Women's Social Entrepreneurship: Making a Difference in the World (Fireside Chat and Panel)

Tuesday, February 28th, 2012 • 6:30-9:00 p.m.
Frances C. Arrillaga Alumni Center
326 Galvez Street, Stanford University

Event Description
Women play an important role in traditional and social entrepreneurship around the world. As residents of the Bay Area, we are surrounded by women who are affecting global change through entrepreneurship.

Through an intimate, “fireside chat,” Sheryl O'Loughlin (Executive Director of the Center for Entrepreneurial Studies at Stanford University), will explore how four incredibly talented and influential individuals, Ruth Degolia (co-founder and Executive Director of Mercado Global), Erin Ganju (co-Founder and CEO of Room to Read), Anne Marie Burgoyne (Portfolio Director at Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation), and Jennifer Carolan (Associate Partner at NewSchools Venture Fund) have made their mark on the world of social entrepreneurship. They will highlight the power of women in this field, both domestically and internationally, discuss the different models of social entrepreneurship (non-profit, for-profit, hybrid), and explore the challenges and opportunities female entrepreneurs face.

This conversation is ideal for anyone, male or female, who is interested in learning more about the field of social entrepreneurship and meeting with like-minded individuals.

As a special bonus just for this program - bring a friend for free!  For every ticket you purchase, you can bring a friend for free.  After you buy your ticket, please email spw@stanfordalumni.org with the name of the friend who will be coming with you to the panel.

About the Panel

Ruth DeGolia is the co-founder and Executive Director of Mercado Global, a fair trade organization that empowers female artisans in Latin America by connecting them to mainstream sales opportunities in the U.S. Mercado Global’s sales and business support for women’s artisan cooperatives lift families in rural indigenous communities out of poverty and invest in local women’s leadership. Ruth began working with artisans in rural Latin America in 2002 while studying at Yale University. She worked with rural indigenous communities in Guatemala on a range of local development initiatives, including community health, education, and income-generation projects. She also conducted research for her thesis on the impact of globalization on local development.

Over the past eight years, Ruth has built an organization that began in a Yale dorm into an organization with offices in the U.S. and Guatemala. Mercado Global now provides fair wage income to hundreds of artisans and thousands of their dependents. The organization has more than doubled its sales each year since its founding, and incorporates additional artisan groups each month.

Erin Ganju is the co-founder and CEO of Room to Read, an award winning global nonprofit organization focused on literacy and gender equality in education. As CEO, Erin has been instrumental in scaling the Organization by expanding into new geographies and by being a thought leader in program design. She currently manages worldwide operations across ten program countries and seven fundraising offices, and oversees a global employee base of over 500 people.

Erin is an experienced international business development professional, having worked as vice president of business development for Dejima, Inc. and at Unilever N.V. and Goldman Sachs. She has spent extensive time working overseas, particularly in Vietnam, Hong Kong and Singapore.

Erin holds combined bachelor’s and master's degrees in international relations and economics from Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University in Washington, D.C.

Anne Marie Burgoyne is the Portfolio Director of the Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation.  In this role, she identifies and supports Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation Fellows.  The Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship invests in early-stage nonprofit organizations with start-up funding and technical support.

Before joining Draper Richards, Anne Marie was the Executive Director of United Cerebral Palsy of the Golden Gate. Prior, Anne Marie was a Roberts Enterprise Development Fund (REDF) Farber Fellow, managing social enterprise businesses at Community Gatepath, a nonprofit that supports adults with developmental disabilities.  Before entering the non-profit arena, Anne Marie was the Vice President of Service at Digital Impact, a publicly-traded email marketing company, and an Associate at Robertson Stephens, an investment banking firm.

Currently Anne Marie serves on the Boards of Scojo Foundation, Grassroot Soccer, Build Change, Genocide Intervention Network, One Acre Fund, Living Goods and RefugePoint; she is on the Advisory Councils of Net Impact and the Stanford Graduate School of Business Alumni Consulting Team and a judge for the Manhattan Institute's Annual Social Entrepreneurship Award.  She is a past board member of Little Kids Rock.

Anne Marie received her Master of Business Administration and Public Management Program certificate from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business and was selected by her peers as the recipient of the Ernest C. Arbuckle Award. She also holds a Bachelor of Arts in English and a Bachelor of Science in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania and its Wharton School, respectively.

Jennifer Carolan is an Associate Partner with NewSchools Venture Fund and co-leads the NewSchools Seed Fund, which was created to make investments in early-stage education technology companies focused on improving K-12 schools. Jennifer has been involved in NewSchools investments in BetterLesson, School of One, Education Elements and Engrade. She is an observer on the boards of Education Elements and Engrade and also serves on the board of Equal Opportunity Schools.  Before joining NewSchools, Jennifer was a secondary history teacher and a curriculum differentiation coach.  She has published on Differentiated Learning in Education Leadership and The Whole Child. Jennifer has a teaching certificate and BA in Political Science from Loyola University, and an MA in Curriculum and Teacher Education from Stanford's School of Education.

About the Moderator: Sheryl O'Loughlin

 Sheryl O'Loughlin is the Executive Director of the Center for Entrepreneurial Studies at Stanford University.  In 2007, Sheryl co-founded the Nest Collective, a next generation healthy food company with a focus on nourishing kids through its brands, Plum Organics™ and Revolution Foods™. As founding CEO, Sheryl led Nest to become an industry leader and game-changing company with national distribution.  Prior to Nest, Sheryl spent ten years at Clif Bar and Company, three of them as CEO. Sheryl spearheaded the launch of Luna Bar®, led the growth of Clif Bar and Company from $100MM to $200MM in revenue with strong profitability, and drove the company towards operationalizing a strong commitment to sustainability. Sheryl received her BBA from Michigan and MBA from Kellogg School at Northwestern.

Event Cost:
$30 SPW members/current Stanford students/alumni classes of 2002-2011
$45 Guests
$50 Event ticket + SPW Membership for 2011-2012 (new or renewal)

All ticket options include light snack, beverages, dessert, and the Program.

Parking options:

Free parking along Galvez Street or Memorial Way.  http://transportation.stanford.edu/pdf/visitor-map.pdf 

Registration:
Advance registration is required (no walk-ins accepted). Please note that SPW issues no refunds. Credit card payment and registrations will be accepted for this event online only.

Questions? Email Event Organizer Lauren Gellman, '00 at laureng@gmail.com.

See this event on Stanford Professional Women's website: http://www.stanfordwomen.org/Events.html

You can renew your membership or join SPW online at   http://www.eventbrite.com/event/1981610049