News
Inaugural Social Impact Forum Omaha Promises to Engage, Empower and Energize
Published: 2/19/2010
The first annual Social Impact Forum Omaha (SIFO) will be held on Friday, Feb. 26, from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Creighton University's Harper Center. This action-oriented conference will engage, empower and energize hundreds of local leaders and change makers to address the increasingly complex and connected challenges facing our community.
"Our world can seem complicated and the deeper meaning in everyday life appears to be elusive for many. SIFO is geared toward those who choose to make the world a better place through multiple avenues and from different angles," said Taylor Keen, a forum co-chair and instructor in the Social Entrepreneurship Program at Creighton University's College of Business.
The theme of the inaugural conference is "Challenge Yourself. Change Your World." A series of breakout sessions and keynote speakers will:
* Educate attendees about social enterprise and how entrepreneurial principles can affect social change.
* Provide best practices, innovative strategies, tools and information to support current social entrepreneurs.
* Inspire new social entrepreneurs and programs/projects.
* Bring people together to network, find partnership opportunities and develop support systems.
Dell Gines, another instructor in Creighton's Social Entrepreneurship Program, defined the social entrepreneur as "one who seeks to satisfy a social need by identifying a market opportunity that, when pursued, will simultaneously provide both social change and organizational revenue."
He added, "Social entrepreneurialism will place profit second to social change, which is its primary aim. While social entrepreneurialism does seek to generate organizational revenue, its ability to maximize profit will always be related and potentially limited to its primary objective of maximizing social change through market-based methods."
The cost to attend the forum is $50 general registration, $35 for nonprofit attendees and $20 for students. Session topics include: Creating a Culture of Prosperity, Moving the Mind: How the Arts and Culture Change the Community, Thinking Globally, Eating Locally: Effecting Change One Bite at A Time, and Empowering Youth Organizations Leading the Charge. Speakers include: Stephen Vogel, chief executive officer of Grameen America, and John Birge, a principal at RDG Planning & Design. To register online or view the complete forum schedule, visit www.socialimpactomaha.org.
"Our goal at SIFO is to engage those who do not know much about social entrepreneurship, empower those who want to know more, and energize the existing socially minded entrepreneurs and not-for-profit community," said Keen. "SIFO's goal is to provide a place where like-minded progressive thinkers can share their efforts and inspire one another."
Event sponsors include: Omaha Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, Creighton University, Executives without Borders, JM Web Design, Mutual of Omaha, American National Bank and RDG Planning & Design.
For more information about the event or sponsorship opportunities, contact Taylor Keen, SIFO co-chair, at (402) 960-5689.