Social Capital: The Intersection of Money and Meaning – at Commonwealth Club of California
Penelope Douglas, April 4, 2011 speaking at The Commonwealth Club of California
Last evening I attended a talk entitled Social Capital: The Intersection of Money and Meaning at The Commonwealth Club of California.
The speakers were:
Patrick Donohue — co-founder and CEO of The Hoop Fund
David Hodgson — Co-founder of Connective
Kate Sofis — Executive Director of SF Made
Penelope Douglas — President of the Board of SOCAP
I got to meet Kate Sofis, the Executive Director of SF Made. You may recall that I wrote about SF Made in February, 2011 and in that post wrote that I hoped to meet Sofis. I didn’t at the time know that I would meet her just over a month later.
Patrick Donohue and David Hodgson, April 4, 2011 at The Commonwealth Club of California
Sofis reminded me about Modern Cabana, a company I originally learned about from my friend Kevin Casey of New Avenue, Inc. Sofis told the audience that Modern Cabana consists of just 2 people, the co-founders. This was one of the most inspiring facts I’ve learned since joining the Commonwealth Club less than 6 months ago.
David Hodgson and Kate Sofis, April 4, 2011 at The Commonwealth Club of California
Modern Cabana offers an appealing product from an attractive website. The company appears to be much bigger than it is. They are based in San Francisco, and make their products in San Francisco, according to Sofis. This is just outstanding news for me, since I am thinking about making a business of selling off-grid capable green homes, and I would like to do this in San Francisco, since I don’t plan to move and I don’t want to commute to a different city to work, as I think commuting long distances to work is itself unhealthy, unwise and not green.
Here’s a clip from the talk. The first speaker shown is Penelope Douglas. The second speaker is Kate Sofis of SF Made. I had nice conversations with all of the panelists after the formal program concluded.
Of course, the panel talked about much more than Modern Cabanas. The primary point I believe the speakers were making is that good can be done by investing in and creating double bottom line businesses. This subject is close to my heart, thanks to the education provided to me by my friends Priya Haji and Siddharth Sanghvi.
