Center for Social Entrepreneurship & Service Learning

Belmonts new major in Social Entrepreneurship, the first of its kind in the country, centers on the emerging business field that tackles social problems and unmet community needs via entrepreneurial principles. Housed on the south side of campus, the Center for Social Entrepreneurship seeks to empower and engage students, faculty, staff and community partners though various programming including training, service-learning, assessment and research activities to impact social change through innovative approaches and projects. Belmonts Service Learning initiative is also housed in the Center on Compton Avenue. The universitys vision statement puts service at the heart of a Belmont education and participating in the Nashville community is a vital element of that service. With Nashville being home to a diverse population that includes refugees, immigrants, disadvantaged families and schoolchildren, students involvement with local service learning helps them better understand the needs challenges and opportunities of working in a variety of settings.

Ripple Effect Microfinance Fund

rippleeffect (The Fund) is a proposed private equity investment fund being sponsored by Lonestep Partners. The Fund will act as a financial partner and intermediary to Microfinance Institutes (mfis) and small SME Banks. These institutions are engaged in providing inclusive financial services by delivering micro loans and other basic services to the poor and under-privileged, often classified as the un-bankable. The long-term goal of the Fund and the mfis it will serve with is to mitigate poverty in the emerging countries of Europe, CIS, MENASA and ASEAN regions. The Fund aims to achieve a double bottom line impact, including suitable risk-adjusted financial returns, as well as sustained social impact returns.