Alleviating Poverty Through Entrepreneurship Summit Feb. 9

Published: 2013-01-25

An opportunity for students to win $5,000 in seed money for a new social enterprise to help economically disadvantaged communities is a highlight of the 2013 Alleviating Poverty Through Entrepreneurship (APTE) Summit on Saturday, Feb. 9 in the Mershon Auditorium on the Ohio State campus. Registration begins at 8:30 a.m. Speakers and presentations are from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., followed by the Innovation Marketplace from 4 to 6 p.m.

Hosted by the Business Builders Club and supported by the Center for Entrepreneurship at Fisher, the summit features presentations from innovative leaders who work around the world to discuss their strategies or innovations and to formulate new ideas with which to battle poverty. The event brings together students, academics, practitioners, policy makers, and community members.

A social entrepreneurship business pitch competition will allow Ohio State students and recent grads to pitch their business ideas to a panel of judges for feedback and potential start-up investments. The top three finalists selected will give an elevator pitch at the summit. The grand prize winner will receive $5,000 and have an opportunity to join the Global Brigades incubator program. The second-place proposal will receive $2,000.

The Summit is immediately followed by the Innovation Marketplace, a networking expo that gives APTE attendees an opportunity to network one-on-one with social entrepreneurs. Also new this year will also be a workshop series taking place the weeks following the summit that helps APTE attendees form teams that transform visions into actionable solutions with the help of the Technology Commercialization and Knowledge Trasnfer Office (TCO).

Speakers at this year’s event include: Jim Ameduri, managing partner of HG Capital Partners and founder of the Garuna Project, which provides financial services to the working poor in Southeast Asia; Tiago Dalvi, founder of Solidarium, a Brazilian company that helps local product developers gain distribution with large companies such as Walmart; and Ted Howard of Evergreen Cooperatives, an Ohio-based initiative focused on community wealth-building strategies so low-income employees can own and grow small businesses.