Social Innovation Incubator
You can help empower women entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs of color to develop their social venture ideas here in North Texas.
What is the Social Innovation Incubator Program?
The Social Innovation Incubator designed to address historical opportunity and resource gaps and address systemic racial and gender inequities in the social innovation sector in North Texas. To accomplish this, the Social Innovation Incubator will provide an organizational and leadership development program exclusively for early-stage social ventures led and staffed by women and people of color working to implement new and creative solutions to pressing problems facing North Texans in the areas of Education, Income, and Health.
Through this program, each participant will develop a validated business plan, receive personalized leadership coaching, and access financial, human, and social capital through United Way’s network.
Why Entrepreneurs Participate
Validated business plan
The platform offers a learn-by-doing approach inspired by MIT's Disciplined Entrepreneurship where you'll get to generate a validated business plan for your venture.
Leadership Coaching
You’ll be partnered with a professional who will provide personalized coaching to develop your venture and grow your leadership.
Seed Funding
Ventures that complete the program will receive a program payment and will be eligible to compete in a pitch competition for additional funding of up to $5000.
Anytime, Anywhere
Learn, collaborate, and grow your venture from anywhere, at any time, and on any device through the online platform.
Proven Methodology
1700+ entrepreneurs from 70 countries have gone through the program!
United Way of Metropolitan Dallas Network
Ventures and individuals that complete this program will be positioned to access financial, human, and social capital through future United Way of Metropolitan Dallas programs.
We are looking for professionals and community volunteers who...
- Are involved in or passionate about social innovation and identifying and developing new solutions to pressing problems facing North Texans
- Are excited about supporting idea- or early-stage social ventures with a culturally-informed lens
- Are passionate about addressing historic opportunity and resource gaps by supporting female entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs of color
- Can dedicate approximately 1.5 hours per week over 4 months (before and during the program)
- Are located in the US
The deadline to apply is in…
AUGUST 10, 2021
And now… What?
Mentor Selection
United Way of Metropolitan Dallas and Bridge for Billions will review the applications and select 20 mentors to participate.
The final participant communication will be on August, 10.
Onboarding Session
Bridge for Billions will host an onboarding session where participants will learn how to use the incubation platform, methodology and more.
Date: Wednesday, August 11 at 12 pm CDT
Mentor and Entrepreneurs Match
Entrepreneur and mentor pairs will be formalized.
Incubation Program Begins
- Participants will attend eight online checkpoints to meet fellow founders and work on the soft skills needed to grow as an entrepreneur.
- You’ll work weekly with your mentee, using one-to-one sessions to go over eight business modules. You’ll support them redefining their value proposition and leaving the program with a visual business and growth plan.
- Mentors will have four training sessions to boost their learning and growth in the mentoring and leadership journey.
The platform
The Incubation Program, powered by Bridge for Billions, offers a gamified, step-by-step platform experience that allows entrepreneurs to validate their business model and develop their visual business plan.
The platform will help you network, research and test your business plan. Throughout the program, your mentors will provide one-to-one support, challenging assumptions and offering a fresh perspective.
Ready to start?
Frequently Asked Questions
Mentor applicants should show a passion for help aspiring entrepreneurs and should be ready to commit to ensuring quality mentorship and a productive business relationship. Once paired with an entrepreneur, you’ll commit to meeting 60-90 minutes per week for 3½ months.
As a mentor, you’ll have a positive impact on someone’s life. You’ll meet and connect with entrepreneurs and develop your mentoring skills, exposing yourself to the latest innovation and entrepreneurship methodologies while helping a startup business grow. you.
You will need to use a laptop or desktop computer to access the platform; you’ll also need reliable internet access. For optimal performance, we recommend using Google Chrome, Safari or Firefox as your web browser.
Once accepted into the program, you’ll enter the Matching Phase, which lasts 10-20 days. During that time, you will have access to basic information about all the projects, who you will have to invite to initial meetings so you can get to know each other. You can invite as many entrepreneurs as you want, but eventually you’ll have to choose your preferred mentee by submitting a ranking.
Your task as a mentor will be to guide your entrepreneurs throughout the Social Innovation Incubator. Using the online modules as your guide, you’ll help your entrepreneurs validate their strategies throughout the program and support them through virtual collaboration once a week, either on the platform or over video chat. The modules will cover:
- Value Proposition
- Competition Map
- Stakeholder Map
- Business Model & Marketing
- Pricing & Business Viability
- Financial Projections
- Impact Plan
- Growth Plan
These tools will guide you as well as the entrepreneur in effectively covering and validating each critical aspect of the business planning process.
Yes. Once selected, you’ll be invited to a virtual training session. You’ll also have to attend to 4 training sessions specifically done for mentors. Plus, you’ll be member of an online community of mentors to spark conversations, share resources and learn from others.
Yes! However, we ask that you be realistic with your time commitment. We don’t want anyone to overcommit or set expectations that they won’t be able to meet.
All of the mentors for the Social Innovation Incubator Program are volunteers.
Can’t find your question here?
Submit a question or request an introductory call with Alexis, the program manager for the Social Innovation Incubator
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