Our Main Services

SocEntChi convenes workshops, forums, and networking opportunities to educate organizations on social enterprise development. 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.

Through collaboration with educational institutions and ecosystem partners, SocEntChi supports efforts to nurture emerging social enterprises and help ventures explore resources, mentorship, and relationships needed to develop and grow.

SocEntChi supports and partners with various Institutions of Higher Education to facilitate social enterprise incubators and their cohorts.  

SocEntChi facilitates access to pitch competitions and connections to impact investors for ventures ready to scale. And when incubator cohorts end, SocEntChi often participates in judging pitch competitions with the Institution of Higher Education coordinating partner.  These competitions evaluate the soundness of participants' business models and their viability for successful execution. Competitors deemed sound and viable may be referred for impact investing consideration.

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