Vanessa Kirsch
Vanessa Kirsch
Overview
Prior to launching Public Allies in 1992 Vanessa Kirsch founded the Women s Information Network a national organization that trains young women to be effective in politics. She ran Public Allies until 1996 when she and her husband traveled the world interviewing over 350 other social entrepreneurs citizen leaders philanthropists and political officials to identify problems within the social change field. She leveraged this research to launch New Profit Inc. in 1998. Vanessa has received numerous public service awards and recognition for her work. In 2005 Ernst & Young named her Entrepreneur of the Year in the category of Social Entrepreneurship. She has also been recognized by both Newsweek and U.S. News & World Report as a leader of her generation by Forbes as one of fifteen innovators who will reinvent the future and by Harper's Bazaar as one of thirty young women to be leaders in the 21st century.