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Join CASE for TEDx on Social Entrepreneurship

January 17, 2011

Fuqua's Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship (CASE) invites alumni to attend or view online a special evening featuring a lineup of dynamic social entrepreneurs and educators from around the world. 

As part of a recently announced partnership between Duke University and Ashoka, the global network of leading social entrepreneurs, CASE will host the first-ever national conference on social entrepreneurship in higher education on February 25-27, 2011, at the Fuqua School of Business. Entitled the "Ashoka U Exchange," the conference will draw nearly 300 faculty, administrators, and students from more than 50 colleges and universities. To kick off the conference, Duke alumni are invited to join us in person or online 4:00-8:00 p.m. on Friday, February 25, for a TEDx event featuring distinguished social entrepreneurs who have innovative ideas about the role of colleges and universities as drivers of positive social change.

Confirmed "TEDxAshokaU" speakers include Ashoka Fellow Paul Rice, founder of TransFair USA; Maya Ajmera G '93, founder of the ; Derek Ellerman, co-founder of the Polaris Project; Kevin Trapani T '79, President and CEO of the Redwoods Group; Craig Wing, Executive Director of CleanTech U; Parag Gupta, founder of Waste Ventures; and Kimberly Jenkins T '76, G '77, G '80, serial entrepreneur and Duke Senior Advisor to the President and Provost for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, among others.  Registration is now open open to the public—you may purchase tickets on the TEDxAshokaU website. Details on viewing the event online (free of charge) and a complete list of speakers will be published on that website soon.

Please note that the Ashoka U Exchange conference will be held concurrently with the "Duke: A World Together" alumni weekend, which will celebrate Duke's role in global development. A highlight of the weekend will feature Dean Blair Sheppard in a panel discussion with President Richard Brodhead and Bill Drayton, founder of Ashoka, as they discuss the ethics of global development. All Duke alumni who have served in the U.S. Peace Corps are invited also to attend a special celebration to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Peace Corps. Please visit the Duke: A World Together website for a complete agenda for the weekend and to register as soon as possible.

Now poised to enter its tenth year at Fuqua, CASE prepares leaders and organizations to change the world. The center was founded by Professor Greg Dees, widely renowned as the pioneer of the study of social entrepreneurship. For students enrolled in The Duke MBA Daytime program, CASE provides courses, service-learning opportunities, speakers, career planning support, and loan assistance, internship support, and other financial aid, including the CASE Social Sector Scholarship and the Peace Corps Fellowship. As the leader of the new "Duke Changemaker Campus Iniative" partnership with Ashoka U, CASE is fostering a dialogue among students, faculty, and administrators from across the university to craft a strategy for excellence in social entrepreneurship education at Duke.  For more information about CASE and its programs in research, education, and field-building, or to offer your support, please contact Executive Director Matt Nash at mnash@duke.edu.