Building Strategic Partnerships in New York

Marissa Feinberg, the founder of GreenSpacesNY and I had the opportunity to meet yesterday to lay out the framework of a partnership between her organization and SoJo. GreenSpaces fosters collaboration, linkages and a shared workspace for eco-entrepreneurs in New York. They desire delivering toolkits and resources to their members, however haven't had the time or capacity to aggregate or develop informational resources as their key strength lies in fostering physical connections in the city. We are in the process of creating something they are looking for: what a perfect fit!

Within an hour, Marissa was sold on our vision. She understood the value SoJo could provide to the GreenSpace community, was generous in connecting me to other networks in the city, offered to have me work from the space for a day to mingle with the members and get a feel of their community. Once live, SoJo will be GreenSpaces' official Online Resources Partner; we will provide their 10,000+ community access to SoJo's resources to complement their offline efforts. 

I'm halfway through my two week networking trip in New York City. A conference, some events and many meetings are being coordinated with the goal of building a network to ultimately gain access to a larger user base in the United States.  Being based in Canada, there is only so much reach we have, therefore forming strategic partnerships like this one is key to building our user base. I'm excited to announce our first local partnership in New York look forward to telling you about more partnerships as they get formed. 

NY Is Co-Working Mecca

With more professionals today working as collaborators or freelancers, NY has become the co-working capital of the world. Companies such as New Work City, Green Spaces, or Bitmap Creative Labs are making “rent-a-desk” locations a profitable business. According to Crains New York, these businesses provide a place to work and the opportunity to share ideas, expertise or gossip with fellow freelancers and startups.

Currently the bulk of revenue for most co-working sites come from membership fees, usually tiered and allowing different levels of access. This could mean the number of days or desks available to an individual or company, or desk-free memberships that allow people to participate in workshops or other community activities. Additional profits come from hosting frequent events for members and nonmembers, film screenings, discussions, or classes.

Crains 

Startup Tech Companies with Revolutionary Idea

There are a lot of startups being built today and many of those have ideas that aren’t found in any companies before. A lot of these also rely heavily on technologies to get things done and if you are interested in knowing some of them, you better read on because we have quite a few startup tech companies with revolutionary ideas.

Green Spaces 

If you live in New York or Denver or are planning to set up an office in any of these locations, then consider checking out Green Spaces for your needs. This is because one of the aims of Green Space is to provide coworking office space for social technopreneurs. The good thing about Green Space is its environment itself. You will be surrounded with a community of people who are willing to do networking and work together with you. Read more: Green Spaces: Entrepreneurial Space in NY & Colorado

Message in a Bottle

By Mera McGrew

Mission Blue is offering an exclusive online preview of New York artist, Asher Jay’s, newest art installation — Sea Speak Sphere: Message in a Bottle. The art installation is part of a larger conceptual, collaborative campaign that aims to highlight various ocean initiatives and advocates marine conservation.

Jay told Mission Blue, “ I just wanted to come up with a way in which I could speak up for the oceans but that would also encompass all the voices that are doing something similar.”

The art installation is made up of 100 painted bottles that bring to life personal statements or “blue memos” about the world’s ocean from some of the biggest names in marine biology, conservation, photography, exploration, journalism and more. Using recycled plastic bottles, scrap paper, and paint Jay has found a way to offer a visual voice to help communicate complex ocean issues, solution strategies and urgent blue memos.

“Sea Speak Sphere is about collaboration, community and a strong commitment to the cause,” explained Jay. “This is a very quick way to communicate, in a glimpse, something that people don’t take time to fully understand or didn’t previously have a particular interest in.”

The meticulously curated content of the installation serves as a call to action for people from all walks of life. Jay explained, “I feel like images have the power to mobilize the masses, and that is why I am doing this…”

The premier of Sea Speak Sphere: Message in a Bottle by Asher Jay will premiere this Friday June 8th, 6:30-8:30pm at Green Spaces in New York. Preview the installation here. Click through the gallery to get an exclusive look at 28 of the bottles paired with excerpts from the personal statements that were offered and which helped inspire the beautiful works of art.

For more information about Sea Speak Sphere visit the campaign website. To find out more about the premiere of the installation and tickets click here.

All photographs of original artwork taken by Dar Riser, Good Light Works. 

Green Spaces: Entrepreneurial Space in NY & Colorado

If you live in New York or Denver or are planning to set up an office in any of these locations, then consider checking out Green Spaces for your needs. This is because one of the aims of Green Spaces is to provide coworking office space for social technopreneurs. The good thing about Green Spaces is its environment itself. You will be surrounded with a community of people who are willing to do networking and work together with you.

Click here for the full story. Thanks for the mention, Techzed!

Interview with Jill Kickul, Director of the Stewart Satter Program in Social Entrepreneurship

I talked with Jill Kickul, Professor at NYU Stern and Director of the Stewart Satter Program in Social Entrepreneurship, about resources and community for new social entrepreneurs in NYC. She listed a lot of resources, but used the term “fragmented” when describing them; that there is no aggregate of these resources:

Green Spaces “provides the infrastructure for triple bottom line companies to work and grow”...

She also suggested talking to Jed Emerson of blendedvalue.org, who is a guru of impact investing and start-up capital for social innovators...

The Feast “is a cross-disciplinary series of programs addressing social innovation and new ways to make the world a better place.”

Good Magazine has resources

Jill does believe there is a community of new social entrepreneurs in NYC, its just fragmented. There are schools and programs that create community, but you have to be part of that program (apply, be admitted). There are also foundations, but you need to be part of that network to be considered for funding. A stronger community for nyc new social entrepreneurs would be helpful (“absolutely”), especially for those without access to resources.

There are already some places to go for help, but they seem to be buried, embedded in amongst other traditional entrepreneurships; social entrepreneurs are treated like traditional entrepreneurs (lumped together) - even though their needs are different. And non-profits are not usually included.

Social Enterprise Alliance is for both for-profit and non-profit start-ups, but they are national and you have to sift through their website to find what you want. They at least have a database of social enterprises nationally [though I couldn’t find it on their website].

Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE) is a good aggregate, but they have a global focus - not NYC. Jill said it would be great if we could create an ANDE for NYC.

Jill felt the needs of new social entrepreneurs are:

• definition: what social entrepreneurship is
• funding resources
• help in planning and strategy
• legal resources
• networking events (in one aggregated place)
• one on one interaction with others in community
• mentor/coaching resources (from those that have done it and are willing to give back)

There are angel lists for traditional entrepreneurs; there should be an angel list for social entrepreneurs - a list of NYC funders who have seed money and knowledge to share

Also, a list of thought leaders in the field who are located in NYC

No one does it right, so far - no one place to go for these resources - the nyc social entrepreneurship community is not complete - filling the gaps would be “tremendous”

Jill would love for us to be able to create a tangible collaborative community space and fill the gaps. She’d be willing to help in anyway to get it off the ground & into actual existence beyond this project, if need be.

-Emily

Click here for the full post.

Ten Green Business Ideas for New Entrepreneurs

This guide was put out by Green For All. Thanks for including Green Spaces, Van Jones! We're grateful to be included in the section highlighting successful organizations across the U .S . that are solving critical environmental problems, addressing social inequities, and creating green-collar jobs in their communities.

Here is the table of contents. Click here for the full report.

Ten Green Business Opportunities: Enterprises that Preserve Environmental Quality, Improve Social Equity, and Stimulate Local Economies 

1 . The Healthy, Local Food Movement

2 . Renewable Energy Alternatives, Green Collar Job Training, and Green Business 

Incubators 

3 . Green Transportation

4 . Green Product Innovation and Consumer Goods Retail 

5. Green Home- and Office-Cleaning Services 

6 . Become Part of the ReUse Revolution! 

7. Energy-Efficient Homes and Green Home Retrofits 

8 . Green Landscaping and Green Plumbing 

9 . Green Information Technology (IT) 

10. Green, Grassroots Community Lending and Microfinancing 

Green Franchise Opportunities

Successful Examples

Map of Community Workspaces in NYC

When it comes to working from home, it’s hard to beat the relaxed dress code, the four-foot commute from your bed to your desk and, of course, having the freedom to sing the HOT POCKETS® jingle even if you are not currently eating a hot pocket. Unless it’s 99 degrees outside. In that case, it might be time to seek shelter in one of New York City’s shared (and climate-controlled) office spaces. A freelancer can have wifi access and a desk for a walk-in rate of $20 a day, while a small business might try a long-term membership with a private office and access to conference rooms and other amenities like fax machines, copiers and phones – all without signing a lease. To find a space near you, check out this map:

Thanks for listing Green Spaces here, mediabistro!

Incubating Social Innovation: The Power of Co-Working

The wave of social innovation is growing in numbers and momentum, and organizations are developing around the world to support this innovation and facilitate the bold change that social entrepreneurs aim for. These networks prove invaluable for social entrepreneurs, applying the tools and breadth of the network’s resources to focus on scale, efficiency, and sustainability of their social endeavors.

Among these support organizations is the Unreasonable Institute, which launches its second class of 25 Unreasonable Fellows in Boulder, Colorado, today. It empowers the world’s “most unreasonable entrepreneurs” by bringing carefully selected fellows together under one roof for a six-week intensive institute. 

Together with them—sharing three meals a day—are mentors, serial entrepreneurs, consultants, and funders. This ecosystem, along with rigorous trainings on legal issues, design, raising capital, prototype development, and more, serves to speed these social ventures along the path to success and financial viability.

The network is formed in a physical, place-based way, which brings the network together in Boulder, Colorado for a brief but intensive relationship-building stage. But then, as the fellows, mentors, and funders embark into the world, they join the “International League of Unreasonables,” which will ideally provide ongoing support. “We think of ourselves as pathological collaborators,” Institute Founder Daniel Epstein told FastCompany. “To date, we have partnered with over 140 organizations around the world. Through these partnerships, we are able to reach the world’s most promising, innovative, high-impact entrepreneurs.”

As social innovation continues to break new ground, networks that catalyze innovators’ success are just as important. Organizations, individuals, and technology are stepping up to support innovation in ways that are as critical to social change as the social ventures themselves.

Similar to the Unreasonable Institute, ... Green Spaces has built powerful networks that include not only the entrepreneurs, but also highly impactful mentors and funders. Green Spaces house co-working offices for socially and environmentally focused start-ups. “The green movement is about collaborating and working together,” Jennie Nevin, founder of Green Spaces, told the New York Times. “The idea here is to create a hub.”

These communities serve as incubation for sharing ideas, building connections, collaborating with other socially and environmentally minded entrepreneurs, and learning from others’ experiences. More hubs are popping up, too, to provide the tools and communities for social innovation — bringing with them endless possibilities for the future of innovation.

Green Product Placement in NYC

Beth and Lisa of Green Product Placement made our first steps toward setting up shop in New York City this past week.

We met with various production contacts, one of whom was the inspiration for starting GPP. (hint: read Beth’s bio in the “About Us” section of this website). We checked out Green Spaces, a wonderful co working space in Manhattan that acts as an incubator for entrepreneurial green companies. We even connected with a new client and a new potential client who operate out of the space!

We attended a lovely cocktail party there, where we ran into our new friend Alix, from Green America’s Green Festivals. Marissa, one of the visionary eco-preneurs who started Green Spaces was lovely, friendly and warm and we can’t wait to get to know her better!

We met with current and future clients and perused “made locally, buy local” shop by brooklyn. Brooklyn is a major hub in the “made locally, buy local” movement and we salute owner Maia’s efforts to showcase some of these fine local brands. We also paid a visit to the Film Biz Prop Shop run by the innovative and pioneering not-for-profit Film Biz Recycling.org, which recycles “waste” from film, tv and print shoots- typically items that aren’t “waste” after all, but would have been headed for a dumpster and landfill anyway. This way, these building materials and flats and furniture and props and set dressing can be reused on multiple shoots, saving money, time, resources and the environment. Green Product Placement tips our hats to the wonderful people at Film Biz!

It was an action packed few days…. and we did all this whilst orchestrating some pilot placements in a major network television program that will be debuting soon! (stay tuned- more on this later….)

Green Product Placement is off and running- please check back on our blog and Facebook page to keep track on our progress!