FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 15, 2015
Contact: Susan Daniel
[email protected]
704.442.7060
CHARLOTTE, NC – SEED20, Social Venture Partners’ (SVP) annual competition for nonprofit entrepreneurs, has just announced the SEED20 Class of 2016:
- 1sTouch
- American Pit Bull Foundation
- Arts For Life Charlotte
- Campus Pride
- Catapult Concepts
- Code for Charlotte
- Croquet Records
- Digi-Bridge
- Fashion & Compassion
- Focus Charlotte
- Gen-One Charlotte
- Girls Pursuing Science
- I AM not the MEdia
- LAWA
- NewGen Peacebuilders
- Redeeming Joy
- Southside Rides Foundation
- The Key Resale Shop
- The Male Leadership Academy of Charlotte
- Transformation Educational Services
These 20 innovators – selected from a competitive applicant pool – have compelling ideas for creating positive social change in the Charlotte region. Their ideas were selected based on innovation and potential for tangible community impact. Starting in February, the SEED20 Class of 2016 will spend seven weeks of training, coaching, and mentoring on how to succinctly and powerfully tell their story. Each nonprofit participant is teamed with business and civic leaders volunteering their time to help hone the ideas and presentations. A former SEED20 participant describing her experience shares, “At each workshop, I felt supported and lifted up – even by my competitors whom I really see as friends and compatriots now. It was an amazing experience.”
SEED20 (Social Entrepreneurs EmpowereD) aligns directly with SVP’s mission of growing and empowering the region’s vibrant social entrepreneur community. Since SEED20’s inception, SVP has coached, supported, and showcased 80 organizations and individuals and given out over $160,000 in awards to nonprofit entrepreneurs.
The SEED20 program culminates in SEED20 OnStage on April 11, 2016 — a high-energy event where up to ten members of the Class of 2016 compete to win cash awards. Each finalist makes a three-minute pitch to a panel of judges and an audience of business and nonprofit leaders, foundation executives, and other community members.
Immediately following the formal program in the Knight Theater, SVP will host a showcase reception where the audience can interact and network with all twenty SEED20 Class participants. SEED20 OnStage truly celebrates social entrepreneurs and the impact and ideas they bring to our region. “The energy and enthusiasm in the room is palpable,” said an attendee from last year’s event. “It was so exciting to hear from people making a real difference in our community.”
Tickets to this fun and inspiring event go on sale on in January 2016. Visit www.SEED20.org for details and to watch a highlight video from last year’s SEED20 OnStage.
About Social Venture Partners
Social Venture Partners (SVP) is a global network of strategic philanthropists joined by passion and purpose. SVP addresses social problems through venture philanthropy, a model of giving where its members not only provide grants, but also give their collective expertise and time to support the vital work of high-impact nonprofit organizations in Charlotte. To learn more, please visit http://www.svpcharlotte.org.
