CAUSE group to bring in entrepreneurs

By Robert Baird

The Collegiate Association of Unreasonable Social Entrepreneurs (CAUSE) will host a group of NIU social entrepreneurs with hopes to educate students about social entrepreneurship on April 5 in the Barsema Alumni and Visitor Center.

Zach Fiegel, CAUSE president and junior marketing major, said the summit host will be entrepreneur and instructor Dennis Barsema. The event will feature for-profit and non-profit companies including Groupon, Impact Engines and Benevolent. All of the companies have business models that intend to make the world a better place.

Entrepreneur and speaker Alan Hurt will speak about his work on the Light Up Africa (LUA) program. Fiegel said LUA’s goal is to end light poverty in Africa. He’s designed a Doombox, which is plugged into a pod after it captures kinetic energy exerted by a wearer’s body throughout the day. The Doombox allows its user to use lights in the house and charge phones, Fiegel said.

Benevolent is a non-profit organization with a website that allows people to get out their success stories by posting them online for free. For example, Fiegel said if a single mom wanted to get her story out and was requesting donations, she would be able to via benevolent.net.

Tickets to the event are $5 for NIU students and $15 for all others. Registration is available online at bit.ly/14wPqo8.