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At the end of next week, I will be at the University of Connecticut School of Business and the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center for their Social Enterprise and Entrepreneurship Conference.

Further information about the conference is available here, a portion of which is reproduced below:

In October 2014, Connecticut joined a growing number of states that empower for-profit corporations to expand their core missions to expressly include human rights, environmental sustainability, and other social objectives. As a new legal class of businesses, these benefit corporations join a growing range of social entrepreneurship and enterprise models that have the potential to have positive social impacts on communities in Connecticut and around the world. Designed to evaluate and enhance this potential, SE2 will feature a critical examination of the various aspects of social entrepreneurship, as well as practical guidance on the challenges and opportunities presented by the newly adopted Connecticut Benefit Corporation Act and other forms of social enterprise.

Presenters at the academic symposium on April 23 are:

  • Mystica Alexander, Bentley University
  • Norman Bishara, University of Michigan
  • Kate Cooney, Yale University
  • Lucien Dhooge, Georgia Institute of Technology
  • Gwendolyn Gordon, University of Pennsylvania
  • Gil Lan, Ryerson University
  • Diana Leyden, University of Connecticut
  • Haskell Murray, Belmont University
  • Inara Scott, Oregon State University

Presenters at the practitioner conference on April 24 are:

  • Gregg Haddad, State Representative, Connecticut General Assembly (D-Mansfield)
  • Spencer Curry & Kieran Foran, FRESH Farm Aquaponics
  • Sophie Faris, Community Development, B-Lab
  • James W. McLaughlin, Associate, Murtha Cullina LLP
  • Michelle Cote, Managing Director, Connecticut Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation
  • Mike Brady, CEO, Greyston Bakery
  • Jeff Brown, Executive Vice President, Newman’s Own Foundation
  • Justin Nash, President, Veterans Construction Services, and Founder, Til Duty is Done
  • Vishal Patel, CEO & Founder, Happy Life Coffee
  • Anselm Doering, President & CEO, EcoLogic Solutions
  • Dafna Alsheh, Production Operations Director, Ice Stone
  • Tamara Brown, Director of Sustainable Development and Community Engagement, Praxair