Santa Clara University

In an effort to increase the reach and impact of the Global Social Benefit Incubator (GSBI) program, we are working on building a network of global partners to offer country-specific versions of the GSBI program, adapted to the unique culture, language, and needs of each region.  As a first step in building a global network, we partnered this year with Monterrey Tech (Tec de Monterrey)  to identify candidates in Mexico for Santa Clara's GSBI program and to enable local mentors from Mexico City to accompany the selected social entrepreneurs through the one year program.  We are excited to have Mario Martinez of Sabbia Telecom and Margarita Barney of GRUPEDSAC, along with their mentors Vernonica Tena and Luis Alberto Rodriguez, atttend this year's GSBI with the sponsorship of Monterrey Tech.

In Taipei, Dr. Bernard Li, President of Fu-Jen University, offered us a warm welcome and emphasized his commitment to supporting social entrepreneurship.  Jim, Vicky and Elizabeth Hausler of Build Change (GSBI '07, Tech Award '08) spoke at a conference on Social Entrepreneurship & the Social Enterprise Ecosystem sponsored by Fu-Jen.  Approximately 140 participants from Taiwan, Hong Kong and Mainland China participated in the workshop, which was held in conjunction with a series of faculty research presentations on the topic of social entrepreneurship.  Participants from the university, NGOs, the social investment community, foundations and corporations were actively engaged in discussions about how to build a supportive ecosystem for social entrepreneurship in Taiwan and the greater China region.  Dr. Micheal Lee, incoming Business School Dean at Fu-Jen and also incoming President of the International Association of Jesuit Business Schools (IAJBS), offered strong support for the GSBI program at the recent IAJBS meeting in Jamshedpur, India.

Ateneo de Manila University is currently undertaking a strategic planning project to integrate various social entrepreneurship initiatives within the university and to plan future activities.  Our visit there began with an interesting discussion with university president Fr. Bienvenido Nebres, S.J., who described plans for the university's sesquicentennial celebration that include a major address by the new Superior General of the Jesuits, Father Nicholas, and a university wide focus on the theme of "nation building."  Social entrepreneurship figures to play a pivotal role in the work of the university, with faculty from across the disciplines engaged in new collaborations with grass roots ventures focused on transformative change.   Jim and Vicky met with a team from Ateneo to share information on our GSBI program as an input to their planning process.  The trip to Manila also gave Jim & Vicky the unique opportunity to visit some communities built by Gawad Kalinga, a non-profit organization with a vision of "a slum-free, squatter-free nation... providing land for the landless, homes for the homeless, food for the hungry and ...dignity and peace for every Filipino".  It was remarkable to see the clean, colorful homes built in partnership with donors, volunteers and homeowners and to hear the stories of how, by providing homes and building communities, GK is changing the lives of thousands of families.  The Ateneo community provides strong support for Gawad Kalinga, whose efforts are a clear match with Ateneo's current university-wide theme of "nation building."