SOCAP strives to offer diverse content across the spectrum of business and capital innovation advancing social and environmental impact. SOCAP Open is a public submission platform that helps us source suggestions directly from our community. As in past years, SOCAP16 will include interactive sessions, panel discussions, workshops, and storytelling opportunities. By proposing a session idea and/or voting, we invite you to add your unique voice to the conversation.
Submit Your SOCAP Open Proposal Here
As you plan your submission, consider the most effective, engaging format for your content idea. The SOCAP16 themes are available to help you gain an understanding of some primary areas of programming, but we always welcome a variety of topics connected to the social impact movement. Don’t forget to check out the SOCAP Open FAQs and our Tips for Crafting a Winning SOCAP Open Idea as you develop your proposal.
Teams collaborate and innovate in a constantly changing world with entrenched interests and conflicting ideas, organizational politics and complex power dynamics. Some teams succeed at it while others fail. How do the successful teams do that? How do they become productive collaborators transcending the boundaries? How do …
Program Related Investments have been around for a long time, but recently coming into vogue with among foundations and family offices seeking to find co-investors in impact investments. Recent regulations have again opened the door for private sector impact investors to add venture philanthropy as a credible …
For those living in food deserts, choosing to eat healthy is often unrealistic. For people in affluent neighborhoods, overpaying for healthy meals on-the-go is reality. What if there was another way? By taking the first step to educate and support low-income families, while ensuring access to affordable …
Disruption is “in.” Words like innovation, creativity, and transformation fill the pages of books about breaking all the rules and changing the system. This session unveils the wider story of where we are in the age of “disruptive capitalism,” how we got here, and where we’re headed. …
Every entrepreneur has gone through a period in their company’s growth that had the potential to make or break the company. This is a pivotal moment that causes every leader to question their strategy, leadership, decisions and future. Ultimately, they find the solution through focusing on their …
Today, 1 in 6 people in the US is Latino. Many Latinos work under “no-matter-what” circumstances- they strive, endure, and have an uncanny ability to fearlessly navigate bilingual, multicultural settings—an advantage in a global economy. As the number of Americans with Latino roots grows, so does the …
Despite persistent political engagement and humanitarian assistance, traditional peace building efforts world-wide often breakdown due to their failure to secure long-term, equitable and inclusive economic development. Impact Investing presents a new opportunity to directly link capital and expertise with traditionally sidelined entrepreneurs, empowering them to generate the …
Housing is a basic human need that our society struggles to provide for our most vulnerable community members, and there are myriad opportunities to innovate in the space. Come learn how One Degree and Compass Family Services teamed up to dramatically improve affordable housing in the Bay …
How can we intentionally design social enterprises to achieve impact on a large scale? Very often, solutions are either too universal or too context-specific. If we embrace the rich variety in local contexts from the start, we will develop solutions that can be adapted much quicker to …
Energy has become increasingly tantamount with development. So much so that the implementation of thematic areas of the Millennium Development Goals can be made possible only with a coherent energy strategy. This session will introduce Solar Microgrid with smart metering models promoting embedded energy strategies within larger …
Despite the rise of impact investing, and billions of dollars poured into this space, Pioneer Gap Social Entrepreneurs innovating on finding solutions to challenging social issues in poverty alleviation for poor often find themselves caught in scenario where access to patient capital is extremely hard to find. …
Entrepreneurs around the world are address pressing challenges through the creation of innovative hardware technology. We are just beginning to see the potential for hardware technology to address issues such as energy access, clean water, clean cooking and sustainable agriculture. Entrepreneurs building hardware face unique challenges to …
A lack of know-how and limited access to talent is the leading barrier to progress for social entrepreneurs around the world. The latest report from ANDE highlights that a lack of technical skills (like financial planning ) as well as soft skills (like leadership) are severely hindering …
Innovative financing is an approach to funding enterprises and interventions that optimizes positive social, environmental and financial impact. It uses all available financial and philanthropic tools to support the growth of these enterprises, interventions and entrepreneurs and, when the existing tools don’t work, it creates new ones. …
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is expected to release new Federal regulations governing payday loans, car title loans and similar predatory consumer lending products. The payday loan industry estimates that 80% of its storefronts will close if the CFPB regulations are enacted. What alternatives exist for …
More than a year after the unrest that made headlines - universities, companies, foundations, and community organizations have all stepped up with new commitments to create change and expand opportunity. Baltimore’s social entrepreneurs are also working to build an ecosystem of support for promising new ventures. From …
Important 2016 Dates
- JUNE 3
Final day to submit an idea. - JUNE 1-15
Commenting and voting period. All sessions open for voting. - JUNE 16-28
Judging panel and final selection by SOCAP16 Content Team. - JUNE 29
Winning sessions announced to session organizers.
