Social Impact Blog

When we last talked with Matt Goldstein in 2017, Besa was just launching its new corporate product, Besa Promise. Targeted to corporations, Besa Promise helps companies track and coordinate their philanthropic programs with their community volunteer programs. Adding a corporate product has been transformational in allowing Besa to evolve its services and to use the […]

AT A GLANCE What: Hot Chicken TakeoverWho: Ashley Leach, Director of Finance and AdministrationBusiness: Casual Nashville-style hot chicken restaurant Based: ColumbusFounded: 2014Website: www.hotchickentakeover.com Ashley Leach joined Hot Chicken Takeover in 2015 and has been central to its success and growth. From just five employees as a pop-up in Olde Towne East, the restaurant has grown […]

Furniture Bank’s two social enterprises provide needed support for nonprofit’s bottom line In 2016, Furniture Bank of Central Ohio launched its first social enterprise, Furniture with a Heart, a furniture thrift store, followed by its second venture in 2017, Downsize with a Heart, a service-based enterprise helping individuals declutter, pack and move into smaller homes. Now that […]

Like so many social enterprises, Roosevelt Coffee Roasters works hard to build the long-term sales pipeline that will empower the organization to create significant social change. But long before the organization can break through the barriers of social injustice, the quest to break even and make good on the loans borrowed to start up the […]

What: Equitas HealthWho: Billy Hardy, President & CEOBusiness: Healthcare organization serving the LGBTQ+ and HIV/AIDS communities, with pharmacy and primary-health facilities.Based: ColumbusFounded: 1984Website: www.equitashealth.com Bill Hardy is the President and CEO of Equitas Health. This rapidly-growing healthcare organization seeks to be the gateway to good health for those at risk of or affected by HIV/AIDS […]

Nick Hirsch is the Managing Director of Coffee Crafters Academy. This business operates cafes inside of correctional facilities as a hands-on program to teach inmates marketable skills and to develop a positive work history that will help them obtain employment once released. It is a for-profit social enterprise of Nothing Into Something Real Estate (NISRE) […]

In January 2017, EmpowerBus was just an idea on paper and comprised two components: one that involved providing children with safe, reliable school transportation, and another one for workforce transportation. Later that year, EmpowerBus co-founders Jerry Tsai and Aslyne Rodriguez decided to participate in SEA Change, a social enterprise accelerator program. They were matched up […]

Lisa Hinkelman, a former professor at The Ohio State University (OSU), has turned a research study into a multi-state business. Ruling Our eXperiences (ROX) is a nonprofit committed to equipping girls with the knowledge and skills they need to lead healthy, independent, productive, and violence-free lives. The organization achieves this by providing a K-12 school […]

Over the past five years, Philanthropitch, the social impact fast pitch competition, has been on a mission to scale innovative nonprofits in communities around the nation. Presented by Kiwanis Club of Columbus & co-hosted by SocialVentures, the first annual Philanthropitch Columbus will take place at the the Speaker Jo Ann Davidson Theatre in the Riffe […]

John Rush has started three for-profit businesses over the past six years that are committed to creating more stable lives for survivors of human trafficking, recovering drug addicts, the formerly incarcerated, and those that society has neglected. In six years, he has created 668 jobs and expanded his customer base by 2000 percent. CleanTurn’s brands […]