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PSVF Events

Welcome to the Public Service Venture Fund Community Events Page. As events come up that are related the Public Service Venture Fund, they will be posted here.

Check out the following Spring 2012 events:

Social Venture Workshop I – Preparing to Leap
Social Venture Workshop II – Leading in an Everyone a Changemaker™ World
Social Venture Workshop III – Financing and Sustaining Your Venture
Social Venture Workshop IV – Case Studies of Social Ventures and Entrepreneurs

Events Archive

Launching a Social Venture: Workshop IV - Case Studies of Social Ventures and Entrepreneurs
WHERE	Wasserstein Hall, Room 2012
WHEN	Tuesday, March 6, 2012, 7-8:30 PM
SPONSOR	OPIA
CONTACT	RSVP here.
NOTES	Please join the Dean's Office and the Bernard Koteen Office of Public Interest Advising (OPIA) at Harvard Law School for a series of workshops designed to help you start, run, and grow your own organization. Students will have the opportunity to learn from and meet with experts in social entrepreneurship. Dinner provided. Keynote Speakers: Stacy Stern, HLS ’93 and Tim Stanley, HLS, ’94, founders of FindLaw and Justia; Adam Stofsky, HLS ’94, New Media Advocacy Project (N-MAP); Timothy Ehrlich, HLS ’99, Dettmer and Gunderson; and Marion Freemont-Smith, Hauser Center for Noprofit Organizations and award-winning author and lecturer on non-profit law. The final workshop of the series will focus on case studies of venture start-ups and social entrepreneurs. Speakers will discuss specific factors that led to some of the successes, challenges and failures of organizations and exciting new social ventures. Additional topics may include: Uniting law & technology for global access to justice, human rights, and advocacy Scaling and growing your venture Measuring performance and success Creating a non-profit tax-exempt venture: practical lessons in filing a Section 501(c) (3) Recreating the steps and missteps of launching a social venture in action From Social Venture to Social Innovation: Exciting new landscapes View the webcast here.

Launching a Social Venture: Workshop III – Financing and Sustaining Your Venture: From Seed to Scale
WHERE	Wasserstein Hall, Room 2012
WHEN	Tuesday, February 28, 2012, 7-8:30 PM
SPONSOR	OPIA
CONTACT	RSVP here.
NOTES	Please join the Dean's Office and the Bernard Koteen Office of Public Interest Advising (OPIA) at Harvard Law School for a series of workshops designed to help you start, run, and grow your own organization. Students will have the opportunity to learn from and meet with experts in social entrepreneurship. Dinner provided. The third workshop of the series will target building and sustaining your venture. Shirley Sagawa, HLS’87, author and consultant, served in two White House administrations, helped create Americorps, and was recently named a "Woman to Watch in the 21st Century" by Newsweek, and James Honan, faculty at Harvard Kennedy School and Harvard Graduate School of Education, Co-Chair of the Institute of Educational Management and faculty at Hauser Non-profit organizations will lead a workshop focused on financial strategies for your organization, understanding foundation and government grant making sources, and best practices in governance. Additional topics may include: Recruiting and building your Board Managing and sustaining finances Marketing, fundraising, branding, and buzz Attracting foundations, government grantmakers, and donors Eight Ways to Grow the Charismatic Non-Profit Writing business plans, pitches, and press releases Choosing and retaining an effective staff Adhering to the public interest social venture mission View the webcast here.

Launching a Social Venture: Workshop II – Leading in an Everyone a Changemaker™ World
WHERE	Wasserstein Hall, Room 2012
WHEN	Thursday, February 23, 2012, 7 - 8:30 PM
SPONSOR	OPIA
CONTACT	RSVP here.
NOTES	Please join the Dean's Office and the Bernard Koteen Office of Public Interest Advising (OPIA) at Harvard Law School for a series of workshops designed to help you start, run, and grow your own organization. Students will have the opportunity to learn from and meet with experts in social entrepreneurship. Dinner provided. Keynote Speaker: Bill Drayton, HC’65, Ashoka - Innovators for the Public Bill Drayton (Harvard College ’65), MacArthur Genius Grant Winner, and most recently in 2005, he was selected one of America's Best Leaders by US News & World Report, will discuss being a Changemaker™ in the 21st century. Topics will include: The Courage of Great Ideas Metrics for Success Changemaker Skills: Leadership: Empathy, Teamwork Important Pattern and Historic Change in Social Entrepreneurship Collaborative Entrepreneurship Big Win Buy-in from Key Stakeholders Building Trust with Integrity View the webcast here.

Launching a Social Venture: Workshop I – Preparing to Leap
WHERE	Wasserstein Hall, Room 1019
WHEN	Thursday, February 16, 2012, 7 - 8:30 PM
SPONSOR	OPIA
CONTACT	RSVP here.
NOTES	Please join the Dean's Office and the Bernard Koteen Office of Public Interest Advising (OPIA) at Harvard Law School for a series of workshops designed to help you start, run, and grow your own organization. Students will have the opportunity to learn from and meet with experts in social entrepreneurship. Dinner provided. Keynote Speaker: Julia Harrington Reddy HLS ’95, Open Society Initiative This workshop will focus on launching, financing, and growing a social venture. Ms. Harrington Reddy will draw from her experiences in risk-taking and building new initiatives in the U.S. and abroad as well as her insights into how to persuade funders to invest in your vision. The topics will include: Generating the idea for your social venture: motivation and opportunity Defining the mission of your enterprise Designing the type of social venture: Non-profit, for-profit, or hybrid Building 501(c)(3), financial partnerships, or new initiatives Identifying and applying for seed money, fellowships, and grants Creating international and domestic ventures View the webcast here.

Interweaving Strategy, Leadership, Web Entrepreneurship and Social Sector Impact - John Williams, The Bridgespan Group
WHERE	Hauser 104
WHEN	Thursday, November 10, 2011, 12 – 1 PM
SPONSOR	Co-sponsored by the Cyberlaw Clinic, Dean's Office at Harvard Law School, Office of Career Services, and Office of Public Interest Advising
NOTES	As an established entrepreneur and social innovator, John Williams offers a number of lessons learned over the course of his 32+ year career. How do organizations – both for-profit and not-for-profit -- achieve strategic clarity, and why does it matter? How does one go about re-positioning an iconic product or organization when the market changes? What did it take to launch the first Webby Award-winning online travel business? How do the most sophisticated not-for-profits and philanthropists think about how to maximize their impact on society? John will share his personal career explorations since graduating from Harvard with the JD and MBA in 1979, and offer insight into his most valuable experiences. View the webcast here.

A Conversation Between Social Entrepreneurs: How to Identify A Problem and Solve it
WHERE	Pound 335
WHEN	Monday, October 31, 2011, 12 – 1 PM
SPONSOR	OPIA
CONTACT	opia@law.harvard.edu
NOTES	Please join The Dean's Office and the Bernard Koteen Office of Public Interest Advising (OPIA) for an inspiring conversation between two social entrepreneurs. Earl Phalen ’93, a longtime, highly decorated entrepreneur who has founded several nonprofits committed to education reform, including Bell, Reach out and Read, and Summer Advantage, and Adam Stofsky '04, Executive Director of the New Media Advocacy Project, in his early stages of social entrepreneurship. They will discuss their experiences, challenges, and triumphs in their work. Both will offer their advice to aspiring social entrepreneurs on how to go about creating new solutions to today's most difficult problems and how to start, run and grow organizations that can implement those solutions. View the webcast here.

Launching a Social Venture: Workshop IV – Case Studies of Social Ventures
WHERE	Pound 201
WHEN	Tuesday, March 22, 2011, 7 – 8:30 PM
SPONSOR	OPIA
CONTACT	pia@law.harvard.edu
NOTES	The final workshop of the series will focus on case studies of venture start-ups. Participants will specifically discuss factors that led to success or failure of the organizations studied. Speakers include: Luther M. Ragin, Jr. is the William H. Bloomberg Lecturer in Public Management, and Chief Investment Officer of the F.B. Heron Foundation, a national foundation with assets of $250 million located in New York City. Prior to joining the Foundation in 1999, Ragin was the Chief Financial Officer of the National Community Capital Association, a trade association of community development financial institutions that provide access to capital in low-income communities. Other significant experience includes eight years as Chief Financial Officer of Earl G. Graves, Ltd., and seven years with Chase Manhattan Bank, including three years as Vice President of Syndications / Asset Sales for the North American Corporate Finance Sector. Ragin is a member of the Board of Directors of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors (New York, NY), ShoreBank Corporation (Chicago, IL) and The Threshold Group (Gig Harbor, WA). He holds a BA and Master of Public Policy from Harvard, and is a graduate of Columbia University's Executive Program in Business Administration. Adam Stofsky is Founder and Executive Director of the New Media Advocacy Project. Adam discovered the power of new media advocacy when working in Nigeria on a massive forced eviction case, which had been stalled in court for fourteen years. He produced a documentary, advised by local lawyers, which allowed the evictees to tell their story and advance their case. Adam continued to develop his new media advocacy ideas at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights, where he used new media to secure positive results for Katrina victims, employment discrimination plaintiffs, and minority voters. He is a graduate of Amherst College and Harvard Law School. New Media Advocacy Project pioneers strategies for using video in courtrooms, legislatures, and communities. It uses social networking to give advocates an unprecedented connection to their client communities, allowing them to locate the best witnesses and gather evidence. N-Map empowers its clients to speak to the legal system in their own voices to help them win cases, persuade legislators, and achieve specific advocacy goals.

Launching a Social Venture: Workshop III - Building and Nurturing a Board of Directors
WHERE	Pound 201
WHEN	Tuesday, March 8, 2011, 7 – 8:30 PM
SPONSOR	OPIA
CONTACT	pia@law.harvard.edu
NOTES	The third workshop of the series will cover building and nurturing an effective Board of Directors. Topics addressed will include recruiting and retaining board members, fundraising and marketing, and understanding both foundation and government grant making sources. Guest speaker: Richard Cavanaugh, Adjunct Lecturer in Public Policy, Shorenstein Center, Harvard's Kennedy School of Government Richard Cavanaugh is an Adjunct Lecturer in Public Policy and the school’s Executive Dean from 1987-1995 who returned to the faculty after serving as CEO of The Conference Board for 12 years. Earlier, he was a partner of McKinsey and Company, Inc., where he co-authored the best selling management book, The Winning Performance, published in 13 national editions. He also held Presidential appointments in the Carter Administration’s Office of Management & Budget. Cavanaugh serves on corporate and nonprofit boards and was the Chairman of the Educational Testing Service (ETS). His teaching interests center on entrepreneurship and corporate governance.

Launching a Social Venture: Workshop II - Financing your Venture
WHERE	Pound 200
WHEN	Tuesday, March 1, 2011, 7 – 8:30 PM
SPONSOR	OPIA
CONTACT	pia@law.harvard.edu
NOTES	Please join The Dean's Office and the Bernard Koteen Office of Public Interest Advising (OPIA) for a series of workshops designed to help you learn how to start, run, and grow your own organization. Students will have the opportunity to learn from and meet experts in entrepreneurship. Dinner will be provided. This second workshop, a part of a four workshop series, will focus on financing social ventures. Topics addressed will include stewardship and sustainability of finances, forecasting on-going sources of support, managing finances and personnel, and assuring adherence to the organizational mission.

Launching a Social Venture: Workshop I - Launching a Social Venture
WHERE	Austin West
WHEN	Tuesday, February 22, 2011, 7 - 8:30 PM
SPONSOR	OPIA
CONTACT	pia@law.harvard.edu
NOTES	Please join The Dean's Office and the Bernard Koteen Office of Public Interest Advising (OPIA) for a series of workshops designed to help you learn how to start, run, and grow your own organization. Students will have the opportunity to learn from and meet experts in entrepreneurship. Dinner provided. This workshop will focus on first steps for a budding social venturer. Questions addressed will include: should the venture be a non-profit, for-profit or a hybrid organization? How will you define the mission of your enterprise? How do you create a non-profit organization tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the tax code? How do you determine the appropriate governing structure? Speakers for this workshop: Marion Fremont-Smith is Lecturer on Law at Harvard Law School where, with Lorry Spitzer, she co-teaches the course The Law of Nonprofit Organizations. Fremont-Smith has been a Senior Research Fellow at the Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations at Harvard University, where she directed a research study on Governance and Accountability of Nonprofit Organizations. Prior to joining the Hauser Center, Fremont-Smith was a partner with the firm Choate, Hall and Stewart in Boston. Before working at Choate, Hall and Stewart, Fremont-Smith served as the Assistant Attorney General and Director of the Division of Public Charities of Massachusetts. She is the author of Governing Nonprofit Organizations: Federal and State Law and Regulation and the recipient of the Vanguard Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Bar Association. Fremont-Smith is an Honorary Trustee of the Carnegie Endowment for Peace. Adelbert L. (Lorry) Spitzer is Lecturer on Law at the Harvard Law School where, with Marion Fremont-Smith he co-teaches the course The Law of Nonprofit Organizations. Spitzer is a partner in Ropes & Gray's Tax & Benefits Department. He specializes in representing colleges and universities, health care organizations and other types of tax-exempt organizations on endowment issues. Prior to joining Ropes & Gray, Lorry worked for the U.S. Treasury.

A Conversation Between Social Entrepreneurs: How to Identify a Problem and Solve It
WHERE	Pound 200
WHEN	Tuesday, November 9, 2010, 7 – 9 PM
SPONSOR	OPIA
CONTACT	pia@law.harvard.edu
NOTES	Please join The Dean’s Office and the Bernard Koteen Office of Public Interest Advising (OPIA) for an inspiring conversation between two social entrepreneurs. Alan Khazei ’87, a longtime social entrepreneur who founded City Year and is founder and CEO of Be the Change, Inc., and Brooke Richie ’04, who is in the early stages of social entrepreneurship as founder and executive director of the Resilience Advocacy Project, will discuss the experiences, challenges, and triumphs of their work. Both will offer their advice to aspiring social entrepreneurs on how to go about creating new solutions to today’s most difficult problems and how to start, run and grow organizations that can implement those solutions. This is the kick-off event for a series of panels and workshops that will help HLS students learn how they can become social entrepreneurs – how to identify a problem you want to work on, how to attract funding to work on that problem and how to start an organization and make sure it’s sustainable. Dinner will be provided. Click here to read a recap and watch video from this event.

Legal Practice Settings: Nonprofit / Advocacy Panel
WHERE	Pound 107
WHEN	Tuesday, October 19, 2010, 7 – 9 PM
SPONSOR	OPIA
CONTACT	pia@law.harvard.edu
NOTES	The Legal Practice Settings panels (formerly the Legal Landscapes panels) introduce students to some of the vast number of careers within the legal profession. This panel focuses on non-profit and advocacy work. Come hear a distinguished panel of attorneys provide vivid descriptions of their practices, work environments, career paths, and professional values. A buffet dinner will be served. Anticipated panelists include: Steven Eppler-Epstein, Executive Director, Connecticut Legal Services, Middletown, CT Laurel Firestone, Co-Executive Director, Community Water Center, Visalia, CA Deborah Gordon Klehr '04, Staff Attorney, Education Law Center, Philadelphia, PA Michael Risher, Staff Attorney, ACLU of Northern California, San Francisco, CA The panel will be moderated by David Grossman '88, Managing Attorney & Faculty Director of the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau; Clinical Professor of Law at HLS.

Public Service Venture Fund

Harvard Law School is once again taking a critically important step to further the next generation of public service leaders. The challenges of public interest service, especially in these demanding times, require the highest level of skill, creativity, and entrepreneurship.

Kenneth Zimmerman

Last modified: May 17, 2012

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