Since 2005, StartingBloc has been helping young leaders learn social entrepreneurship, sustainability and business skills. Through Monday they’ll be doing it from Nolita as the New York-based organization kicks off its annual Institute for Social Innovation. The five-day seminar brings together 110 StartingBloc fellows as well as business leaders, entrepreneurs and professors. Openhouse Gallery will host guest speakers, round tables, networking sessions and a case study competition throughout the weekend.

The Institute for Social Innovation is seen as a pipeline to MBA programs. Wharton, IE, Carnegie Mellon’s Tepper and American University’s Kogod School of Business will be giving presentations. As part of the institute, StartingBloc fellows are squaring off in a business-case competition for London-based Recycled Inc. They’ll game plan how to increase the company’s users from two million to ten million. StartingBloc selects five finalists.

StartingBloc fellows are between 20 and 29 and most are in career transitions. “They want to do something that involves more social-impact work, and we help them translate between jobs,” says Adriana Pentz, CEO of StartingBloc. There are 1500 fellows across the globe representing more than 50 countries and 200 colleges.

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