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eBay Partners With Ashoka's Changemakers to Fund Social Entrepreneurs
Ashoka's Changemakers has partnered with the eBay Foundation to help five aspiring social entrepreneurs with $50,000 in startup capital. The initiative, called "Powering Economic Opportunity: Create a World that Works" seeks to fund innovative market-based solutions that create employment opportunities for vulnerable populations.
And in this case, the early bird really does get the worm! Three early entrants have already won the early-entry prize ($1,000 each) for really being on top of their stuff and getting their submission in way ahead of the deadline. Two of them, Solar Sister and Climate Change Adaptation for Life in Semiarid Environments, have distinct environmental missions.
Not only do you have the opportunity to win startup capital, but the exposure itself is highly valuable, according to the contest organizers, and one previous winner, Matthew Alexander of Red Tierras: "we actually entered with the intent of meeting other professionals dedicated to land rights--and that, without a doubt, as been the most valuable takeaway from the competition...the prize was really just icing on the cake."
The deadline for entries is June 15th. Apply here!
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Scott Cooney is the author of Build a Green Small Business (McGraw-Hill), and teaches a web class on Raising Capital for Mission-Driven businesses. Scott covers green business strategy on GreenBusinessOwner.com.
Follow GreenBusinessOwner on Twitter: Twitter.com/GreenBizOwner
Scott Cooney, Principal of GreenBusinessOwner.com and author of Build a Green Small Business: Profitable Ways to Become an Ecopreneur (McGraw-Hill, November 2008), is also a serial ecopreneur who has started and grown several green businesses and consulted several other green startups. He co-founded the ReDirect Guide, a green business directory, in Salt Lake City, UT. He greened his home in Salt Lake City, including xeriscaping, an organic orchard, extra natural fiber insulation, a 1.8kW solar PV array, on-demand hot water, energy star appliances, and natural paints. He is a vegetarian, an avid cyclist, ultimate frisbee player, and surfer, and currently lives in the sunny Mission district of San Francisco. Scott is working on his second book, a look at microeconomics in the green sector. In June 2010, Scott launched GreenBusinessOwner.com, a sustainability consulting firm dedicated to providing solutions to common business problems by leveraging the power of the triple bottom line. Focused exclusively on small business, GBO's mission is to facilitate the creation and success of small, green businesses.
