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Among Social Enterprise Chicago’s early initiatives was the Social Enterprise Certificate program co-developed with the University of Illinois at Chicago. Launched in the of Spring 2019, the program ran twice a year, bringing together social entrepreneurs and socially impactful leaders and business students, from the community and beyond, in a highly successful 16-week program.

SocEntChi supports and partners with Institutions of Higher Education to facilitate social enterprise incubators.  While the number in each cohort will vary, we encourage early-stage social enterprises and social enterprises who are ready to scale to participate.  The cohorts receive coaching, mentorship, and business templates from the board members and the partners of SocEntChi.  

SocEntChi will also help the cohort market their businesses and connect them to others in SocEntChi's network.

At the end of incubator cohorts, SocEntChi will participate in judging a pitch competition with the coordinating partner Institution of Higher Education.  The competition will evaluate the soundness of the business model and its viability for successful execution. Competitors deemed sound and viable may be referred for impact investing consideration.

  Judges will be recruited from local businesses, philanthropy, government, and NFP leaders.