FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Susan Musinsky,
617-492-2305
Social Innovation Forum
smusinsky@socialinnovationforum.org
smusinsky@socialinnovationforum.org
The Boston Scholars Program Selected
as Finalist for
2009 Social Innovator Award
The Social Innovation Forum has named 29 nonprofit organizations as finalists competing for six $100,000 awards of cash and support services
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS—The Social Innovation Forum, a Root Cause initiative, has selected The Boston Scholars Program as one of 29 innovative, results-oriented nonprofit organizations competing to receive access to over $100,000 in cash and services. More than 60 leaders in business, philanthropy, and the nonprofit sector reviewed over 120 applications for the 2009 Social Innovator Award. The six Social Innovators will be announced and celebrated during an evening event in Cambridge on Tuesday, December 9, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
Chris Gabrieli, a Social Investor and Chairman of Mass2020, explains the Forum’s model: "We are all looking for nonprofit organizations we can invest in with confidence. The Social Innovation Forum is a unique and impressive program that provides a great opportunity to learn, leverage our resources, and meet dynamic social entrepreneurs who are making a real difference in our communities."
Through its in-depth work in the Boston community, the Boston Scholars Program opens doors for disadvantaged youth through educational opportunity. They achieve their mission by granting low-income Boston-area students with scholarships to attend challenging tuition-based high schools. Secondly, the Boston Scholars Program matches each Scholar with a mentor from the Boston professional community. Thirdly, Boston Scholars Program offers leadership development opportunities to their Scholars. Overall, they provide the positive influences necessary to guide their Scholars to open up a world of new opportunities previously not thought possible. In 2008, Boston Scholars announced that 100% of the pioneering Boston Scholars, admitted in 2004, enrolled in colleges in 2008.
The Social Innovation Forum accelerates the development of enduring solutions to social problems by directing an alternative flow of local resources to innovative, results-oriented nonprofit organizations striving for efficiency, effectiveness and sustainability. The annual Showcase Event in the spring provides a unique opportunity for up-and-coming organizations to gain visibility and expand their networks. For 2009, the Social Innovation Forum has partnered with leading local foundations to feature six Social Issue Tracks. With these track partners, the Forum aims to identify highly effective approaches to address Greater Boston’s most pressing social issues and to initiate discussion on how to generate enduring solutions.
The Social Innovation Forum will choose one leading organization from each Social Issue Track. These Social Innovators will be invited to present their work to local leaders in philanthropy, business, government, and academia at the Social Innovation Forum’s Showcase Event, scheduled for Tuesday, May 5, 2009.
Social Innovators also receive access to support services from the Social Innovation Forum and its partners, including:
· A five-month consulting engagement from Root Cause;
· Participation in a peer-driven business planning and capacity-building process;
· The development of an investment prospectus and a marketing-oriented PowerPoint presentation;
· Executive advising from leaders in the business community who offer one year of guidance on building relationships;
· A capacity-building project in one of three areas—technology , marketing, or human resources— provided by Common Impact;
· Communication and presentation training from the Ariel Group;
· Additional executive coaching from the graduate training program of the Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology; and
· A Service Grant from the Taproot Foundation focused on marketing, information technology, strategy management, or leadership development.
For the third year, the Social Innovation Forum’s track partners are also able to offer financial support to Social Innovators. Each organization will receive $10,000 from the sponsoring track partner, with the potential of an additional $5,000 to follow a year later upon meeting specific milestones. These cash awards, in combination with the services listed above, thus provide each chosen Innovator with access to over $100,000 in cash and services.
Root Cause is a nonprofit organization that advances enduring solutions to social and economic problems by supporting social innovators and educating social impact investors. Root Cause does this work through business planning and implementation, leadership development, research, and the creation of networks that unite the public, private, and nonprofit sectors.
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