Founded in 1987, SVN is a community of leaders — company founders, private investors, social entrepreneurs and key influencers — who share a commitment to building a just and sustainable world through business. The relationships and initiatives born within their network have ranged from lasting friendships to investment deals to founding organizations.

SVN provides forums, information, and initiatives that enable socially responsible leaders to share best practices, collaborate, and leverage the network's collective resources to build businesses that contribute to an equitable and ecologically sustainable economy.

Mission 

To support and empower diverse, innovative leaders who leverage business to serve the greater good 

SVN achieves the mission by: 

• -Building valuable peer-to-peer connections among influential business leaders, social entrepreneurs, and impact investors who support a triple bottom line: people, planet and profit 
• -Fostering high-impact collaborations that build a just, humane and sustainable world 
• -Supporting whole-person leadership to enable their members to succeed and grow, both personally and professionally 

Theory of Change 

SVN works to create a just, humane and sustainable world by: 

• -Supporting and promoting innovative entrepreneurs and business leaders who contribute to the well-being of their employees, customers, investors, communities and the environment 
• -Fostering strong connections and collaborations among business leaders and entrepreneurs that lead to groundbreaking solutions to social, economic and environmental problems
• -Contributing to an ecosystem that enhances and supports these solutions and promotes a just sustainable economy

The Story of Their Founding

Wayne Silby and Josh Mailman co-founded Social Venture Network in 1987. Silby and Mailman envisioned a platform to connect, inspire and support influential entrepreneurs who wanted to use business to create a values-driven and sustainable world.

The concept behind Social Venture Network might seem conventional today, but its beginning was the result of an uncommon vision. As Josh Mailman says, "We decided to build a new paradigm: one in which business operates to add value to society — without compromising the well-being of future generations."

SVN began in 1987 as a small group of value-oriented entrepreneurs and leaders who gathered for a meeting at Gold Lake Ranch in Colorado. Today, SVN is a highly influential network of accomplished, values-driven business leaders, social entrepreneurs, and impact investors.

Businesses and nonprofits have embraced this common vision. "People have started to merge business and social change," Mailman explains. "Social Venture Network helped to innovate that shift through its focus on values.”

Indeed, thanks to the visions and actions of the founders and hundreds of other innovators who are a part of the SVN community, socially responsible enterprises continue to thrive and grow throughout the United States and around the world. 

Because of the connections forged amongst its members, Social Venture Network has incubated organizations like Business for Social Responsibility (BSR), Net Impact, Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE), SVN Europe, and the American Sustainable Business Council (ASBC).

Social Venture Network has helped thousands of entrepreneurs create more successful, responsible and sustainable enterprises.