Meet Our Partners

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    Lorne Adrain

    Lorne Adrain is a co-founder of SVPRI and served as chair for several years. He is highly engaged in philanthropy - author of a book series raising money to support community needs (www.adrain.com), founder of National Neighborhood Day, RI Foundation's "Inspiring Partner of 2005" and winner of Northwestern Mutual Life's community service award "Most Exceptional Volunteer" in the nation. Lorne serves on multiple boards including Harvard Business School, Big Picture Schools and the Business Innovation Factory. He earned his BS at University of Rhode Island and his MBA at Harvard.

    Website: 
    National Neighborhood Day

Engaged Philanthropy

Social Venture Partners Rhode Island (SVPRI) is a partnership of engaged philanthropists who are aware and action-oriented. Our mission is to use our time, skills and financial resources to help non-profit organizations establish and scale social enterprises that create jobs and revenue.

We’ve helped Amos House establish a catering business that has created more than 225 jobs and provides revenue for the organization’s main enterprise – feeding 65,000 homeless in 2008. With our assistance, The Steel Yard, a school for the industrial arts, was able to nearly double its production of “urban furniture.” In November of 2009, we’ll conduct the state’s first-ever Summit on Social Enterprise.

If you’re looking to join or sponsor a network of committed, caring leaders or if you’re seeking active assistance in growing your non-profit, click on.

  
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News & Events More
  • John Kostrzewa: Brain power may be the key to climbing out of Rhode Island’s deep recession

    After a quiet, stress-free spring break in New Hampshire, I was not longing to head back to the deep recession here that has worn down so many Rhode Islanders. Read the full article on Projo.com
Social Enterprise in RI More
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    Amos House

    Since 2004, Amos House (AH) has launched a thriving school lunch business and a private catering business. Both serve as a training ground for AH clients enrolled in ACE – the Amos Culinary Education Program – a culinary arts job-training program. SVPRI has been instrumental in developing and implementing the business plan, serving as a sounding board to help AH think through staffing, marketing and pricing. Among the accomplishments SVPRI has helped AH achieve:

    • AH has graduated 189 men and women from the program, and 60 percent have secured food service jobs.
 


SVPRI.org Blog

SVP University - Value Chain

I recently attended a presentation of University of Rhode Island (URI) student authored social enterprise business plans. Social enterprise businesses are mssion-related enterprises owned and operated by nonprofits with the goal of creating jobs/ training opportunities, and/or developing a stream of revenue for the organizations. The URI student teams, along with teams from Brown, and Johnson and Wales are part of the SVPRI University program and are competing for a $5000 prize which will be awarded to the nonprofit that worked with the winning student team.

Nonprofit Social Enterprises

The presented plans were interesting and well developed. I am always surprised and inspired by the spectrum of creative social enterprise ideas. I am also impressed with the caliber of work I have seen students contribute to nonprofits. The business plans presented included: the House of Hope Community Development Center's House of Hope Boutique Originals (HOHBO) proposal to employ the women residing in their shelter to produce hand-crafted tote bags using recycled green material; an innovatively packaged granola called Urban Survival Food for the Wiley Center, a community organizing group that aims to access the snack food distribution market (sales in vending machines,at sporting events and in movie theatres); a Doggie resort, that allows vacationers to Rhode Island beaches an alternative to leaving their dogs at home, to be owned and operated by the Animal Rescue League; a property management company that would be a for-profit subsidiary of Crossroads RI, and a Baked Potato Restaurant, that differentiates itself by offering inexpensive, healthy, local foods, which would become a revenue generator for the Trudeau Center.

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