Your Guide to SOCAP 2017

It’s that time of year again: SOCAP is almost here.

At Village Capital, we look forward to this week every year. We’re constantly explaining our work to potential partners, and the conversations often look something like this: Yes, the investments we make generate a positive social or environmental impact as well as a financial return. No, we are not looking for concessionary returns. Yes, we’re serious.

But for one glorious week each year, we don’t have to explain that up front. People just… get it. That’s what SOCAP is about. So we’re packing our bags and heading to San Francisco for the premiere conference on impact investing and social entrepreneurship.

With over 2,200 attendees and hundreds of sessions and parties, it can be hard to pick out the best ones — so we decided to make it easy for you. Scroll down for a list of some of the highlights.

We hope to see you in San Francisco and — as always — feel free to reach out to if you’d like to set up talk about ways to work together. I’m at dustin@vilcap.com.

Tuesday, October 10

5:30p-7:00p: Happy Hour: The Innovation Blind Spot Book Launch Party — 3300 Townsend Street, Suite 100

• Join us for a discussion on The Innovation Blind Spot, entrepreneur and venture capitalist Ross Baird argues that the innovations that truly matter don’t see the light of day — for reasons entirely of our own making. It’s a thoughtful challenge to the Silicon Valley innovation economy — and more importantly, a constructive outline of how to do better. Join us for a discussion with Ross and drinks with your peers! Please remember to RSVP!

7:00p-8:30p: Happy Hour: The Blackstone Charitable Foundation Happy Hour — Fort Mason Historic Firehouse

• Join our friends at the Blackstone Charitable Foundation for a cocktail reception on Tuesday October 10th, 2017 to kick off SOCAP 2017. This reception will allow attendees to meet and mingle, and to discuss possibilities for collaboration and collective impact. Please remember to RSVP!

Wednesday, October 11

1:15p-2:15p: Panel: Looking Beyond Venture Capital: Understanding the Need for Alternative Deal Structures featuring Victoria Fram, Managing Director of VilCap Investments — Cowell Theater

• This session explores in detail the rise in alternative deal structures and how they can lead to more just results. Building on the expertise of practitioners, the session will showcase a range of emerging models by sector, stage, growth, and exit opportunity.

2:30p-3:00p: Panel: Investing in Climate Change Innovation featuring Joe Speicher, Executive Director of the Autodesk Foundation — Gallery 308

• Private capital and entrepreneurs are stepping up to address climate change despite the inaction of government and entrenched interests. Learn from a variety of organizations working to build a more effective ecosystem of support and expand it as quickly as possible.

3:45p-4:45p: Panel: The Data Conundrum featuring Rehana Nathoo, VP of Social Innovation at the Case Foundation — Cowell Theater

• As data, measurement, and transparency continue to plague impact investing’s ability to reach scale, recent growth of the ecosystem suggests a new chapter. Join four organizations that have identified problems across transparency, data measurement, and data management and learn about the tools and solutions they have created. Together, we’ll discuss the range of challenges and opportunities that have surfaced along this journey.

7:00p-10:00p Happy Hour: SOCAP ClubHouse After Party — Impact Hub SF 1885 Mission St

• Join leaders in the impact investing ecosystem for an evening of fun and connections, we have joined forces together to put a rocking group party on during the SOCAP Conference. With foodtrucks in the yard and a hosted bar, you’ll be set for the night. Come visit us, roving from group to group, and amongst a few hundred fellow movers and shakers, at Impact Hub SF’s new flagship building in the Mission. Please remember to RSVP!

Thursday, October 12

8:45a-9:15a: Plenary: We have to do Better — but What is Better? featuring Ross Baird, Founder of Village Capital — Festival Main Stage

• Join as Ross highlights some of the critical blind spots in supporting innovation that lead us to miss the most impactful entrepreneurs and the best deals. Find out how you can identify and address your own innovation blind spots!

12:15p-1:15p: Panel: First Time Funds featuring Victoria Fram, Managing Director of VilCap Investments — Gallery Tent

• Come benefit from others’ mistakes so you can avoid them in your own investing strategies. Hear honest reflections and practical advice from fund managers about their first fund. What was the hardest and easiest thing about raising money? How to generate deal flow? What is enough due diligence? What do you wish your investors and entrepreneurs had done or not done?

4:00p-5:00p: Panel: India & America: Exchanging Lessons in Impact Investing, featuring Vikram Gandhi, Founder of Asha Impact and Senior Lecturer at HBS — Gallery 308

• Leading practitioners from these unique markets draw insights on the journey of impact investment in each geography, what each can learn from their major differences, and best practices across North and South to develop a common agenda for global collaboration on impact investment.

5:15p-6:15p: Panel: Why Grants are Still Critical for Innovation, featuring Chris Jurgens, Director of Impact Investing at the Omidyar Network — Festival Main Stage

• As impact investing begins to realize its promise of achieving impact using for-profit models, is there still a role for grant capital? Funders and investors discuss innovative ways they use grants to catalyze support for potentially transformative new business models.

Friday, October 13

8:30a-10:00a: Plenary: Change on the Horizon, featuring Kevin Doyle Jones, Good Capital — Festival Main Stage

• Looking ahead, the trends already indicate growing momentum for the impact economy in terms of generational wealth transfer, and women and millennials who are much more inclined to invest with their values. Are we effectively engaging across sectors to prepare for this shift and facilitate the flow of capital to transform our economy? Gather to reflect on emerging themes and be energized for the work ahead.

Dustin Shay is Director of Partnerships at Village Capital. Learn more on our website and read more on our Medium page.