Sonal Shah Confirmed to Keynote SoCap09

The Social Capital Markets conference is one of the hottest events in the social enterprise space. By bringing together actors from entrepreneurs to social venture capitalists to wealth managers to academics to consultants, their goal is to really demonstrate and convene the entire capital-for-good landscape.

This year, in a sign of the new times, the SoCap team has just announced the significant participation of members of the new White House Office of Social Innovation, including a keynote by Director Sonal Shah which will "outline the Obama administration's plans for getting involved in the social enterprise community, both for- and non-profit, to effectively channel government impact investment and public private partnerships."

This is a really exciting announcement, both for SoCap who are bringing together an even more impressive group than the first time around, but also for all of us who are excited and anxious to see the Office of Social Innovation's plans for bridging the social entreprise and policy spaces.

Full text of the press release below:

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Social Capital Markets Announces White House Participation at 2009 Conference

White House Office of Social Innovation to play key role, including Keynote from Director Sonal Shah

San Francisco, CA (June 17, 2009) - The Social Capital Markets Conference, which will hold its highly anticipated second annual SoCap conference September 1-3 in San Francisco, confirms today the participation of White House officials in the event's full three-day program - including a keynote address from Obama appointee Sonal Shah, Director of the newly created Office of Social Innovation.

"The Obama administration has shown remarkable commitment to fostering social innovation," said SoCap09 founder Kevin Jones. "We're thrilled that the Office of Social Innovation has chosen to use SoCap09, which sits at the nexus of policy, investment for impact and social entrepreneurship, as a platform for moving forward."

Shah has indicated that her keynote will outline the Obama administration's plans for getting involved in the social enterprise community, both for- and non-profit, to effectively channel government impact investment and public private partnerships.

The goal of the new office is to bring together private and public sector organizations in new and powerful ways. Under the direction of Ms. Shah, the team will actively identify innovative programs that are successfully tackling social problems, and assist in scaling them across the country through seed money and government backing. Shah's talk will be followed by a panel on taking effective programs to scale and the challenges for-profit social enterprises face when accessing government funds. Administration officials will be involved in all three days of the conference, including the final day of community-driven sessions.

In addition to participation from the White House, SoCap will bring together a global sampling of traditional investors, social entrepreneurs, impact investors, philanthropists, new media, NGO's and non-profits, wealth managers, development agencies, venture capitalists, MBA students and other groups interested in the growing opportunities of social capital. Last year's sold-out conference gathered attendees from 6 continents and 26 countries.

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About SOCAP09

SOCIAL CAPITAL MARKETS (SoCap09) convenes events to highlight the growing field of social capital, people investing with the end goal of creating social change. SoCap's goal is to make connections, generate partnerships and to increase the acceleration of capital to good. Social Capital Markets brings together a unique mix of the world's top social innovators - investors, donors, entrepreneurs, and thought-leaders-catalysts of change across the globe. Last year's 2008 conference gathered more than 650 leading global investors and entrepreneurs from 26 countries and 6 continents, providing a unique forum for thought and business leaders to collaborate and set in motion new market-based solutions for the 21st century.