If you are interested in social entrepreneurship, there are some courses offered through the Venture Lab this spring 2019 semester that may be of interest to you.

• If you have already started developing a venture and formed a team of more than one person, you may wish to apply for the Spring 2019 Venture Lab course. This course focuses on business model development, customer validation, and financial sustainability, so it is especially well-suited to second-year graduate students who intend to launch or scale their venture soon after completing the course. More information about eligibility, selection criteria, and the application process can be found on the Venture Lab webpage. The deadline to apply is October 4

 

If you have not yet started developing a venture or are just beginning to explore your interest in impact entrepreneurship, there are two courses offered in Spring 2019 that may be better fit:

Introduction to Social Entrepreneurship (required course for the Graduate Minor in Impact Entrepreneurship; no application required)

• This course explores entrepreneurial approaches to pressing social problems across education, economic development, health, human rights, the environment, and other domains. Students are introduced to key concepts associated with social innovation, including various steps in the entrepreneurial process: identifying an opportunity or unmet need, formulating a strategy to address the issue, identifying resources and mobilizing partners, managing growth, tracking results, and maximizing impact. In addition to exploring strategies that combine the strength of both the for-profit and nonprofit sectors, the course examines the need for public policy to help develop and sustain new activities and organizations. Cases, readings, and guest speakers advance student understanding of entrepreneurial social action in the creation of new projects, organizations, and movements.

Social Impact, Entrepreneurship and Design (elective course for the Graduate Minor in Impact Entrepreneurship; no application required)

• The Social Impact, Entrepreneurship and Design course is a good option for students who hope to launch a social venture, but have not yet clarified the unmet need they wish to address or developed a prototype in order to test their value proposition and receive feedback from their target customer. This course takes students through a design-driven process that supports them in better understanding their target industry, developing a social impact theory of change, validating assumptions, and considering different approaches to scaling. Enrollment in this course is by permission of the instructor at the time of Spring 2019 course registration in early November.

If you have any questions please feel free to reach out to Elizabeth Werbe at impactentrepreneur@newschool.edu.