Successful communities have, at their heart, effective social entrepreneurs: people who see needs and build new initiatives to address them. At this Forum, we ask:

• Are we doing enough to support New Zealand’s social changemakers?
• What can we learn from experience internationally – particularly the School for Social Entrepreneurs – about how best to empower social entrepreneurs to build high-impact organisations?

Supported by Pricewaterhouse Coopers, we are delighted to welcome Charlotte Young, Chair of the School for Social Entrepreneurs (UK), and Steve Lawrence, Founder of the School for Social Entrepreneurs (Australia) to join us for an interactive, conversation-based forum, bringing together leaders from community organisations, foundations, corporates and government.

There will be plenty of opportunities for active discussion and networking. In early 2010 the Centre for Social Innovation will lead a scoping project to explore the opportunity for a School for Social Entrepreneurs in New Zealand – and February’s Forum will be a chance for you to have an initial input into this process.

Please note that the forum has been designed to fit in alongside the Community Economic Development Conference taking place at Waitakere, Auckland from 9-11 February 2009, beginning at 6pm on Tuesday 9 February.

Date and time: 11am – 1pm, Tuesday 9 February 2010

Venue: Level 22, Pricewaterhouse Coopers Tower, 188 Quay St, Auckland

RSVP: To Samara Strachan as soon as possible to secure your place.

The School for Social Entrepreneurs is a stand-out model internationally for supporting social entrepreneurs. Founded in London in 1997, it is now franchised in 11 regional schools across the UK, Ireland and Australia, with other schools in development. In the UK, there are now over 400 SSE Fellows, with over 85% of all organisations established whilst at the SSE still in existence. Check out the website on www.sse.org.uk.

The School for Social Entrepreneurs (Australia) was launched in 2009 with the support of the Vincent Fairfax Foundation, the Westpac Foundation and the Federal Jobs Innovation Fund. Commencing with two Sydney cohorts in 2009, it will expand to Melbourne in 2010. Check out the website here and media coverage here.

Charlotte Young is Chair of SSE (UK). One of the UK’s leading thinkers and practitioners in the field of action learning, she has had a diverse career in corporate management development, academia, and consulting in the private, public and voluntary sector. In 1998, she helped set up SSE and ran the first two years’ programmes, and has been Chair for the last 5 years, taking SSE through a rapid growth period and developing its new social franchise model. Charlotte writes on social entrepreneurship and sustainable community development, with links to some of her more recent work below.

• Sustainable Paths to Community Development (2008) – report  and article
• Can Social Entrepreneurs Make This A Better Society? – report.

Steve Lawrence is Chief Executive of the Australian Social Innovation Exchange (www.asix.org.au), created to find fresh solutions to Australia’s social challenges through cross-sector collaboration. He also consults in social innovation and entrepreneurship. For the last 29 years, Steve has been Founder, CEO and Social Entrepreneur with WorkVentures, based in Sydney. Started with a $3000 loan, WorkVentures has annual revenues around $20million and places hundreds of unemployed Australians in jobs each year. Over the last 30 years, Steve has also played a key role in creating over 13 nonprofit organisations. They include Job Futures, United Way Sydney, Jobs Australia, Social Ventures Australia, and the School for Social Entrepreneurs Australia.

Supported by: