The Social Capital Markets Conference (SOCAP) has again partnered with the Gratitude Network to seek out the world’s most innovative social entrepreneurs. For the second year in a row, entrepreneurs working in the fields of education, community development, and environment/sustainability who apply for a SOCAP scholarship will be entered into the competition to win a Gratitude Award. Entrepreneur scholars receive a free full pass to SOCAP15 and admission to the pre-conference Impact Accelerator.
During the SOCAP conference, nine Gratitude Award finalists will be given the opportunity to present their ventures to over 2000 members of the SOCAP community on the main stage at Fort Mason Center in San Francisco. Four winners will be selected from those nine. Audience members at SOCAP participate in the process with their votes.
Winners receive introductions to highly influential business leaders including a Super-Mentor, plus a full year of dedicated mentorship from the Gratitude team. 2014 Super Mentors included: Matt Flannery of Kiva, Tim Brown of IDEO, Ed Catmull of Pixar Studios, and Bill Draper, Founding Partner of Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation.
The Deadline to Apply is June 30th. Submit Your Application Today
To help you better understand the Gratitude Awards categories, eligibility requirements, judging criteria, and other details–we have put together this handy guide to answer your questions.
Gratitude Award Category Descriptions
When you fill out the SOCAP15 Scholarship Application for Social Entrepreneurs, you will be asked to identify in which category you would like to be considered for a Gratitude Award. Only applicants in the categories of education, community development, and environment/sustainability will be eligible to win Gratitude Awards:
● Education: Social ventures that involve the learning process in primary, secondary, or higher education, as well as adult and distance learning.
● Community Development: Social ventures that work to develop and enhance the resilience of local communities. Areas of focus in this category include: community engagement, food security, access to clean water, substance abuse programs, micro-finance, and related locally driven initiatives.
● Environment/Sustainability: Ventures that positively impact the environment and improve the sustainability, wellbeing and health of individuals, groups, or communities.
Who Should Apply
The Gratitude Awards serves to recognize and support entrepreneurs who are working to solve the greatest social challenges of our time. If you are an entrepreneur who fits one of the categories above, and are part of a startup that has already proven you’ve got a service or product that is meaningful to a social issue and you’ve already tested it (even if only in one city or with one customer) you are encouraged to apply for the SOCAP entrepreneur scholarship and an opportunity to be selected as a Gratitude Award winner.
● Applying ventures may be non-profit or for-profit.
● Entrepreneurs and ventures may be located anywhere in the world.
● Eligible ventures have made it past the “idea” stage. We are looking for early or growth-stage ventures that are seeking funds to launch or expand their organizations.
● The category applied for must be the primary focus of the organization.
● Scholarship winners must be able to travel to SOCAP15 in San Francisco, CA on Oct 6-9, 2015.*
* Travel expenses are the responsibility of the scholarship recipient.
Last year the Gratitude Network was thrilled with the diverse, talented pool of applicants that came from the SOCAP community. The level of impact, notoriety, funding, and demonstrated innovation was impressive. Nine finalists were chosen from an inclusive pool of for-profits and nonprofit enterprises from Kenya, Brazil, Ethiopia, Rwanda, India, Nicaragua, Ghana, Argentina, Madagascar, Mexico, Australia, Singapore, locations across the U.S. and beyond. We hope that the pool of applicants in 2015 will be just as dynamic and diverse.
The Judging Process
Judging takes place in three rounds.
● First, a team at SOCAP reviews applications for scholarships and selects those applicants that meet the standards for SOCAP to receive a scholarship.
● Applications are then reviewed by The Gratitude Network team of Readers (experts in the field of social impact) who choose a set of ~30 Semi-Finalists. Semi-Finalists are notified of their selection so they can ensure preparation for attending SOCAP.
● In the final round, a panel of global expert judges (chosen by the Gratitude Network) reviews the Semi-Finalists and selects three Finalists to represent their category (Education, Community Development and Environment/Sustainability). The Gratitude panel of judges will appear on the Gratitude website during the summer and includes influential investors, philanthropists, and established social entrepreneurs.
At SOCAP15, each of the nine selected Finalists will be given the opportunity to present their ventures on the main stage (to an audience of 2000+). From these presentations and all previous materials, The Gratitude Network will select an Award Winners for each category. A fourth Gratitude Award is selected by audience choice via mobile app at SOCAP during the presentation and in the hours just following the on-stage presentation.
Award Winners will be honored on the Main Stage in front of the SOCAP audience during one of the final two days of SOCAP15.
Judging Criteria
Gratitude Award judges measure each applicant’s potential for creating transformative positive impact, including special focus on:
● Scalability: Judges will consider whether the venture is replicable and scalable.
● Innovation: Has your approach been done before, or is your product/approach/process/business model, or leadership style unique and innovative?
● Collaboration: Has your organization undertaken meaningful collaboration with a diverse group of organizations and individuals? Have the collaborations you’ve engaged in significantly contributed to the venture and or the community?
● Sustainability: Non-profits will be measured on self-sustainability and for-profits will be measured on profitability. What are the organization’s prospects for attracting funding/support and achieving sustainability/profitability?
● Leadership: Judges measure the leadership of each enterprise, in terms of strength, experience, and credentials. We are looking for strong, experienced leadership that has preferably been instrumental in building a highly successful organization.
Gratitude Network Founder Randy Haykin on the Key to Increasing Impact
Leverage is the key to increasing the impact achievable by a social enterprise, according to Randy Haykin, founder of The Gratitude Network. In his article, How Mentorship Impacts Social Entrepreneurship Haykin wrote of the Gratitude Awards’ approach, “We seek out people with the drive, skills, and passion to leverage and scale the enterprises they build. Through mentorship, we help these entrepreneurs turn their ventures into something that can positively impact the lives of thousands or millions of people.”
With that goal in mind, Haykin says the Gratitude Network gives award winning entrepreneurs “access to influential people and organizations that provide the mentorship and money that helps enterprises grow.”
To get your opportunity to win a SOCAP Entrepreneur Scholarship and/or a Gratitude Award, submit your application by June 30th.
