Hundreds Gather from Around the Country for Social Innovation Symposium

Last Friday, Stern opened its doors to more than two dozen experts from across the social sector as the Social Enterprise Association (SEA) hosted its first annual Social Innovation Symposium. Organized by SEA in collaboration with its social enterprise counterparts at Law School and Wagner, the sold-out symposium featured a keynote address by Chris Hughes.

Hughes, introduced by Dean Peter Henry and interviewed by Wall Street Journal senior technology editor Julia Angwin, co-founded Facebook and served as the director of online organizing for Barack Obama's 2008 campaign. His most recent venture, Jumo, brings the organizing power of social networks to the social sector, providing a platform for individuals and social organizations to interact online. Jumo has attracted an unprecedented amount of both interest and capital for a nonprofit startup, a concept unfamiliar to many on both the private and nonprofit sides of enterprise.

The symposium, titled "Ripple Effect: New Approaches to Social Innovation," was produced in a innovative collaboration between Stern's Social Enterprise Association, the Law School's Law and Social Entrepreneurship Association and Wagner's Bridge. Stern students and SEA board members Jessica Rivkin Larson (MBA '11) and Daniel Saat (MBA/MPA '13) sat on the event's Leadership Committee and designed the event to feature emerging topics in social innovation. Four breakout sessions engaged the audience on the topics of social impact bonds, bottom-of- the-pyramid impact strategies, social enterprise idea evaluation and the use of new technologies for public engagement.

Organizations represented at the symposium ranged from some of the most recognized names in the social sector, such as Ashoka, the Grameen Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation to startup innovators like Causes, Rwanda Ventures and Citizen Effect.

Interest in the first annual symposium was high from the beginning, and online ticket sales were extended twice as the event blew through ticket caps set by organizers in response to original space constraints. The more than 300 Symposium attendees included students from across NYU's graduate schools as well as practitioners from across the country.

In introducing the keynote speaker, Dean Peter Henry stressed the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration in addressing social issues and the critical importance of the role of business schools in creating leaders capable of understanding and harnessing the role of business in society. Based on the overwhelming success of the event, it is clear that not only do Stern students understand his message, but that they are already on the path to using business acumen to create positive social change.