State Rep. Warwick Sabin to Speak on Social Entrepreneurship in Arkansas

Photo by Office of Warwick Sabin

Warwick Sabin, Arkansas State Representative and senior director of Winrock International

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Arkansas State Representative Warwick Sabin will deliver a talk on the social entrepreneurship movement in Arkansas at Willard J. Walker Hall, room 403, on the University of Arkansas campus, at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday, April 22. The talk is free and open to the public, and no registration is required.

Sabin is senior director, U.S. Programs, at Winrock International, and he is currently serving his third term in the Arkansas House of Representatives. In 2014, he was among 24 national political leaders awarded the Rodel Fellowship by the Aspen Institute for his "outstanding ability to work responsibly across partisan divisions and bring greater civility to public discourse."

Before assuming his position at Winrock International, Sabin was the founding director of the Arkansas Regional Innovation Hub. Previously he was publisher of the Oxford American magazine, and in 2009 he was named to the FOLIO:40, a list of the 40 most influential people in the national magazine industry. His additional professional experience includes serving as director of development for the Clinton Foundation, as well as working on Capitol Hill, at the White House, and at Foreign Affairs magazine. He is a Marshall Scholar and a Truman Scholar, and he holds an M.A. in philosophy, politics and economics from Oxford University and a B.A. (summa cum laude) in political science from the University of Arkansas. He received the U of A Young Alumni Award in 2005 and was named to the Arkansas Business "40 Under 40" in 2003, and he has volunteered and served on the boards of directors for numerous community and nonprofit organizations and projects in Central Arkansas.

Sabin’s talk will open the morning-long Changemaker Forum, the concluding event of the Design Solution Challenge sponsored by the Social Innovation Hub and the Office of Entrepreneurship and Innovation. Student teams will present cross-disciplinary, entrepreneurial solutions to pressing social and environmental challenges posed by outside partner organizations, including Fayetteville-based Seeds That Feed, Tricycle Farms, Compassion House, and Fayettechill. A panel of faculty and outside expert judges will select the most viable, sustainable solution, and the winning team will receive funding to attend a national conference on the topic of social entrepreneurship.

Attendees may depart after Sabin’s talk or stay for the student presentations, which begin at 9:45 a.m. The Design Solution Challenge winner will be announced at 12:15 p.m..

About the Social Innovation Hub: The Social Innovation Hub, an initiative of the Office of Entrepreneurship and Innovation and the Walton College, is a multidisciplinary, virtual community where University of Arkansas students, faculty and staff have the opportunity to learn about pressing social and environmental problems. Students are invited to actively engage in developing solutions based on their own interests and skills. Follow the Office of Entrepreneurship and Innovation on Twitter at @UofA_ent.