DURHAM, N.C. -- Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, in conjunction with the Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship (CASE), will hold the inaugural CASE Pioneer in Social Entrepreneurship Award and Lecture at 6:30 p.m. April 1 in Fuqua’s Geneen Auditorium.

The CASE lecture and award recognizes leadership and innovation in the field of social entrepreneurship and provides a forum for honorees to share their insights and experiences. The event is free and open to the public.

This year’s CASE Award recipient will be social entrepreneur Bill Strickland, president and CEO of the Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild (MCG) and Bidwell Training Center, Inc. (BTC) in Pittsburgh. Since Strickland founded MCG in 1968, its programs have helped at-risk youth by using art to teach life skills. Today, MCG is a multidiscipline center for arts and learning that employs the visual and performing arts to educate and inspire urban youth, promote intercultural understanding and educate future leaders on the principles of entrepreneurship.

For the past five years, 80 percent of the high-risk high school students who have participated in Manchester’s after-school arts program have gone to college and 78 percent of the adults who have graduated from the vocational program have found jobs.

In 1972, Strickland also took over the Manchester community’s fledgling BTC vocational training program, transforming it into an innovative program that partners with local companies to train displaced adults for careers in the high-tech, culinary and medical fields.

MCG and BTC’s programs are regarded as a model for social change and urban development and Strickland has received national recognition for his distinguished career. Harvard Business School hails him as a "social entrepreneur." In 1998, he received the "Coming Up Taller" award from First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton. He has also received the MacArthur "Genius" award for leadership and ingenuity in the arts. In addition, Strickland has served as chairman of the Expansion Arts Panel of the National Endowment for the Arts and currently serves as a member of the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities.

During Strickland’s trip to Durham, he will meet with local community leaders active in the Duke-Durham Neighborhood Partnership to discuss this initiative.

CASE is a research and education center dedicated to promoting social entrepreneurship through a mutual learning process that engages social sector leaders, business school faculty and MBA students.

For more information, contact Beth Anderson, CASE managing director, at (919) 660-3798.

March 18, 2003


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