Social Entrepreneurship

GEW: Russell Simmons and the Race to Be

by Nathaniel Whittemore

Published November 19, 2008 @ 12:39PM PST

The premier event of Global Entrepreneurship Week USA is the Russell Simmons-hosted "Race to Be," a "creative entrepreneurship challenge," aimed at inspiring young film-makers, musicians, and fashion designers to become entrepreneurs.

Since October 2, creative artists age 18-29 have been submitting their portfolios online. Five finalists were selected in each of three categories, BE. The Story (Film), BE. The Sound (Music), BE. The Style (Fashion), and are making presentations in the next few days, as well as getting some serious professional mentorship.

What would something like this look like for social entrepreneurship? Students from anywhere submit videos and plans explaining their projects and ideas; maybe they can use a public competition commons to find resources (a la NetSquared) for their ideas; finalists are selected and they all have access to professional development and mentorship; winners are given the support and networks they need to make their projects happen? Could be cool. Maybe Change.org should host it?

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Nathaniel Whittemore Nathaniel Whittemore
Evanston, IL

Nathaniel is the founding Director of the Center for Global Engagement at Northwestern University, which works annually with hundreds of students in dozens of countries around the world through curricular programs and student project incubation.

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