DURHAM, N.H.—Tulaine Montgomery, co-CEO of New Profit, Inc., a venture philanthropy organization that backs visionary leaders who are scaling innovations and transforming our nation’s broken and inequitable systems, has been named the 2021 Social Innovator of the Year by the University of New Hampshire. The award is among the university’s most prestigious honors, recognizing leaders with a demonstrated commitment to combining the purpose of a social and/or environmental mission with the rigor and accountability of a financially sustainable, scalable model for change.

Montgomery will be honored at the culminating events of the 9th annual NH Social Venture Innovation Challenge Thursday, Dec. 2, 2021, at 12:30 p.m. when she will deliver a keynote address and will help award prizes to the winners of the challenge. Earlier in the day, nine finalist teams will present their ideas to a panel of judges. The virtual event is free and open to the public, but registration is required.

Montgomery embodies the ideals of social innovation and effective systems change, especially relevant at this transformational moment in the world. She has led initiatives focused on strengthening education-to-employment pathways for underserved youth, driving resources and support to entrepreneurs who have been directly impacted by the American legal system, and building a more diverse, equitable and inclusive organization and philanthropic sector. She also serves on the boards of several nonprofits and socially responsible companies, including College for Social Innovation, UNH’s partner in the Semester in the City program.

During her keynote, “Bridging the Resource Gap for Entrepreneurs to Transform America’s Most Inequitable System,” Montgomery will discuss her work at New Profit to transform America’s most inequitable systems by identifying and supporting social entrepreneurs with close proximity to the communities and issues they serve, who have the experience, relationships, data, and knowledge that are essential for developing enduring and systemic solutions. She will share more about New Profit’s Inclusive Impact strategy and Proximate Capital fund, bridging the resource gap faced by Black, Latino/a/x, Indigenous, and rural social entrepreneurs.

The NH Social Venture Innovation Challenge and Social Innovator of the Year Award programs are collaborative, interdisciplinary events, organized by UNH’s Changemaker Collaborative, a partnership among the UNH Sustainability Institute, the Peter T. Paul College of Business & Economics, and the Carsey School of Public Policy. The collaborative’s mission is to inspire, train and support the next generation of changemakers.

The University of New Hampshire inspires innovation and transforms lives in our state, nation and world. More than 16,000 students from all 50 states and 71 countries engage with an award-winning faculty in top-ranked programs in business, engineering, law, health and human services, liberal arts and the sciences across more than 200 programs of study. As one of the nation’s highest-performing research universities, UNH partners with NASA, NOAA, NSF and NIH, and receives more than $110 million in competitive external funding every year to further explore and define the frontiers of land, sea and space.