NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

As the summer slowly comes to an end, the bustling social enterprise space continues to move forward. Here’s a brief overview of recent competitions/conferences that address many of the topics discussed at NextBillion:

• The Omidyar Network, the philanthropic investment firm created by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar, has partnered up with Ashoka Changemakers to launch an online competition centered on property rights. The Property Rights: Identify, Dignity & Opportunity for All challenge is geared to find the world’s top leaders working to increase secure access to property rights. Entries for this competition must either demonstrate a range of approaches to expand property rights to the landless, help to formalize and document property rights where they currently do not exist or to improve legal education around the benefits of the laws that protect these rights. Entries will be accepted through November 3, 2010; three winners will be selected by an expert panel to each win a prize of $50,000.

• The Social Capital Markets 2010 conference – SOCAP10 for short – will convene on October 4-6^th in San Francisco to discuss innovative ways to expand the socially conscious market. Headlining the conference are: Jacqueline Novogratz from the Acumen fund, Matt Flannery from Kiva, Jay Coen Gilbert from B Lab, Woody Tasch from Slow Money, Julie Sunderland from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, William Foote from Root Capital, Ron Cordes from the Cordes foundation. Additionally, many other speakers will be present to discuss topics along six tracks: tactical philanthropy, mobile technology, food systems, sustainable development, new money and impact investing. Right now, the organizers behind SOCAP10 have offered NextBillion readers an exclusive opportunity to participate at the conference at a significant discount. Use coupon code SOCAPNB30 at the registration screen to receive a 30% off discount on registration fees

That’s about it- as always, feel free to reach out if there is an event/competition that should be included. Now head outside and enjoy the last few days of summer!