By Scot Kersgaard, JVA Consulting

At JVA, we are all terribly proud these days of Sarah Hidey, our Social Enterprise and business planning guru, who was recently named one of the Denver Business Journal’s “40 under 40.”

Selected from a pool of several hundred nominees, Hidey says she was honored just to be nominated. “There are so many people doing amazing work in this city, and I am just thrilled to be included in such an accomplished group.”

She says the fact that the Denver Business Journal selected her as a winner is an honor, not just for her and JVA, but for all the people who are in business to accomplish a social good while also making a living.

“This says that the Denver Business Journal understands that using business as a platform for positive social change is a valid business concept,” she says. “These awards usually go to people in more traditional business fields.”

“I’m excited to be given this forum to talk about business as a way to accomplish social good.  In Denver, I think we will continue to see entrepreneurs combining business skills and social change goals to create exciting and important enterprises.”

Hidey leads JVA’s Social Enterprise Academy, a week-long boot camp for people who want to start social enterprises—organizations that combine traditional business goals like making money with such social goals as providing underserved populations with goods and services. The course is also popular with people working in traditional nonprofits who want to explore the idea of creating an earned income branch for their organization.

The next Academy is May 12-16. You can learn more about it, or sign up for it, on our website.

Hidey and JVA founder and President Janine Vanderburg will speak at the Social Enterprise Alliance national conference in Nashville in April.

The Denver Business Journal is hosting a luncheon to honor winners at the Downtown Sheraton Hotel at 11:30 on March 21. Tickets are $95 and are available through the Business Journal.