Social Impact Leadership Series: Founding Your Own Social Venture
- 6:30-7:15 p.m. – Networking with drinks and food
- 7:15-8:30 p.m. – Program and Q&A
- 8:30-9:30 p.m. – Networking with drinks and food
At this Social Impact Leadership Series (SILS) talk hosted by the Social Enterprise Initiative at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, we are joined by a panel of entrepreneurs working on different social and environmental issues across the globe. The session will be moderated by Linda Ginzel, Chicago Booth Clinical Professor of Managerial Psychology and founder of Kids in Danger (KID), a US-based nonprofit focused on improving the safety ofchildren’sproducts and child advocacy. Panelists include Andrea Sreshta, current Booth student and founder of Chicago-based LuminAID Labs; Francis Ngai, founder and CEO of Social Ventures Hong Kong (SVhk); and John Wood, founder of Hong Kong-based Room to Read. Before and after the SILS talk, attendees are invited to join us for a networking reception with food and drinks.
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About Kids in Danger (KID): Kids In Danger (KID) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting children by improving children’s product safety. KID was founded in 1998 by the parents of sixteen-month-old Danny Keysar who died when a portable crib collapsed around his neck in his Chicago childcare home. Although the portable crib had been recalled five years earlier, word of its danger had not reached Danny’s parents, caregiver, or a state inspector who visited the home just eight days before Danny’s death.
About LuminAID: LuminAID develops innovative, solar-powered products for humanitarian relief aid and outdoor recreation. The solar-powered LuminAID light, which in 2012 won Booth’s John Edwardson, ’72, Social New Venture Challenge, packs flat and is water-proof and inflatable, making it ideal for disaster relief efforts and areas without access to electricity.
About Social Ventures Hong Kong (SVhk): SVhk is a venture philanthropic organization focused on inventing, incubating, and investing in social start-ups that address urban challenges through sustainable and innovative business solutions. Since its establishment in 2007, SVhk has incubated over 20 portfolio ventures, among which, Mr. Ngai co-founded Green Monday (an environmental and green lifestyle initiative), Playtao Education (an afterschool education for grassroots students) and RunOurCity (community engagement through running).
About Room to Read: Room to Read envisions a world in which all children can pursue a quality education, reach their full potential, and contribute to their community and the world. Room to Read works in collaboration with communities and local governments across Asia and Africa to develop literacy skills and a habit of reading among primary school children, and support girls to complete secondary school with the life skills they’ll need to succeed in school and beyond.
About the Social Enterprise Initiative: The Social Enterprise Initiative (SEI) at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business supports the aspirations of students and alumni to impact societal issues and furthers research on how institutions help solve social problems. Through ongoing curricular development, alumni and student programming, and support of faculty pursuits, SEI builds on Chicago Booth’s commitment to rigorous analysis and its discipline-based approach to understanding organizations, markets, and policy.
