Social Impact Blog

SocialVentures hosted its third annual Nonprofit Sustainability Showcase event at Vue Columbus on February 7, 2019. Four SocialVentures’ Nonprofit Catalyst participants shared their social enterprise concepts with more than 200 attendees. These four nonprofits will join the rapidly growing social enterprise sector in Central Ohio, which today is more than 100 strong, approximately 60 of […]

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 […]

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 […]

In late 2015, when Teresa Trost, executive director of Community Shares of Mid Ohio, and her associate director at that time, Ryan Kovalaske, first considered social enterprise as a viable solution for generating earned revenue on behalf of Community Shares, they explored their strengths. With only one and a half full-time employees, human capital did […]

Steve Votaw has used his two degrees in criminal justice to tackle its underlying causes. He spent the first 18 years of his professional life expanding Directions for Youth and Families to a $8 million nonprofit serving at-risk families. For the past three years, Steve has served as president of the Furniture Bank of Central […]

Anique Russell left her job teaching special education in Columbus Schools to turn to social entrepreneurship dedicated to teaching parents about good nutrition through providing healthy snacks and nutrition education. With her husband she launched Too Good Eats in 2016. Targeted at families and moms in the 25 to 35 age group and operating out […]

Kari Vernon left the security of a steady income and her passion for her decade-long career as a middle school teacher to launch the Family Mentor Foundation in 2013. Over the years, she witnessed the countless struggles children faced in their daily lives that created seemingly insurmountable obstacles to learning and developing to their fullest […]

Fit to Navigate wins crowd favorite at SEA Change Social Enterprise Accelerator Pitch Day – Columbus 2018. Photo courtesy of GIVEBACKHACK Columbus. On August 22, more than 200 individuals gathered to hear eight organizations pitch their social enterprise concepts at SEA Change Social Enterprise Accelerator Pitch Day – Columbus 2018. A total of 15 organizations […]

Lily Vail leads the Kiva lending program in Columbus. The online platform allows small-business owners to access zero interest, crowdfunded loans that range from a few hundred dollars up to $10,000. In 2005, Kiva started as a platform to connect borrowers and lenders abroad. In the United States, it operates as a direct lending platform […]