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Monthly Programs - December 14, 2010

WPI Venture Forum
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Campus Center - Odeum Room
Doors open for networking: 5:30 p.m.
Meeting: 6:30 – 8:30 p.m.
Cost: Free for members, $15 for WPI alumni and past case presenters, $30 general public
Pre-registration 
Parking

Topic: Social Entrepreneurship

Do Well by Doing Good

All entrepreneurs believe their idea and their business will change the future. Social entrepreneurs want their ideas to change the world, and they are establishing alternative organizations in growing numbers to effect sustainable social change.  At the December 14 WPI Venture Forum meeting, keynote speaker John R. Whitman, PhD, lecturer in entrepreneurship at the F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business at Babson College, will address the “triple bottom line” that social entrepreneurs evaluate, expanded measures of how organizational success affects people, planet and profits.

Whitman’s research explores how these organizations, such as cooperatives, nonprofit organizations, social businesses, and philanthropic foundations, create both economic and social value.  His career includes innovating international environmental programs through the Smithsonian Institution, United Nations specialized agencies, and the private sector; starting and selling an international software tools development company; conducting studies of customer satisfaction in profit and nonprofit venues, including higher education; designing a Museum of Public Health for Boston; and designing a new initiative in the Open Educational Resources movement utilizing Open CourseWare technology.

As part of his business development advisory experience, Whitman has served as a CEO mentor to a number of technology startups through the Cambridge Business Development Center and has served on the boards of, or advisor to various entrepreneurial ventures. He also teaches graduate level Social Entrepreneurship at the Harvard University Extension School. He has authored many professional articles and has co-authored a book. 

Case Presentation: Waste2Watts, LLC

Waste 2 Watts creates innovative products to meet the growing energy demands of the developing world.  Based in Atlanta, the company recycles electronic waste produced by the global economy into a low-cost alternative to back-up power supplies.  Their initial product, the Cell Saver, uses recycled computer components and old lead acid batteries to generate power during the frequent power outages experienced in developing countries.  The company won second prize in the Dell Social Innovation Prize competition and Georgia Tech’s GreenGuard Sustainability Award. Those awards are funding the start-up. 

Presenting the case will be James Molini, president and co-founder of Waste2Watts.   His volunteer experience in the developing world led to working with non-profit organizations like Atlanta’s MedShare International to improve the delivery of medical device donations to developing countries.  Molini also has medical device sales experience as a clinical sales specialist in St. Jude Medical’s tenured Cardiac Surgery Division.  Currently a soldier in the Army Reserve, he graduated with a B.S. degree in biomedical engineering from Georgia Tech. 

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Last modified: December 17, 2010 17:20:30