Join business owners and social entrepreneurs as they discuss the day-to-day challenges of running a business that has a positive impact on the community and environment. The day will begin with an inspirational message from Yasmine Mustafa, who will share stories from her journey to becoming a successful entrepreneur. Then choose from two Breakout Sessions designed to provide practical takeaways you can implement immediately. Next, an interactive working lunch gives attendees the opportunity to learn from a specific business challenge presented by a fellow business owner. Finally, participants can hear firsthand about the strides SBN is making for small business owners in the policy and advocacy arenas.
All in all, the combination of a supportive environment and a practical, problem-solving format will enable participants to acquire a rich portfolio of skills, a smarter plan for growing their organization, and a network of contacts to support their enterprise.
Who will be there? SVI participants are first or second-stage entrepreneurs who face challenges in growing an enterprise while maintaining a social mission.
Schedule
8:00 – 8:45 a.m.: Continental Breakfast
9:00 – 10:00 a.m.: Plenary Session, Yasmine Mustafa
10:15 – 11:30 a.m.
- Breakout Session 1: Entrepreneur’s Office Hours: Navigating Resources for the Small Business
- Breakout Session 2: Personal Branding: Telling Your Story in the Digital Age
11:45 a.m. – 1:15 p.m.: True Confessions Workshop: Learn from the Challenges of Your Fellow Social Entrepreneurs (bag lunch served)
1:15 – 1:30 p.m.: Break
1:30 – 2:30 p.m.: SBN Policy and Advocacy Update: How to Get Involved
Full Program
9:00 – 10:00 a.m. Plenary Session Yasmine Mustafa
Multifaceted entrepreneur Yasmine Mustafa will kick off the day by sharing the inspirational journey that brought her to found ROAR for Good. She will discuss specific challenges faced and offer advice for attendees as they pursue a similar path toward the realization of their own dreams.
Yasmine Mustafa founded 123LinkIt in 2009, a blog advertising company in Philadelphia that was acquired in late 2011. She says her biggest challenge was running a tech company as a business/marketing person without a development background, which led her to start GirlDevelopIt Philly, an international organization dedicated to empowering women of diverse backgrounds to learn how to develop software. In May of 2013, Yasmine traveled South America solo for six months – a transformative trip that opened her eyes about herself, vagabonding, and women’s issues. Her current company is called ROAR for Good (ROARfor Good.com) and utilizes fashionable safety accessories, mobile technology, and educational programs to empower women to feel safer in cities and college campuses.
10:15 – 11:30 a.m. Breakout Session 1, Entrepreneur’s Office Hours: Navigating Resources for the Small Business Todd Baylson, Diana Lu
Many entrepreneurs, firms, and businesses don’t know about the City’s programs and efforts to be supportive. This session will help local businesses, especially smaller firms and individuals, to learn about resources from the City of Philadelphia including: information on funding and grant opportunities, low or no interest loans through the Kiva program and Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses. Additionally, attendees will learn about City contract opportunities because, depending on what you do, the City could be a good client to help grow your business.
Todd Baylson currently works on technology-related procurement for the City of Philadelphia. He has worked on a diverse range of community engagement and capacity building projects in government, nonprofit, and small business settings including community greening, good government policy work, urban planning and civic technology. He lives in the East Falls section of Philadelphia and is currently the chair of his local civic organization Zoning Committee.
Diana Lu is an urban planner with several years of experience in economic development and community engagement. She currently serves as the Director of Partnerships and Outreach for 10,000 Small Businesses Philadelphia. Locally, Diana serves on boards and committees of several great organizations including Women’s Community Revitalization Project, Entrepreneurs Forum of Greater Philadelphia, Young Involved Philadelphia, Minority Enterprise Development Week, Community Design Collaborative, and the Asian American Chamber of Commerce of Greater Philadelphia.
10:15 – 11:30 a.m. Breakout Session 2, Personal Branding: Telling Your Story in the Digital Age Orly Zeewy
New companies struggle with how to successfully promote and market themselves and often wait too long to do anything because they believe they have to grow big enough to have the resources before they can start. But this is not true! In the early days of your business, marketing is about building the founder’s personal brand. A strong personal brand is key to building brand awareness and credibility for both the founder and the company. This breakout session will touch on the critical building blocks of early marketing for young companies and is recommended for business owners with a minimum of 2 years in business. Emerging business owners will walk away with a short overview of proven techniques for establishing and building trust for their company and what early days marketing should look like.
Orly started a brand consulting practice in 2002 to help companies and organizations uncover their unique stories and produce relevant online content and messaging. Prior to starting her practice, Orly was Senior Design Manager for the Vanguard Group where she directed all of the marketing materials for Vanguard’s largest institutional clients and managed an operating budget that included $10 million in printing. From 1986-2000, Orly ran the award-winning Zeewy Design and Marketing Communications and led comprehensive marketing programs for clients such as CIGNA, Kraft General Foods, Prince Manufacturing, Inc., Morris, Nichols, Arsht and Tunnell and Villanova University.
Orly is a former lead speaker for the Smart Talk series at University City Science Center and guest lecturer at Wharton. She has taught at The University of the Arts, Temple University, The Haub School of Business at St. Joseph’s University and at The University of Pennsylvania School of Arts and Sciences. She teaches at The Charles D. Close School of Entrepreneurship at Drexel University and in the College of Design, Engineering and Commerce (DEC) at Philadelphia University.
Orly is a graduate of The University of Cincinnati College of Arts and Sciences, BA, Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa and holds a BS in Graphic Design from The University of Cincinnati College of Design, Architecture and Art, one of the top ten design programs in the country. She holds an MBA in Strategic Design from Philadelphia University, the first program of its kind on the East Coast.
11:45 a.m. – 1:15 p.m. True Confessions Workshop: Solutions for Progress (SfP) Christopher Jacobs
Please note a bagged lunch will be served during this workshop.
Founded in 1992 as a public policy consulting firm, SfP today is a mission-driven PA-registered Benefit Corporation that combines technology and public policy with a commitment to community outreach to deliver practical solutions to the complex problems of poverty— moving households from Crisis to Choice. SfP develops and operates a set of cloud-based services that enable outreach partners to help low- and moderate-income individuals and families stabilize through enhanced access to federal, state, and local work and income supports, obtain assistance in job preparedness, and build and manage financial assets. The company was recognized as one of the top 10 US companies in B Lab’s 2013 list of the “Most Important Corporations For the World."
This session will explore critical issues that the company has faced and some with which it still wrestles, such as: How do you build and maintain an enduring culture that reflects the mission as you respond to a frequently changing marketplace? Is there a sustainable place for a small (up to 100 people) private sector company in a sector dominated by government, large systems companies and national non-profits? How do you balance investment in existing staff, new staff and new skills, and infrastructure?
Chris Jacobs is SfP’s CEO to which he brings more than thirty years’ experience in the international information and communications technology industry, with an emphasis on marketing, operational management, strategic planning, and capital formation. He has made major leadership contributions in Fortune 100 companies, entrepreneurial ventures, and international consortia in Eastern and Western Europe, Asia, Australia and the U.S. He is recognized for his ability to communicate complex issues understandably and is a successful author of “Change Management and the Momentum of Open Systems (Prentice Hall) and "Discovering OMNIPoint — A Common Approach to the Integrated Management of Networked Information Systems" (Prentice Hall, more than 30,000 copies sold). Chris served on the Technology Leadership Group in the City of Philadelphia Mayor’s Private Sector Task Force on Management & Productivity and spent several years as a Portfolio Manager for Ben Franklin Technology Partners prior to joining SfP as COO in 2007. Chris has a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Wolverhampton (U.K.).
1:30 – 2:30 p.m. SBN Good Economy Challenge: Putting Policy into Action Saleem Chapman
This session is your opportunity to not only hear about and understand the initiatives SBN is advancing on the policy front, but to learn how to get more involved in making change happen. SBN Policy and Advocacy Manager Saleem Chapman will outline the organization’s policy agenda, highlighting specific ways in which members of our community can get more engaged.
Saleem Chapman leads SBN’s policy and advocacy function, including advancing the SBN Good Economy Challenge by engaging members in the campaign, mobilizing and building support amongst SBN’s organizational allies, and working with policy-makers to implement our recommended policies. Saleem is also working to keep SBN engaged in other policy discussions pertinent to building a sustainable economy in the region. Saleem brings significant experience in government relations and public policy and most recently worked as Director of Strategy and Policy for the Clean Air Council (CAC). Saleem holds a Bachelor’s in Biomedical Engineering from Drexel University, as well as a Bachelor’s in Political Science and a Master's in Public Administration, both from Penn State University.