Existing educational and economic models are outdated.
They do not adequately prepare our young people for the future, nor do they create an adequately livable future for many people.
In our young people’s lifetimes, out of sheer necessity, social entrepreneurship will become the primary economic model for organizations, whether for-profit or non-profit, corporate or co-operative.
Who is a Social Entrepreneur?
A social entrepreneur creates sustainable social and economic value by solving problems and meeting a community’s needs.
Everyone in every discipline, career, and industry is increasingly being required - by circumstance, market forces, technology, and finite resources - to become more entrepreneurial and socially-conscious. People change careers every two to three years, and that rate of instability is likely to increase. Being adaptable, entrepreneurial, and socially-engaged is critical.
Social Entrepreneurship in Higher Education
Colleges and universities are at the forefront of change; they are educating future leaders and fostering values that will add the most value in the decades to come. Therefore, they are not only teaching, but seeking, social entrepreneurs.
SICC gives students the edge because we help them find themselves- we are committed to developing the individual through social entrepreneurship, not solely focused on the college application. The SICC team knows that admissions will not be a stressor, but instead, be an empowering experience, if the focus is on personal development and social impact.
Most top universities have begun organizing social impact career fairs. At Stanford, Cornell, Berkeley, Michigan, Northwestern, Penn, Harvard, as well as scores of other institutions from Elon University to Cleveland State University to Portland Community College, students of all majors are now encouraged and empowered to become social entrepreneurs and find careers that matter.
Social entrepreneurship or sustainability degree or certificate programs are also becoming widespread in higher education. 421 institutions offer undergraduate degrees with sustainability focus. Dozens offer degrees or programs in social entrepreneurship, including Columbia, Penn, Duke, Stanford, Northwestern, Harvard, Boston College, Carnegie Mellon, Georgetown, UC-Boulder, Loyola-Chicago, and many others.
Colleges value students who value social impact. They seek, admit, educate, and graduate social entrepreneurs– SICC will prepare you for this accelerating trend.
Questions About Terminology?
Social Entrepreneurship and SICC’s Career Social Impact© Curriculum Analysis
Careers are created - in every major - through social entrepreneurship.
For profit or not for profit, social entrepreneurs work in the arts, business, education, government, science, engineering, medicine – in any and every field. They find innovative ways to do well by doing good. They recognize the need for financial, social, and environmental sustainability. They are practical idealists. They educate, nurture, empower - animated by love for their vocation and the community they build.
Our unique model-the only one in the country- combines a social entrepreneurship curriculum with college coaching services. Our two-fold approach provides the student with:
Personalized, hands-on, long-term work with a three-person SICC team to help them apply their passions and skills to solve real world problems by developing and implementing a social entrepreneurship capstone project.
In-depth career and college matching and application services to prepare for college and beyond.
We work with you as early as 8th grade to help identify and develop your passion and interests
Our proprietary Career Social Impact™ assessment and college matching methodology helps students connect their passions with their actions in high school, through the admissions process, into college, and to launch amazing careers.
For the span of a full year, our team will work closely with you to then align your passion and interests to formulate and implement a social entrepreneurship project.
Our social entrepreneurship curriculum and expert collaborators will provide you with the resources and knowledge you need for developing your project.
As a senior, you will now be ready to use your social entrepreneurship experience towards your college application and your future career aspirations. Our 3-person team will support you through the full college application process - from conducting an in-depth analysis to recommend and identify colleges for applications, to coaching you on your essay, to applying for financial aid, to your application submission.
Curriculum Highlights
Personal Interest Assessment
Learn how your own interests and passions can lead to the most innovative ideas for social entrepreneurship ventures, as well as open doors to academic programs and institutions.
Research
Discover the connections between local issues and global impact, as well as how to model innovative social ventures and synthesize their successes into a model that works best for your identified community.
Team Building
With your SICC Team behind you, learn how to assemble a team from people you know - classmates, family, teachers, local leaders - as well as people you meet as you develop the project.
Planning
With our support, learn how to create a simple, practical, but highly effective business plan for your venture, applying your research, analytical, and creative skills, while modeling Bplans from successful ventures in the process.
Operations & Logistics
SICC helps you identify and solve problems as you face the practical issues of implementing your venture.
Marketing, Education and Advocacy
Build your abilities to advocate for your issue and educate people about your project. Develop an Elevator Pitch. Learn social media marketing and leverage your existing experience to use your platforms to advance your mission.
Finance
Develop pragmatic, achievable, and sustainable financing models, from selling your product or service to fundraising. Build and maintain budgets.
Sustainability & Scalability
Explore methods to ensure your venture is financially, socially, and environmentally sustainable. Work with the SICC team to empower other students to scale your model and seed similar ventures elsewhere.
The most valuable commodity in the world is creativity.
Creativity can't just be outsourced, outmoded or obsolete. Creativity is central to your identity.
College and career depend on your creativity. And the world needs you to discover and develop it.
Your SICC team can help you on your path from impossible to possible to probable to actual.
You have the power to turn problems into opportunities.