It’s all about You, Inc.: How American Universities are Teaching Entrepreneurship

August 26, 2010 – 10:33 am

Interest in entrepreneurship is growing, according to an article published yesterday in the New York Times . What’s more, the belief that entrepreneurial skills and confidence can be taught also seems to be a trend, with over 1,200 American universities offering a range of courses- from one week programmes to graduate degrees- designed to help students develop an entrepreneurial mindset and the key capabilities to make it as entrepreneurs. 

entrepreneurship- growing your business from the ground up

It is thought that the recession may be fuelling this surge of interest in entrepreneurship, encouraging people to think creatively about their choices- statistics from the Census Bureau showed that new businesses were started in 2009 at the highest level in 14 years, in spite of the weak economy.

But it’s not all just about business- organizations and universities that operate entrepreneurship courses are keen to emphasise the importance of personal development, determination and passion in entrepreneurship. Bo Fishback, vice president of  the philanthropic organization the Kauffman Foundation,  characterised entrepreneurship as  “a mentality that sees every problem out there not as a setback but as an opportunity to fix”.

By sarahsternberg | Posted in Education news | Leave a Comment

Arrival Education students go to Downing Street

August 25, 2010 – 1:53 pm

Earlier this week, deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg met with a group of students who had been mentored by Learning Launchpad’s venture Arrival Education,  to discuss the challenges that young people face on their transition into adulthood. Mr Clegg congratulated the students on their achievements,  and sought their advice on steps the government could take to improve young people’s life chances.

Nick Clegg talks to Arrival Education students

He said to the students:  “We want to hear from you what you think we can do to make more successes for you and for other young people – not just when you are at school but when you then want to go from school into work.”

This meeting not only demonstrates the success of Arrival Education as a social venture programme, but also highlights the link between social ventures, the political sphere and social policy. Successful social ventures should have a lasting and sustainable impact for their target audience, but also have wider influence, meaning that a small idea to help a few people can turn into a large-scale regional, or even national innovation.

To see more photos from the event, click here

By sarahsternberg | Posted in Portfolio news | Leave a Comment

“Education Is the Economic Issue of Our Time”

August 18, 2010 – 1:17 pm

Earlier this week, President Obama demonstrated his commitment to education, when he signed legislation that will provide fiscal relief to school districts across the US, and that will allow 160,000 teachers to keep their jobs.  This legislation was signed into law on August 10th, following a speech the President made on the future of the American economy, and its close relationship with education, at the University of Texas at Austin. In the speech, the President bemoaned the  recent decline of college graduation rates, and emphasised the connection between educational success and economic strength, stating:  “education is the economic issue of our time”.

He also stressed the moves that the Obama administration has made to make higher education more widely accessible to Americans, through financial aid, grants and improvements in community colleges, that reinforce the link between ”the skills taught in our classrooms to the needs of local businesses in the growth sectors of our economy”.

Obama’s sentiments were also echoed closer to home, by Universities and Science minister David Willetts, who, in response to the Push National Student Debt Survey, commented that university costs should be seen as an investment, as  graduates can expect to earn at least £100,000 more than non-graduates across their working lives.

The link between education, economy, and skill development is also being emphasized in the social enterprise world :  UEL and bromley-by-bow centre have launched a BA in Social Enterprise at their communiversity, in a bid to help people who do voluntary community work gain qualifications, and develop innovative approaches to tackling social problems.

All in all then, a clear and resounding message: education is an investment in the economy, in the workforce, and in social innovation.

By sarahsternberg | Posted in Education news | Tags: , , | Leave a Comment

Could Gaming be good for Young People?

August 18, 2010 – 10:59 am

Games that help young people develop resilience, positive thinking, and become engaged in active citizenship have been developed by SuperMe, an online games website inspired by the resilience resources at the School of Everything .

The website helps young people to develop skills in the areas  of  ‘wisdom’, ‘ability’, ‘influence’ and ‘connection’ through games and inspiring videos from celebrities. The project has been supported by Channel 4, and has already garnered a fair bit of press attention.

This project is interesting in its attempt to utilise activities that already appeal to a youth market (videos, celebrities, games) to promote self-improvement and cultivate reflection, ambition, and resilience in those who visit the website.

As with the ventures that the Learning Launchpad supports, the idea behind SuperMe is to engage young people on a level that will interest them, and one that isn’t condescending or patronising, and offers a programme that enables personal development in a fun and innovative way.

By sarahsternberg | Posted in Fun and games | Tags: , | Leave a Comment

Learning Launchpad on the hunt for a new intern!

July 5, 2010 – 3:32 pm

The Learning Launchpad’s exciting summer internship programme is on the hunt for brilliant young people interested in social entrepreneurship, social investing and young people to learn about the work we do at the Young Foundation.

Past interns have included:

- Manjit More, Teach First Teacher of the Year 2010, who redesigned one of our programmes Faking It based on his insight as a teacher; and delivered a workshop on the problems young people face to the top 10 finalists to the fund.

- Rajni Chandrasekhar, former Director of the Global Engagement Summit, a week-long training conference for students committed to global change that works with social entrepreneurship all over the world, who designed a Dragons’ Den to find a social entrepreneur, organised a speed networking event for our investees and became an expert at due diligence  before getting her new job at FSG Impact Advisors in the US.

- Marcus Mason, Programme Manager at the New Deal of the Mind, who came to us before embarking on a career at a social startup aiming to help young people in the arts and undertook a mapping exercise of the social enterprise sector for us.

- Sophie Byrne, currently at the Innovation Unit, who revamped our social media profile and is now working in innovation in education at one of the UK”s leading centres of excellence.

Apply here!

By cynthiaatllf | Posted in Opportunities | Leave a Comment

Enabling Enterprise Launches

June 1, 2010 – 5:45 pm

Blog post by Tom Ravenscroft, CEO of Enabling Enterprise.Enabling Enterprise is about getting practical learning and skills development into every classroom, and our official launch event on Thursday 20th May was a chance to showcase what we are up to. Seventy guests from across business, education and public sectors gathered at UBS in the heart of the City of London to celebrate our successes to date and find out more about our plans for the future.

Over welcome drinks, guests met some of the students from Paddington Academy currently involved in the Maths course. Alongside normal maths lessons, this has involved choosing a new sport for the Olympics, including carrying out and analysing market research, designing a venue, and even working out the financials and risk assessments of the project – cunningly covering data analysis, shape and space work, algebra and probability without them noticing!

Moving to the presentation room, guests heard from the Young Foundation’s Yvonne Roberts. Yvonne is the author of Grit, which raises the importance of developing the attributes and skills students need to succeed in life, as part of a balanced education. This is a core part of Enabling Enterprise’s emphasis on practical learning and skills development.

Bringing the programme alive, Amy Tillotson, a French teacher, described how using Enabling Enterprise after school had brought out her students’ entrepreneurial sides – including one student who tried to sell all of her mum’s cosmetics! Finally, one of the students on the English course, Zekel Johnson, recalled developing his persuasive techniques in a marketing workshop at UBS and using that to sell smoothies in his school.

We are currently recruiting schools who want to use any of our seven subject-specific courses over the next year, and you can find out more on our website or by emailing me direct.

By Jack Graham | Posted in Portfolio news | Tags: , | Leave a Comment

Sir Ken Robinson: Bring on the learning revolution!

May 29, 2010 – 9:22 am

Needs no introduction:

By Jack Graham | Posted in Insights | Tags: , , , | Leave a Comment

Food for Thought: recent musings from experts in the sector.

May 20, 2010 – 2:05 pm
  1. Ippr’s “Youth Tracker” report explores how Britain’s young people are fairing in the recession and what we can do to support them.
  2. UnLtd’s latest Findings Paper explores how investment in the individual and their practical solutions to problems they face generates a ‘ripple effect,’ with the potential to create significant and lasting social change.
  3. Innovation and value: new tools for local government in tough times – The Young Foundation’s Nicola Bacon writes on the need for councils to invest in growing their innovation capacity in order to avoid creating their own ‘doom loop’.
  4. “Measuring user innovation in the UK.” This NESTA report sets out to address this gap in the understanding of the role of users – including individual consumers and business firms – in processes of innovation across a range of sectors and activities. It presents findings from a world-first survey of product innovation by consumers, and from the first cross-industry survey of user process innovation by UK firms.
  5. NESTA’s Open Innovation. Big business, though its relationships with myriad suppliers customers and consumers, is vital to the UK’s economic health. Each enterprise sits at the centre of its own ecosystem, producing new value from its links with others. This report explores open innovation, a new way of strengthening these links, making them more productive, efficient and long-lasting.
  6. And just for fun, via RSA Animate, bestselling author, political adviser and social and ethical prophet Jeremy Rifkin investigates the evolution of empathy and the profound ways that it has shaped our development and our society. View the full video of Jeremy Rifkin’s talk at the RSA.
By rajnichandrasekhar | Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a Comment

Money Monthly: where it’s hidden and how to access it.

May 20, 2010 – 2:04 pm

Credit: London Business School

  1. Live UnLtd is a youth participation programme which supports Young Social Entrepreneurs to build effective delivery models, taken on marketing activities, and more. Over the next 5 years, Live UnLtd hopes to reach over 20,000 young people living in England’s most disadvantaged communities.
  2. Innovation Exchange is seeking high-potential third sector innovation projects that could participate in its new Green Next Practice programme, which will provide brokerage support to five or six third sector innovations with the potential to green public services. For more information and to apply see here. Deadline: Wednesday, 2nd June 2010.
  3. Innovation “Vouchers” up for grabs. The Welcome to the Northwest Regional Development Agency-backed scheme provides grants for firms to “purchase” academic expertise from one of the region’s colleges or universities, enabling them to work together on innovative product and process development projects.  More information here.
  4. Social lender Charity Bank is piloting a scheme to finance community projects that is similar to the private finance initiative used in many major public sector building contracts.
  5. The Better Net Awards are a new programme from UnLtd and Nominet Trust to provide individuals with funding and support to encourage the development of a safe, educational, and inclusive internet. Up to £5,000 is available to individuals, with a limited number of projects eligible to apply for up to £15,000.
  6. 02 has recently launched a new community program to help young people aged 13-25 running projects with positive impact in their local communities. Young people will be eligible for £300 cash grants, along with training, support, and mentoring from prominent UK charities.
  7. Vcashpoint is a fund giving up to £2,500 to 16-25 year olds in England with volunteering ideas inspired by the London 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games. To apply, you must show how your project will help other people, the environment, your community, and how it has been inspired by London 2010.
By rajnichandrasekhar | Posted in Opportunities, Uncategorized | Tags: , | Comments (1)

Training and Networking: get friendly with sector’s finest.

May 20, 2010 – 1:51 pm

Credit: David Jacobs

  1. Business Mentoring for Social Entrepreneurs – Social Enterprise London is working in partnership with Business in the Community (BITC) in order to provide business mentoring to social entrepreneurs at all stages of growth. For more information see here.
  2. Winning Contracts – (26 May 2010) A free 2-day training programme, helping you win more contracts.  In a changing public and private sector environment, winning contracts is tougher than ever, so Social Enterprise London’s Winning Contracts course is now more crucial than ever.
  3. “Building Social Business: The kind of capitalism that serves humanity’s most pressing needs.” — (26 May, 2010). Muhammad Yunus visits the RSA to show how social business has gone from being a theory to an inspiring practice, adopted by leading corporations, entrepreneurs and social activists across the world. 
  4. Social Firms UK and Europe Annual Conference – (1-2 June 2010). This year’s conference, ‘Harnessing the Power of Business to Change Lives’ will be taking place at Fitzwilliam College at Cambridge University, and will be co-hosted with  Social Firms Europe CEFEC.
  5. “Government, apparently is in listening mode. What do we want them to hear?” –(4 June). David Robinson, Senior Advisor at Community Links will be hosting the first Chain Reaction discussion group  in east London to share ideas in response to the new government’s proposals. 
  6. “Young people have an attitude problem” – (22 June 2010). This event with the Co-operative Community Plan explores the idea that the attitude towards young people is really the problem, and they’d like to tell you why.
  7. “The future of universities – funding and access” (24th June 2010) – This timely seminar examines the key questions of budget cuts, rising tuition fees and the availability of university places.  Book your place here.  
  8. So you wanna be in TV? – Social Enterprise Live highlights this opportunity to educate young people from disadvantaged and underprivileged backgrounds in the skills necessary for working in the television industry. Hundreds of free places will be open to young people, read more here.
  9. “Building Schools for the Future.” – (10 July 2010).  As a new Parliament begins, this seminar will assess the future of the Building Schools for the Future programme and possible changes to its scope and management in the future.
By rajnichandrasekhar | Posted in Opportunities, Uncategorized | Tags: , , , | Leave a Comment