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The Power of a Tweet

Published: Aug 02, 2010

 CSR       

"Legislationcan take years, but the next-gen leaders who met at the White House can movemountains with a quick phone call, or even a tweet," said SparkseedCEO, Mike Del Ponte this past week at a White House briefing for young innovators. DelPonte was one of 70 millennials selected to discuss innovative partnershipsbetween government, industry, and the social sector.

Dangerously

Sparkseed is a nonprofit incubator that awards student socialentrepreneurs with mentoring and seed funding. He was invited to the WhiteHouse to contribute his perspective on how Generation Y tactics can shapesuccessful organizations. Founded in 2007, Sparkseed has built a strongpresence among top talent, recent college grads in cities from San Francisco toNew York, using social media networking through Twitter and Facebook. However,the key to Sparkseed’s network-building success lies in the value that coremembers place in putting together inspiring, innovative, and fun events—rangingfrom monthly mixers to "Dangerously Ambitious," an aptly-titled summit forsocial innovators that will be held in Silicon Valley this August.

Thevision behind this summit is to strategically tap into young people’sentrepreneurial creativity and confidence by scrapping the old model of abusiness conference (no stuffy suits, cramped up seminar rooms, or rigidworkshop agendas). Instead, Dangerously Ambitious participants will partake in moreexciting bonding activities that inspire long-lasting relationships and new innovations.Will skydiving with a potential investor yield more promising results for youngentrepreneurs? There’s only one way to find out: JUMP!

--By RuhiShamim

Ruhi Shamim is a social media marketer andblogger, specializing in corporate social responsibility, urban planning andsustainable transportation, and cultural diplomacy. She has worked withSosauce, Justmeans, Sparkseed, and the Interfaith Center on CorporateResponsibility, and is currently developing a Green Network for JobThread, a NewYork-based technology startup.

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