Harvard College Social Enterprise Club launches new program

The Harvard College Social Enterprise Club announced a new program that will provide comprehensive support to undergraduate social purpose start-ups. Beginning in November, the Social Enterprise Incubator Program will offer skills workshops, financial assistance, an advisory network, and administrative support to selected teams of undergraduate social entrepreneurs.

The Social Enterprise Club (SEC) was founded in the spring of ’99 by a group of students frustrated with their classmates belief that the business world and social awareness were not compatible. In its first year, the SEC held 10 events aimed at dispelling this misconception. These events included a series of speakers, panel discussions, and case studies with Harvard Business School professors. In partnership with the Harvard Public Service Network and Project Health, SEC held the first New England Social Enterprise Conference last February, drawing more than 100 students.

“The Incubator idea really grew out of our events last year,” says David Rosenblatt ’02, the director of the program and a social studies concentrator. “Our speakers were literally mobbed with students asking for advice about how to start their own social enterprises. We realized that we needed to give students an opportunity to implement their visions.”

Rosenblatt and club president Mekhala Krishnamurthy ’02 have worked with Assistant Dean for Public Service Judith Kidd in developing the Incubator Program. Dean Kidd facilitated the full funding of the program by an anonymous donor earlier this fall.

For more information call David Rosenblatt at (617) 493-4401.