Dear NESsT Portfolio Enterprises:  

We are excited to offer you a series of masterclasses designed to address key areas that you are managing during the Covid-19 crisis.  This selection is based on topics that you rated to be most important to you, and that you would be interested to participate in. 

The 90-minute classes begin on Wednesday, June 24th. 

Schedule:  9 AM Peru // 11 AM Brazil // 4 PM Poland. 

The classes will be given in Spanish and Polish.  Entrepreneurs from Brazil will receive the materials in Portuguese.

Please invite any members of your team that you believe would benefit from assisting the class.  

Course Topics:

June 24th

Strategic Planning During a Global Crisis:  This masterclass will provide you with a framework for conducting strategic planning during the crisis.  The class first defines why kind of planning is needed during a crisis.  It uses SWOT analysis as a way to set a path forward, while at the same time allowing you to pivot to react to internal and external challenges and opportunities.  The class will discuss how to partner as a way to pool resources and maximize impact.  It will also provide tools on how to re-prioritize and decrease expenses to operate during leaner times.  

July 8, 15

Financial Planning During a Recession (Parts 1 & 2):  This masterclass takes us back to the basics of financials-- the income statement, balance sheet, cash flow statement-- as a way to better understand your business and make financial decisions.  The class will show us how these statements are interrelated; how changes in one will affect the others.  Finally, the class will provide you with guidance on how to use these statements during a crisis.  What aspects to focus on and navigate through hard financial times. You will be given a short homework assignment focusing on service or product-related business, which we will discuss in Part 2 of the class so that you can then apply learnings to your enterprise.  

July 22, 30

The secrets of a strong commercial and e-commerce strategy (Parts 1 & 2): Many of you are transitioning to online sales and marketing.  Others of you are offering remote training and learning. This masterclass will share the advantages and key drivers of e-commerce in terms of customer expansion, immediacy, and diversification. The class will provide you with many examples of successful e-commerce stories and will allow you to think about your commercial strategy, how you can adopt your unique value proposition to the new COVID and post-COVID reality. 

Part 1 of the masterclass will be led by Claudia Massei - CEO of Siemens in Oman, investor in Eduqo, mentor of young entrepreneurs, Wharton MBA, and a global speaker on marketing and digital transformation. She was awarded a Forbes Middle East 100 Power Businesswomen 2020. 

“The new normal will require our world to become more virtual. That will impact businesses, which will need to move part of their activities online. E-commerce is, therefore, a trend that is here to stay. However, before digitizing your business activities, it is imperative to revisit your strategy and think about how these changes will affect your relationships and interactions with customers, suppliers, employees, partners, investors and society at large. Come discuss these topics at an interactive and dynamic masterclass on July 22nd.”

-Claudia Massei, Siemens Oman CEO

Part 2  Schedule: July 30th, 9 AM Peru // 11 AM Brazil // 4 PM Poland.

Part 2 of the masterclass will be led by Urszula Fijałkowska - Startup Coordinator at the Foundation of Entrepreneurship Development in Warsaw. Urszula has been involved in Employment Engagement Groups and CSR and has taken part in diverse projects with social enterprises, charity institutions, universities, and schools. She has conducted multiple presentations and workshops (especially on project management, digital marketing, entrepreneurship, time management).

“Part 2 of the masterclass will be focused on increasing the visibility of product and service through your website. We will talk about SEO and positioning. The class will provide you with information on how to build strong keywords. I will share examples of how to attract customers and how to build remarketing strategy. Please come and join to learn and share your experience.”

- Urszula Fijałkowska, Startup Coordinator | Foundation of Entrepreneurship Development in Warsaw

September 9th

Human-Centered Design: This master class will be led by Lee Davis, co-Founder of NESsT and current co-Director of MICA’s Center for Social Design.

WHAT IS HUMAN-CENTERED DESIGN?

Human-centered design (HCD) is a collaborative, creative process dedicated to understanding people’s needs and designing interventions that better serve people’s needs. HCD supplements and enhances existing research, and views problems through the perspective of the people directly impacted. HCD is informed by qualitative insights and positions lived experience as expertise, involving people in every step of the design process, as co-creators and experts. This Master Class will introduce the basic process, concepts and methods of HCD through an interactive experience, and provide examples and cases of HCD in practice from the work of the Center for Social Design at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) in Baltimore, Maryland. 

LEE DAVIS

Lee is an author, designer, educator and social entrepreneur. He is a Co-Founder of NESsT, having served for 15 years as co-CEO (1997-2011) and as Chief Innovation Officer (2012-2013). He is currently Co-Director of the Center for Social Design at Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA), dedicated to demonstrating and promoting the value of design in advancing equity and social justice and to inspiring and preparing the next generation of creative changemakers. He has also served as Faculty and Acting Director of the MA in Social Design graduate program.

Lee has written numerous articles and books on social enterprise and social design, most recently a chapter in the Public Interest Design Education Guidebook (Routledge, 2018). In 2010, Lee was appointed as a Social Enterprise Fellow at the Yale School of Management’s Program on Social Enterprise, supporting Yale scholars, students, alumni, and practitioners interested in exploring the ways in which business skills and market disciplines can be harnessed to most effectively and efficiently achieve social objectives. He is currently co-chair of the Winterhouse Institute, a national community of practice for social impact design educators. He was a recipient of the prestigious Thomas J. Watson Fellowship in 1988-89 and was a 2004 recipient of the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship with Nicole Etchart. In 2017, he was selected as a fellow of the New Leadership Network of the James Irvine Foundation in California, and in 2019 was named a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (RSA) in London. He holds a BA from Connecticut College and an MA in public policy from the Johns Hopkins University. 

October 7th

Schedule:  9 AM Peru // 11 AM Brazil // 10 AM Poland

Virtual Management: In this master class, we will cover best practices and tips for your new virtual management process. We will help you to understand what Virtual Management means, how to select the right team, the importance of positive leadership, online recruitment, and some tools for online working.