NEW YORK, NY - February 15, 2008 - StartingBloc (www.startingbloc.org) a non-profit dedicated to educating and connecting socially conscious emerging leaders, is bringing together 120 innovators, from as far as Venezuela, Ethiopia, China and France to learn sustainable business practices at StartingBloc's 2008 New York Institute for Social Innovation.

The Institute for Social Innovation is a fellowship program on corporate social responsibility, social entrepreneurship, cross sector partnerships and sustainability which will kick off this Saturday, February 16 at NYU Wagner. Subsequent events will be held at The Yale School of Management and Columbia Business School. Executives at Katzenbach, Ernst & Young, The Rainforest Alliance and Echoing Green, among other pioneers in social innovation, will facilitate seminars, keynotes and workshops.

Following the Institute, StartingBloc helps place and support graduates of the program at innovative companies and social enterprises where they can put their training to work. Jared Katseff, graduated from StartingBloc in 2005 and was one of twelve StartingBloc Fellows placed at Goldman Sachs as part of a unique recruiting partnership. Leon Chen attended the 2007 London Institute and is currently at Teach First in London; while Alexis Braun took part in the 2006 Institute and is pursuing an MBA at MIT Sloan School of Management which offers StartingBloc Fellows a preferential application process.

"We now have over 675 Fellows around the world and we look forward to empowering more young leaders," said Joanna Opot, Executive Director, StartingBloc. "By connecting socially responsible individuals, StartingBloc is creating a global network that can effectively forge cross sector partnerships that tackle the social challenges affecting our communities."

StartingBloc is supported by many of the world's leaders in social innovation including Goldman Sachs, General Electric, United Way of New York City, Katzenbach, Rabobank, Ashoka Foundation, and Rudolf Steiner Foundation among others. Its institutes are held at leading academic institutions such as The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard Business School, London Business School, The Fletcher School of Tufts University, Yale School of Management, Columbia Business School and The Wagner School of Public Service at New York University.

For more information about StartingBloc and opportunities for sponsorship, please visit www.startingbloc.org.

About StartingBloc

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. www.startingbloc.org.

StartingBloc

StartingBloc

Hailed by Worldchanging.com as an organization that "produces a fun and natural synergy that compels you to 'act now' with your decision to change the world," StartingBloc is a 501(c)3 educational Fellowship program that trains and connects emerging leaders, mostly in their 20s, to create new solutions to global challenges. Participants may be leaders of their own initiatives, or change agents within larger organizations. Learn more at www.startingbloc.org.

More from StartingBloc