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2007 (July/August) Roundtables: A Special Skoll Research Project

July and August, 2007 - Grantee Roundtables: "Special Skoll Research Project"

Fifteen Great Bay grantees were invited to play an integral part in a new research initiative that Kim Alter (Founding Partner, Virtue Ventures LLC and Visiting Fellow, Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship, Oxford University), and Vincent Dawans (Partner, Virtue Ventures LLC), are developing for the Skoll Foundation.

The focus of the project is to develop methodologies and resources for social enterprise through a mission accomplishment approach. Skoll has provided funding to develop a conceptual framework, case studies, and a process and resource center that is ultimately useful to practitioners yet will also serve to move the field forward. Central to the project is the design of a conceptual framework identifying and relating the many benefits and risks of the social enterprise approach on all aspects of an organization.

Great Bay grantees (in their roles as case studies) were asked in day-long workshops in Maine and New Hampshire to share their unique perspective, skills, and experience. Following the workshops, Kim and Vincent conducted site visits at the grantees’ organizations.

Advisors for this project include Elizabeth Isele of The Great Bay Foundation and representatives from the Center for the Advancement for Social Entrepreneurship (Duke University), the SEEP Network, CARE Canada, PACT, and other world-class organizations which are committed to the advancement of social enterprise. Great Bay grantees and their organizations will receive tremendous visibility with the publication of this research paper, and we are delighted that they have been invited to play such an integral role in this project.