Activist Robert Egger to explain not-for-profit entrepreneurship at the next University Lecture, March 29

Activist Robert Egger to explain not-for-profit entrepreneurship at the next University Lecture, March 29March 23, 2005Patrick Farrellpmfarrel@syr.edu

As president and founder of DC Central Kitchen in Washington, D.C., Robert Egger travels extensively, promoting nonprofit innovation to everyone audiences including Fortune 500 companies, business schools, college campuses and culinary institutes. On Tuesday, March 29, Egger will travel to the Syracuse University campus to demonstrate the power of nonprofit entrepreneurship as the next University Lecturer. His lecture, entitled “Empowering a New Generation of Non-Profit Fighters,” will take place at 7:30 p.m. in Hendricks Chapel. The lecture is free and open to the public; reduced-fee parking will be available after 5 p.m. in the Irving parking garage.

DC Central Kitchen is a model of social entrepreneurship, proving that the principles used to get for-profit start-ups off the ground can be applied to nonprofits as well. DC Central Kitchen was designated one of President George H.W. Bush’s “Thousand Points of Light” and has been featured on “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” “Nightline” and “48 Hours,” and in the pages of The Washington Post, the Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal and numerous other publications. Egger’s new book, “Begging for Change” (HarperBusiness, 2004), has been called essential reading for nonprofit managers, corporate leaders and anyone who has ever cared enough to give to a worthy cause.

Egger’s visit is timely in light of Chancellor Nancy Cantor’s initiatives to promote increased engagement between the University and the Central New York community. In the spirit of those initiatives, Egger will take part in a number of community-focused events, including breakfast with community hunger volunteers at South Presbyterian Church, presented and prepared by the Samaritan Center staff; and a luncheon at the Sheraton Syracuse University Hotel & Conference Center for directors and other representatives from local nonprofit organizations, hosted by Professor Arthur Brooks, director of the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs’ Nonprofit Studies Program.

Along with his community activities, Egger will engage a cross-disciplinary selection of students in a mid-morning question-and-answer master class moderated by Maxwell Professor William Coplin, and then will take part in an afternoon session on social entrepreneurship in the new building of the Martin J. Whitman School of Management, hosted by Brooks and Michael Morris, the Witting Chair in Entrepreneurship and director of the Whitman School’s Department of Entrepreneurship and Emerging Enterprises. A Wednesday morning breakfast with Honors Program students is also planned.

In addition to being a University Lectures event, Egger’s visit is part of Hendricks Chapel’s 75th anniversary celebration. “Robert Egger’s vision of service to the community is very much in line with our commitment at Hendricks Chapel to be a caring and serving community, both here on campus and in a broader context,” says the Rev. Thomas V. Wolfe, dean of Hendricks Chapel. “We are especially fortunate to welcome Mr. Egger here, during the celebration of the chapel’s 75th year, to learn from his perspective on making our world a better place.”

The University Lectures is a cross-disciplinary lecture series that brings to the University individuals of exceptional accomplishment in the areas of architecture and design; the humanities and the sciences; and public policy, management and communications. The series is supported by the generosity of the University’s Trustees, alumni and friends. More information is available at http://provost.syr.edu/lectures/current.asp.