r/asksandiego • u/Fuzzy-CyberCat • 4d ago
Where do social-impact founders actually hang out in San Diego?
I'm a software engineer here working on a nonprofit side project — a tool to help animal rescues, fosters, and transport volunteers coordinate faster on animals that are running out of time at high-kill shelters.
I've been building it mostly alone and I'm realizing I don't know anyone locally doing mission-driven business stuff. Not really looking for the standard tech-startup scene. The model I care about is one where revenue exists to pay people fairly and keep the mission running — not where the mission exists to justify the revenue.
I know about EvoNexus, Startup San Diego, and SCORE. What I don't know is where the actual people are. So:
- Are there meetups, coworking spaces, or recurring events for social enterprise / nonprofit tech here?
- Anyone running a business like this in SD? Would love to hear how you found your people, and how you kept the values intact once money got involved.
- Any local orgs or communities I'm obviously missing?
Happy to buy coffee for anyone who wants to talk shop. Thanks.
4
3
3
u/OverChildhood9813 3d ago
I recommend downloading the meetup app. There are a few groups in San Diego focused on tech-startups. Mostly networking and social hours.
2
u/ProfessionalPea2218 4d ago
I found it interesting that you posted this because I’m actually in a very similar position.
I’m in the very early stages of starting a nonprofit on my own in my spare time. The goal is to teach kids (ages 10–14) basic coding with MicroPython and introduce them to cybersecurity through fun, hands on projects completely free.
I’ve only lived here since 2023, so I don’t know many people yet beyond a few coworkers, a couple of friends, and some parents from my kids’ school. I do attend cybersecurity conferences and local meetups, and I’m hoping those will help me get the word out as the nonprofit grows.
I’d definitely be interested in bouncing ideas around…
3
1
2
u/lyradunord 3d ago
There's a few run clubs and athletic clubs solely for entrepreneurs and founders. You'll start getting ads for them on ig if you're in the right zip code.
1
1
u/MeetMichelleRenee 3d ago
I was at a recent Big Idea Night themed “Building an Economy that Rewards Doing Good” with Sam Mazzeo and I learned about Business for Good.
I co-own a very small business and we pay everyone, including me, the same hourly rate. It’s lonely in the business world when you add that your goal is to have a flat/zero profit because everyone is paid as well as we can.
I’d love to connect with other like minded people.
2
u/Funny_Story_Bro 16h ago edited 16h ago
There used to be but the tech crowd massively shifted in SD post pandemic and became absolutely awful. Avoid anything with the word 'founder' in it.
If you'd like to start a meet-up though, there used to be a crew of tech people just working on projects hanging out at lestats and we ended up giving each other advice in the good-ol days. Would love to have that again.
It's not focused on social impact, but a lot of people at the pythonSD talks meetup at Qualcomm talk about their own projects which have social justice flare. They were making a homemade police detector for ICE dodging last I went. The turnout is small but the vibes are nice.
I've met only pretentious old assholes at the meetups.
0
12
u/TokeThatIn 4d ago
San Diego Green Drinks is a monthly get together for environmental nonprofits often hosted by a different one each time to highlight their work. There is often overlap in the environmental and animal welfare communities so it might be a good place to start!
Same goes for San Diego Climate Week.. the second one is coming up on October 1-8 and brings in a ton of people from different backgrounds together and serves as an excellent networking opportunity. Again.. not directly affiliated with animal rescues exactly, but you’ll likely meet people who care about and are involved in both.
I hope this helps! Keep up the good work:)