Yale experts share business know-how with Chinese social entrepreneurs

A delegation of 30 Chinese social entrepreneurs — the 2012 ESCEL Fellows — visited the Yale Entrepreneurial Institute (YEI) recently as part of their U.S. training trip.

The ECSEL Fellowship is a highly selective program for China-based social entrepreneurs who seek to expand their social enterprise within greater China. Throughout the course of the year-long, part-time program, participants take part in two international training trips — one in the United States, one in mainland China — and receive customized mentorships and investment opportunities. The group’s Yale visit was hosted by YEI and the Yale Office of International Affairs.

During their visit to campus the delegates heard from several Yale experts and entrepreneurs. These included:

• Jim Boyle, co-founder and director of YEI;
• Barry Nalebuff, co-founder and member of advisory council of Honest Tea and professor at the Yale School of Management;
• Kam Lasater, co-founder of SeeClickFix, a New Haven-based company that aims to help citizens improve their communities;
• Rachel Turkel, program manager for Unite for Sight, a global health non-profit based in New Haven that works to improve vision in developing countries;
• Aleh Tsyvinski, Yale professor of economics; and
• Bo Hopkins of CM Equity Partners, a lecturer at SOM and the Jackson Institute for Global Affairs.

The group’s visit to Yale concluded with a reception where they met with Yale students, entrepreneurs, faculty, and staff.