SVP is inviting nine years of SEED20 classes to join us in sharing their stories in diverse and effective ways.  We will select a number of these alumni to work with coaches in distilling their stories down to short, professionally produced videos.  This process will culminate in a series of live conversations in early 2021 that will provide a platform for our alumni organizations to share how they are continuing to serve their constituents and our community since participating in SEED20. 

Additionally, we are working this year to strengthen the core elements of our SEED20 program.  We know we have a proven pitch training program that successfully supports nonprofits, and then shares them with the community in a creative way.  Looking at year 10 and beyond, SEED20 will continue to be responsive to the ever changing community landscape.  

We look forward to when we are able to meet in person again. Mark your calendars for Spring 2022 when we will gather with our 10th class at SEED20 Onstage to celebrate 10 years of identifying, highlighting and connecting the community to our region’s most innovative ideas for tackling pressing social challenges.  

Follow us on SEED20.org, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn to learn more about SEED20 Presents:  From SEED to Harvest.  For questions or additional information, please contact Heather Karriker. 

Join us in congratulating our SEED20 Class of 2020 OnLine winners!

Wells Fargo People’s Choice Grand Prize $20,000 | Transforming Youth Movement 

2nd Place Prize $7,500 | Feeding Charlotte

3rd Place Prize $2,500 | Project2Heal 

Coaches’ Award $1,000 | Prospera North Carolina

SEED20 Community Vote $1,000 | Project2Heal

And some additional great news,  through the generosity of Social Venture Partners Charlotte, every nonprofit member of the class of 2020 will receive a cash award. If they did not win another award, all semi-finalists will receive $250 and all finalists will receive $500.

Congratulations to the award winners and the entire SEED20 Class of 2020, whose flexibility, innovation and community impact continue to inspire!  We are thrilled to welcome them into our family of SEED20 Alumni!

You do so much for our community.

Some of you focus on the needs of children and youth:

• You know that leadership skills don’t often emerge as the result of hours and hours spent on social media.  Well, we all know that!  But you are doing something about it by teaching students leadership-in-life skills through the practice of martial arts (Emerge)
• You have created a network of friends who team up with our most vulnerable children and commit to be engaged in their lives for 12 1/2 years-no mater what (that is amazing!)-providing role models who are stable and consistent. (Friend to Friend)
• You have recognized that when a child or young adult learns to speak in public comfortably, they have pride and confidence in themselves and are more likely to make smart decisions for their lives, and so you provide opportunities-such as mock trials-that give them these speaking skills and life skills (iSpeak Now).
• It is hard to learn when your vision is bad.  Again, we all know that, but one of you is doing something about it.  You have developed an incredibly efficient way to provide eye exams and free pairs of glasses to low income kids.  Once they put the glasses on, their lives are instantly changed! (Vision to Learn)

You recognize that having babies and raising children is not always an experience for which we are fully equipped:

• For some children, life has been unfair.  They suffered from developmental trauma at a young age.  You help those children heal, and you also help the amazing families that welcome them into their homes and lives cope with the challenges of raising children who suffer from this trauma. (Attach Families)
• Sometimes, the postpartum experience for moms is a challenge, and that challenge can be particularly acute for new mothers who don’t have family members or another support network close at hand.  You provide the new mother with the community that she needs to work through these postpartum challenges. (Mind Body Baby NC)
• Sometimes families in crisis find it impossible to care for their children for a short period of time.  Rather than enrolling the child in the foster care system-from which it is often hard to rebound-you have developed a network of host families who will care for the child on a temporary basis until the family can again accept responsibility.  Kids are safe and protected, and families stay together (Safe Families for Children Charlotte)

The goal, in all of these cases, is to help families thrive.

Our world is becoming an increasingly fragile place.

• You may not be able to solve all of our environmental problems, but you have focused on one key resource, the Catawba-Wateree River Basin (our water source) and you are doing all you can to protect it for us today and for generations to come.  Through your work, you are encouraging all of us to become River Keepers (Catawba Riverkeeper Foundation).

Sometimes, those among us can be a bit fragile.  And who doesn’t feel a bit less fragile if he or she has a Labrador Retriever for companionship?

• You recognized that with the right breeding and the right training, you could achieve a much higher success rate for placing dogs into service-reducing both the cost and the time to get that dog to the person who needs it (Project2Heal).

You don’t write off our neighbors who have found themselves in the custody of our criminal justice system.  You teach us to see value and potential in these neighbors that-without you-we might have overlooked:

• In the case of our neighbors who have had the opportunity to find themselves in the courtroom at an early age, you have enhanced the diversion experience.  No longer are these youth picking up trash on the side of the road-an experience that doesn’t teach important life lessons.  Instead, they are connected with more meaningful opportunities that enhance social skills, facilitate connections with positive influencers in the community and promote civic engagement.  You are changing the course of their lives (Transforming Youth Movement).
• And in the case of our citizens returning from incarceration, you are not satisfied with simply finding them a job.  Instead, you challenge them to be entrepreneurs, you empower them with the skills they need, and you help them create economic activity in parts of the city where we might not expect to find it (City Startup Labs)

It is sometimes hard for us who were born in the United Sates to deal with the challenges of urban life.  It’s a lot harder to thrive if you are an immigrant who is still learning the language and the customs on this part of the world.  You recognize that the immigrants who love in our community need more than just a pat on the back, and you have gone to work.

• In Cabarrus County, you have created a bridge to connect immigrants to a full range of resources-from basic information to referrals to classes created just for them-all with the goal of fostering self-sufficiency and productivity. (El Puente Hispano)
• You provide bilingual assistance to Hispanic entrepreneurs trying to establish or expand their business, helping them achieve prosperity through training, consulting, grants and access to capital (Prospera North Carolina).

You recognize that sometimes it is those organizations who are striving to do good who need help.

• By providing a place where those organizations can function, you allow them to reduce organizational distractions and to focus on their missions of helping our neighbors in need.  And by providing a common place in which we operate, you provide a friendly location with wrap around services for these neighbors (Galilee Ministries of East Charlotte)

You understand that some employers are willing to help, but don’t know how.

• Recognizing that teaching life skills to the visually impaired is only part of the solution, you have developed a program that consults with employers so that they are better equipped to hire those with visual impairment, with the result that employers find good, competent and motivated employees and those with visual impairments find a welcoming and accepting workplace (Metrolina Association for the Blind)

Some of you focus on the most basis of needs–access to quality food and stable housing.

• You recognized that 35% of our families don’t have enough to eat, even though some very tasty and healthy food is going to waste.  And so you have created a food rescue organization that connects restaurants and caterers who have leftover fresh meals with the local nonprofits that feed our hungry neighbors (Feeding Charlotte)
• When budgetary challenges tempt the poor among us to opt for pizza instead of chicken, you step in and provide nutrition information, weight loss and exercise training, and group support to get your clients back on the path to healthy and affordable choices. (Mooresville Soup Kitchen)
• You work with families to provide lasting solutions to housing instability through a network of collaborative partners who take folks from homelessness to transitional housing and ultimately to a home of their own, transforming their lives (Hope to Home)
• You have recognized that when we look at the need for affordable housing, we have often failed to bring to the table those best equipped to address the issue and find the solution: investors, developers and landlords.  Incentivizing reputable landlords to cooperate with social service agencies results in housing opportunities for our homeless neighbors.  You plant hope and allow our neighbors to thrive in what was once murky waters (Lotus Campaign)

You recognize that sometimes a bit of inspiration can go a long way, opening opportunities that  didn’t exist until recently.

• To open opportunities for women and girls in the construction trades, you put a drill in their hands as young as age 10, and give them the confidence from an early age that they can build it, too! (She Built This City)

Folks, you are an amazing group of people.  You inspire us.  You humble us.  We are grateful for having this time to spend with you!

The ten finalists presenting are:

Catawba Riverkeeper Foundation

Feeding Charlotte

iSpeak Now

The Lotus Campaign

Mind Body Baby NC

Mooresville Soup Kitchen

Project2Heal

She Built This City

Transforming Youth Movement

Vision to Learn

March 31-Livestreaming Event

We will be producing a livestreaming event in lieu of a live audience program.  It will be complete with Hosts, Judges, recognition of sponsors, introductions of the 20 participants and the heart of the show, the pitches by the ten finalists.  Audience voting will take place from the comfort of the ticket holders’ own homes and computers.  Only individuals who are essential to running the show and limited sponsor representatives will be in the auditorium to maintain social distancing and a supportive environment.  Ticket holders will receive additional information on how to access the live stream event and cast their vote.

Date to Be Determined 2020-Live SEEd20 Celebration

With our overarching goal of connecting the community to our region’s most innovative ideas for tackling pressing social challenges, we will plan a celebratory reception later this year.  SEED20 ticket holders will be invited and encouraged to attend and engage with all 20 participants, enjoy food and beverages, and potentially hear the winning pitches live.  If you have been to SEED20 before, you know the networking and community engagement are key components to making SEED20 so impactful, so you will understand why a live event is essential!  We will provide more information on this event as our planning proceeds.

SEED20 OnStage Ticketholders

We greatly appreciate your commitment to SEEd20 through you ticket purchase.  Your support has already enabled so much benefit to our Class of 2020 over the last four months.  We’ve produced introductory videos for each participant, provided customized professional headshots, shared their introductions via blogs and social posts, and coached them on their storytelling abilities.  We do understand that you purchased tickets for a live March 31 event, and our new plan may not meet your original expectations.  In the spirit of supporting nonprofits, we encourage your engagement with our modified program, however, the Blumenthal Preforming Arts Center is available to support you with refund requests if needed at 704-372-1000.

We thank you kindly for your support of our program and this difficult decision.

Attach Families, Inc.

Catawba Riverkeeper Foundation

City Startup Labs

El Puente Hispano

Emerge-The Art of Leadership

Feeding Charlotte

Galilee Ministries of East Charlotte

The Hope House Foundation

iSpeak Now

The Lotus Campaign

Metrolina Association for the Blind

Mind Body Baby NC
Mooresville Soup Kitchen

Project2Heal

Prospera North Carolina

Safe Families for Children-Greater Charlotte

She Built This City

Thompson Child & Family Focus

Transforming Youth Movement

Vision to Learn

Over the next few months, these participants will receive training, coaching, feedback, and mentoring on how to succinctly and powerfully tell their story including who their organization is and why they matter. These intense efforts in the coming months will culminate in SEED20 OnStage, a high-energy event where ten members of the class compete to win cash awards by making three-minute pitches to a panel of judges and a community audience. SEED20 OnStage will be held on March 31, 2020 and includes a celebration before and after the pitches where the audience can interact and connect with all twenty nonprofit participants to learn more about their mission and opportunities for support and engagement.

Be a part of the SEED20 Audience! Tickets go on sale today at http://www.seed20.org/attend/

SEED20, an initiative of SVP Charlotte, is an annual program that identifies, highlights and connects the community to our region’s most innovative ideas for tackling pressing social challenges.  To learn more, visit seed20.org

• An individual or start up with a well-formed idea
• An emerging nonprofit
• A well-established nonprofit with a new program

Each year, over the course of two months, a class of twenty nonprofit participants receive training, coaching, feedback, and mentoring on how to succinctly and powerfully tell their story-who they are and why they matter.  These efforts culminate in SEED20 OnStage, March 31, 2020, a high-energy event where ten members of the class compete to win cash awards by making three-minute pitches to a panel of judges and a community audience.  SEED20 OnStage includes a celebration before and after the pitches where the audience can interact and connect with all twenty nonprofits to learn more about their mission and opportunities for support and engagement.

This exciting event is hosted by Social Venture Partners, a nonprofit organization passionately attacking the issue of social and economic inequality in Charlotte through venture philanthropy.  Our vision is that through SEED20, the Charlotte region will be a community that embraces our nonprofit entrepreneurs, providing them with a supportive environment to innovate.

To apply, please click here!

The annual SEED20 program, an initiative of SVP Charlotte, identifies, highlights and connects the community to our region’s most innovative ideas for tackling pressing social challenges. These innovations can be developed by:

• An individual or start up with a well-formed idea
• An emerging nonprofit
• A well-established nonprofit with a new program

Each year, over the course of two months, a class of twenty nonprofit participants receives training, coaching, feedback, and mentoring on how to succinctly and powerfully tell their story – who they are and why they matter. These efforts culminate in SEED20 OnStage, a high-energy event where ten members of the class compete to win cash awards by making three-minute pitches to a panel of judges and a community audience. SEED20 OnStage includes a celebration before and after the pitches where the audience can interact and connect with all twenty nonprofits to learn more about their mission and opportunities for support and engagement.

The SEED20 application link is available at here!