Here’s a snippet from our article:
SolSolution takes full advantage of these state-level rebates as solar partner to Massachusetts schools. Working with leading third-party solar installers, SolSolution, as the official solar provider for our partner schools, removes the significant barriers to school adoption of solar power. Read more…

As a BWP connector, Dr. Soren Harrison has been able to provide BWP’s network of professionals expertise in both solar energy and green entrepreneurship. Moreover, BWP has served as an incredibly valuable resource for connecting SolSolution with influencers, innovators, and other entrepreneurs. Learning from the experiences and knowledge of other connectors has allowed us to both strengthen our core business model and evaluate new ideas for growth. We thank BWP for their support of SolSolution’s dual mission and for the opportunity to be featured on their blog.

“I am thrilled to work closely with SolSolution’s team to coordinate our efforts in a more formal manner as we both navigate this new green economy. It is my dream for every human being to breathe clean air, receive a proper education, as well as to nurture our newer generations to take care of our planet while being successful in whatever field they so choose. Maintaining a cleaner planet and thereby creating a robust economy is where we must head and together I feel we will better realize this dream.”
–- Chrissy Coughlin, Nature of Business Founder & Host

“SolSolution is looking forward to collaborating closely with Chrissy and Nature of Business. Soren and I were immediately captivated by Chrissy’s contagious energy and dedication for creating a space where people and organizations like us can share their stories and experiences. We value this new partnership greatly, and we have no doubt that together SolSolution and Nature of Business will climb to new heights and light up more lives.”
– Samantha Go, SolSolution Marketing Manager

We are excited to welcome Chrissy and Nature of Business team into our SolSolution community. Working together, both SolSolution and Nature of Business know that we will be able to more effectively reach out to all our audiences and supporters in the Massachusetts and New England area and beyond.

About Nature of Business and Chrissy Coughlin
Nature of Business provides its listeners access to the most respected business leaders, innovators, entrepreneurs, political leaders who are on the front lines clearing the path for modernization of business practices that focus on efficiency, cost reduction, and productivity. Chrissy focuses on how rapid innovation, nimble management, and managing complex regulatory and environmental issues will define success for local business and beyond.

Want to read more about Chrissy and Nature of Business radio show? Interested in being featured on Nature of Business? Find more on www.natureofbusiness.fm.

SolSolution is proud to be a founding member of Catchafire’s Boston network. In collaborating more closely with Catchafire, we aim to expand our outreach to communities for support and strengthen the strategic development of our social enterprise. With their network of skilled professionals bolstering our efforts, SolSolution will without a doubt be able to bring solar to more schools in the Greater Boston area and improve the quality of education in those schools. Moreover, SolSolution will provide our volunteer professionals with a unique opportunity to serve not just one, but two missions simultaneously and more effectively make an impact in our children’s lives.

See what Catchafire had to say about us and our other environmental peers on their blog. Here is a small excerpt: “What makes these four so compelling, is not just their impact on the environment, but their approach to tackling a combination of social and environmental issues simultaneously.” Thanks, Catchafire! We couldn’t have said it better ourselves.

About Catchafire
Catchafire’s mission is to improve the quality of the volunteer experience by providing pro bono opportunities for skilled professionals. Catchafire’s vision is to make it easy for every professional to use their skills for good, and to make it easy for every nonprofit and social enterprise to access and effectively use pro bono as a way to build capacity within their organization. Catchafire matches professionals who want to give their skills with nonprofits and social enterprises that need their help. We match professionals and organizations based on a variety of characteristics including skills, cause interests, and time availability.

We believe in providing efficient, effective, and meaningful volunteer experiences for both skilled professionals and the organizations with whom they work. We believe that a great pro bono experience can transform someone’s life, and we also know that a bad one can turn someone away from giving their time forever.

]]> http://www.sol-solution.org/catchafire-catches-fire-in-boston-with-solsolution/feed/ 0 http://www.sol-solution.org/the-power-of-two-more-than-doubles-your-impact/ http://www.sol-solution.org/the-power-of-two-more-than-doubles-your-impact/#comments Tue, 04 Oct 2011 18:05:08 +0000 SamGo http://www.sol-solution.org/?p=2473 Boston, MA–Starting on October 17, 2011 SolSolution will be holding regular bi-monthly dinners at Tantric India Bistro in downtown Boston. Every second Monday of every second month, join the dynamic duo of SolSolution and Tantric India Bistro for some delightful dinner dishes and tantalizing evening conversation. We are grateful to be able to work closely with Mary Sen and the rest of the Tantric team in order to hold these regular events for the SolSolution and Tantric communities.

Join us at Tantric on October 17 for our first dinner together! Directions to Tantric India Bistro

Every two months, you’ll have the opportunity to hear about SolSolution’s latest progress on putting solar up on our local schools and then just get to enjoy a wonderful meal with great friends from the environmental, educational, and green business communities. Every month there are sure to be new faces to meet and new stories to share over a Indian entrees that are sure to satisfy you. And, thanks to the generosity and support of Tantric, 25% of your total dinner bill will be donated back to SolSolution (taxes and gratuities excluded). So mark it in your calendars now, and make it repeat every two months. You won’t want to miss out on these dinners.

Teaser: Those who come to our first dinner on October 10 will find out all the details and get a hard start in the SolSolution and Tantric India Bistro Light It Up loyalty program. Be there to find out how you can win a variety of prizes from SolSolution or Tantric.

About Tantric India Bistro
Tantric India Bistro is located in the heart of Boston’s Theater District and has been serving Bostonians since 2004. Owners Shubhro & Mary Sen are committed to bringing the freshest fruits, vegetables, and meats to the table every night of the week.  But the dining experience at Tantric India Bistro is more than just about taste. Tantric brings together your sense of touch, sight, and smell, for a truly holistic eating experience. And the rest of Boston knows it too! In 2010 Tantric won OpenTable.com’s Diners’ Choice award.

The Sens also have a passion for supporting green enterprises and environmental projects. Every month, they offer their space to non-profits doing important work in the community. SolSolution is grateful to have the added support of Tantric behind us. We are excited to kick of this partnership in a few short weeks! We’re getting hungry just thinking about it!

Find out more about Tantric India Bistro here on their website.

Listen in to SolSolution’s segment directly on the Nature of Business website. You’ll also find an archive of all of Chrissy’s past shows.

Nature of Business, provides its listeners access to the most respected business leaders, innovators, entrepreneurs, political leaders who are on the front lines clearing the path for modernization of business practices that focus on efficiency, cost reduction, and productivity. Chrissy focuses on how rapid innovation, nimble management, and managing complex regulatory and environmental issues will define success for local business and beyond.

— SolSolution has been selected as a semifinalist in the 2011 Northeast Cleantech Open competition. A total of 163 semifinalists were chosen out of an extremely competitive field of teams ranging from transportation to air, water, and waste management. As a semifinalist, we will receive rigorous feedback on our business plan and pitch for investors as well as a team of mentors who will be dedicated to the development of our team. We will now compete regionally for cash and in-kind services. After another round of regional judging in October, finalists will advance to represent their region and compete at the national level for a grand prize of up to $250,000 worth of cash and services.

We deeply appreciate the selection from the Cleantech Open, and we are grateful for the chance to continue to grow and develop as sustainable, cleantech business. We will continue to work hard to strengthen our social enterprise and reach more schools in Massachusetts, the Northeast region, and ultimately the entire nation. Read the full list of Cleantech Open semifinalist here

About The Cleantech Open Competition
The Cleantech Open is a non-profit organization that runs the world’s largest business competition for cleantech entrepreneurs.The mission of the Cleantech Open is to find, fund, and foster the big ideas that address today’s most urgent energy, environmental, and economic challenges. The Cleantech Open has established itself as the leader in developing clean technology startup entrepreneurs addressing these challenges. Since its inception in 2006, nearly 400 promising teams have availed themselves of the Cleantech Open’s one-of-a-kind hands-on workforce development, nurturing, and funding programs, with impressive results. They believe that the solutions to the most critical challenges facing the U.S. today, related to energy, environment and the economy will come from the creativity, dedication, and passion of entrepreneurs and inventors.

To find out more, read Cleantech Open’s pitch on PitchEngine.

Our partners at New Generation Energy are also ecstatic about the success of their event! With over $15,000 matched within the first hour, Turn Up the Heat was sure to be a success. You can read their post-event coverage right here.

We can only thank our wonderful SolSolution community for continually supporting us in so many ways. We would not have been able to do make it this far without you sending emails to your friends and family, your Facebook and Twitter conversations, and of course your financial contributions. This event really showed us the power of our community, and SolSolution really shines because of all of you.

To mark New England’s first ever Tech Gives Back citizenship day, BostInnovation is featuring Boston-based non-profits focused on entrepreneurship, non-profits with innovative models, non-profits with technology at their core, organizations who serve non-profits in innovative ways, new fundraising platforms, and more. SolSolution is lucky enough to be one of the selected few to be spotlighted.

Here’s a sneak peak at our article “SolSolution: Magnified Philanthropy”:
What do you think about a nonprofit that wants to make a ton of money…
In the energy business… By selling electricity to schools in the United States? So far, this might sound like heresy, but I assure you it’s not. Where this money goes makes all the difference! SolSolution is pioneering a new model to address a significant opportunity for social, environmental, and economic impact…

Click here to read the full article.

More about BostInnovation
BostInnovation hopes to galvanize and unify the tech community at-large, help bring awareness about the cultural events Boston’s tech community has to offer, and report in a fact-based, entertaining manner on developments in this rapidly growing community.
You can find out more about BostInnovation and all the chatter they have gathered at their website: http://www.bostinnovation.com.

MassChallenge is the world’s largest global startup competition and incubator. Out of an initial 440 companies, the first round narrowed the field down to 300 semi-finalists who were contacted to present pitches. Last week, our Founder & CEO Dr. Soren Harrison presented our pitch, explaining his inspiration for creating SolSolution, the environmental and educational problems we address, and our model and vision for the future. Out of the 300, 110 finalists were chosen and are now in the accelerator phase.

After presenting the pitch, Dr. Harrison felt quite satisfied with our team’s performance. “The pitch went really well. We got some great positive feedback from the judges, and it was great to hear it. It’s good to receive some external validation from leaders in the entrepreneurial community.” Now that SolSolution has entered the accelerator phase, we are eager to take advantage of the great resources and mentoring provided by MassChallenge. We look to improve how we connect with our supporters, how to streamline the process of going solar for schools, and how to strengthen our educational offerings as more schools come online with us.

We have a lot of work to do before the presentations in October to see if we can earn a spot in the top 10, but we look forward to the opportunity to strengthen our company in order to improve the environmental quality of the world we live in and bring better education to our children.