February 21, 2007- One hundred outstanding young leaders and social entrepreneurs will gather in London this July to work with established practitioners to discuss and design scalable solutions to embedded social problems. The Global Institute for Social Innovation will bring together outstanding university students and young professionals "“ from across the globe "“ to discuss global climate change, corporate responsibility, social entrepreneurship, and sustainability.

The four day event will include case discussions with leading business school professors, seminars, keynotes, workshops on building sustainable enterprises, an opportunities fair, and a case competition. Those selected for the program, called StartingBloc Fellows, will join a growing network of committed practitioners who wish to build a more just and sustainable global economy.

Explaining the focus on both corporate responsibility and social entrepreneurship, StartingBloc Co-Founder Martin Smith noted, "Today’s social and economic problems will not be solved by one leader, one company, one sector, or one nation. We need leaders who have a common framework for understanding the role of each sector, public, private, and social, in balancing the twin goals of sustainability and growth."

Unlike other conferences and events, the Institute is the first step in a larger Fellowship program for young leaders committed to using enterprise as a force for change. Once Fellows graduate from the Institute, they have access to internships, jobs, graduate school admissions, networking events, continuing education, conferences, curriculum materials, and soon, venture funding.

The Global Institute is the first in a series of summer Institutes offered by StartingBloc in partnership with leading business schools around the world. Now offering programs in Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, and London, StartingBloc will graduate over 320 young leaders from its Institutes, representing over 250 universities and organizations, this year alone. Eight hundred leaders have graduated from the Institute in the past three years and are now working together, across sectors, to drive positive social change. Over the course of the next three years, the StartingBloc Institutes will expand across the United States and Europe. By 2010, over 3000 Fellows will graduate from the program.

The application for the Global Institute for Social Innovation is available online at www.startingbloc.org/London2007

With its world-class faculty and research initiatives, London Business School is consistently ranked as one of the top business schools in the world. The school offers a wide variety of degree and executive programs in business. London Business School’s dynamic, global, collaborative learning community comes from over 100 countries. London Business School is a truly global school, located in one of the world’s most vibrant, best-connected cities.

StartingBloc is a New York-based 501(c)3 non-profit organization. StartingBloc provides socially conscious students and young professionals with the training, experience, and networks necessary to drive social, economic, and environmental innovation through their careers and lives as engaged citizens.

StartingBloc NFP

StartingBloc NFP

StartingBloc is a New York City based 501 (c) 3 that educates, empowers and connects emerging leaders to drive positive social change across sectors. Through its programs in New York, Boston and London, StartingBloc brings the latest innovations in corporate social responsibility and social entrepreneurship to these emerging leaders. StartingBloc's curriculum is taught by executives at socially responsible businesses and innovative non profits, as well as MBA and graduate school professors. Past speakers include Barry Nalebuff, co-founder of Honest Tea; Krista Bauer, Director of General Electric's Global Programs; Judith Wicks founder of White Dog café©; Ami Dar, founder of Idealist; Jeffrey Hollender, founder of Seventh Generation; and David Bornstein, author of How to Change the World among others. The curriculum provides a global understanding on social and environmental issues, while equipping the Fellows to innovatively effect change at the local level.

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