Tom Tom Founders Festival

Innovation:

Our "Place Based Innovation" series begins with a look at Social Entrepreneurs, individuals who strengthen our community and create collective value through capacity building and investment. Thought leaders in this field can be found at the University of Virginia and throughout our nonprofit community. Innovative initiatives are taking root in Charlottesville today which have the potential to become national models tomorrow.

At the center of this conversation will be two new initiatives in Charlottesville. The first is a new small business development program, the Community Investment Collaborative, who are taking a class of entrepreneurs through a 14 week training program. At the culmination of the program the CIC will work on securing small start-up loans for successful participants. The second initiative is the Charlottesville Institute, an organization The Charlottesville Institute working to promote innovation and social change through harnessing the intellectual resources of UVa for the betterment of the Charlottesville community. A kickoff celebration for The Charlottesville Institute from 5:00-7:00 at Feast! will directly proceed our panel discussion.

Panelists:
Dave Norris, City Councillor and Founder of The Charlottesville Institute
Toan Nguyen, Co-Owner of CVille Coffee and Co-Founder of the Community Investment Collaborative (CIC)
Wendy Brown, Co-Founder of the CIC and Founder of the Center for Non-Profit Excellence
Kimberly Suyes, Director of Community Development Lending at the Piedmont Housing Alliance