GES is more than a conference. It offers opportunities for personal and project development before, during, and after the Summit.
The GES Experience
Comprehensive Post-Summit Support
GES 2012 offered delegates the most diverse set of outcomes opportunities yet, designed to provide resources aligned with the project’s stage (idea, planning, implementation).
GES 2012 Outcomes
Fast Forward Fund is a youth driven social venture fund, directing philanthropic capital to youth-led sustainable social venture projects. Through peer-to-peer investments, FFF offers an innovative vehicle for youth giving and a targeted source of capital for young social entrepreneurs. The GES Outcomes team will be a leading pipeline for projects to be considered by Fast Forward Fund for inclusion in their investment portfolio, which is promoted on their website and showcased internally to many of their young investors. The Outcomes team will nominate two to four exceptional projects to be further considered by Fast Forward Fund. All applicants will receive a 30-minute consulting session with a FFF team member on attracting investment and philanthropic interest.
SCNO is a student group at Northwestern University that consults with nonprofit organizations in Evanston and Chicago. Since its inception in 2008, SCNO has consulted multiple non-profits on a variety of topics, including marketing, fundraising and capital allocation, information technology, organization strategy, and operational management. SCNO will choose one delegate for a 10-week long consultation engagement. Delegates are required to stay in constant contact with SCNO throughout this period, beginning in early October. SCNO will work with the delegate to determine a specific problem and then develop comprehensive solutions.
This year we are pleased to offer an inclusive partnership with the entire GES extended community through Ashoka Changemakers, a global community that connects social innovators by providing them with networks of resources, talent, and support. All delegates, staff, and alumni are required to participate in the GES Community Changeshop, an exclusive GES community that will allow all delegates and staff to network and track their growth. Delegates should take advantage of this unique opportunity by joining the online community.
GlobalGiving is an online fundraising platform that enables individuals and companies to find and support high-impact, grassroots social and economic development projects around the world. GlobalGiving provides delegates with an innovative way to fundraise through their own personal networks while interacting with new potential donors.
GES and GlobalGiving will be teaming up again this year to provide delegates the opportunity to compete in the Fifth Annual Project Challenge. For 31 days, from May 15-June 15, participants will raise funds for their projects on the GlobalGiving website. The GES Project Challenge is an opportunity for GES delegates and alumni to raise philanthropic funds to implement their projects. The GlobalGiving team works with you to develop an online fundraising strategy to reach out to your network and more importantly, to grow these networks to raise funds.
Current delegates and alumni whose projects will be implemented within 180 days from the end of the Project Challenge (June 15) are eligible to participate.
Ms. Heller is a communication designer and business strategist with extensive experience in the field of social innovation and marketing. As the Program Chair of the Design for Social Innovation MFA at the School of Visual Arts, she focuses on harnessing the power of design to create positive change and transformation. Ms. Heller will provide two extended consultation sessions to one selected delegate. The consultations will be focused on designing an effective communication strategy and brand identity for an emerging project.
Mission Measurement is a consulting and strategy firm that helps clients improve their social impact by measuring performance, by combining traditional market research with corporate strategy. Winning delegates will receive a 30 minute consultation call to discuss how to maximize their project’s social performance. This opportunity will be only open to delegates who attended MM’s workshop, “Measuring What Matters: Social Impact Metrics,” and whose projects are at the implementation stage.
The OpenShutter Project works to represent the mission of the Global Engagement Summit through art. It strives to move beyond simplistic narratives of people, problems, and places by creating immersive media environments based on the principles of responsible media creation. By increasing awareness of the world around us and transcending barriers of language, Open Shutter hopes to inspire positive social change. This year, OpenShutter will donate proceeds from the sale of its images to sponsor one delegate’s project. In addition, updates and photos of the selected project will be featured on the OpenShutter Blog on the GES website throughout the coming year. All international and domestic projects that engage media and/or the arts are encouraged to apply.
Pivot is a volunteer organization of business professionals who offer pro-bono consulting to non-profits. Pivot will offer one year of in-depth consulting services for two implementation-stage projects. Pivot consultants will select four to five delegates for interviews during the Summit itself. The winning projects will be announced two weeks after the Summit, and Pivot will then work with the project owners to establish respective timelines for the year.
Inspire Media is a student-run organization that produces and funds socially conscious media, engaging topics on local, national, and international levels. Believing that all media platforms have the power to motivate and create social change, Inspire Media’s programming provokes discussion, engages audiences, and inspires action in the global community. Inspire Media will help several delegates create videos highlighting their individual projects. Inspire Media will take footage of the delegates while at the summit and combine that with footage the delegates provides to Inspire Media pre-summit to create videos 1-3 minutes long. Inspire Media will send the edited and completed videos to the delegates by June 1st. These professional videos can be used for marketing and promotional purposes, or as methods to enter contests and gain funding from additional outsider donors. Any delegate who has footage pertaining to their project prior to arriving at the Summit will be eligible for this opportunity. Delegates must also be willing to sacrifice some of their free time during the Summit to shoot footage with the Inspire Media team.
NextBillion.net is a website and blog bringing together the community of business leaders, social entrepreneurs, NGOs, policy makers and academics who want to explore the connection between development and enterprise. NextBillion strives to highlight the development and implementation of business strategies that open opportunities and improve the lives of the world’s approximately 4 billion low-income producers and consumers. Delegates in the planning and implementation stages may apply for a blogging opportunity with NextBillion where they will regularly update the website with content on their project’s development.
