New Impact Offerings, Revolutionizing Senior Housing, SuperCrowdChicago Live, Empowering Underserved Entrepreneurs with Kiva, and Devin with Dr. Loren Michaels on Bathrobe Moments
New Impact Offerings, Revolutionizing Senior Housing, SuperCrowdChicago Live, Empowering Underserved Entrepreneurs with Kiva, and Devin with Dr. Loren Michaels on Bathrobe Moments
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Ciel Creative Space Featured Among New Impact Offerings - June 10, 2024
Each week, Superpowers for Good shares a list of new impact-related offerings added to FINRA-Registered crowdfunding portals and by broker-dealers. We’ll share four separate lists:
Impact offerings as determined by KingsCrowd reviews.
Offerings with minority founders.
Deals with women founders.
Those with LGBTQ founders.
Revolutionizing Senior Housing: Bennett Kim's Vision for ZNest
tl;dr:
1. Introduction and Guest Background: The show opens with host Devin welcoming guest Bennett Kim, an entrepreneur from ZNest, a company aiming to revolutionize how people find senior housing. Bennett is motivated by both personal and professional experiences, including senior housing development and his parents' aging.
2. Career Catalysts and Pandemic Insights: Bennett explains that his extensive experience in the senior housing industry and his parents' ages prompted him to start ZNest, especially during the pandemic. He wanted to create something meaningful in the latter part of his career and saw the existing senior housing search processes as problematic.
3. ZNest's Mission and Technology: Bennett outlines ZNest's mission to democratize data for senior housing. Unlike existing referral companies, ZNest aims to provide a comprehensive directory akin to Zillow or Apartments.com for senior housing, allowing families easier access to their options without biased referrals from companies prioritizing their profit margins.
4. Employment Issues in Senior Housing: Another focus of ZNest is addressing labor shortages and high attrition rates in senior housing. Bennett's team developed tech solutions, including a texting-based engagement service to keep job seekers engaged during the lengthy pre-boarding process. These profiles serve dual purposes: aiding in both employment and housing searches.
5. Crowdfunding and Future Directions: ZNest is raising funds on Wefunder to further develop its platform. They aim to reduce the reliance on costly referral fees and provide a more transparent and efficient process for both housing seekers and employers in the senior housing industry. Bennett encourages the audience to invest in ZNest via their Wefunder campaign.
SuperCrowdChicago Live!
We’re excited! For the first time ever, we’re streaming a SuperCrowd event live to television on the e360tv network. SuperCrowdChicago is an in-person event happening in downtown Chicago today at Columbia College Chicago. We’re streaming live not only to TV but also widely across social media.
You can watch the eight-hour event live in any number of places, including where the YouTube video is shared, like right here on this page.
In addition, you can watch on e360tv. If you haven’t already done so, download the streaming channel app to your Roku, AppleTV or AmazonFireTV device. Once installed, it works just like Netflix, except you don’t need to pay to watch! After you download the app and open it, search for Live Centrale—that’s the service that streams events like SuperCrowdChicago live to the network. You can also watch the event on the e360tv website here.
You can also watch on Linkedin here or Facebook here. We’ll also stream to X (twitter) so if you’re a fan, check my feed at @devinthorpe.
Empowering Underserved Entrepreneurs with Kiva: A Conversation with Claudia Porras Scott
tl;dr:
1. Introduction to Claudia Scott and Kiva in Arkansas: Claudia Scott, associated with Kiva in Arkansas, shares her journey from San Jose, Costa Rica, to becoming involved with Kiva through the Startup Junkie in Northwest Arkansas. She detailed her educational background and what led her to Kiva, emphasizing the personal fulfillment she finds in her role.
2. Kiva's Work in the U.S.: Claudia elaborated on Kiva’s expansion into the United States around 2011 and the establishment of hubs, including the one in Northwest Arkansas in 2019, which is supported by the Walton Family Foundation. She highlighted Kiva’s focus on historically underserved minorities and the significant impact in the area, including over 130 loans, primarily to women-owned businesses.
3. Crowdfunding and Loan Processes: Claudia explained Kiva’s dual-phase loan process (private and public). Local entrepreneurs in Arkansas are required to gather a certain number of pledges during the private phase, a practice rooted in community validation. She also discussed the significant support from the Walton Family Foundation, which helps match funds to expedite the fundraising process.
4. Startup Junkie and Kiva's Connection: Startup Junkie, which offers consulting and resources to entrepreneurs at no cost, complements Kiva's microloan services by providing smaller loans (e.g., $5,000) with no interest or fees to businesses that usually cannot access traditional bank loans. Claudia emphasized the symbiotic relationship between the services provided by Startup Junkie and Kiva’s focus on democratizing access to capital and resources for small businesses.
5. Personal Insights and Advocacy: Claudia opened up about her personal experiences with Tourette syndrome, using her journey to activism and her work with Tourette’s associations in the U.S. and Costa Rica to bring awareness and sensitivity to neurodiversity. Additionally, she shared her immigration story and the challenges she faced, advocating for greater empathy and understanding of the immigrant experience and highlighting the importance of humor and assuming positive intent in interactions.
Devin with Dr. Loren Michaels on Bathrobe Moments
Devin Thorpe is a bestselling author and renowned new-media journalist celebrated for his advocacy of social good. His influential show, "Superpowers for Good," has featured conversations with over 1,500 notable changemakers, including Bill Gates. With a vast readership exceeding two million unique readers across more than 500 articles for Forbes, Devin has extensively covered impact investing and social entrepreneurship, spotlighting leaders in the emerging crowdfunding industry.
Upcoming SuperCrowd Event Calendar
If a location is not noted, the events below are virtual.
Impact Cherub Club Meeting hosted by The Super Crowd, Inc., a public benefit corporation, on June 18, 2024, at 1:00 PM Eastern. Each month, the Club meets to review new offerings for investment consideration and to conduct due diligence on previously screened deals. To join the Impact Cherub Club, you must first become an Impact Member of the SuperCrowd.
SuperCrowdHour, June 19, 2024, at 1:00 Eastern. Each month, we host a value-laden webinar for aspiring impact investors or social entrepreneurs. At this month’s webinar, Angela Barbash of Revalue will share insights about moving money from Wall Street to Main Street. Register here.
Recently, we created an AI GPT to help you learn more about The Super Crowd, Inc., a public benefit corporation, and our upcoming events. Click here to try it.
SuperCrowd Community Event Calendar
Successful Funding with Karl Dakin, Tuesdays at 10:00 AM ET - Click on Events
The Reg A & Crowdfunding Conference, June 20, Westchester Country Club (Save 20% with the code Super20)
How Small Businesses Can Raise Capital from the Crowd, Thursday, July 11, 1 – 2 pm ET: Explore transforming your community connections into capital to start or grow a small business through regulated investment crowdfunding. Learn more about how this type of crowdfunding works and the benefits and challenges of raising capital from the crowd. About our Presenter: Author and journalist Devin Thorpe has over 25 years in finance and a rich background as a former CFO and investment banking firm founder. He’s also a champion for social good, publishing his Superpowers for Good newsletter and show.
Crowdfunding Professional Association, Summit in DC, October 22-23
Asheville Neighborhood Economics, November 12-13.
If you would like to submit an event for us to share with the 6,000+ members of the SuperCrowd, click here.
