Social Innovation Program

Go directly to the Social Innovation Program’s dedicated site.

Now in its seventh year, the Social Innovation Program is the nation’s premier model for identifying, educating and engaging our next generation of social entrepreneurs.  Over six intensive weeks, the program equips top undergraduate and graduate students drawn from a competitive national pool with the knowledge, skills, relationships and courage to formulate sustainable and scalable solutions to our most pressing social challenges.  Students engage in an intensive academic session taught by distinguished leaders in the field, and are then trained by seasoned entrepreneurs on how to address issues faced by nonprofit and private sector organizations.  Social Innovation Program students have assisted organizations in creating new business plans, conducting needs assessments, evaluating business development opportunities, and forging new partnerships. 

The Social Innovation Program has become the social sector’s pipeline for talented young leaders.  Graduates emerge prepared to apply entrepreneurial approaches to civic challenges, through nonprofit, public, or private-sector organizations. The program has documented increases of 67-313% in students’ knowledge and efficacy in twenty-five key measures of organizational leadership and social entrepreneurship.  The 2011 program is hosted by the Mason Center for Social Entrepreneurship on the Fairfax, Virginia campus of George Mason University, mere minutes from Washington, D.C.  Students will be deployed to work with organizations serving the region’s economically distressed populations.  Please note: The 2011 application deadline was March 31.

You can find more information at socialinnovationprogram.com