Get Ready.

Along with The Innovation Lab’s very first Woflie Tank event, The College of Business recently announced that they are hosting a Social Entrepreneurship Competition!

This goal of the competition is to design a way to raise funds in order to support significant innovations that address a social or a local problem.

The initiative can be for-profit, not-for-profit, or both. The innovations that contestants support can relate to a wide range of problems such as education, poverty, social justice, etc. and can incorporate any discipline or combination of disciplines.

This competition is in association with Lift Up Long Island (LULI) and is funded by James and Cecilia Komosinski and Simplex-Grinnell.

The submission process works as follows: by October 15th contestants have to submit a 2-page presubmission initiative description which covers (1) the team or leader submitting the initiative, (2) the problem and evidence for why it’s important, (3) the solution–what the initiative will do and how, (4) why this solution is innovative, and (5) finances–both costs and how the initiative will make or raise money.

From here a panel of distinguished Long Island social entrepreneurs and Stony Brook faculty will provide feedback and invite submissions of detailed business plans for the next round. Groups, according to their initiative, will be assigned to a mentor.

Finalists from this group will work with a mentor to develop a pitch to be presented in person to a panel of social entrepreneurs Monday, Feb. 15th 2016.

Projects will be judged according to how thorough the understanding of the problem is, how innovative it is, the social impact, sustainability, scalability, leadership and teamwork.

Prizes and dollar amounts will range between $500 to $5,000 to implement contestants’ start-ups. A total of $15,000 will be awarded depending on the winning proposals’ need for financial support.

For more information, go to http://www.innovationcenterstonybrook.com/ orhttps://www.facebook.com/liftuplongisland or contact Prof. Gerrit Wolf at Gerrit.Wolf@stonybrook.edu or Prof. Richard Chan at Richard.Chan@stonybrook.edu.

Attached is a document covering more information concerning the competition:College of Business Social Entrepreneurship Competition Announcement Fly…

Originally posted on SBU Innovation Lab Blog by Christopher Tasso.