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

Maybe it’s because my corner of the U.S. was buried under eight inches of snow (we were among the lucky ones) and now has settled into a deep freeze, that a snow lover like myself has been longing for spring much more than usual. But in addition to a thaw, there are several reasons to look forward to spring, namely several important forums and prize opportunities for entrepreneurs, development knowledge events and, for enterprising students eager to join the ranks of professionals, it’s time to start looking out for summer internships.

While the 2011 Sankalp Forum is scheduled for May 5 and 6 in Mumbai, the Intellecap-managed event is seeking applications for its Awards series, the deadline for which is Feb 15. “If you are an enterprise with a focus in agriculture, food & rural business, health water & sanitation, clean energy, education, technology for development looking for positive funding commitments, strategic long and short-term mentorship and management solutions to scale – apply to the Sankalp Awards,” Sree Kumar, CEO – Intellecap notes.

Mid-month also is the deadline for applications for Endeavor Global’s Summer Internship Program, with positions in New York and San Francisco. Endeavor is a cornerstone nonprofit focused high-impact entrepreneurship in emerging markets. A full list of internships is available here. Applicants are asked to send a cover letter and resume to internships@endeavor.org by 5 p.m. Feb. 15, with the desired internship title in the subject line.

Meanwhile, the University of Texas at Austin and Dell still are on the hunt for university students around the world to submit ideas for its Social Innovation Competition by Feb. 14. If you’re a student with a just-add-water idea or one that needs a bit more nuturing, it’s worth your while. The competition will be giving away more than $100,000 to five teams that make the grade, while providing some advisory services for students with an early-stage concepts taking aim at social innovation. More information is here.

Lastly, the website for the William Davidson Institute’s Global Summit on Educating Entrepreneurs launched this week and is open for early registrations. The June 16-17 conference at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, MI will host several recognized leaders in international entrepreneurship as well as educators who have designed and delivered entrepreneurship programs in emerging markets. This is a great conference for developing contacts at the U.S. State Department and USAID, with a focus on program delivery know-how – particularly in emerging markets such as the Middle East, North Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa. We’ll have more to say about the conference in coming days.

That’s just a sampling, but if there are events we should take note of on NextBillion, please let us know.

In case you missed anything during past the week, here’s the rundown of NextBillion.net posts from the last five days:

NextThought Monday: Friending Egypt, the True Value of Social Media by Scott Anderson

Improving Development, One Failure at a Time by Heather Esper

Mobile Money in Haiti: A Novel Approach to Developing the Financial Sector by Vicky Hausman

So You Want to Create an HVC? Four Criteria to Get Started by Linda Peia

In Search of Innovation: Prize Incentives for International Development by Josh Cleveland

Youth for Change in the Middle East – A Massive Challenge, a New Opportunity by Diana Hollmann

Impact Assessment Is Easy … If You Know Your Objectives by Daniel González

Less Sodium, More HIV Tests: Nudging Consumers Toward Smarter Choices by Grant Tudor

Hat Tips, New Hands and January’s Top Posts by Scott Anderson

Participative Innovation: The Transition to a New Model of Social Capitalism (Part 2) by Pablo Sánchez