Awardees will be announced during Soularize LIVE, October 21-23
NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. — Up to $10K in cash, scholarships and services will be awarded to start-up concepts submitted to the Start-Up Pitch Showcase at Soularize, an online and three-day live event for spiritual innovators, now celebrating its 20th anniversary. The Showcase is designed to motivate spiritual entrepreneurs to develop and share innovative concepts within this year’s theme, Humane Spirituality. The deadline to submit a pitch concept is Friday, October 8, 2021; up to six prizes will be awarded.
“We are looking for submissions that reframe issues and inspire human dignity to both the oppressed and the oppressor,” said Spencer Burke, author, speaker and creator of Soularize. “This is not a traditional competition. It’s more like a community collaboration. Those who have put up awards of support are looking to come alongside projects and innovators, to help them take their next significant step. If you’re at the idea stage moving towards creating your pitch, then the Glean network is your best partner. If your project innovates interfaith Initiatives, then support from innoFaith would be the best fit. We’re not just looking for the best pitch, we’re looking for proposals that we can support and help them create community around those ideas.”
Ideas can be unique business start-ups, community projects, or non-profit mission concepts; leading change-makers will advise, critique, and select the most relevant projects for specific awards. Advisors include representatives from Glean Network, a spiritual entrepreneurship incubator; Ideation, a brand marketing agency; and innoFaith, an interfaith network. Awardees will be announced during Soularize LIVE, October 21- 23, in Fullerton, California.
Awards and Criteria:
innoFaith will award $2,500 for up to two of the most compelling interfaith social impact ideas that include innovative way(s) of engaging people across different faiths to create change in a local community. The idea must also have the potential to solve or mitigate a social problem, or to create new opportunities for social change.
Glean Network, in association with the Columbia Business School, will award up to two fully subsidized seats (valued at $1,598 each) in the upcoming 2021-2022 START Spiritual Entrepreneurship Cohort. Winners must self-identify as a Spiritual Entrepreneur with a working venture concept and must commit to spending ten weeks with fellow participants refining and sharpening the venture concept. They must also have the intention to launch their venture by 2022 and a willingness to experiment and make adjustments to the concept.
Additional awards include a Business Strategy Session with the CEO at Ideation, a Fortune 50 brand consulting agency. The two-hour session will cover topics such as business models, funding, brand marketing, digital, network building, and/or technology. Finally, Lean Faith will award a three-session consultation, to include coaching and concept streamlining, to launch working projects using design thinking and lean methodology.
To participate, innovators must submit a short application here and once approved, purchase a Soularize Network Pass ($19.95), download the app and post their concept to the Start-up Pitch Gallery.
About Soularize:
Launched in 2001, Soularize is a learning party for spiritual innovators and thought leaders. This year’s hybrid event is focused on an interfaith and beyond faith initiatives that help launch projects into action. The live event will take place in Fullerton, CA October 21- 23, while the majority of the attendees are expected to attend from all over the globe virtually. The event will feature 30 workshops presented by innovators like Becca Stevens, founder of Thistle Farms, members from Ashoka Faith-Inspired Changemakers. Music is provided by award-winning Nashville-based band HuDost. Onsite tickets are limited and can be purchased for $199. A network pass is available now for $19.95 to engage with the online community and access the live event virtually.
About Spencer Burke:
Spencer Burke is known as one of the early adopters of the Emerging Church, a Progressive Christian movement in the early 2000s. Author of several books including A Heretic’s Guide to Eternity and Making Sense of Church, Spencer is an ordained Disciples of Christ Minister, served as the Minister of Innovation and New Church Development with the Pacific Southwest Region, and currently leads Innovation Labs at Fullerton First Methodist Church while running his consulting company, Lean Faith — helping churches launch love into action. Spencer lives with his wife and often host dinners with his two grown children in Newport Beach, CA.
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Contact:
Shayna Metzner
Soularize
310-567-4426
[email protected]
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Religion News Service or Religion News Foundation.
