Unique Programs: Short Term Consulting Trips

Introduction
Opportunity Overview
Fees and Expenses
Work Overview
The Social Entrepreneur Corps 15 P’s
Set up your Consulting Trip
Custom Consulting

“Social Entrepreneur Corps leadership approaches its work with professionalism, broad-spectrum skill sets and a tenacious work ethic. Their grassroots knowledge coupled with their deep business background and willingness "to get their hands dirty" is hard to come by." Neil Blumenthal, Former Director of Programs, Vision Spring

 

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Introduction

Social Entrepreneur Corps consulting programs are designed and run by Ashoka Fellow Greg Van Kirk and George B. Glickley and their highly experienced team. Greg and George are former Guatemala Peace Corps volunteers and have been working in rural economic development and education since 2001. They are also the co founders of Community Enterprise Solutions and have created social enterprises that have generated millions of dollars of economic impact and benefit thousands of rural constituents monthly. In addition Greg and George have consulted for organizations such as USAID, Chemonics, Soros Foundation, Vision Spring, Fundacion Paraguaya, Cause for Hope, Church World Service, OneRoof, Agexpront, Fundacion Solar and Water for People amongst others. Greg and George’s consulting work has taken place in Guatemala, Ecuador, Paraguay, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Mexico,  Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia, Senegal and The Gambia. Greg is a frequent presenter and panelist at conferences focused on sustainable development and frequently guest lectures on social entrepreneurship at the University of Notre Dame and Columbia University where he is a judge for student social venture competitions.

Social Entrepreneur Corps consulting is focused on designing and implementing innovative, practical, efficient and effective entrepreneurial solutions that create appropriate access to currently unavailable essential products and services to vulnerable villagers in the developing world.  We are continually seeking to enhance and develop compelling strategies and appropriate tactics to improve standards of living for families in rural developing country environments. Social Entrepreneur Corps short term consulting trips allow participants to participate first hand in this process.

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Opportunity Overview

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Fees and Expenses

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Work Overview

Community Enterprise Solutions (CE Solutions), through Soluciones Comunitarias (SolCom) ( the Guatemala social enterprise) endeavors to implement aggressive growth offering eyeglasses, water purification systems, wood burning stoves, energy efficient light bulbs, vegetable seeds and critical small business information through both its traditional woman entrepreneur channel as well as the newly established organizational micro franchise channel and create both financial and administrative sustainability in the near term.

Social Entrepreneur Corps short term consultants directly and measurably contribute to economic development. From a community impact perspective consulting groups benefit organizations, communities and individuals through the following:

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The Social Entrepreneur Corps 15 P's

Social Entrepreneur Corps has designed “The 15 P’s” as a tool to design, analyze and implement entrepreneurial solutions focused on creating access to essential products, services and information. Following is a summary of some of the elements of this tool. You will use this as well as other proprietary tools and resources in your work. 

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Set up your Consulting Trip

Ready to set up your short term consulting trip? Begin the process by visiting the Apply Now page

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Custom Consulting

Are you a development organization, donor or technology provider that is seeking consulting? Contact us and we can begin a dialogue. Social Entrepreneur Corps is led by an international development team that is well versed in creating innovative and sustainable responses to difficult challenges. The Social Entrepreneur Crops teams' skill set and capabilities are reflected in both the breadth and depth of our work. From creating rural internet center WiFi implementation and best practices guides for USAID, to designing a macro and micro-franchising strategy for VisionSpring  through our work with top universities participating in our social entrepreneurship internship program, we have continuously achieved success. 
If you are looking for support in needs analysis, feasibility studies, pilot launch, support, expansion or evaluation, we can set up a short term consulting engagement to help you. We have in-depth experience in consulting in diverse environments and are innovators in the sector. The addition of student participation in these trips creates great leverage and significantly reduces costs of a traditional consulting engagement.

Social Entrepreneur Corps can work with your organization in the following ways:

• New Social Entrepreneur Corps programs: If you are a development organization interested in the benefits of having passionate, motivated and hard-working university students help facilitate your success we can design a program for you. We are in the process of expansion and are interested in working with organizations in additional countries who share our mission of creating access to essential products, services and information to rural constituents.
  
  
• Current Social Entrepreneur Corps programs: If you are an organization working in Guatemala and Ecuador we can include support for your organization in one of our programs. We are here to serve and can help you create greater impact in your community.
  
  
• MicroConsignment: If you are interested in incorporating the MicroConsignment Model into your work, we will help you get started, train and support your staff. We have trained hundreds of entrepreneurs and organizations in Guatemala, Ecuador, Paraguay, El Salvador and Nicaragua in this sustainable solution. Please read more about MicroConsignment at the “Rural Access through Entrepreneurship” page of our Community Enterprise Solutions website.

• Funders: Given our in-depth experience in an incredibly diverse number of grassroots development initiatives and our broad infrastructure, Social Entrepreneur Corps leadership can provide funders with unique insight and services. We can provide funders with both short term and longer term consulting services to analyze and implement new projects and to evaluate the efficacy of ongoing projects.
  
  
• Technology Providers: Through our innovative MicroConsignment Model and the network of local entrepreneurs that we have trained and support, we can provide technology providers with a means to both test the feasibility of and deploy new products and services. Through our model rural entrepreneurs are successfully creating awareness for, marketing and selling a diverse “basket” of products in the remotest of villages. We are currently contracted U-Specs and the DOB Foundation to test the viability of innovative glasses for myopic children. If you are interested in test marketing anything from solar solutions, to weaving mechanisms to rural information technology applications, we can create a low-cost mechanism for you to learn critical best practices before taking your technology to market.  If you already have a proven technology and are interested in a  “Bottom of the Pyramid” solution to reach clients most in need, we have already established the means to do so.  Please visit the “Rural Access through Entrepreneurship” section of our Community Enterprise Solutions website to learn more about our success in this area.

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