The NESsT University is an incubator of ideas and initiatives that promote accountability, innovation, leadership and professionalism in the social enterprise field worldwide.

NESsT University aims to achieve the following:

- to develop professional training opportunities to prepare a new cadre of leaders with the unique blend of skills needed to manage social enterprises;

- to promote accountability, ethical behavior and transparency in the social enterprise field;

- to conduct practical research and develop new tools and strategies to support social enterprise development;

- to promote wider support for an excellence in the fields of social enterprise and philanthropic investment.

NESsT University Programs

The NESsT University is comprised of the following programs:

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NESsT Social Enterprise Toolkit (SET)
The NESsT SET is intended for donors, nonprofit leaders, philanthropists and researchers worldwide to help foster the effective and responsible use of social enterprise.

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International Social Enterprise Exchange (ISEE)

ISEE is an intensive 10-day travel seminar, combining classroom study, case/fieldwork, and eco/adventure tour experiences, and providing an introduction to social enterprise development in an emerging market context.

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NESsT Entrepreneurs-in-Residence (NESsTERs)
The NESsTER program provides opportunities for students and mid-career professionals to gain first-hand experience in social enterprise development.

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Social Enterprise Ethics Initiative (SEE INIT)

NESsT's SEE INIT aims to promote greater accountability and transparency in the social enterprise field.

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Social Enterprise Legal Advocacy Working (LAW) Group

The Social Enterprise LAW Group aims to foster an enabling regulatory environment for social enterprises in emerging market countries, and to provide practical legal/tax guidance for social enterprises in the NESsT

Venture Fund portfolio.

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Social Enterprise Workshops (SEWs)
The SEW series has provided skills-development training on social enterprise for hundreds of social enterprises worldwide.

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International V enture Philanthropy Forum
The first international event of its kind, the Forum brought together 150+ participants to share lessons learned and strategies for furthering the field of philanthropic investment in emerging market countries.
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International Venture Philanthropist Award
The NESsT Golden Egg Award recognizes excellence in the field of venture philanthropy and highlights international role models in the field.

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The Margins Project
The Margins Project is an effort to reach out to international, emerging market investment firms and to engage them in solutions to problems affecting the communities in which they invest.

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NESsT Curriculum Development
Part of the goal of the NESsT University is to encourage young leaders to pursue careers in the social enterprise field. In addition to the ISEE and NESsTER programs (above), NESsT develops research materials and course curricula, and assists student research efforts on social enterprise.

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Former NESsT University Projects

Sustainable NGO Financing Project
Launched in 1997 by NESsT, the Sustainable NGO Financing Project (SNFP) was a project focused on increasing awareness of and capacity for social enterprise among nonprofit, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in Central Europe (i.e., Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia and Slovenia).