Speaker Biographies

Nancy Young

Manager, Common Ground Ventures

Ms. Young has managed profitable social enterprises for over six years. When given the assignment of managing a struggling bookstore for Housing Works, a provider of housing and services for homeless people with AIDS, Ms. Young transformed the bookstore into an organized, thriving business. She then created a much-publicized and still thriving author reading series and formed an Advisory Board of publishing professionals and authors. Since early 2002, Ms. Young has been working for another provider of supportive housing for the homeless, this time overseeing the operations of their three Ben & Jerry's PartnerShops in New York City. Ms. Young has had extensive experience running job-training and volunteer programs in her current role, at Housing Works and while at the Minneapolis Crisis Nursery in Minnesota. In her current position, she has had the unique opportunity of participating in a nine-month workshop with McKinsey & Company, examining the effectiveness of job training in her organization and its relevance to the mission. She has seen first-hand how possible it is to transform communities by running effective businesses, thus creating employment opportunities and providing much-needed resources to those who would otherwise be underserved. She is currently pursuing a degree in Organizational Change Management at the Milano Graduate School.