UNFPA Young Fellows 

We organized a session for United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)’s Young Fellows. We hosted the session at NYC Fair Trade Coalition‘s pop-up location near Times Square. The Young Innovators Fellowship Programme provided young people from 18 countries with the opportunity to engage in a structured eight-month program to drive innovation, creativity, and capacity development and to deliver concrete results in UNFPA.

The fellows were brought to New York for a week of related engagements at the UN, celebrate their work, and engage the impact ecosystem. For our session we brought together inspiring New York change-makers to talk about their impactful work and life journeys, followed by a speed mentorship session for the young fellows, taking a deep dive to support their career aspirations.

Sustainable Cities Lab 

Swissnex and Impact Hub New York Metropolitan Area organized a public-facing event for the Sustainable Cities Lab cohort, bringing together local and global innovators in urban sustainability. The event featured a keynote and panel of experts in sustainable urbanism from New York and Switzerland, who discussed the future of our cities. 

Climate tech entrepreneurs from New York and Switzerland also pitched some of the most promising innovations in urban sustainability, before an opportunity for networking with other members of the local innovation ecosystem.

Culinary Action! On the Road

Impact Hub New York Metropolitan Area partnered with Basque Culinary Center to launch the 2nd edition of Culinary Action! On the Road: an international entrepreneurship program for foodtech startups that kicked off in September 2022 with competitions in New York (US), Buenos Aires (Argentina), Copenhagen (Denmark), Tokyo (Japan) and Tel-Aviv (Israel), in collaboration with local partners.

The program culminated with a pitch event that attracted cutting-edge projects, entrepreneurial talent and technology startups from the agri-food sector involved in the 360º gastronomy and food technology fields. The initiative was geared towards startups devising new products or services that help to transform gastronomy value chain players, from chefs, head waiters and managers to producers, distributors, diners, etc.

Impact State of Mind Conference

Impact State of Mind was a three-day UNGA side event at the intersection of Climate Action and the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. Climate Change is the greatest challenge of our generation, but it’s not the only one! We organized this event because we believe we have a responsibility to help advance efforts to combat climate while also taking into account the many other urgent issues that demand our attention now.

Impact State of Mind brought together local and global innovators to explore various intersections through co-creation, fire-side chats, panels, and networking. Our partners bring together a mix of sessions that leverage their deep and authentic experiences, while engaging audiences to magnify impact.

Building an African Innovation Ecosystem in New York 

Building An African Innovation Ecosystem in NY was an initiative by Impact Hub New York Metropolitan Area and Impact Hub Accra, co-created with African Women in Technology, and Baobab Consulting. The event is part of the Impact State of Mind Conference in partnership with Marketplace of the Future. 

This UNGA side event highlighted leading Africa-focused innovators from both sides of the Atlantic, with the aim to catalyze collaborations and exchange between Africa-focused entrepreneurs, African diaspora, and others passionate about connecting to African innovation ecosystems. New York is the most important city for Africans outside of Africa. Leveraging our collective networks and 14 partner Impact Hubs on the continent, we believe we can help advance the sustainable rise of Africa and New York!

Morristown Launch 

Impact Hub New York Metropolitan Area hosted a soft launch event and ribbon cutting ceremony for the “Center for SubUrban Climate Action,” in Morristown, New Jersey – America’s first publicly accessible innovation hub focused on decarbonizing the suburbs and advancing the UN’s 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Group Visit to Museum of Future Experiences

We brought a group of people from our Impact Hub Community to visit the Museum of Future experiences – a physical venue and production studio for high-tech immersive experiences. Exploring mediums such as VR and Spatialized Sound, MoFE creates intimate sensorial experiences that bend the mind and touch the human spirit. 

Climate Action on NYCs Waterfronts

NYC will be greatly impacted by climate change – and sooner than many of us thought. It’s essential that we prepare the city for rising waters and more intense storms – in a way that speaks to our highest values! We brought together communities from across the city to give feedback on the city’s plans and brainstorm solutions that can inform policy.

We organized the event in partnership with the NYC Mayor’s Office of Climate Resilience, ideanco., and LMHQ. You’ll have a chance to give feedback, engage, and brainstorm solutions via “world café” co-creation sessions. 

Impact State of Mind Virtual Events Series

Impact Hub New York Metropolitan Area launched a free, virtual program created to support the NY Metro Area’s impact innovation ecosystem during the COVID-19 crisis and beyond. The program featured sharing breaking information as it affects the startup ecosystem, help businesses pivot to digital models, grasp new technologies, and ignite innovation towards impact. 

The program was composed of virtual sessions representing a mix of succinct webinars, workshops, panel discussions, and online activities. Content was interactive and available to participate live or watch on our Youtube channel post-production.

Learn more about the individual event sessions here.

LGBTQA+ Pride Brunch

We were honored to bring together our LGBTQ+ community and ally members together for a relaxed social brunch in Hell’s Kitchen.

An Equitable & Sustainable Newark

“An Equitable & Sustainable Newark” was part of a walking tour we hosted in Newark, New Jersey in collaboration with Forward Ever Sustainable Business Alliance and Have You Met Newark.

We invited guests to meet local entrepreneurs and community development leaders, as they discussed inclusive development projects. Guests experienced an AWESOME mural tour, and had great snacks along the way.

Envisioning the Future of Protein 

We were happy to partner with @israelinnewyork & ACT Food Tech fot: “Envisioning the Future of Protein”, a virtual event all about access to healthy foods.

Attendees discussed how consumers can discover plant based foods, and what to expect for the future of the sustainable food movement.

Social Innovation in Queens 

We had a dinner and discussion at Katch NYC in Astoria Queens to hear from leaders in the local sustainable business community and meet others in the social impact sector. We heard from the Queens Deputy Borough President, the Founder of Queens Together, and local entrepreneurs to understand inclusive economic development in Queens, and the dynamic environment and vision of entrepreneurs in the ecosystem.

Investing to Create 1B Sustainable Livelihoods by 2030 

We hosted Prof Durreen Shahnaz, Founder of Impact Investment Exchange (IIX) and IIX Foundation. Prof Shahnaz is a global leader in social impact and impact investment and is soon launching the fourth Women’s Livelihood Bond (WLB), part of a bond series that is unlocking US$100m of private sector capital to impact over 3 million women across Asia-Pacific and Africa.

Unpacking the Data

In the past year the movement demanding a more inclusive economy for all groups has grown. In this event StartOut and Socos Labs highlighted the findings of the StartOut Pride Economic Impact Index (SPEII), a data project designed to measure the progress of entrepreneurs belonging to many groups, while our diverse panel unpacked the significance of the results for a multitude of communities and identities across the New York Metropolitan Area.

Building a Purpose Driven Business

Guests joined Silvina Skverer, Co-Founder & Partner of Thinking Beyond Business, Soledad Matteozzi, Co-Founder & Partner of Thinking Beyond Business for this hybrid workshop highlighting the importance of running a purpose-driven business. They discussed tools for developing purpose-driven businesses, and why these models operate better than traditional options. The workshop was valuable for businesses who are just starting to understand the importance of cultivating a business purpose and need guidance on how to properly articulate it.

Neighborhood Spotlight: Community Inspired Solutions from the Bronx

In partnership with Communitas America, we welcomed three innovators from the Bronx to discuss how the community can lead the way in innovating health and wellness solutions. Moderator Chrysula Winegar from the UN Foundation was joined by speakers Maurelhena Walles, Founder of Equity Design Inc.; Trevon Gordon, Founder of Vader Nanontechnologies Inc.; and Henry Obispo, Founder & CEO of Born Juice.

Innovations in Quality Remote Education

The blistering pace of innovation in education has accelerated further during the COVID19 crisis. During this event, we discussed: What is the future of education, remote education, and lifelong learning? What are new ways we can think about the role of technology, content creation, and inclusion in education to advance the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals?

Unpacking Implicit Bias

Karen Brown-Stovell of Impact Hub New York Metropolitan Area and Brenda Herrera Moreno of Impact Hub Boston hosted a conversation on “Unpacking Our Implicit Bias” to discuss how we can move forward as individuals and/or organizations as we commit to anti-racism?

Impact Funding for Social Entrepreneurs During Covid19

The Impact Funding landscape is changing, adapting to the new rules dictated by Covid-19 and by a renewed push for social justice and equality, both at societal and infrastructure levels. While the entrepreneurial ecosystem is trying to evolve to offset all the new obstacles and create new paradigms, the investor community is put to the test to see how it’s reacting to it, and how it’s supporting the new challenges of the community.

How can Social Entrepreneurs connect and reconnect with Impact capital? How the Impact Investing community can deploy capital in a more meaningful and cross-systemic way?

Moderated by Simone Tarantino, a veteran social entrepreneur, we hosted an honest conversation with three powerhouses from the Impact Investing community: Rashmi Pendse (Citi Impact Fund), Erika Boll (The David Prize), and Melissa Bradley (1863 Ventures) who shared their insights and proposed solutions.

The David Prize

We hosted the David Prize for a conversation with winners from the inaugural year of the competition to discuss new ideas that are shaping New York’s future in health and education led by individuals that fell into ‘social entrepreneurship’ without realizing it. Guests also heard directly from The David Prize on the process for this year’s Prize and FAQs.

Unpacking the Privilege in Purpose

Purpose has become a popular buzzword for businesses and individuals alike. And, for good reason. For people, purpose has the power to motivate, propel, and inform impact. For businesses, purpose ensures a social mission that drives teams to do good. A recent study from Mckinsey & Company further explores purpose in the context of a crisis.

Purpose can be so powerful, and we acknowledge there is an element of privilege that we need to address, when we talk about purpose. This is not to say that only people with privilege lead purposeful lives, but rather, there is privilege in wealth and income which makes it easier for some people to pursue their purpose. Additionally, there is privilege for identities which have historically had greater access to pursue purpose-driven work. Post traumatic events, our brains goes into flight or fight mode and people can lose a sense of purpose. All of this defines who has access.

The leading social impact organizations in New York City, Impact Hub New York Metropolitan Area and Be Social Change, partnered to bring together an expert panel to unpack this conversation, exploring: How privilege and purpose have been intertwined historically, best practices to address privilege in purposeful work, ways of promoting access and equity to purpose-driven work, innovative ideas in ensuring greater access to individual and organizational purpose.