Social Venture Partners Dallas, United Way of Metropolitan Dallas and The Dallas Foundation will host bigBANG!, an annual daylong conference designed to raise awareness and engage the community on critical social issues facing North Texas. The event takes place Thursday, Oct. 30 from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.at Paul Quinn College located at 3837 Simpson Stuart Road in South Dallas.
Dallas has the worst poverty rate for children in a city with more than 1 million people. Now in its fifth year, bigBANG! 2014 will focus its spotlight on effective efforts to reverse the effects of poverty on children and on the social innovators working to eradicate its root causes. Scheduled presenters include:
- Mike Rawlings, Mayor of Dallas
- Peter Buffett, Musician, Author and Philanthropist
- Michelle Kinder, Executive Director, Momentous Institute
- Michael Sorrell, President, Paul Quinn College
- Courtney Collins, KERA 90.1 FM, Emcee
“This year, bigBANG! is bringing together like-minded leaders from diverse sectors to focus on one purpose: improving the quality of life for North Texas children and their families,” said Tony Fleo, executive director of SVP Dallas. “This year, we’re thrilled to have Peter Buffett, along with Mayor Mike Rawlings and his Poverty Task Force, as well as other leaders from our community to shed light on what is being done and still needs to be done to help children in Dallas.”
bigBANG! includes engaging, unique elements including:
- Mayor Mike Rawlings and attorney Regina Montoya, 9 a.m. – discussing findings and next steps from the Task Force on Poverty
- Stewardship of Legacy Luncheon featuring Peter Buffett, 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. – A noted musician and composer and son of legendary investor Warren Buffett, Peter Buffett will present “Life Is What You Make It: A Concert & Conversation with Peter Buffett,” a live multimedia performance with Buffett on piano accompanied by cellist Michael Kott that takes the audience on his life journey from his discovery of the piano to his current philanthropic work with the NoVo Foundation.
- Breakout sessions for digging deeper into how to make an impact and who is making an impact in our community now, featuring RosieReady, Momentous Institute, BigThought and Alliance for Justice.
- A Marketplace, featuring fresh produce from Paul Quin College’s WE Over ME Farm and other socially conscious organizations.
- A Fast Pitch session, where the audience decides which innovative organizations will share a $15,000 prize.
- Lunch catering by Café Momentum, a restaurant training platform that provides post-release paid internships for juvenile offenders through which they receive intensive culinary, job and life-skills training, as well as continued mentoring and support to foster successful re-entry into the community.
Tickets to bigBANG! are $125 for general admission and $175 for VIP tickets, which include a VIP reception with Peter Buffett and expedited check-in. All tickets include the luncheon with Peter Buffet and can be purchased at www.bigbangtx.com. Tickets are limited and must be purchased in advance.
Paul Quinn College is located in the heart of Southern Dallas, where the college has turned their football field into an organic farm in order to combat the lack of access to fresh, healthy food in the area. Learn more at www.pqc.edu.
About Peter Buffett
Peter Buffett is an Emmy Award-winning composer, musician, author and philanthropist. His work with numerous non-profit organizations, including the NoVo Foundation, has helped him become a well-known activist for social concerns. Socially conscious music collaborations by Buffett include “Blood Into Gold,” featuring Grammy-nominated recording artist Akon, and “A Song for Everyone,” featuring Angelique Kidjo. Buffett is currently performing his “Life Is What You Make It: A Concert & Conversation with Peter Buffett” series around the world to support his New York Times best-selling book, “Life Is What You Make It” (Random House/Harmony Books). Learn more at www.peterbuffett.com.
About the Dallas Foundation
The Dallas Foundation is a nonprofit, publicly supported community foundation. Since 1929, its sole purpose has been to help donors create charitable funds that reflect their interests. As the oldest community foundation in Texas, The Dallas Foundation helps others serve their philanthropic objectives. Despite being based in Dallas, the foundation works with many donors outside the area to make grants to charitable organizations around the U.S. and the world. Learn more about www.dallasfoundation.org.
About United Way of Metropolitan Dallas
United Way of Metropolitan Dallas brings people together to improve lives and create lasting change in North Texas by focusing on education, income and health – the building blocks for strong families and thriving communities. United Way of Metropolitan Dallas galvanizes and connects all sectors of society – individuals, businesses, nonprofits and government – to create long-term change through investing in solutions that produce healthy, well-educated and financially stable individuals and families. The organization raises, invests and leverages more than $50 million annually in community-focused solutions serving Dallas, Collin, Rockwall and southern Denton counties. United Way of Metropolitan Dallas does more than help one person beat the odds – it is changing the odds for entire communities. To learn more, please visit www.unitedwaydallas.org.
About Social Venture Partners (SVP)
SVP is a global network of local individuals that are passionate about making a difference in their community and want to see a greater impact with their giving. Going beyond traditional philanthropy, SVP donates talent, time and funds to amplify the impact it has on each vetted charity in which it invests. As the largest network of engaged donors in the world with more than 2,700 partners in more than 30 cities globally, SVP has collectively given more than $46 million and hundreds of thousands of volunteer hours to more than 550 nonprofits since 1997. To learn more, please visit www.SVPDallas.org.
For additional information, visit www.bigbangtx.com or connect with us at www.facebook.com/DallasSVP and www.twitter.com/SVPDallas.