Advisor for start-up businesses to speak at upcoming lecture

KALAMAZOO— A freelance consultant for start-up social businesses and impact investment funds will share his story of breaking into the social business sector and uncovering one's core values in a lecture at Western Michigan University’s Haworth College of Business.

Tim Rann will speak at 2 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 1, in Schneider Hall 2000. His talk, "How to break into the social

business sector: what you need to know," is the first in the 2013-14 Global Business Lecture Series.

In his talk, Rann will discuss the importance of social businesses and their ability to use business tools and entrepreneurial creativity to help solve some of today’s most serious social problems: feeding the poor, housing the homeless, healing the sick and protecting the planet.

Tim Rann

Since graduating from the University of Notre Dame in 2007, Rann has led various international development programs and social enterprise start-ups. His work as an advisor and coach to entrepreneurs and social businesses has led him to places such as Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, Rwanda and Afghanistan. Recently, Rann relocated to Kigali, Rwanda, after spending six years working with a variety of international development organizations, impact investment funds and social businesses in southeast Asia.

Rann is currently advising a South African-based impact fund, where he aids with business model development, organizational restructuring, financial modeling and leadership. He also serves as a board member of Hagar Social Enterprise Group and is co-founder of a start-up educational hotel chain in emerging markets.