I went through SEA Change in 2018 with Emily Lawrence. She’s starting a great company helping moms called Lilac Pack and I’m so excited to have her on the podcast because she’s so open about sharing what’s she’s learned.
[1] Currently Playing – Episode 40
Posted a podcast presenting the perfect postpartum present… spoke with Lilac Pack founder Emily Lawrence: a “moms helping moms” company, providing care packages to support women in their postpartum period. She shares her journey and her insights with some awesome tips for an entrepreneur fresh off their launch.
[2] Driving Impact
EmpowerBus Moves Boldly Ahead to Provide Upward Mobility for All. With a title like that, how can you not increase the speed limit for social impact? Aslyne Rodriguez and Jerry Tsai have been guests on the podcast with their startup EmpowerBus and they continue to grow their capabilities of connecting people with reliable on-time transportation… one of the biggest barriers for people living in low-income areas to access jobs they need to grow in their career. “What’s unique about social enterprise, is that everyone can contribute to social impact through their purchases, volunteer time, lending expertise, in a collective effort to strengthen our communities,” says Tsai, “And that’s what EmpowerBus is all about.”hi
[3] Medium for Change
Jack Graham, built Year Here, a cool fellowship program. They bring aspiring social entrepreneurs into the frontline of social problems and providing support to get off the ground. He says, “you don’t have to be rich to do good — but it helps”. Even where work in the social impact space commands lower salaries driving away top talent. An interesting argument, but I’ve also met many entrepreneurs who succeeded simply because they had no choice of failure. And some innovative ideas start because some smart people care more about the world than the dollars in their bank account.
[4] Pave a Path with Social Enterprise Alliance
Opportunities to pave a path with Social Enterprise Alliance and their scholarship for membership are open until Feb 24th. They’re a great organization supporting social entrepreneurship, with 16 chapters throughout the US. Plus they’ve got a good shop where you can buy stuff that makes an impact with Toasting Good.
[5] Social Impact Spotlight
#SocEnt highlight of the week – if you’re in Columbus, and you need some good coffee, check out Bottom’s Up – a coffee shop working to reduce infant mortality. They are on West Broad just past 315. Great atmosphere too!
[6] Start Some Good
For some immediate impact, check out this project on Start Some Good: Training rural electricians to build solar grids… in Myanmar, where roughly two-thirds of the population live without access to the national grid. (Which leads to higher costs of candles and kerosene.) This project is upgrading a local village’s grid, with solar power to reduce their costs and create a better solution. Lightbulb!