its Social Venture Research Institute (SVRI) for Certification of educators and administrators at schools and colleges, and for the training of administrators who work with special needs populations and agencies. SVRI brings together faculty, administrators and staff with GCSEN academics and business practitioners seeking to create greater peace and prosperity via Social Entrepreneurship education. For more information, see www.gcsen.com/svri. SVRI is also the research and publication arm of GCSEN data and whitepapers.
In 2018, GCSEN rolled out its Social Venture Internship (SVI) blended learning on-line courses with live coaching to students at Vassar College as a pilot program through its Career Development Office. SVI introduces students to career, personal development and Social Entrepreneur theories, skills and practical information, leading them to “intern” on their own sustainable Social Venture, addressing a local or global social problem. GCSEN also created the Social Venture Apprenticeship (SVA) Program for adult learners and special populations such as U.S. Veterans, the disabled, and other groupings that have unique concerns and skillsets. Each GCSEN program accelerates its participants’ abilities to “go from concept to start-up, to scale.”
GCSEN Founder & President Mike Caslin is an internationally recognized thought leader of Social Entrepreneurship, currently lecturing at SUNY New Paltz Business School (NY), and St. Peter’s University Business School (Jersey City, NJ). He is a past faculty member of Babson College, CUNY-Baruch College Zicklin School of Business, Marist College School of Business and Manhattanville College. He has spent the last three decades studying, lecturing and facilitating efforts to promote social entrepreneurship on a global scale. GCSEN’s leadership and influence in the field of Social Entrepreneurship in Higher Education continues to build, as seen in its support of Wheaton College’s successful effort in 2017 to create enhanced social entrepreneur programming, facilitated by a grant of $10M from the Diana Davis Spencer Foundation of Bethesda, MD.
Caslin is a graduate of Babson College’s prestigious Fast-Track MBA Program at the Olin Graduate School, considered one of the top-ten in the world. The Founder and President of GCSEN Foundation, he was co-founder and CEO of NFTE (Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship) from 1988-2008. Caslin has been a featured lecturer at the Harvard Business School, Stanford Graduate School of Business, Dartmouth Tuck School of Business, Columbia Univ. Business School Eugene Lang Center for Entrepreneurship, the International Association of Jesuit Business Schools Conferences, and The Fund for American Studies events, where he inspires college students annually from over seventy different campuses. Mike Caslin has also been a Subject Matter Expert Witness for the United Nations, the U.S. Congress, and The White House. The GCSEN Foundation is an IRS-approved 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization, accelerating social entrepreneurship around the world.
For more information about GCSEN, or for an interview with Mike Caslin, call 212-444-2071; e-mail mike@gcsen.com