SAGE Vision

A global community of teenagers creating better futures through social enterprises, socially responsible businesses and community service.

SAGE Mission

To help create the next generation of entrepreneurial leaders whose innovations and social enterprises address the major unmet needs of our global community.

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HomeAbout Us What is SAGE?
What is SAGE?

Under the helpful and guiding eye of their university business consultants and mentors, SAGE provides teenage SAGE teams with an opportunity to complete a socially-responsible business (SRB) or a social enterprise business (SEB). At the end of the academic year, the student teams showcase their efforts on a national and world stage. It is a free, non-membership service available to all advocates of education in private and social entrepreneurship.

To qualify to enter a SAGE tournament, the following conditions must be met:

  • A team must consist of at least three contributing teenagers (a high school or organization may sponsor several SAGE teams); there is no upper limit to the number of teens that can be a member of one team
  • Each SAGE team will choose to conduct one of two but not both separate competitions (unless a country chooses to focus on just one of the competitions):
    • Socially responsible businesses (SRBs): Socially responsible businesses are always legally structured as for-profit businesses; they do not directly address social needs through their products or services or through the numbers of disadvantaged people they employ; instead, they create positive social change indirectly through the practice of corporate social responsibility (e.g., creating and implementing a philanthropic foundation; paying equitable wages to their employees; using environmentally friendly raw materials; providing volunteers to help with community projects; and so on.)
    • Social enterprise businesses (SEBs): Social enterprises directly address social needs through their products or services or through the numbers of disadvantaged people they employ; they can be legally structured either as nonprofits or as for-profit businesses, but in either case must be profitable
  • A team must meet certain benchmarks throughout the year; these benchmarks are established by that country’s SAGE National Coordinator. For example, in the United States, such benchmarks are:
    • By October 15:  Submit a letter of intent to compete (on-line). This letter must also identify the sponsor (e.g., high school; organization; adult ally)
    • By December 1:  An acceptable one-page description of the business (on-line)
    • By February 1:  Acceptable evidence that the business is underway and the team has enlisted at least (1) one or two college mentors and (3) three members of a business advisory board (BAB).
    • By April 1:  Submission of an acceptable annual report (online); SAGE will identify the topics that must be covered in the report, but teams will be able to design the report in any way they choose
  • Each SAGE team will be allowed to enter just one of the two competitions and can only enter the same business for a maximum of three years; as 2010-2011 is a transition year, all businesses entered into the SAGE competition will be considered a YEAR 1 business.
  • In both competitions, teams will be judged on their ability to demonstrate measurable success in two principal areas: market viability and social impact. Judging criteria are described in detail later in this handbook.
  • A SAGE team will need to identify and work with a legitimate sponsoring organization and with a designated adult supervisor appointed by the organization

At the end of each year, all teenage SAGE teams are invited to compete in the SAGE national competition (although some countries may first choose to conduct state or provincial competitions before conducting a national event). The competitions may be hosted by a college, university, nongovernmental organization (NGO) or a governmental organization (GO). Winners advance to the “SAGE World Cup.”

State and/or national competitions take place between February and June each year. The National Champions advance to the SAGE World Cup, which is conducted in July or August.