"Innovative, Conscious and Sustainable Approaches to Local and Global Community Development"

Topic: “Innovative, Conscious and Sustainable Approaches to Local and Global Community Development”

Date:- June 10th, 2016
Time:- 6-8pm
Location:- Tech Ranch Austin.
Hosts:- International Multicultural Community and Corporate Cultures that Rock.
Supported in Part by Tech Ranch Austin.

Details
Many communities around the world are seeking innovative and sustainable ways to resolve the problems that they face: environmental, social and political challenges new and old. To do this, communities need new ways of doing business, being philanthropic, and making a positive difference overall.

This panel with top experts in the impact business arena explores Austin’s innovative and sustainable approaches for-profit and non-profit businesses that have positive impact both here at home and internationally.

We invite you to get more insight about bringing social impact to your businesses and non-profits regardless of your size. Austin is a progressive city that’s conscious of local and global community needs making it the perfect place to integrate business success with making a difference in the world.

Panel Topics Include:
• Involving and engaging communities to work together here in Austin and globally for win-win situations for all stakeholders, including employees, customers, suppliers and other stakeholders.
• Empowering entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs to follow their passions in providing businesses that impact society on all levels.
• Ways corporations can impact their community and the world while representing and growing their brand and their integrity.
• Cause marketing and branding techniques and ideas for social impact businesses.
• Ways to source ideas, collaboration, and funding sources to support socially impactful businesses.
• Ways to challenge ourselves to get off our bottoms and find opportunities in our ventures and businesses to make a difference in our community and globally.

You may be particularly interested in attending if you are:
• An Austin business member interested in knowing more about building socially impactful businesses locally and/or internationally.
• An international community member interested in connecting with innovative, socially conscious, sustainable Austin businesses.
• A corporate, non-profit and/or government leader facilitating trade, investment, and collaboration here and abroad.
• An individual with a general interest in impacting international affairs and multi-cultural relationships in a positive manner.

Moderator:-Carrie Vanston, Lead, Corporate Cultures That Rock.
Carrie Vanston helps individuals and organizations grow engaged and innovative cultures that lead to high employee satisfaction and retention and greater productivity and profit. She is a consummate connector, who enjoys bringing like-minded people together to share, learn, and grow through workshops, presentations, facilitation, and coaching. She is developer of “Five Keys to an Engaged & Innovative Culture” and co-author of the award-winning bookMiniTrends: How Innovators & Entrepreneurs Discover & Profit From Business & Technology Trends.
www.corporateculturesthatrock.com,

Panelists:-
Saurabh Khetrapal, CEO- Fair Trade Safaris and Kazana Ventures.
Since 2014, Saurabh spends his time on his passion project, Fair Trade Safaris. FTS is a photographic safari and travel company that arranges trips to various destinations in East Africa and Southern Africa. The most unique aspect of FTS’ operations is that the company donates 100% of its profits to wildlife conservation, poverty alleviation, and community development projects.
Saurabh moved to Silicon Valley in 1995 and founded his first technology start-up, People.com Inc. In 2000, People.com was acquired by Monster.com for over $110 Million. From 2003 to 2006, he was at the helm of Dish Planet, one of the largest retailers of DIRECTV and Dish Network. In 2009, Saurabh founded his third start-up, Sales Portal – a technology company that enabled large brands to collaborate with each other in their customer acquisition campaigns. Saurabh has authored and co-authored multiple patents.
Saurabh is constantly seeking ways to engage with and assist disadvantaged individuals and underserved communities around the world.
www.fairtradesafaris.com
www.kazanaventures.com

Ruben Cantu:- Executive Director at Austin Plus Social Good and CEO at CORE Media Strategies.
Ruben has established this caveat at the center of his, and CORE Media Enterprise’s, mission, which is to change the world through social entrepreneurship and thought provoking content.
As a social entrepreneur, his ambitions are focused on establishing a platform through media that allows society to reflect on its condition and spur progressive change.

Ruben is also the Executive Director of Austin+SocialGood a community-based action tank and accelerator which is part of the Social Good Summit where he serves as a global connector and Director of Business Development. Also, he is a co-founder of WeAreAustinTech.com a video series which covers the tech community in Austin Texas. Ruben graduated from Leadership Austin’s Essential class of ‘14. He was nominated as Entrepreneur of the Year for Austin Under 40 in 2015. He also was nominated for Changemaker of the Year in 2016 by the Austin Young Chamber. As an international speaker and trainer on startups and social innovation, he is helping shift the focus onto triple bottom line economics. When not working he is focusing on fostering entrepreneurship with the youth.

This work provides the foundation for CORE’s mission of impacting hearts and minds by creating remarkable campaigns for brands that are changing the world. The company’s film division, COREageous Films, reflects Cantu’s extensive background in filmmaking and provides a path for these socially aware and progressive projects to come to light.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rubencantu
www.coremediastrategies.com
http://austinplussocialgood.org/

Chris W. Douglas- Founder and Executive Director, Lone Star – Africa Works.
Chris is motivated by a belief is that humans are at their best when they’re most free to create and trade things: ideas, art, goods, services, and especially breakfast tacos. He is a “find what works” entrepreneur whose current work with farming cooperatives in East Africa includes South Sudan’s first export sale to the USA, 100% natural Epic Raw African Honey, now available in Central Market and select stores across Texas. In addition to A Youth Mind – a program linking youth artists and entrepreneurs in Austin with their peers in countries like Kenya, Cambodia, South Sudan and Colombia – Chris’ other Africa-focused ventures include natural foods, micro-enterprises, Maker- and Hackerspaces, art, fashion, education and video games.
Chris is also a compulsive writer (www.rogueaider.com) and happily hapless artist (www.wrathofodd.com). His core interests are creating reciprocal exchanges of goods/services/ideas between the USA and African countries; building up the ecosystem of African goods and services for African markets; and supporting intra-African approaches to African economic development.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/chriswdougl

Many Thanks to Tech Ranch Austin for donating their Venue for this event, KOOP Radio (91.7fm) and International Multicultural Community.
We are forever grateful for our Moderator-Carrie Vanston and all our Panelists:- Ruben Cantu, Saurabh Khetrapal and Christopher Douglas, Kazana Ventures, Fair Trade Safaris, Lone Star- Africa Works, Austin Plus Social Goods, Austin Creative Alliance and Shavanthe Inc etc