InBerkeley

It won’t officially launch until mid-August September 1, but The Hub—Berkeley’s new “habitat for innovators” in the David Brower Center—offered a taste Monday evening of the stimulating public events it plans to offer. A sold-out audience crowded into the center’s Richard and Rhoda Goldman Theater for “Money, Mobs, and Media,” a lively and candid discussion about mobilizing action for change. The panelists were the founders of three of the Bay Area’s most influential social-change organizations—Matt Flannery of Kiva, Steve Newcomb of Virgance, and Ben Rattray of Change.org—who shared stories about the challenges and rewards of blending entrepreneurship with activism.

“Tonight is the beginning of a seed sprouting,” said Alex Michel, managing director of Hub Bay Area, in his introduction. “People with ideas for change need a living, nourishing habitat, and we’re building that habitat upstairs.”

The Berkeley Hub, at 2150 Allston Way (less than a block from the Berkeley BART station), is the first U.S. location of a worldwide Hub network that was founded four years ago in London. (There are Hubs in 12 cities on four continents; a San Francisco Hub is in the works.) According to Hub “community builder” Meredith Walters, Hub Bay Area got its start when Tim Freundlich and Kevin Jones, co-founders of San Francisco investment firm Good Capital and creators of the Social Capital Markets conference, “realized that people in the Bay Area were itching for a place to come together to connect around social enterprise, social investing, and generally using business to create a better world.” They raised money and got permission from Hub World to launch at the Brower Center, itself a hub for environmental and socially conscious organizations. (The center’s other tenants include Earth Island Institute, Green Jobs Network, and the Redford Center.)

The Berkeley Hub will include individual petal-shaped tables, a communications station, a kitchen/café, a window workbar, and the “Hubble,” an enclosed meeting space for up to eight people whose frosted-glass walls can be written on. Hub memberships are available at various levels, from Hub5 (allowing five hours’ access per month) to founding member.

Hub Bay Area is also creating a network of mentors, sponsors, and people who can contribute professional skills to fledgling social enterprises. Find out more about joining or supporting The Hub; for information about attending or sponsoring an event, send an email to bayarea.hosts@the-hub.net or call 415-624-5881.

Nancy Friedman Business, Downtown Architecture, Business, Co-working, Downtown, Social Change