Before trekking to Babson, I sat down with Compass Partners' Co-founder, Neil Shah, at their headquarters in Washington D.C. He and I connected through StartUp ScrambleTM alumni, James Li (Re: Action Strategy Group). Neil is a successful young business entrepreneur who unsurprisingly decided against a lucrative job offer at top-notch tech company. I say "unsurprisingly," because Neil's calculation show his personal return on investment (PROI) of endeavoring to launch and grow a social venture could (not "will") have a higher return than jumping into the corporate sector. We dove head-first into a very real discussion about opportunity cost. What resonates about Neil is the blunt manner in which he acknowledges the sacrifices he (and his team) will continue to make in order to pursue the path of a startup social venture. Now Compass Partners is making inroads across college campuses nationwide. Their most recent announcement had us fist-pumping Jersey style and giving hi-fives all around:
Compass Partners, the college-focused social business incubator and training program, has selected 75 college Freshmen hailing from five universities across the US as the next social entrepreneurs in the Compass Fellowship. Following a rigorous application and interview process that started with nearly 700 college freshmen, American, Georgetown, George Washington, Indiana and Tufts University each now have a passionate group of 15 new Compass Fellows who will work together over the next two years to develop innovative solutions to some of the world’s greatest problems. Meet the 75 Compass Fellows.
Through the Compass Fellowship, students engage in personal growth and business skill modules where they will grow and learn from leaders in the community. Fellows will receive guidance and mentorship from upperclassmen students who coordinate the program at their schools. They will be connected to internship opportunities that allow them to gain hands-on experience in areas of passion. Finally, Fellows will each receive the resources necessary to launch social business ventures that encompasses their passions and enable them to develop financially sustainable solutions to pressing social issues. To learn more about the Compass Fellowship, visit www.compasspartners.org.
Here's a quick 3 minute video introduction to the fellowship: http://vimeo.com/13114520.
