SNG: Social Entrepreneurship

Social Entrepreneurship was the topic of the September 13 Student Network Group meeting. The Garage was filled with new and old faces eager to discuss this complex, yet exciting topic. There were several guest speakers in attendance at the meeting: Kevin Miller, Sonia Chokshi, Keegan Guizard, Owen Jordan, Eloy Chavez, Hunter Igris and Sarah Miller. Kevin Miller started the evening with a "Rock, Paper, Scissors Showdown" activity that encouraged the participation of all members in attendance to compete until there were two final contenders and one winner. It was a great ice breaker to shake up the meeting. Miller then spoke about his internship experience at the Unreasonable Institute this past summer. He had the opportunity to live with fellow entrepreneurs and be a major part of their idea creation or implementation. He also shared some of the entrepreneurs' exciting venture ideas and successes! Sonia Chokshi came from Boston to speak about her company Kip Solutions, and challenged us to tackle whatever obstacles were holding us back from our dream jobs. Keegan Guizard spoke about his passion for skateboarding and the bad reputation that it tends to carry with it. He wants the opportunity to encourage colleges and universities to help support skating teams and keep skaters in school pursuing their education and their sport before going pro. Guizard created the club team NC Skate here at State and has begun his entrepreneurial journey. Owen Jordan spoke of his passion to help orphaned children around the world through his organization called RESQD. He explained the difficulty with creating the right entrepreneurial plan to tackle the social issue of nurturing orphaned children and inspiring their success in the world. Jordan channels his inspiration from Blake Mycoskie, creator of Toms Shoes. Eloy Chavez, spoke about his efforts to bring homemade candles from South America to the United States. Hunter Isgris spoke of he and Miller's efforts to create closer community relations with their organization Que lo Que in South America as well.  Finally, Sarah Miller spoke to the group about her organization, Nourish International, which looks at nutritional issues like world hunger.  Her organization is interested in supporting university groups that want to hold events to raise awareness for Nourish Int'l and the issue it supports. In the past, NC State held a pancake event in the Brickyard to support the cause but the inspiration has worn off a bit, and she is hoping to re-energize the campaign through the students involved in entrepreneurship! The evening ended with networking and socializing among the members in attendance. Check out the video of the meeting below and please join us at the next one!