A Day At SOCAP – Social Impact Entrepreneurs

(Pictured above, SpringFour Co-Founder and CEO, Rochelle Gorey, and SpringFour VP of Data Integrity and User Experience, Cassandra Compton at SOCAP)

Last week I had the opportunity to spend a day with social impact entrepreneurs from around the globe. It was an incredible opportunity and a powerful experience. I met founders from India, East Africa, West Africa and so many other places, including many from the United States. All of whom are focused on creating social impact through the start-ups that tackle some of the biggest issues facing people around the world. Each of these entrepreneurs is thinking about how to do so in a way that hasn’t been done before or bringing issues to the forefront that previously were not given much thought.

How did we all end up in one place? I was selected as one of the 150 promising social entrepreneurs to receive a scholarship to attend the SOCAP Conference and attend a one-day Social Impact Accelerator. This year’s conference was held in San Francisco October 9-13, 2017.

Billed as the “world’s leading conference on activating the power of capital markets to drive positive social and environmental impact – convening the marketplace at the intersection of money and meaning. The conference brings together impact investors, social entrepreneurs, philanthropists, business leaders and other innovators from across the world in a unique cross-sector approach to catalyze collaboration for change.”

Not only did I meet amazing entrepreneurs but I also had the chance to meet investors focused on social impact investing, companies looking to make change in the world, and touch base with some of SpringFour’s current customers who are focused on bringing financial health to their borrowers.

I came back from a busy, jam-packed Conference feeling even more inspired and motivated to keep pushing for solutions that offer people thoughtful solutions and resources that can bring about better financial health.

You can read more from some of the social entrepreneurs, including me, featured here in a Huffington Post article.

Rochelle Nawrocki Gorey