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Dear fellow Sustainable Business Champions:

Greetings and Salutations.

I manage the William James Foundation, which is dedicating to
supporting entrepreneurs who are starting sustainable businesses.

We are gearing up for our 5th annual Socially Responsible Business
Plan Competition, and I wanted to get the word out.

Full details on the competition can be found at
www.williamjamesfoundation.org. We do accept social enterprises
(for-profit subsidiaries of not-for-profits) as long as both entities
are in the start-up phase.

I've included a summary below.

I'd be most appreciative if you could forward the information below to
people who you think would be interested.

Thank you for your assistance.

Sincerely,

Ian Fisk
Executive Director, the William James Foundation
ian.fisk@williamjamesfoundation.org
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The William James Foundation's 2007-08 Socially Responsible Business
Plan Competition

Who Can Enter:
We're looking for individuals or teams that are starting for-profit
businesses with a socially responsible/sustainable component. These
businesses can be social enterprises (for-profit subsidiaries of
not-for-profits), and we will accept plans that have been submitted to
other competitions. At least one member of the team must be either a
current student or graduate (within 10 years) of an undergraduate or
graduate educational institution. See
http://www.williamjamesfoundation.org/criteria for more details.

What's the Timeline:
Executive Summaries (3-5 pages) are due on November 16th. If selected
for the second round, full plans are due on February 8th. See
http://www.williamjamesfoundation.org/timeline for more details.

Who are the Judges:
We are working with a pool of judges from three areas: those who are
either subject matter experts in the areas in which we traditionally
receive plans (organic food, green building, fair trade, diversity
initiatives, etc.), entreprenuers, and individuals who look at
business plans on a regular basis (VCs, Bankers, CDC staff, etc.)
We're always open to having more judges see
http://www.williamjamesfoundation.org/judges for more details.

What are the Prizes:
The top Prize that we offer to all entrants is detailed feedback on
your summaries and plans. In addition, we have a prize basket for the
top plans of cash and professional services (e.g. 25 hours with a
lawyer, 20 hours with an accountant, etc.) Last year's basket was
worth more than $35,000.