At Hub LA, we believe that co-working spaces where social innovators and changemakers can come together and collaborate, are so powerful at helping social entrepreneurs truly build a better world through their work. And so the Hub LA team is incredibly stoked to bring the Los Angeles community the most state-of-the-art, impact-oriented, designed-for-collaboration workspace that the world has ever known, and we’re not being hyperbolic. But while Hub LA prepares for its upcoming launch, we’re tremendously excited to show some Hub love to our friends at Hub SoMa (short for South of Market St., in San Francisco), who have truly taken the notion of a collaborative social-change workspace to the next level.
Have you heard of The Hub? It’s a global network of innovative, passionately-created workspacse designed to help people bring about a better world through their work. Nearly 30 hubs now exist in cities from Brussels and Tel Aviv to the newly launched Hub Atlanta. And Hub SoMa, located in the heard of the famous Market district in San Francisco, is the newest of the bunch (Hub LA launches in early 2011!). What’s more, they’re getting noticed, and in a big way. Just two days ago, the freshly launched Hub SoMa was featured by innovation and creative leadership publication Fast Company, chock full of incredible images of the space’s handsome detail and some great info on their snagging of some of the primest real estate in all of the Bay: The first floor of the storied San Francisco Chronicle building, the same building hosting the headquarters of social network innovators Twitter (by the way, you can find Hub LA on Twitter at @TheHubLA, and follow Hub SoMa at @HubBayArea).
Read a bit of the Fast Company feature article about Hub SoMa:
Gathered around a large, sun-drenched table in the SoMa neighborhood of San Francisco on a Friday afternoon are financial advisers, activists, marketers, designers, coders, lawyers, and a half-dozen more local entrepreneurs. There are representatives from the microlending empire Kiva, social justice organization MercyCorps, and a solar-energy company based in India. At the table’s head is David Bornstein, author of How to Change the World: Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas, widely considered to be the bible of social entrepreneurship, who casually addresses the group as they tuck into deli sandwiches and takeout sushi.
This is not some kind of exclusive golden-circle conference. This is a typical day at Hub SoMa, a 8600-square-foot shared workspace for socially focused enterprises, where a visitor at any hour of the day will witness similar exchanges between the several dozen startups, business incubators, and non-profits that inhabit the space. And today, acknowledges managing director Alex Michel, as he grins and gestures to the remains of a few white wine bottles left on a counter, you may also see a few hangovers from a massive opening party that rocked the space the night before.
That’s right, Hub SoMa has officially launched, and Bay Area social entrepreneurs are poised to benefit from their prime location and simply gorgeous workspace. The Fast Company article has put some truly glorious photos of the space together as well, here is one of our favorites:
We’ll let the Fast Company article speak for itself, but suffice to say that the design is built for the types of value-giving exchanges that make co-shared workspace habitats such a success for every entrepreneur and enterprise who joins. Read the entire Fast Company feature article on Hub SoMa.
If you’re reading this from the Bay Area, take note! Hub SoMa in conjunction with Acumen Fund and SoCap 2010 will be hosting “Social Enterprise From Scratch” on June 17th in their new Hub SoMa space. Learn more about “Social Enterprise From Scratch” hosted by Hub SoMa and Acumen Fund.
LA Social Innovators Take Note:
Are you interested in working at an inspired social change habitat like Hub SoMa right here in LA? Well then you’re in luck. Hub LA is preparing for an upcoming launch, and we want to hear from you to help make our space the resounding success that will lead to long-term value-creation for your social enterprise, along with a global network of social entrepreneurs and workspaces. If you live and work in LA, take our Hub LA survey now!
