Yes, I promised a video of the UnConference. No, I did not throw up or cry or create any drama. Waiting for the CIO/PBA team to upload the snippets to their website … and then I’ll be happy to share y fabulous-ity with you.
With that being cleared, I received great news last night in my inbox. Besides the several weight-loss, foreign travel and luxury hotel deals newsletters I am subscribed to, I also happen to receive the Social Edge newsletter. Yeah, I am such a mixed bag – that’s what makes me awesome and keeps you average *hairflip. Downloaded 5 seasons of Gossip Girl and my meanness-meter is hitting an all time high. Will try and restrain myself …
The GSBI 2012 scholarship has been announced.
The Global Social Benefit Incubator (GSBI™), a program developed by Santa Clara University’s Center for Science, Technology, and Society, assists social entrepreneurs in developing business plans that enable their organizations to become financially sustainable and scalable.
It’s a $25,000 scholarship and has had participants from Indonesia, India, Bolivia, and Rwanda besides other countries. I strongly feel it’s about time Pakistan was represented here. What with initiatives like the PASHA Social Innovation Fund I don’t see why that should be a problem.
Some of you ask me what a social enterprise is. You can find info all over the Internet. Social Edge is a good place to begin and so is the Ashoka Social Innovators Fund website. If you are excited by the idea but want a cheat-sheet for areas where you could venture this place will help a bit. *grin However, in short, a social enterprise tackles a greater problem related to changing the very fabric of the society around and tackles the issue without waiting for the government to do something about it. For example, with WDL I am trying to break the barrier for women to go out of their homes to work and am bringing employment to them at their doorsteps. By providing them online work WDL aims to economically and emotionally empower Pakistani women enabling them to put their education to use and gain their lost or low sense of self-respect and dignity.
So, go on my wonderful peeps and make me proud. To infinity and beyond …
Byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
P.S. Anyone has a million rupees to help me build my web portal?
Birth Pangs of a Startup 
You don’t need a million dollars to build a web portal ma’am :p you need a person like me. SIMPLE!
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And how do I get a person like you to commit a 101% to a social enterprise project that may not be even able to pay your iPhone bills for a while? 🙂
Plus, how do I add a custom avatar to my WP, Saad?
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Haha, the first one is a very good question :p
The second one is easy. Just go to Gravatar.com and upload a photo.
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I know I ask good Qs. 🙂 Don’t want you burning your boats without knowing what you are getting yourself into.
I tried Gravatar. The pic is uploaded but it doesn’t show up. I get these random avatars from WP. 😦
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try going to your screen’s top right corner and a scroll down menu appears, click on edit my profile, then upload a photo from there 😉
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Been there, done that. NOT working. It shows my pic in the Gravatar section and everything seems to be working fine but … something’s obviously wrong. 😦
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Hi Pakimom! My name is Shazia Khan- I am the Founder and Executive Director of EcoEnergyFinance, a social enterprise bringing solar energy solutions to the rural poor in Pakistan…and I was in the GSBI Class of 2012! I would love to connect with you as it seems we have a lot of the same passions in common. Plus I am also the mom of 2- a 9 month old and 2 and a half year old:) Hope to talk soon!
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