Bringing you a certificate of social entrepreneurship: Ashoka Youth Venture & StraighterLine

Straighter Line
Source: Straighter Line

In an increasingly fast-paced world, many of us are looking to learn the skills of the future. Increasingly, we are called to step into entrepreneural roles to help create better realities. Ashoka's Youth Venture and StraighterLines have partnered to provide future social entrepreneurs with the knowledge they will need to launch a business created to address a social, environmental or economic problem. Students will conceive, plan, and create their own social ventures and learn how to access capital and resources to support their growth. Upon successful completion of the programs, students will receive a Social Entrepreneurship Certificate awarded by Ashoka’s Youth Venture.

Students can choose from two options: a single online course, Certificate Only program, or a 4-course program that also includes their choice of three 3-credit online business courses, a 6-month subscription to StraighterLine, online tutoring and proctored exams. Both options are centered around the Venture Planning for Social Entrepreneurs course (ENTR101) facilitated by Dr. Kristin Joos which starts September 3rd and ends in November the week prior to Thanksgiving. Dr. Joos is the Director of the Young Entrepreneurs for Leadership & Sustainability High School Summer Program at the University of Florida, as well as the founder of the Innovative Sustainability & Social Impact (ISSI) Initiative in the Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation in the Warrington College of Business at UF. Program tuition is less than $80 per semester credit. Scholarships are available to Youth Venture members to further reduce the cost of tuition for the credit bearing bundle.

“StraighterLine itself is a social venture,” says Burck Smith, CEO of StraighterLine. “Our mission is to provide students an ultra-affordable pathway that leads to real college credit and eventually a degree. We’re excited and proud to be partnered with a forward looking organization like Youth Venture which empowers students to make positive change in their own communities.”

Gretchen Zucker, Executive Director of Ashoka’s Youth Venture adds, “changemaker skills – problem solving, empathy, teamwork and leadership -- are becoming increasingly relevant to the companies we are talking to, and certificates like Startups for Social Entrepreneurs stand to validate those skills and the time young people devote to developing them through the process of launching and leading social ventures.”