Global Social Venture Competition

“Business Ideas and Plans” by Maureen Burke

juliana.koo — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 16:53:44 +0000

On October 15, 2007, Maureen Burke made a presentation on how to generate good ideas for ventures, how to compose a great team, and how to write a solid business plan.

Click here to view a video of the presentation (requires Windows Media Player).

Click here for a PDF of Maureen’s slides.

Click here for the 2007-2008 schedule for the Entrepreneurial Business Planning lectures. All in the New Haven area are welcome to attend.

2007 Regional Finalist: Feed Resource Recovery (Babson)

juliana.koo — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 19:29:40 +0000

Feed Resource Recovery provides the food industry cost-effective waste disposal solutions that capture and reuse valuable nutrients and energy from previously discarded food waste â€” mirroring natureâ€™s regenerative cycles. Feed Resource Recoveryâ€™s onsite waste conversion systems produce renewable energy and organic fertilizer from the food waste generated by supermarkets and restaurants. Employing the intelligence of nature, Feedâ€™s systems redefine the meaning of garbage and break the wasteful cycle of food production in the United States, where more than 40 percent of food is simply thrown away.

2007 Regional Finalist: EcoInsure (Yale)

juliana.koo — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 13:31:29 +0000

EcoInsure is a startup insurance company serving the needs of the land conservation community. Its primary product will be insurance covering the legal costs of enforcing and defending conservation easements. Conservation easements – legal agreements permanently limiting development of a property – are an increasingly popular tool for conserving private lands. However, many easement holding organizations (primarily land trusts) currently do not have the financial capacity to enforce or defend their easements in court. EcoInsure offers a product which ensures the continued use of the conservation easement as a tool for conservation.

2007 Finals Judge: Norah McVeigh

juliana.koo — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 13:00:46 +0000

Norah McVeigh has over 20 years experience serving the financial and institutional development needs of the nonprofit sector. She is currently a senior manager at the Nonprofit Finance Fund, a federally-certified Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) providing financial and advisory services to the nonprofit sector. In this position she is responsible for managing all financial products, raising loan fund capital, overseeing risk management and developing new products. During her tenure, NFFâ€™s lending business has grown dramatically; the organization has lent $150 million to over 450 organizations across the country and the loan portfolio has increased from $3.8 million to $50 million.

Before joining NFF in 1993, she was Associate Director and a Loan Specialist for the Housing Development Fund in Stamford, Connecticut. Previously, she worked for International Voluntary Services, where among other responsibilities, she administered a program in Ecuador that provided assistance to rural communities. Ms. McVeigh holds an MA in Public and Private Management from The Yale School of Management and a BS from Georgetown University. She lives in New York City with her husband, Peter Szabo (also a SOM graduate), and their two children.

2007 Regional Finalist: Planting Empowerment (Northwestern, Thunderbird)

juliana.koo — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 19:34:51 +0000

Planting Empowerment (PE) is the managing body and operator of partnerships that will invest in hardwood timber production in Panama. PE’s four founders, all former Peace Corps Volunteers who worked in rural Panama, realized that poor Panamanians’ agricultural current practices often lead to unchecked deforestation, soil degradation, and the loss of important biodiversity. By leasing the land of rural Panamanians for reforestation initiatives, PE offers them an alternative: an economic incentive not to deforest.

2007 Regional Finalist: PictureRx

juliana.koo — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 19:34:24 +0000

PictureRx simplifies health information and addresses the $73 billion problem of low health literacy.Through patent-pending software, PictureRx enables providers to quickly produce Picture Prescription Cards, which use pictures to help patients understand what they’re taking, how to take it, and what it’s for. In the process, PictureRx improves adherence and reduces medication errors.

2007 Regional Finalist: Innovators in HOPE (Duke)

juliana.koo — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 19:32:09 +0000

Innovators in HOPE, was formed in October 2007 as team to compete in the Duke Universityâ€™s 2007 Engineering World Health CURES Competition (CURES). According to leading research on investment in global health, the highest burden of disease in low and middle income countries is caused by low birth-weight, prematurity, and birth trauma. Through the development and sale of the HOPE Incubator, our vision is to save lives and prevent infant illness in these countries. Developed by an interdisciplinary team of graduate students from Duke, together with the technical assistance of 15 bioengineering undergraduate students and the guidance of a host of professionals from medical, engineering and business communities, the HOPE Incubator seeks to provide Least Developed Countries with infant incubation technology that is radically more affordable than the available alternatives and extremely effective for our target population. The HOPE Incubator will comply with all essential features for the adequate medical care of infants while also being battery powered, more easily repaired, and significantly less expensive than the new, used, and refurbished units currently found in developing world hospitals and clinics.

2007 Finals Judge: Michael Havard

juliana.koo — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 16:08:38 +0000

Michael began his career as a corporate banker with Bank of Boston. Following business school, his interest in brand management lead him to join Kraft General Foods as an Assistant Brand Manager in 1990, where he spent nine years in a series of positions of increased responsibility in brand management, new product development and strategy. He helped deliver strong business results on such brands as Stove Top(R), Shake N Bake(R), Cool Whip(R), Lenderâ€™s(R) Bagels and Bakerâ€™s(R) Chocolate. In 1998, he was promoted to a Category Business Director position in the Desserts & Snacks Division of Kraft Foods.

In 1999, he joined Newmanâ€™s Own, Inc. as Vice President, Marketing. Heâ€™s greatly enjoyed being part of a team that has continued the Companyâ€™s pattern of success by helping to deliver consistent growth in profits-for-charity. In 2006, he was promoted to a Corporate Officer of Newmanâ€™s Own, Inc.

Michael has a BA in Economics from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut and an MBA with honors from Georgetown University. He and his wife Judy live in New Canaan, Connecticut, where they both report directly to their three sons: Jack, Sam and Henry. Michael is the founder and captain of the Go-The-Distance Marathon Team that raises funds for The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp.

Semi-finals Judging

juliana.koo — Fri, 09 Mar 2007 18:57:14 +0000

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2007 Finals Judge: Arjan SchÃ¼tte

juliana.koo — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 21:38:44 +0000

Arjan SchÃ¼tte is the Associate Director of The Center for Financial Services Innovation (an affiliate of ShoreBank Corporation). He manages the Center’s investment and grant programs and works with portfolio companies and nonprofits to further their project goals. Under his direction, fund applicants more than doubled between 2004 and 2005, expanding the Center’s role and influence in its market. Mr. SchÃ¼tte is also active in the Center’s strategic and business development work.

Prior to joining CFSI in 2004, Mr. SchÃ¼tte led an array of enterprise technology development projects for clients such as Bank of America, Intel, and Target. In 2000, he founded DoTheGood, Inc., a for-profit philanthropy management company. DoTheGood innovated online workplace giving for clients including 3M, St. Paul Travelers, Lawson Software and Wells Fargo, and created an outsourced donor-advised fund platform for financial services intermediaries. In four years, DoTheGood raised funds for almost 5,000 nonprofit organizations, serving 15 corporate clients in 7 countries. As CEO, Mr. SchÃ¼tte developed the strategic direction, and led the management and sales teams.

In 1998, Mr. SchÃ¼tte received an MS from MIT’s prestigious Media Laboratory, where he was an Interval Fellow. Here, he worked with companies including Philips, Kodak, Sony and The Tribune Company, researching next generation technologies in interactive cinema, tangible media, and epistemology and learning. Mr. SchÃ¼tteâ€™s previous experience includes educational technology consulting for schools and technology providers across the country. He was a pioneer in interactive learning technology, producing one of the first interactive higher education CD-ROMs in 1993, as well as leading a team which produced a series of award-winning titles in various subjects for the K-12 market.

Arjan SchÃ¼tte is a graduate of Lewis and Clark College, where he received a BA in Philosophy and Communication.