Burgess COMMENTARY

Peter Burgess

Event Details New corporate forms are blurring the boundaries between for profits and nonprofits. Old silos of financing and funding streams are giving way to hybrid structures like social capital firms, public/private collaborations and venture philanthropy. Entrepreneurs and established organizations alike are bending the marketplace to meet multiple bottom lines including a return on social capital. While some nimbly explore the space between for profit and nonprofit, many more are struggling to make sense of the new landscape of social change. Criterion Institute is a leading voice in the structuring of social ventures. Criterion's dual identity in launching social ventures, both for clients and by taking an equity position with internally developed ideas, has resulted in a nuanced understanding of what it takes to launch a ventures. It is itself a unique structure in the world of social ventures. As the world of social enterprise matures, Criterion is helping to create the methodology that can make it more accessible. Criterion has spent the past year creating an easy to engage process to understand how new forms are structured and how they might work to support the efforts of social change agents. The Structure Lab provides participants with a roadmap of possibilities to navigate this new territory. Participants will have a clear understanding of the range of possible legal structures that can be employed for their newly forming venture, pros and cons of each of those structures as it applies to their prospective venture, and will be prepared to work with legal counsel to take the next steps in understanding and establishing the optimal legal structure. CANCELATION POLICY Have questions about Structure Lab New York October 15, 2013? Contact Criterion Institute: Structure Lab