Social Venture Network rocks, connects and inspires!

Social Venture Network rocks, connects and inspires!

SVN conference

At the end of April I participated and was profoundly inspired by the Social Venture Network's 20th anniversary gathering in Kennybunkport, Maine. I am a new member of this outstanding and very special business community that since 1987 has united 420 of the world’s most socially responsible businesses leaders-- company founders, private investors, social entrepreneurs and key influencers-- together under the common and powerful commitment of building a just and sustainable world through business.

After reading Anita Roddick’s Book Body and Soul, I became very interested in the idea of Socially responsible businesses and began wondering how Ciclismo Classico could become a better social platform for improving our world. For several years I attended Babson College’s Business and Spirituality conference and was profoundly inspired by speakers such as Tom and Kate Chappell, of Tom's of Maine, Aaron Feuerstein, former President and CEO of Malden Mills Industries, Inc, Gary Hirshberg from Stoneyfield Farm and Frances Moore Lappé, noted author and activist.

I drove up to Maine with Laury Hammel, the amazingly energetic founder of The Longfellow Club and key sponsor of the Business and Spirituality Conference. Laury is my connection to SVN world and immediately introduces me to members he has know for years. I was taken by the openness, camaraderie and enthusiasm of the members and my new found friends! Immediately I began meeting and learning from an impressive range of business owners from Joe Sibilia, multi business owner and the founder of www.meadowbrooklane.com and Gasoline Alley, a corporation designed to teach inner city persons to be successful entrepreneurs, Ken Beck who has built a wonderful retreat center, The Crossings , Doris Cadoux of Oceans Alert a non-profit whose mission is to rebuild healthy and sustainable fish populations, Ajax Green, a wise businessman/ moutain climber, Nina Utne founder of the Utne Reader, Frederix Marx, president of Warrior Films a major talent in American filmmaking who produced Hoop Dreams and many other intriguing films. The list of close and empowering encounters goes on!!

There was a wonderful, joyous, loose energy in the room that moved, morphed, flexed and grew throughout the whole weekend. On the “Walk your talk” side, there were graduate students from Brainbridge Graduate Institute (offering the first MBA program that focuses on socially and environmentally responsible business) calculating every member’s carbon Footprint and committing that we all make our pledge.

The weekend was like the collision of Woodstock and MIT Business School. Sparks were firing for four days during this blend of late night singing campfires, yoga, long walks, delicious meals, poetry, meditatons, lots of laughing, stimulating conversation and educational sessions such as Best Practices from Cutting-edge entrepreneurs and the Next Generation of Socially Responsible Leaders as well as a 20th Year Celebration Party of all Parties with rockin’ Two Ton Shoe.

By the end of the weekend I not only had made many new friends and learned new business practices and ideas, I had found a tight-knit heartwarming, soulful community, a tribe of like-minded spirits whose passions and missions are about being a positive force for societal and environmental changes overlay my own.

After much soul searching about what’s next for Ciclismo, I came away deeply touched, reenergized, renewed and bubbling with new ideas. Most importantly I feel a part of a greater good, that I no longer have to dream in isolation, that I can be part of an ongoing collaboration and exchange of ideas that can really change the world one step or pedal stroke at time. It was an experience I will never forget, I am grateful for SVN for taking me and entrusting my vision. I am looking forward to repeating every six months at the SVN member gatherings.

Joe Sibilia put it best “ Once you've been exposed to the impact that business has on society, on the environment and on the human condition, for you to go back and to operate under a different set of guidelines would be very hard. You'd have to have very little self-esteem or self- consciousness for that to happen. So as a result of the flow of people in and out of the organization there creates a critical mass within the business community and at some point we gather together and create an impression that it's not an underground or an alternative economy. It becomes mainstream. It reminds me of a quote about the definite truth, the evolution of truth traveling through three stages. First it's ridiculed. Then it's violently opposed. Then it becomes universally accepted as being self-evident. So right now people ridicule the notion that companies should be measured on their financial performance and their social impact, and many people violently oppose that notion. But we believe that ultimately that will become universally accepted as being self-evident and that'll be the next evolution in capitalism. “

What does this all mean for Ciclismo Classico? As we grow and continually run the most authentic active and transformational tours on the planet, I look forward to using Ciclismo Classico as a powerful platform to promote and advance cycling culture as a crucial strategy in making the world better, happier and more sustainable. My socially responsible interests revolve alternative transportation, sustainable agriculture, cultural preservation and getting children active in the wild outdoors. Inspired by Richard Louv’s Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder I am deeply concerned about how children’s lives are more and more disconnected from nature and free play. I am excited, motivated and committed to inspire children (and their parents) to turn off the TV and gameboys and get out, run, play, explore and build in nature.

In 2008 we will be donating a percentage of our profits and operational support to the following organizations: Cycle Kids http://www.cyclekids.org/ Massbike http://www.massbike.org/ , Bikes Belong http://bikesbelong.org/ http://www.righttoplay.com, The Pan Mass Challenge www.pmc.org, Best Buddies http://www.kintera.org Spannochia Foundation http://www.spannocchia.org/ and Slow Food http://www.slowfood.com/

These organizations really need your support so feel free to contact them directly

If you know of any organizations that might be a great fit in our Social Responsible Portfolio, let me know

Happy Pedaling!

Lauren@ciclismoclassico.com

I look forward to your support

La Lorena