GCSEN Foundation, a Leader in Accelerating Social Entrepreneurship in Higher Education Celebrates the Diana Davis Spencer Foundation's $10M Gift to Wheaton College

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The Diana Davis Spencer Foundation has been a visionary supporter of higher education for many years, promoting social entrepreneurship to achieve greater peace and prosperity in local communities. The gift establishes a leadership position in the field, creating an endowed Professorship in Social Entrepreneurship and funding for entrepreneur-centered programs on campus. The unique Prac-ademic program is practitioner oriented and supported by academic rigor, making Wheaton College one of only a few liberal arts colleges nationwide to have a program headed by an endowed Professorship in Social Entrepreneurship.

Wheaton College President Dennis M. Hanno said, "GCSEN has been with us every step of the way. It's been an incredible partnership to grow together in this innovative arena. Social Entrepreneurship is about the power of linking shared visions and shared missions, making exponential social impacts. GCSEN, led by Mike Caslin, has been an important partner for Wheaton College and for me, and I thank him for that." Hanno added, "I am extremely grateful to Diana Davis Spencer, to the Foundation and her family, for their commitment to the idea that social entrepreneurship has the power to transform lives and shape communities. We share that belief, and the Foundation's gift will enable Wheaton to more fully develop our capacity to support students in pursuing interests that address society's most pressing issues."

Since 2015, GCSEN Foundation has been a leading force in growing the field of social entrepreneurship at the higher education level, offering its partner college campuses adaptable, ready-to-use blended learning curricula, merging classroom, on-line and personal life changing learning experiences for students. GCSEN trains future business owners and executives to "make meaning, make money, and move the world to a better place" by melding best business practices with sustainable local economy ventures. Through its SES Institute's on-line courses, campus-based Meaning Maker Boot Camps, faculty and administrator certifications, and at international academic forums, GCSEN has been spreading the word about the importance of growing the Social Entrepreneurship movement. GCSEN Foundation's goal is to transform the lives of 1 million millennials, while assisting in the formulation and launch of 10,000 new social ventures by 2027.

For Wheaton College, the gift is one of the largest in their 183-year history, and a "game-changer", according to President Hanno. His commitment to social entrepreneurship builds upon the college's pioneering work in combining rigorous liberal arts study with active and experiential learning opportunities. Hanno said, "The work that's been going on with GCSEN, and at the Boot Camp is really transformational for the students involved, while also helping them to have an impact on our community and society in general. It's heartening to see their ideas actually flourishing and coming to reality. My goal is to have the opportunity to have a hundred more student ideas become business and social project realities."

Mike Caslin, GCSEN Foundation Founder & President said, "We have a great and enduring relationship with Wheaton and with President Hanno, an innovative leader of social entrepreneurship college programming. We've been able to work with him and his staff to adapt our curricula platform into their existing program base, to create unique offerings for students who are hungry to implement '4 P' Social Entrepreneur Impacts by creating businesses for People, Profit, Planet & Place. We are happy to join Wheaton in celebrating Diana Davis Spencer Foundation's incredibly thoughtful and generous gift. I'm certain that the combined effort between her Foundation and Wheaton College will accelerate the movement."

The Wheaton Institute for Social Entrepreneurship is designed to help students develop an idea into a sustainable business or organization addressing a social issue. The Institute is a year-round program that includes the intensive Social Entrepreneur Meaning Maker Boot Camp, offered in partnership with the GCSEN Foundation and includes GCSEN's lifelong support network through GCSEN's THEOS alumni service.

GCSEN offers its innovative, life-changing blended-learning SES (Social Entrepreneurship System) Institute program to partnering college campuses, benefiting colleges with enhanced recruitment, and retention rates, and increased student intellectual and practical engagement.

GCSEN also offers its unique programs directly to individual students and adult learners through its on-line Social Venture Internship program. The Social Venture Internship (SVI) results in a badged Certification for course completion and LinkedIn use. SVI facilitates learners' developing their own businesses and social ventures, and allows lifelong access to GCSEN's THEOS alumni network, offering resume building, a GCSEN professional reference, and access to business networking opportunities. Contact GCSEN for details on their SES and SVI Programs.

Mike Caslin is an MBA graduate of Babson College and a Manhattanville College undergraduate. The Founder and President of GCSEN Foundation, he is currently Professor of Social Entrepreneurship at SUNY New Paltz Business School. A past faculty member of Babson College, CUNY-Baruch, Marist College School of Business and Manhattanville College, Prof. Caslin has been a featured lecturer and speaker at the Harvard Business School, Stanford Graduate School of Business, Dartmouth Tuck School of Business, and Columbia Univ. Business School Eugene Lang Center for Entrepreneurship, among others. A published author on social entrepreneurship, he's been called in as an expert for the United Nations, the U.S. Congress and The White House.

For more information about GCSEN, or for an interview with Founder & President 
Mike Caslin, call 212-444-2071; e-mail [email protected]  or visit www.gcsen.com

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