University and Foundation-backed Institute Announces New Partnership in Fight Against Systemic Economic Inequality in the U.S.

medgar evers college inclusive capital.png

NEW YORK, NEW YORK (July 2, 2021) — University and foundation-backed Global Social Enterprise Institute (“GSEI” or the “Institute”) announced details today on a new partnership and expansion plans with New York City-based community, economic, and entrepreneurial development (CEED) venture Inclusive Capital, Inc. Under the new partnership agreement, GSEI will expand operations under a new name, the Inclusive Capital Institute, and will continue to support ventures and initiatives that are working to have a positive community impact and use market-based solutions to solve the most pressing challenges in communities world-wide.

Founded in 2015 by LeMoyne College’s Social Entrepreneur in Residence with support from Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, Maxwell School of Citizenship & Public Affairs, & Whitman School of Management, the Institute is now based in New York City at host institution Medgar Evers College School of Business.

Named in honor of civil rights activist Medgar Wiley Evers, the College is “one of the nation’s largest & most comprehensive Predominantly Black Institutions (PBIs).”

“We make this announcement today, on what would have been Medgar Wiley Evers 96th birthday, in order to celebrate his life, to honor his legacy, and to reaffirm our commitment to social justice,” said Institute Founder W. Michael Short. “Medgar Evers College shares our mission of empowering underserved communities through inclusive and equitable community, economic, and entrepreneurial development (CEED) initiatives and ventures.”

Photo Credit: The City University of New York

Photo Credit: The City University of New York

“To this end, we will build on our long-term collaboration with host institution Medgar Evers College as we do our part to fight systemic economic inequality and to ensure equal access to community, economic, and entrepreneurial development resources and funding opportunities  — especially in communities that are historically underserved,” said Mr. Short. “The Dean of Medgar Evers College School of Business, Dr. Jo-Ann Rolle, is one of the top entrepreneurial development experts in the world and she’s also one my favorite people to work with — she knows how to get things done and she’s a very loyal partner.”

Photo: Institute Founder W. Michael Short (far right) and Dr. Jo-Ann Rolle, PhD (center) in 2019 with International Innovators Initiative (IN2NYC) entrepreneurs at Medgar Evers College School of Business. The New York City Economic Development Corporation recognized the program as “most innovative.”

Photo: Institute Founder W. Michael Short (far right) and Dr. Jo-Ann Rolle, PhD (center) in 2019 with International Innovators Initiative (IN2NYC) entrepreneurs at Medgar Evers College School of Business. The New York City Economic Development Corporation recognized the program as “most innovative.”

Inclusive & Equitable Community, Economic, & Entrepreneurial Development Initiatives

Throughout the U.S., there is unequal access to community, economic, and entrepreneurial development (CEED) funding opportunities and resources to support entrepreneurs, freelancers, start-ups, established businesses, non-profits, social and philanthropic ventures, and community organizations. This was especially evident in the widely reported unequal access to pandemic related small business support programs and funding opportunities.

This systemic economic inequality makes already widespread and generational inequality even worse and is a major limitation on the economic vitality and competitiveness of the U.S.

“With the unprecedented wave of millions of permanent business closures in the U.S. due to the pandemic’s catastrophic economic impact, now is the time to solve the systemic economic inequality of unequal access to CEED resources and that’s a key focus of our Institute,” said Mr. Short. “If we don’t fix this now, we’ll never be be able to Build Back Better post-pandemic.”

To this end, it was announced that development efforts will continue with a growing network of university partners on the Institute’s FundingNavigator℠ Platform with SourceFunding.org, which at launch was the first online platform in the U.S. designed specifically to help entrepreneurs, small businesses, and community organizations avoid high-cost predatory online lenders and brokers by providing access to the entire network of 14,000+ low-cost, transparent, and trusted community banks, credit unions, & community development financial institutions (CDFIs) in the U.S. FundingNavigator℠ is now the largest funding platform of it’s kind in the U.S. for community, economic, & entrepreneurial development (CEED) funding opportunities and resources.

Charitable Community, Economic, & Entrepreneurial Development Initiatives

The Institute also announced the launch of a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, SourceStrategies, Inc., (SourceStrategies.us) that was established to independently continue charitable community, economic, and entrepreneurial development (CEED) initiatives and ventures originally initiated by the Institute with university and community college partners such as mentoring disabled military veterans in entrepreneurship and providing pro-bono business development services, financial literacy support, and startup technical assistance to entrepreneurs, small businesses, & non-profits in underserved & historically disenfranchised communities.

DOGE Institute: Do Only Good Everyday

The launch of DOGE Institute was also announced. DOGE is short for “do only good everyday.” DOGE Institute is the world’s first and only university-based institute focused exclusively on the philanthropic and financial literacy applications of cryptocurrency Dogecoin and market development of Dogecoin in the multi-trillion dollar philanthropic and nonprofit sectors.

Institute's FinTech Platform Featured as "Forbes Editors' Pick" for Economic Impact

sourcefunding.org united nations copy 3.png

Forbes Editors’ Pick: “Platform Aims To Level The Playing Field For Small Business”

NEW YORK CITY (MARCH 31, 2018) — Institute’s FinTech platform, SourceFunding.org, featured by Forbes.

Click here for more information.

Institute Partners on Global Corporate Social Responsibility Conference

BROOKLYN, NY (June 14-17, 2016) - The Global Social Enterprise Institute co-hosted an international conference on Corporate Social Responsibility with Medgar Evers College, Startup Africa, and partners. The multi-day event included workshops and discussions on CSR, social entrepreneurship, community economic development, impact investment, financial technology, and cooperative enterprise. The conference's keynote speaker was Faith Taylor, Senior Vice President for Corporate Social Responsibility, Wyndham Worldwide. Institute founder, W. Michael Short, spoke on three panels during the conference and announced the national launch of the Institute's SourceFunding.org financial technology platform.

medgar evers college sourcefunding

Institute Launches 'Impact Measurement Collaborative' at World Convention in Mexico City

Institute president W. Michael Short facilitated the Impact Measurement Working Group at the 2015 Bottom of the Pyramid World Convention & Expo in Mexico City December 1-3.

As was highlighted during the conference, impact measurement is crucial for all social entrepreneurs, impact oriented organizations, and economic development initiatives. To that end, impact measurement should serve as a framework guiding decision making, accountability, continual refinement, funding procurement, efforts to scale, the quantifying and conveying of value, and the demonstration of efficiency and effectiveness.

The Impact Measurement Working Group leveraged the significant talents of an array of international participants to create a global solution for all social entrepreneurs and corporates building on a unifying impact measurement framework developed by academic researchers at the Global Social Enterprise Institute and the Madden School of Business at Le Moyne College.

Click image to enlarge.

The new international initiative, known as the "Global Impact Measurement Collaborative," is working to address the lack of a uniformly accepted framework for social enterprise impact measurement in the world. The initiative was launched and announced at the 2015 BoP World Convention & Expo by the Global Social Enterprise Institute and involves 50 international social entrepreneurs and collaborators at the Clinton Foundation, EGADE Business School at Tecnológico de Monterrey, POSiBLE in Mexico, BoP Hub in Singapore, Syracuse University, University of Indiana, University of Vermont, the Madden School of Business, Le Moyne College, the State University of New York College of Environmental Science & Forestry, the New York State Small Business Development Center at Onondaga Community College, Jefferson Community College, and the School of Business at CUNY Medgar Evers College.

Join the Conversation on Twitter:

Video Highlights:

BoP World Convention 2015

Gallo Pinto Films capturó los momentos más importantes del BoP World Convention 2015. Muchas gracias a los mas de 250 asistentes por habernos acompañado durante estos tres días.

Posted by Posible México on Thursday, December 3, 2015

GSEI Announces Pilot of World's 1st Social Enterprise Financing Platform SourceFunding.org

Undergraduate students at Syracuse University's #1-ranked S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications collaborating with Newhouse alumnus and Global Social Enterprise Institute President W. Michael Short on the launch of SourceFunding.org™&nb…

Undergraduate students at Syracuse University's #1-ranked S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications collaborating with Newhouse alumnus and Global Social Enterprise Institute President W. Michael Short on the launch of SourceFunding.org™ (Photo Credit: Chloe Buccina)

SYRACUSE, NEW YORK (Nov. 5, 2015) - The Global Social Enterprise Institute, an Initiative of international consultancy Short Enterprises with offices at Le Moyne College's Madden School of Business, announced on Tuesday the launch of the world's first financing platform for high impact social entrepreneurs at Syracuse University's #1-ranked S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. The platform, known as SourceFunding.org, will streamline the small business loan application process and match high impact social entrepreneurs of all backgrounds with the qualified community banks and loan programs that are most likely to provide financing.

IMG_1936.PNG

"After 2 years of planning, development, and putting the necessary collaborative partnerships in place,  we are very pleased to be transitioning into the regional pilot phase for the SourceFunding.org platform," said Institute President W. Michael Short. "This represents an important and exciting milestone in scaling SourceFunding.org into a national and then international platform that will empower community entrepreneurs and the community banks that support them."

Entrepreneurs and organizations throughout New York State who are also members of the Institute will have exclusive access to the SourceFunding.org™ process and a dedicated Institute representative to assist with the loan application process.

What differentiates SourceFunding.org™ from existing online financing platforms, viewed by many to be "predatory lenders," is that it utilizes an innovative process tapping into the national network of 14,000 community banks in the U.S., which typically offer lower and more competitive interest rates that save applicants money. Additional benefits of SourceFunding.org™ include pursuing multiple financing opportunities simultaneously and saving considerable time, while also protecting the credit scores of entrepreneur applicants.

Featured in the Huffington Post: MBA students at Syracuse University's Martin J. Whitman School of Management collaborating with Whitman Alumnus W. Michael Short on the launch of the Global Social Enterprise Institute and his firm's 2014 Clinton Glo…

Featured in the Huffington Post: MBA students at Syracuse University's Martin J. Whitman School of Management collaborating with Whitman Alumnus W. Michael Short on the launch of the Global Social Enterprise Institute and his firm's 2014 Clinton Global Initiative-sponsored Commitment to Action empowering high impact entrepreneurs throughout the world. (Photo Credit: Aishik Barua)

Another differentiating factor is that the launch has involved a key constituency that the platform is working to support, with roughly 500 undergraduate and graduate students engaged from over a dozen institutions of higher education.

"By working with the Global Social Enterprise Institute and Newhouse alumnus W. Michael Short, we are able to offer truly unique in-class opportunities for engaged and applied scholarship for students so they're motivated to do amazing work that actually has impact within the real world," said Professor Joe Cunningham, instructor of an Advanced Public Relations Writing for the Digital World course, which is collaborating with the Institute on the launch of SourceFunding.org™. "Being able to review the real-world results of their in-class work in real time provides an incredible opportunity for my students to learn from the hard work that they are putting in, that is actually helping the world."

Syracuse University graduate students at the Martin J. Whitman School of Management collaborating with alumnus on the Global Social Enterprise Institute and the launch of SourceFunding.org. Pictured from left to right: Courtney Chapman, Ro…

Syracuse University graduate students at the Martin J. Whitman School of Management collaborating with alumnus on the Global Social Enterprise Institute and the launch of SourceFunding.org. Pictured from left to right: Courtney Chapman, Roamell Mehta, W. Michael Short, Blendrit Elezaj, and Supriya Shivananda.

Joseph Erskine, hospitality entrepreneur and volunteer with GSEI, also highlighted the Institute's focus on supporting and empowering veterans.

Institute volunteer (right) in discussions with Institute President W. Michael Short (left). (Photo Credit: EBV)

Institute volunteer (right) in discussions with Institute President W. Michael Short (left). (Photo Credit: EBV)

"As a retired officer of the U.S. Navy, it's incredibly rewarding to help facilitate collaboration between the GSEI, our partners, students, and veteran owned businesses," said Erskine. "We are particularly excited about our collaboration with Greensky Management Group, a service-disabled veteran-owned small business that is now serving as the official marketing firm for our Institute."

Short expressed his deep appreciation and gratitude to the many organizations and individuals that have contributed to the growth of the Institute and its programming.

"The progress we have made to date is a reflection of our incredible team and global network of supporters," said Short. "None of this would've been possible without the early support of people like Jim Joseph, Joe Sisko, Bill McAvoy, Diana Skurka, Janessa Price, Tracy Couto, Aishik Barua, Chandana Chandrashekar, Kim Bischoff, and all of the members of our Leadership Council."

The Institute and its funding platform are powered by international consultancy Short Enterprises and evolved out of a Clinton Global Initiative-sponsored Commitment to Action, featured in "What's Working: Small Business" by the Huffington Post in partnership with Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses, working to support the growth in the social enterprise and impact investing sectors throughout the world.

 

For more information, contact the Global Social Enterprise Institute by clicking here.

 

About the GSEI:
Headquartered in the Madden School of Business at Le Moyne College, the Institute provides an international platform for the exchange of ideas and resources for social and high impact entrepreneurs with the belief that the combined powers of capitalism and philanthropy can solve our planet's most pressing environmental, community, and economic challenges. The Institute arose from a Clinton Global Initiative-sponsored Commitment to Action spearheaded by international consultancy Short Enterprises and leverages a consortium of 250+ university and institutional collaborators. Through programming, research, community engagement initiatives, and an international network of partners and student-run university chapters, the Institute is empowering global change-makers & accelerating their impact. 

Learn More:

S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications partners with alumnus on project with Clinton Global Initiative to support entrepreneurship across the U.S. 

S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications instrumental in launch of global initiative, institute and cloud-based social enterprise accelerator