Deadline:
As soon as possible
Location(s)
Online United States of America
Silicon Valley
Overview
If you lead a mission-driven social enterprise looking to scale a proven impact model, you’ve come to the right place! Miller Center’s Silicon Valley-based, globally recognized accelerator programs help leaders develop pathways to scale and prepare for next-level investment.
Details
With proven curricula and accompanied by our outstanding executive mentors and leadership coaches, together we’ll uncover and address gaps and opportunities in your business, and develop an action plan so you can achieve your vision for organizational growth.
Grow Your Impact
- 100% of program participants leave with a more robust, integrated, and credible plan for scaling.
- Our graduates have collectively doubled their impact during their first 3 years post-accelerator.
Get Ready for Investment
- 9 out of 10 graduating social entrepreneurs report significantly increased confidence in their ability to fundraise.
- Within 3 years post-program, our graduates increased their investment raised by 50%.
We are selecting participants on a rolling basis. The earlier you submit, the sooner you will go through the selection process, and the better your chances are of getting accepted.
Apply today to secure your spot!
ABOUT THE PROGRAM
Join over 1,300 social enterprise peers who are scaling their impact and attracting investment.
- Work closely with two of our 300+ executive mentors, comprising diverse start-up founders, serial entrepreneurs, and senior executives who have honed their expertise in companies such as Apple, Google, Intel, Paypal, Cisco and others
- Leverage dedicated mentoring: 180 hours of executive mentoring that is focused, immersive, and customized to your unique business needs
Tailored Post-Accelerator Support
- Access funding opportunities, investment facilitation, bespoke mentoring, leadership coaching, peer-to-peer leadership circles, dedicated support from undergraduate and graduate Santa Clara University students, and more
Our Proven Approach
- Apply our proven methodology that combines advanced curriculum with accompaniment by experienced mentors for 6-months of structured programming — like a “mini MBA” for social entrepreneurs
- Take advantage of a free 3-year license for Sopact’s Impact Cloud, a leading impact platform for developing and tracking impact metrics
- Deep dive into feedback sessions that fully prepare you to present your plans to investors
- Prepare mock investment memos to provide investor perspectives and honest assessment of your investment readiness
Our six focus areas for achieving sustainable scale
- Impact Model: Problem statement. Theory of change. Beneficial outcomes. Solution validation. Customer adoption and usage rates.
- Business Model: Unit economics, average selling price (ASP), gross/contribution margin. Revenue and expense drivers. Breakeven point, profit and loss (P&L), and cash flow. Baseline business growth rate.
- Marketing & Sales Strategy: Target market, opportunity size, local market dynamics, value proposition, channel(s). Sales efficacy/efficiency. Product differentiation, competitive barriers, market expansion.
- Growth Plan & Financial Forecast: Strategic initiatives. Critical technology, capacity requirements. Projected efficiency/efficacy of results.
- Scalable Operations: Key measures/key performance indicators (KPIs) and reporting results. Quality and reliability metrics. Capacity requirements, automation. Organizational structure.
- Fundraising Strategy & Plan: Funding amount. Type of Capital. Use of Funds. Investor ROI and impact ROI. Due Diligence Folder.
Opportunity is About
Eligibility
Candidates should be from:
Description of Ideal Candidate
REQUIREMENTS
Minimum Requirements
Application Requirements
- A senior leader (e.g., CEO, Executive Director, Managing Director)
- Fluent in English
- Has consistent and reliable access to internet connectivity
- Has the availability to participate in the program’s 6-month duration, requiring an average of 4-6 hours/week
Organization Requirements
- Committed to creating positive benefits for people living in poverty, addressing one or more of the UN Sustainable Development Goals
- Is a social enterprise that is intentional about supporting women’s economic empowerment, climate resilience, or the intersection of both (see below for how Miller Center identifies women’s economic empowerment and climate resilience).
- Committed to scaling its solution far beyond current operations
- Has been operational for at least a year and is delivering products/services to customers
- Has at least $20,000 USD (or local currency equivalent) in annual earned income and is not entirely dependent on contributions or grants
- Has at least 3 paid, full-time employees (or equivalent)
- Has at least 3-months of cash runway
What is Climate Resilience?
Social enterprises address the needs of those living in poverty who suffer disproportionately from climate change.Their climate resilience focus areas fall into one of the following three categories:
- Energy — providing access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy
- Water — ensuring availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation
- Climate-Smart Agriculture — implementing sustainable food production systems and resilient agricultural practices to increase productivity and production
What is Women's Economic Empowerment?
Social enterprises that have a focus on women’s economic empowerment can be identified through one or more of the following areas (ideally all four):
- Social Enterprise Leaders: The primary participant identifies as female and is a founder, CEO, or other top-level leader with decision-making authority.
- Employees: The business model intentionally creates more jobs for women within the enterprise.
- Value Chain Contributors: The organization creates increasing business opportunities for women along its value chain (e.g., using a village sales agent model that is more amenable to women villagers’ lifestyles or buying products made by women).
- Customers: Predominantly female customers by design. In this case, “customers” refers to those who are positively impacted by the enterprise.
Dates
Deadline: As soon as possible
Cost/funding for participants
This 6-month accelerator program combines mentorship with structured curriculum to help social entrepreneurs address gaps in their impact model, business model, and growth strategies, and ultimately move them along the path toward growth, significant scale, and investment.
Un-save Opportunity
Internships, scholarships, student conferences and competitions.
