bigBANG! 2011 – CLEVELAND SOCIAL VENTURE PARTNERS HOSTS

CONFERENCE ON SOCIAL INNOVATION AND LEADERSHIP

Three nonprofits receive cash awards based on audience response

MIT lecturer, Peter Senge, sparks collaborative exchange

CLEVELAND – Cleveland Social Venture Partners (CSVP) – the philanthropic venture fund that supports nonprofit organizations in Cuyahoga County, Ohio – hosted bigBANG! 2011 on Friday, October 28 at CSU’s Student Center. 200 people from local nonprofits and businesses, as well as entrepreneurs, funders and thought leaders from throughout greater Cleveland, listened to Fast Pitch presentations from seven innovative Northeast Ohio nonprofits, shared their own social innovations, collaborated on leadership approaches, learned about social media, and benefited from the insights of MIT Lecturer and award-winning author, Peter Senge, whose highly interactive keynote workshop sparked a collaborative conversation to end the day. Joining The Sherwick Fund, the seed sponsor for bigBANG!, were the following sponsors: The George Gund Foundation, Fathom Online Marketing, St. Luke’s Foundation, The Doll Family Foundation, Dick Cahoon, The Foundation Center Cleveland, and the Harvard Business School Alumni Philanthropy Committee. Collaborators included Andrea Wedren of Boom, The Civic Commons, Challenge Cuyahoga, Fathom Online Marketing, Cleveland State University (both the Advanced Video Audio Production Class and the Monte Ahuja College of Business), Fresh Water Cleveland, The Fowler Center for Sustainability, Great Lakes Design Collaborative, Spark Your Brand, and UNCOMNtv.

 The audience evaluated seven Fast Pitch presentations from current CSVP grantees and finalists vying for the 2012 CSVP grantee slot. Providence House, a Crisis Nursery offering child abuse prevention services and free, voluntary emergency shelter and care to children newborn to six years old, received First Place in the Most Compelling Presentation category and a monetary award of $2500. Second Place winner and recipient of $1500, Open Doors Academy is a year-round comprehensive learning program that focuses on partnering with schools and family to help transform children’s lives. Bad Girl Ventures came in third with a cash award of $1000.

This nonprofit enables women to compete in the start-up arena by providing a competitive advantage through education and micro-loans. Four remaining Fast Pitch presenters threw hardballs of their own: Greater Cleveland Volunteers, Near West Theatre, Hard Hatted Women, and MedWish International. Open Doors Academy received the audience vote for the organization they would most likely donate to, and Bad Girl Ventures was voted the organization they would most likely volunteer for. The Fast Pitch coaches honored Terri Burgess Sandu of Hard Hatted Women with the Coaches Award for the most improved presenter and presented her with a one-year membership in the Corporate Sustainability Roundtable donated by the Cleveland State University Monte Ahuja Business School. 

The Mobile Innovation Lab harnessed the energy in the ballroom and provoked discussion about the nature of leadership and social innovation. Wireless keyboards captured the audience’s insights and projected these simultaneously, making discussions at each six-person table available for all to see.

During the lunch break, audience members streamed out to various Cleveland Food Trucks, peppered Fast Pitch presenters with questions, discussed their ideas about social innovation with The Civic Commons Mobile Engagement Studio and the Mobile Innovation Lab Cube, and explored social media concepts in Fathom’s Social Media Lounge.

Award-winning author and MIT lecturer, Peter Senge, enthralled the audience with his insights and led probing discussions of the nature of leadership and social innovation. Senge challenged traditional notions of leadership being “top down” stressing that it instead “ranges from the individual to the collective.” He urged the audience not to jump immediately into a “problem-solving mode but to really listen to each other.” He added, “Listening is linked to innovation as it opens us up to fresh ideas.” His belief in the importance of collaboration was highlighted by his approach to his workshop; rather than coming to bigBANG! with a pre-set speech, he arrived just before the Fast Pitches, stayed for the morning collaboration, and incorporated all that he heard from the Cleveland audience into his keynote presentation.

Gracefully moderating the entire day was Dan Moulthrop, Curator of Conversation at The Civic Commons. Before introducing him, CSVP’s Executive Director, Linda Springer, described CSVP’s mission of engaged philanthropy in Cleveland and of unleashing the potential of both its grantees and individual partner-donors. Posing the question “Why is innovation so important in our community?” Springer stressed that we “need to find better ways, to try new ideas, and to see what works and then replicate it. That’s innovation!”  Springer reminded the audience that “today, we celebrate the startup; we celebrate ideas transplanted to different situations; we celebrate organizations that have remained relevant for decades” through “fresh thinking and constant learning.” Springer highlighted the “seven innovative nonprofits” that are “using new solutions to solve problems right now.” 

About Cleveland Social Venture Partners

Founded in 2001, Cleveland SVP is comprised of professionals, social investors and entrepreneurs with a range of expertise and experience in business and technology who annually invest financial resources and volunteer hours to help local nonprofits. CSVP celebrates 10 years of engaged philanthropy in Cleveland and has donated thousands of hours of volunteer consulting and over $600,000 to support the following local organizations: MedWish International, which recycles unused medical supplies, sending items from the Cleveland area to the developing world; Progressive Arts Alliance, which integrates contemporary arts education into school curricula; The Intergenerational School, which educates children in flexible multi-age classes; and Family Connections, which provides programs to support families with young children. Previous investees include Youth Opportunities Unlimited, E CITY, Famicos Foundation, Adoption Network Cleveland, and Near West Theatre. With a focus on sustainability and organizational effectiveness, Cleveland SVP is unique among nonprofit funders in Northern Ohio. CSVP invites those interested in membership to visit www.csvp.org or call (216) 231-2300.