Chinese students, come to ECSEL for free!中国学生免费美国社会性企业大会
In April 2010, the ECSEL 2010 Program will bring Chinese students to the United States for a weeklong program designed to assist aspiring social entrepreneurs on their path to building businesses that create positive change.
About the Clinton Global Initiative University
Building on the successful model of the Clinton Global Initiative, which brings together world leaders to take action on global challenges, President Clinton launched the Clinton Global Initiative University (CGI U) in 2007 to engage the next generation of leaders on college campuses around the world.
Each year, CGI U hosts a meeting for students, national youth organizations, and university officials to discuss solutions to pressing global issues. The third annual CGI U Meeting will be held at the University of Miami from April 16-18, 2010. At this meeting, nearly 1,500 attendees will come together to make a difference in CGI U’s five focus areas: Education, Environment & Climate Change, Peace, Poverty Alleviation, and Public Health.
CGI U is more than just an event. It is a growing community of young leaders who don’t just discuss the world’s challenges — they take real, concrete steps toward solving them. Throughout the year, and as a prerequisite of attending the CGI U meeting, students, youth directors, and university officials develop their own Commitments to Action: a specific plan of action that addresses a pressing challenge on their campus, in their community, or in a different part of the world.Commitments range from installing energy-efficient light bulbs to establishing campus bike share programs, from distributing life-saving water filtration kits to designing medical backpacks for nomadic doctors in Africa. Since the inaugural meeting, nearly 2,000 commitments have been made.
To learn more about CGI U, visit http://cgiu.clintonglobalinitiative.org/Page.aspx?pid=1871
What is Social Enterpise?
The field of Social Enterpise is about understanding how social and environmental problems can be solved through a business approach. In other words, it is about creating businesses whose product, service or business model has a powerful positive effect on our world.
There are a lot of different ways to solve a problem. Sometimes, it is best to form a charity organization. Other times, it is best to gather the power of the community. In others, the best solution is for the government to intervene.
However, sometimes the most effective solution to a problem is to create a business. Take the example of TOM’s Shoes. This is from the TOM’s Shoes website:
“In 2006 an American traveler, Blake Mycoskie, befriended children in Argentina and found they had no shoes to protect their feet. Wanting to help, he created TOMS Shoes, a company that would match every pair of shoes purchased with a pair of new shoes given to a child in need. One for One. Blake returned to Argentina with a group of family, friends and staff later that year with 10,000 pairs of shoes made possible by caring TOMS customers.
Since our beginning, TOMS has given over 150,000* pairs of shoes to children in need through the One for One model. Because of your support, TOMS plans to give over 300,000 pairs of shoes to children in need around the world in 2009.”
TOM’s could have started as a simple charity, getting money from donors and using that money to buy shoes. But, by using a business model instead of a charity, TOM’s was able to give away many more shoes, and the model is self-sustaining.
The best way to understand social enterprise is to learn about examples of specific businesses. Visit the “Examples” link to the left to hear about other exemplary social enterprises.
中文版:
010年4月,ECSEL 2010将支持中国学生前往美国参与一个为期一周的项目,其初衷是协助有理想的社会创业者们实现能创造社会改变的商业创意。这个项目分为两部分:
首先,我们将在加州旧金山附近的太平洋大学全球社会创业中心(GCSE)参加一个2天的定制工作坊。该工作坊让学生有机会接触在美国,中国和世界各地产生过积极的社会环境影响的前沿企业和机构领导者。学生将从他们的经历中学习并讨论社会环境问题怎样可以在中国有效地应对。学生们将前往旧金山访问一些在清洁能源,发展问题等领域有影响力的机构和组织。
之后,我们将前往佛罗里达州迈阿密参加2010克林顿全球倡议大学会议(CGI-U)。由克林顿总统在任期结束后亲自创建的基金会发起了这个会议,汇集1500名来自美国及世界各地的学生探讨世界面临的重大挑战以及每个人可以如何创造改变。学生们将与来自美国及世界各地的优秀学生以及商界、政坛和社会领域的卓越人物进行交流。
Go to this website and find more http://ecsel2010.com/about








