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Social entrepreneurship focus of 7th annual Business Luncheon
04/03/2015 11:25 am
Rockford, Ill., – The Rockford University Department of Economics, Business and Accounting will host a luncheon and program on Tuesday, May 5, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in Regents Hall, Burpee Center, Rockford University, 5050 E. State St., Rockford. Guest speaker Melissa Paulsen, Assistant Director, Gigot Center for Entrepreneurship, Mendoza College of Business, University of Notre Dame will present “The Power of the Triple Bottom Line to Bolster Communities.” Cost is $45 for individual registration, $350 table for a table of eight. Reservations are requested by Tuesday, April 28, 2015. For more information, contact Jennifer Smith at 815.394.4384 or jsmith@rockford.edu.
Paulsen’s presentation will focus on social entrepreneurship which she describes as an increasingly-important and powerful tool for social services, government, and business communities alike. The public, particularly the millennial generation, is demanding greater transparency from these varied economic actors, as well as social, environmental and financial sustainability. While this is an exciting time for social innovators building out new and creative social business models, the problems are complex and the solutions varied. Paulsen will highlight examples of successful social entrepreneurs and enterprises, and provide criteria for social services, government, and the business community to consider – whether creating, investing in, or evaluating the impact of a social enterprise model.
About the Speaker:
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Melissa Paulsen serves as director for the Gigot Center for Entrepreneurship’s social entrepreneurship program and is a concurrent instructor in the undergraduate and graduate programs. Paulsen was instrumental in design and implementation of the Gigot Center’s unique undergraduate offering, the Microventuring Certificate Program. The program incorporates microenterprise development and microfinance theory along with practical skills and tools in a domestic and developing country technical assistance setting. Her white paper detailing the program’s learning objectives, methodology and stakeholder impact has been presented at several conferences and was published in The Journal of College and Character in November 2012. Recent courses taught by Paulsen include Social Entrepreneurship, Microventure Consulting, and Entrepreneurship in Developing Countries; she also leads numerous workshops involving social and traditional entrepreneurship. Paulsen manages experiential and service-learning programs in South Africa, Haiti, Kenya, Uganda and Guatemala, among others. She has experience in business model development, nonprofit strategy, operations and consulting. She holds a master’s degree in Nonprofit Administration from the Mendoza College of Business, University of Notre Dame, and a BA in English and philosophy from Assumption College in Worcester, Massachusetts. |
Rockford University event calendar listing: The Power of the Triple Bottom Line to Bolster Communities
