Nonprofit Entrepreneur Recognized For Impact On Poverty
At its recent fall conference, the Social Venture Network recognized four entrepreneurs with its Innovation Awards. Among the winners was Alfa Demmellash, CEO of Rising Tide Capital.
Alfa shared some of her thinking with us.
Explaining what it means to be a social entrepreneur, she said, “Being a social entrepreneur means leveraging business principles and sensibilities to create solutions that combat social issues.”
“I am passionate about the possibilities that occur when individuals see the world around them differently, and believe they can actually make a difference,” she added.
“A lot of people have great vision and ideas but are held back by fear of failure and other people’s opinions. You have to inoculate yourself against those internal and external voices. You have to arrive at a place where you think you have a limited time to make your mark on this planet,” she continued.
Hinting at her nonprofit’s unlikely focus on entrepreneurship, she concluded, “Business is at the heart of what can positively impact other prevalent crises that we are trying to address. Surprisingly very minimal effort and investment go into the creation of localized businesses within communities that have been traditionally marginalized. It is clear that this is one of the only ways to address the underlying issue of economic poverty.”
On Thursday, October 30, 2014 at 6:00 Eastern, Alfa will join us here for a live discussion about her work and her recent recognition. Tune in here then to watch the interview live.
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More about Rising Tide Capital:
Headquartered in Jersey City, Rising Tide Capital, Inc. is a 501©(3) non-profit organization founded with the mission to empower entrepreneurs to create and grow small businesses which transform lives and communities. The organization’s vision is to build a replicable model for high-quality entrepreneurial development services that can be adopted locally in other low-income communities. Learn more at www.RisingTideCapital.org
Alfa’s bio:
Alfa Demmellash co-founded Rising Tide Capital in May 2004. As Chief Executive Officer, she oversees strategic growth, programmatic innovation and stakeholder engagement at Rising Tide Capital. She graduated cum laude from Harvard University with a degree in Government. Alfa is the recipient of Honorary Doctorates from St. Peter’s University and New Jersey City University and has won numerous awards for her work as a leading social entrepreneur.
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