Announcing the Full Circle Impact Accelerator 2018 Spring Cohort

Posted on March 16, 2018 by SVP Pittsburgh

Social Venture Partners Pittsburgh

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 03/16/18
fullcircle@svppittsburgh.org

Five innovative Pittsburgh-based innovative nonprofits have been selected for the Full Circle Impact Accelerator 2018 spring cohort.

Pittsburgh, PA: Yesterday, SVP Full Circle, one of the country’s leading accelerators dedicated exclusively to scaling the impact of innovative nonprofit businesses, announced the five organizations selected for their 2018 spring cohort. The five nonprofits selected for the spring accelerator cohort include:

• Assemble is one of the first maker spaces in Pittsburgh that blends tech and STEAM programming for youth from underrepresented backgrounds with community and economic development. They are coming to Full Circle to figure out how to take their successful organization to the next level of impact.
• AllStarCode offers black and latino young men mentorship and intensive coding/computer science programming to help them build successful career paths in technology. ASC, first founded in NYC, is relatively new to Pittsburgh and growing fast. They came to Full Circle to help determine the best way to expand their program and become a model for future cities.
• Northern Area Multi-Service Center’s Refugee Resettlement Office is the largest refugee resettlement agency in the Pittsburgh region. NAMS Refugee Resettlement program came to Full Circle looking to determine how they can inject innovation into their work and better tell the story of their impact.
• Pennsylvania Youth Initiative is a new nonprofit that has created unique curriculum and multifaceted programming to help young people with disabilities train to enter the workforce, particularly the emerging innovation economy in the region. PYI came to Full Circle in the midst of rapid growth and is looking to understand how they can responsibly scale their programming to impact more young people in the region and beyond.
• Veterans Breakfast Club creates communities of understanding and support for veterans as well as civilians. VBC came to SVP because they are on a rapid growth track and are looking to determine a strong business model for their future as well as the marketing and branding they need in order to better communicate the breadth of their activities and impact.

Over the next 14 weeks, the Full Circle nonprofits will engage in an intensive accelerator curriculum dedicated to scaling their organization’s impact. In addition to engaging in accelerator curriculum, each Full Circle nonprofit is paired with a team of seven next generation philanthropists – called SVP Partners – who serve as coaches working hands-on with each organization to overcome the key challenges that are holding them back from scaled impact. SVP Partners are leading socially conscious professional from the private sector who seek a hands-on investment and more engaged approach to philanthropy.

Through the Full Circle Impact Accelerator, each nonprofit will receive more than 250 hours of private sector coaching support as well as $3,000 in financial support from SVP. The spring Full Circle program will culminate in a pitch event on June 28 where each nonprofit from the spring cohort will pitch their work and impact to a public audience and compete for additional cash prizes. Keep updated with all the latest from SVP and the Full Circle Impact Accelerator on Twitter (@SVPPGH).

Our Sponsors: SVP Pittsburgh’s Full Circle Impact Accelerator for Nonprofits is made possible by the generous support of our sponsors and foundation supporters. SVP recognizes annual sponsor UPMC/UPMC Health Plan as well as our Silver – Innovation Sponsor Hefren-Tillotson for their sponsorship and commitment to seeing a more impactful and innovative nonprofit community in the Pittsburgh region. We also want to thank The Grable Foundation for their ongoing support to nonprofit acceleration and cultivating a community of engaged philanthropists. Finally, we want to thank our venue host, Ascender, for providing outstanding event and meeting space for the Full Circle accelerator program.

About SVP Pittsburgh: Social Venture Partners (SVP) Pittsburgh is a growing community of engaged philanthropists who contribute their expertise, skills, networks and finances to grow the impact of nonprofits and tackle our community’s greatest challenges. SVP Pittsburgh’s core program is the Full Circle impact accelerator, which connects SVP Partners as executive coaches to accelerate the impact of Pittsburgh’s most innovative nonprofits. Interested in learning more? Contact Full Circle Managers Ryan Gayman (ryan@svppittsburgh.org) and Benjamin Utter (ben@svppittsburgh.org).

SVP Full Circle Impact Accelerator 2017 Fall Pitch Event

Posted on December 28, 2017 by SVP Pittsburgh

On Thursday, December 14 the five organizations that engaged in the fall cohort SVP’s Full Circle impact accelerator pitched their impact to an audience of nearly 100 nonprofit leaders, foundation leaders, entrepreneurs and SVP Partners.

Congratulations to Brandi from the Alliance for Police Accountability, Alaa from The Global Switchboard, LaKeisha from Ujamaa Collective, Jordon from Never Fear Being Different and Erin and Louise from Prototype PGH for their dynamic pitches.

Each Full Circle nonprofit will receive $2,000 for their engagement in the program. A big congratulations goes to Jordon and Team NFBD for taking home the $500 audience choice award. And a big congratulations also to Lakeisha + Team Ujamaa Collective as well as Erin & Louise + Team Prototype PGH for being awarded $500 each from NexTier Bank – our Marquee Pitch Event Sponsor.

Following their participation in the program, Full Circle alumni nonprofits receive ongoing advising and support from SVP.

Marquee Event Sponsor

SVP Pittsburgh would like to thank and recognize the generous support of our Marquee Sponsor whose contribution enabled the success of the 2017 Fall Full Circle Impact Accelerator Pitch Event.

Event Host

SVP Pittsburgh would like to thank and recognize Google Pittsburgh for generously hosting the 2017 Fall Full Circle Impact Accelerator Pitch Event at their beautiful auditorium.

Event Sponsors

SVP Pittsburgh would like to thank and recognize our event sponsors whose collective contribution ensure that the 2017 Fall Full Circle Impact Accelerator Pitch Event was SVP’s most impactful event to date.

Media Sponsor

SVP Pittsburgh would like to thank and recognize Anthem Productions for serving as our Media Sponsor and for covering the 2017 Fall Full Circle Impact Accelerator Pitch Event.

Annual Sponsor

SVP Pittsburgh would like to thank and recognize UPMC/UPMC Health Plan for their generous ongoing support that helps power the Full Circle Impact Accelerator programming year-round.

SVP Full Circle Impact Accelerator Pitch Event in NEXT Pittsburgh!

Posted on December 28, 2017 by SVP Pittsburgh

See who won at Social Venture Partners’ pitch event

Article by Caroline Shannon-Karasik / Photo by Tracy Certo / NEXT Pittsburgh

In August, Jordon Rooney stood in the streets of Charlottesville, interviewing people who were marching to protest the removal of a Robert E. Lee statue. As Neo-Nazis and white supremacists streamed by waving Confederate flags, with swastikas emblazoned on shields and t-shirts, Rooney captured it all on video.“What do you think about those people who got hit?” Rooney asked one man, referring to the car that struck a crowd of counter-protesters, killing 32-year-old Heather Heyer and injuring 19 other people.

The man shrugged his shoulders. “They deserved it.”Rooney is not a journalist, he notes. “I’m looking to make a statement and stand up to racism.”

One week, nine million views and 100,000 shares later, that video put Rooney’s organization, Never Fear Being Different(NFBD), on the map. Rooney had been disillusioned with social media and it’s enormous and often negative effect on youth. So he made it a goal to reach youth through social media in a more positive way, engaging viewers to come up with solutions to big societal problems.

His message resonated not only with viewers but also with the crowd last Thursday at the SVP Pittsburgh Full Circle Impact Accelerator Pitch Event. Rooney was one of five who made a pitch for his nonprofit and he won the audience choice prize of $500.

Involvement in the Full Circle Accelerator automatically grants each of the five organizations $2,000 in unrestricted funding.

This year, it also afforded an opportunity to get an additional $1,000 from sponsor NexTier Bank at the Pitch Event. That award was split between two nonprofits that pitched at the event: Prototype PGH and Ujamaa.

The other two organizations pitching at the event were The Global Switchboard and Alliance for Police Accountability. (More on what all of these organizations do is below.)

“Ujamaa Collective’s participation in the Full Circle Program truly was right on time for us because we were at the precipice of making some really important decisions as a nonprofit,” Executive Director LaKeisha Wolf said of the organization’s 10-year presence in Pittsburgh.

Wolf said their goal for 2018 is to close their Hill District boutique space and create a schedule of pop-up shopping locations and programs.

“The boutique has been so much of our identity and means so much to so many people, but the rising overhead costs, as well as a few other factors, was stifling our growth,” she said.

“We are truly passionate about fair trade and are looking to strengthen our economic relationships with international artisans, connecting women with purpose across the world. Ultimately we want to do all of these things in order to increase women’s confidence and skills so that we take up more space in tech and entrepreneurship,” she added.

Erin Gatz of Prototype PGH said the organization’s top goals include hiring their first staff person, finalizing their 501c3 status, which includes on-boarding their first board of directors and partnering with more organizations, like Ujamaa, on workshops and programming.

The Pitch Event was the culmination of an intense, three-and-a-half-month program to help nonprofits like NFBD refine their missions and learn how to meet specific goals within their organizations through coaching by SVP partners.

According to Ryan Gayman, who co-manages the Full Circle program with Ben Utter, the Full Circle accelerator presents a hands-on model for philanthropy that unlocks the private sector’s social networks, skills and expertise to help take nonprofits to the next level. Essentially, they act as a connector.

“Pittsburgh is the birthplace of American philanthropy,” Gayman said. “With the concentration of philanthropic foundations, labor unions, nonprofits and impact-driven businesses in the region, it’s important that there is an accelerator that is exclusively focused on bridging sectors to ultimately help the leading nonprofit businesses have a greater impact in tackling our region’s most critical challenges.”

Here is more information about the five nonprofit organizations involved in the Full Circle Impact Accelerator and who pitched at the event:

Alliance for Police Accountability: A grassroots organization dedicated to criminal justice reform. Brandi Fisher presented at the event and said the group takes a holistic approach, not only advocating for change, but working to educate the public and push for policy change, specifically within the disciplinary systems at schools where simple infractions like “child was disruptive in class” can lead to jail time.

The Global Switchboard: The region’s hub for global issues, the organization is designing an innovative initiative that will bring leaders from across sectors together to tackle critical global issues facing local communities in Pittsburgh that will result in a more equitable and just city. Their mission according to Program Coordinator Alaa Mohamed: “To make Pittsburgh the most livable city for all.”

NFBD: Described as a movement to create solution-based conversations around real-world issues, NFBD had 16 million views in September, compared to TED’s 7.9 million and NPR’s 5.9 million.

Prototype PGH: Is the nation’s only maker space and maker education program that focuses on feminism and equity. The organization is expanding their operations in Pittsburgh to accelerate the growth of a more inclusive and equitable maker movement in the region and beyond. “It took founding a maker space with Louise [Larson] to learn how to use a power drill — and she’s the one who taught me,” Erin Gatz said during the pitch.

Ujamaa Collective: The organization works to break down barriers to help Pittsburgh’s Africana women entrepreneurs and artisans find success within their businesses. Colorful sun hats, copper leather bracelets and handmade mini tumblers are just a few of the items shoppers can purchase at Ujamaa.

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