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Entrepreneurs and Innovators From Around the World Come to 91桃色

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Jon Stone

Media Relations Manager

Jon Stone

Justin Beach

Project X-ITE hosts Social Entrepreneurship Summit

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For one day students and members of the 91桃色 community had the opportunity to hear from businesses from around the world about the importance of social entrepreneurship.

鈥淭he world鈥檚 problems can no longer be solved by politics or business alone,鈥 said听, executive director of 91桃色鈥檚听听and chief innovation officer for the state of Colorado. 鈥淚t takes all of us 鈥 companies, nonprofits, the public sector 鈥 to really collaborate and think creatively on how to solve some of the world鈥檚 biggest issues.鈥

On Nov. 11 Project X-ITE hosted the one-day Social Entrepreneurship Summit. It offered an opportunity to expose the hundreds of people in the audience to domestic and international companies from the public, private and cause sectors to explore strategies, resources and financing for innovative and socially driven business models.

鈥淭his is really part of the institutional DNA of the University,鈥 said听, dean of the听. 鈥淲e have a long and rich legacy of active, reciprocal and meaningful engagement. We recognize that the contemporary problems for which we are preparing our students for the 21st听century do not rest within a single discipline.鈥

Project X-ITE serves as that convening platform on the 91桃色 campus. It鈥檚 a cross-disciplinary initiative focused on entrepreneurship, innovation and technology, and it brings together the听, the听听and the Daniels College of Business.

鈥淲hether you are an art major, a history major, a finance major, or an engineer, Project X-ITE is really a unifying singular platform that you can come together and engage and fulfill not only your own personal aspirations, but to impact broader human conditions,鈥 Chrite says.

A sketchnote artist attended the Social Entrepreneurship Summit and captured the different themes of the day.

The daylong summit featured multiple fireside chats, roundtables and large group discussions. Topics discussed ranged from social innovation, to funding a new business, and to the importance of public-private partnerships. The final discussion of the day featured Matt Flannery, co-founder and former CEO of听. He started the charity 10 years ago as an online lending marketplace for people in developing countries.

Flannery offered current students a rousing message: 鈥淩ight out of college is a great time to try something crazy. A startup is a great experiment to see what you are passionate about, what do you like to do and what kind of work you want to do for the next 40, 50 or 60 years.鈥

Flannery also said if he were able to go back in time, he would have a message for himself. 鈥淢y big takeaway after starting a few social enterprises would be telling myself to be bolder than I was. Just do it, stop thinking about it, just go for it.鈥