Released on = May 15, 2006, 9:35 am

Press Release Author = Christopher Johnson / ifPeople

Industry = Small Business

Press Release Summary = ifPeople has been awarded full scholarship to attend this
year's Global Social Benefit Incubator (GSBI) session, which focuses on enterprises
with a proven commitment to address urgent human needs worldwide. ifPeople was
selected as a proven young enterprise that is well-positioned for strong growth as
well as generating social benefit. ifPeople provides technical solutions and
strategic solutions for communication and collaboration to values-driven
enterprises, and does it in a very unique way by using a Fair Trade model for
services.

Press Release Body = ifPeople: Innovative Social Enterprise

Atlanta-based ifPeople provides technical solutions and strategic solutions for
communication and collaboration to values-driven enterprises. From web sites to
collaborative portals and custom software, ifPeople combines a strong software
development team with business process insight to generate longterm value for our
clients.

ifPeople\'s business model reflects its role as a social enterprise on three levels:
clients, internally, and with suppliers. ifPeople targets other social enterprises
as clients, and, by enabling them to be more successful is contributing to a more
sustainable and just world. Internally, ifPeople strives to advance the
sustainability of its service-based company. ifPeople is a carbon neutral enterprise
(offsetting Carbon Dioxide impacts by planting trees), active contributor to local
communities and Free Software projects. With ongoing research and advances, ifPeople
is a leader and innovator in the fields of sustainability, social enterprise, social
responsibility, and open source information technology.

ifPeople\'s strongest innovation has been in its organization of suppliers through
its FairSource program. FairSource is fair trade software. ifPeople has developed a
standard for engaging microenterprises in South America to provide software
programming while improving socially responsible practices and overcoming barriers
to entrepreneurship. Currently the program has been used with seven enterprises with
a total of nearly thirty members. Over the two years of the program, the enterprises
have grown their staff, obtained offices, secured microloans, and improved their
management. ifPeople continues to grow the program by working with more
microenterprises in South America in order to increase its service offerings to US
clients.


GSBI Scholar

ifPeople was selected from an intense international competition of enterprises. The
selection was carried out through an application process that attracted over 70
social benefit entrepreneurs who were required to prove their commitment to address
urgent human needs worldwide. ifPeople was among the twelve finalists and after
going through a competitive selection process was granted a $20,000 USD scholarship
to attend the Global Social Benefit Incubator from July 29 - August 12.

Organized by Santa Clara University's Center for Science, Technology and Society
(CSTS), and by the Leavey School of Business Administration, the GSBI will cover
critical areas of business planning, including technology and service innovation,
target marketing, business models, finance and organizational capacity building. The
two-week program is aimed at enabling technology innovators to achieve
sustainability and will combine classroom instruction, case studies and best
practices with mentoring on the specific challenges of each organization.

GSBI and SCU

The program is part of Santa Clara's mission of integrating "rigorous inquiry and
scholarship, creative imagination, reflective engagement with society, and a
commitment to fashioning a more humane and just world". This Jesuit University is
California's oldest campus of higher education and has been historically committed
to responsible citizenship, while the CSTS was created to identify and support
social ventures that use technology to address unmet human and environmental needs.

For more information, please see:

- ifPeople: www.ifpeople.net
- FairSource: www.ifpeople.net/fairsource
- This article with links: http://www.ifpeople.net/community/news/20060329_gsbi

Web Site = http://www.ifpeople.net

Contact Details = 130 Boulevard NE, #6
Atlanta, GA 30312
678-608-3408