Applications Invited for Miller Center Accelerator

Follow us@ngobox

About the Organization

Miller Center is at the forefront of the global social entrepreneurship movement, with a robust track record of accelerating social enterprises since 2003.

Social entrepreneurs around the world are innovating solutions to tackle our most pressing social problems and addressing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We believe that social entrepreneurship is leading the way in transforming markets for good and ultimately propelling us to end poverty.

Our work with social entrepreneurs is creating proof points for the case that business can be a driving force for positive change. Our proven model unites the talents and expertise of our executive mentors, world-class programs, Silicon Valley’s spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship, and Santa Clara University’s Jesuit heritage of serving the poor and marginalized.

As we advance our mission, we are focused on social enterprises working in the areas of women’s economic empowerment and climate resilience for their disproportionate potential to eliminate poverty and the opportunities they provide to achieve outsized impact. By accompanying social entrepreneurs on their journeys to impact, we are committed to being part of the solution to end global poverty for the next generation.

About the Program

If you lead a mission-driven social enterprise looking to scale a proven impact model, you’ve come to the right place! Miller Center’s Silicon Valley-based, globally recognized, investment readiness accelerator helps leaders develop pathways to scale and prepare for next-level investment.

We focus on social enterprises working on women’s economic empowerment and/or climate resilience. With proven curricula and accompanied by our outstanding executive mentors and leadership coaches, together we’ll uncover and address gaps and opportunities in your business, and develop an action plan so you can achieve your vision for organizational growth.

Climate Resilience -

Social enterprises address the needs of those living in poverty who suffer disproportionately from climate change.Their climate resilience focus areas fall into one of the following three categories:

• Clean Energy — providing access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy
• Safe Water — ensuring availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation
• Climate-Smart Agriculture — implementing sustainable food production systems and resilient agricultural practices to increase productivity and production.

Women’s Economic Empowerment –

• Social enterprises that have a focus on women’s economic empowerment can be identified through one or more of the following areas (ideally all four):
• Social Enterprise Leaders: The primary participant identifies as female and is a founder, CEO, or other top-level leader with decision-making authority.
• Employees: The business model intentionally creates more jobs for women within the enterprise.
• Value Chain Contributors: The organization creates increasing business opportunities for women along its value chain (e.g., using a village sales agent model that is more amenable to women villagers’ lifestyles or buying products made by women).
• Customers: Predominantly female customers by design. In this case, “customers” refers to those who are positively impacted by the enterprise.

Program Details:

Mentor Accompaniment

• Work closely with two of our 300+ executive mentors, comprising diverse start-up founders, serial entrepreneurs, and senior executives who have honed their expertise in companies such as Apple, Google, Intel, Paypal, Cisco and others
• Leverage dedicated mentoring: 180 hours of executive mentoring that is focused, immersive, and customized to your unique business needs

Tailored Post-Accelerator Support

Access funding opportunities, investment facilitation, bespoke mentoring, leadership coaching, peer-to-peer leadership circles, dedicated support from undergraduate and graduate Santa Clara University students, and more.

Our Proven Approach

• Apply our proven methodology that combines advanced curriculum with accompaniment by experienced mentors for 6-months of structured programming — like a “mini MBA” for social entrepreneurs
• Take advantage of a free 3-year license for Sopact’s Impact Cloud, a leading impact platform for developing and tracking impact metrics
• Deep dive into feedback sessions that fully prepare you to present your plans to investors
• Prepare mock investment memos to provide investor perspectives and honest assessment of your investment readiness.

Eligibility

• A senior leader (e.g., CEO, Executive Director, Managing Director)
• Fluent in English
• Has consistent and reliable access to internet connectivity
• Has the availability to participate in the program’s 6-month duration, requiring an average of 4-6 hours/week.

Organization Requirements:

• Committed to creating positive benefits for people living in poverty, addressing one or more of the UN Sustainable Development Goals
• Is a social enterprise that is intentional about supporting women’s economic empowerment, climate resilience, or the intersection of both (see below for how Miller Center identifies women’s economic empowerment and climate resilience).
• Committed to scaling its solution far beyond current operations
• Has been operational for at least a year and is delivering products/services to customers
• Has at least $20,000 USD (or local currency equivalent) in annual earned income and is not entirely dependent on contributions or grants
• Has at least 3 paid, full-time employees (or equivalent)
• Has at least 3-months of cash runway

How to Apply

Apply by March 31 for our June cohort.

Apply now

For more information please check the Link

Tags Entrepreneurship Environment and Sustainability Women Empowerment Others