Social Entrepreneurship

  • Most Topular Stories

  • Ben & Jerry’s and Ashoka give more clever cookies the chance to be crowned Europe’s best business minds

    Ashoka In The News
    Tsega Belachew
    4 Jun 2013 | 5:11 am
    Release Date:  June 4, 2013 4th June 2013 Hand-picked by Ben & Jerry’s and Ashoka from over 430 entries and hailing from nine different countries, Europe’s finest social entrepreneurs will assemble in London next month (Wednesday 12th June) hoping to impress an expert panel that includes Ben & Jerry’s co-founder, Jerry Greenfield and ethical British fashion designer, Helen Storey MBE. read more

  • College for All: Sebastian Thrun, Udacity

    Dowser
    EshaC
    13 Jun 2013 | 9:48 am
    Click here to view the embedded video.   by Andre Dua Something big is up in higher education thanks to the advent of “massive open online courses” (MOOCs), which can reach millions around the world. What most people—including university leaders—don’t yet realize is that this new way of teaching and learning, together with employers’ growing frustration with the skills of graduates, is poised to usher in a new credentialing system that may compete with college degrees within a decade. This emerging delivery regime is more than just a distribution mechanism; done right, it…

  • How they won: American Open Challenge Winner says "crowd-sourcing was the key to our success"

    GlobalGiving Blog - News and Updates
    marc maxson
    13 Feb 2013 | 1:49 pm
    Jared Schwartz of Frogloop (a nonprofit online marketing blog) interviewed the guys from Critical Exposure and have some excellent advice for nonprofits trying to succeed on GlobalGiving: http://www.frogloop.com/care2blog/2009/9/7/how-a-small-nonprofit-used-social-media-crowd-sourcing-to-wi.html  The goal was simple. Earn a permanent spot on the GlobalGiving website by raising at least $4000 online from 50 individual donors in three weeks. Win up to $6000 in additional bonuses for out-fundraising the 70 other participating organizations. The challenge was daunting. How does Critical…

  • Extended Leadership: Changing Tack and Beyond

    SustainAbility
    17 Jun 2013 | 12:19 am
    It was most definitely not a day like any other…Thursday June 13, 2013 saw the webcasted launch of Changing Tack, the culmination of our 18-month Regeneration Roadmap research program in collaboration with Globescan. The webcast was preceded by the annual Marks & Spencer Plan A Conference at which former U.S. Vice President Al Gore gave a barnstorming speech. Meanwhile, across London, the B Team launched its Plan B. Not a usual day by any means. Most certainly, something stirs… Our Regeneration Roadmap analysis sees us poised between a sustainable future and catastrophic collapse. So…

  • Wanna Give a Free $25 Loan to an Entrepreneur on Kiva?

    Have Fun • Do Good
    Britt Bravo
    10 Jun 2013 | 8:22 am
    When some friends got married recently, they didn't set up a registry because, "We are in our 40s and already have lots of stuff." Instead, they asked that we do something kind for someone else. I decided to make a loan to Kiva.org, a nonprofit organization that facilitates regular people (like you and me) making micro-loans to entrepreneurs across the globe. I liked the idea of giving a Kiva loan as a wedding gift because once the loan is repaid, it can be re-loaned to another entrepreneur, and another and another, so it's a wedding gift that will keep on giving. I've made 14 loans over the…
 
  • add this feed to my.Alltop

    Global Voices

  • Russians See Themselves in Turkish Unrest

    Daniel Alan Kennedy
    18 Jun 2013 | 6:21 pm
    While Istanbul continues to be rocked by mass demonstrations [en] against Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the RuNet has been actively observing and discussing the events. Turkey is a popular holiday destination with Russians, who are drawn there by its beaches, proximity, low prices and a visa-free travel agreement with Russia. Last year alone nearly 3 million Russians visited Turkey. While some interest in current events there can therefore be chalked up to concerns for non-refundable travel packages, Russia itself has been no stranger to street protests in the last two years. Many…

  • Miguel Bosé on Peruvian Cuisine

    Gabriela García Calderón
    18 Jun 2013 | 6:11 pm
    Spanish singer and artist Miguel Bosé, currently visiting Peru, became a trending topic on Twitter with the hashtag #PreguntasParaMiguelBose [questions for Miguel Bosé] when he refused to answer if he had tried pisco sour and cebiche during a press conference. (more…) Written by Gabriela Garcia Calderon Orbe · Translated by Gabriela García Calderón · View original post [es] · comments (0) Share: Donate · facebook · twitter · reddit · StumbleUpon · delicious · Instapaper

  • Belize: Conservation Limits?

    Janine Mendes-Franco
    18 Jun 2013 | 6:11 pm
    Belize is facing a difficult balancing act when it comes to determining the limits of environmental and cultural conservation. Kevin Edmonds at nacla blog explains. Written by Janine Mendes-Franco · comments (0) Share: Donate · facebook · twitter · reddit · StumbleUpon · delicious · Instapaper

  • Ecuador Passes Controversial Communications Law

    Marianna Breytman
    18 Jun 2013 | 6:09 pm
    After almost four years of debate, with 108 votes in favor and 26 against, the Ecuadorian National Assembly passed a controversial Law of Communications propelled by President Rafael Correa. While government authorities have celebrated [es] the passage of the law, journalistic organizations and the opposition consider [es] it a “gag” on freedom of expression in the country. The law creates a Council of Content Regulation “in order to craft and implement communications policies and regulate media,” as Tania Lara reports on the Centro Knight blog. As an article [es]…

  • Documentary Brasslands Premieres in US

    Danica Radisic
    18 Jun 2013 | 5:12 pm
    (more…) Written by Danica Radisic · comments (0) Share: Donate · facebook · twitter · reddit · StumbleUpon · delicious · Instapaper
  • add this feed to my.Alltop

    Dowser

  • 150-Year-Old Railways Inspire 21st Century Change: Millennial Train Project

    EshaC
    18 Jun 2013 | 12:27 pm
    As the Millennial Trains Project enters the two-week countdown for applications, the nation is responding to its provocative idea: Let’s use 150-year-old railways to inspire 21st century change. Over the span of ten days, 40 Millennials will cross the country by train, each rider with a specific, crowdfunded project to help build a better nation. Riders won’t be alone: They will count on the dialog and involvement of onboard mentors and station-side cities. We Millennials don’t have an easy future up ahead of us, and it seems that we’ve been dubbed with some tough-to-swallow…

  • Creativity at the Workplace – It Is Possible

    EshaC
    17 Jun 2013 | 3:08 pm
    Innovation is an elusive ideal, prized as the secret ingredient in economic growth, social progress, and technological acceleration.  Unlocking American innovation is the first step to “winning the future,” according to President Obama.  The stakes are high. The cross-sector scramble to out-innovate our rivals has given birth to an entire industry, one that breaks innovation down into its composite elements and analyzes them for clues and patterns.  Countless case studies, TED talks, and biographies point to a single element – individual creativity – as perhaps the most crucial in…

  • College for All: Sebastian Thrun, Udacity

    EshaC
    13 Jun 2013 | 9:48 am
    Click here to view the embedded video.   by Andre Dua Something big is up in higher education thanks to the advent of “massive open online courses” (MOOCs), which can reach millions around the world. What most people—including university leaders—don’t yet realize is that this new way of teaching and learning, together with employers’ growing frustration with the skills of graduates, is poised to usher in a new credentialing system that may compete with college degrees within a decade. This emerging delivery regime is more than just a distribution mechanism; done right, it…

  • India’s Other Rural Dwellers

    EshaC
    11 Jun 2013 | 1:49 pm
    Rural issues dominate the discussions regarding India’s development. Without a doubt, the needs of rural India are great. As per the 2011 Census, more than 833 million people live in rural areas. This is a staggering statistic because of the challenges and needs it implies. What is even more startling is the fact that approximately 7.2% of India’s rural population – so-called tribal communities – fare worse than the other 92.8% because of its official government classification and colonial legacy. Under British rule in India, the Criminal Tribes Act of 1871 pronounced (or…

  • Impact Investment: Just 1% – 2% of Venture Capitalism, says Arun Gore

    EshaC
    7 Jun 2013 | 12:06 pm
    Esha Chhabra chats with Arun Gore, the president and CEO of Gray Ghost Ventures, about impact investing movement. Arun Gore is at the helm of Gray Ghost Ventures (GGV), a venture capital fund targeting technology initiatives and social impact. Some would say they’re part of the new “impact investing” movement. But Gore is not so concerned about the semantics. In their Atlanta-based office, removed from Silicon Valley and designed with frugal innovation in mind, the focus is on bolstering companies in emerging markets that have the power and capacity to develop the communities they…
 
  • add this feed to my.Alltop

    SustainAbility

  • Changing Tack

    18 Jun 2013 | 5:07 am
    Changing Tack is the final output of The Regeneration Roadmap. The project seized 2012’s major sustainability milestones – particularly the Rio+20 summit in Brazil – as an opportunity to assess progress on sustainable development, to examine the evolution of the role of business in delivering this agenda to date, and to consider what and how might be done, particularly by the private sector, to accelerate and scale progress in the urgent manner required. The Regeneration Roadmap team conducted interviews with pioneers in this field, held dialogues with thought leaders around the…

  • Extended Leadership: Changing Tack and Beyond

    17 Jun 2013 | 12:19 am
    It was most definitely not a day like any other…Thursday June 13, 2013 saw the webcasted launch of Changing Tack, the culmination of our 18-month Regeneration Roadmap research program in collaboration with Globescan. The webcast was preceded by the annual Marks & Spencer Plan A Conference at which former U.S. Vice President Al Gore gave a barnstorming speech. Meanwhile, across London, the B Team launched its Plan B. Not a usual day by any means. Most certainly, something stirs… Our Regeneration Roadmap analysis sees us poised between a sustainable future and catastrophic collapse. So…

  • The Regeneration Roadmap launches Changing Tack

    14 Jun 2013 | 2:57 pm
    Thousands of business and sustainability professionals tuned in to a public webcast of the launch of Changing Tack, the outcome of months of global engagement on the sustainability agenda. Conveners GlobeScan and SustainAbility hosted a live-streamed panel discussion on the report’s key findings. Jo Confino of Guardian Sustainable Business moderated the discussion with senior executives from BMW, Cisco and SC Johnson. The report forms the final output of The Regeneration Roadmap, an 18-month collaborative and multi-faceted thought leadership initiative designed to engage the private sector…

  • Frances Buckingham quoted in FT Responsible Business report

    12 Jun 2013 | 7:47 am
    Frances Buckingham is featured in the Financial Times 2013 Responsible Business report in an article exploring how campaigners have turned to collaboration to shape business best practice. Frances Buckingham responds to the Oxfam Behind the Brands work which reflects a new era in the relationship between companies and campaigners, “It’s not just naming and shaming – it’s a combination of praising and shaming.” The article also reflects on how this by no means signals the end of corporate activism. NGOs such as Oxfam and Greenpeace are continuing to hold companies…

  • From Revolution to Renaissance?

    10 Jun 2013 | 9:43 pm
    Sustainable Brands 2013 I had occasion this week to be in San Diego for Sustainable Brands 2013, where I offered opening remarks on the first full day of the conference, June 04. Conclusions from Changing Tack, the final output of The Regeneration Roadmap, were top of mind as I did so. Sustainable Brands’ theme this year was “From Revolution to Renaissance.” I love the implications behind the words. To me, it suggests that we have broken through into a creative, hyper-productive phase of sustainable development progress and the role brands will play. But, as in the title above, I put…
 
  • add this feed to my.Alltop

    Triple Pundit: People, Planet, Profit

  • Can a Bottled Water Company Create “Shared Value”?

    3p Contributor
    18 Jun 2013 | 12:46 pm
    When a company labels its Annual CSR Report as Creating Shared Value, you have to stop and wonder if they're responding to the latest buzzword in the market or leveraging its potential by truly embedding it into their reporting and cultural framework.The post Can a Bottled Water Company Create “Shared Value”? appeared first on Triple Pundit: People, Planet, Profit.

  • Sierra Club Reviews Plug-in Hybrids

    RP Siegel
    18 Jun 2013 | 5:00 am
    The Sierra Club releases its own guide to plug-in hybrids.The post Sierra Club Reviews Plug-in Hybrids appeared first on Triple Pundit: People, Planet, Profit.

  • Video Interview: Anne Fajon, Cone Communications on CSR and Social Media

    Nick Aster
    18 Jun 2013 | 2:14 am
    Nick Aster talks to Anne Fajon about CSR Social Score, a tool that Cone developed to assess companies on the level they're using social media to engage stakeholders on their corporate social responsibility issues.The post Video Interview: Anne Fajon, Cone Communications on CSR and Social Media appeared first on Triple Pundit: People, Planet, Profit.

  • Masdar-Backed Wind Farm Opens in Seychelles

    Leon Kaye
    18 Jun 2013 | 2:13 am
    Masdar and the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development turned on the switch of the Port Victoria Wind Farm project yesterday in the Seychelles.The post Masdar-Backed Wind Farm Opens in Seychelles appeared first on Triple Pundit: People, Planet, Profit.

  • Women in CSR: Tina Roche, Business in the Community Ireland

    Andrea Newell
    18 Jun 2013 | 2:12 am
    Tina Roche, CEO, Business in the Community Ireland, talks about her career, inspiration and recent accomplishments in our Women in CSR series.The post Women in CSR: Tina Roche, Business in the Community Ireland appeared first on Triple Pundit: People, Planet, Profit.
  • add this feed to my.Alltop

    Marc Gunther's blog

  • David Griesing: “Everyday low prices” hurt us all

    Marc Gunther
    18 Jun 2013 | 12:25 pm
    Today’s guest post comes from David Griesing. A student of religion and ethics, David has been a non-profit manager, a caregiver, a corporate attorney, a teacher in a school for autistic kids, a company executive, retail clerk (of women’s shoes!), an arbitrator, and an entrepreneur. If nothing else, his peripatetic career has made him an [...] >

  • Pedal power: Why I love bike sharing

    Marc Gunther
    16 Jun 2013 | 5:43 pm
    Bike sharing is said to be experiencing “the fastest growth of any mode of transport in the history of the planet.” Whether that’s true or not, it’s hard to know. But there’s little doubt that bike sharing is growing fast, particularly in the US, and that’s encouraging for a bunch of reasons–people are getting healthier, [...] >

  • My new gig

    Marc Gunther
    13 Jun 2013 | 6:11 am
    This week, I begin work as editor-at-large of Guardian Sustainable Business US. I’m excited. My introductory column is here. I’ve been writing for Guardian Sustainable Business in the UK for about six months, on such topics as urban greenhouses, salmon aquaculture, Amazon’s corporate irresponsibility and self-imposed carbon taxes at Disney, Shell and Microsoft. As a result, [...] >

  • LEDs: A better light bulb. Again.

    Marc Gunther
    10 Jun 2013 | 9:26 pm
    So you remember CFLs, right? The curlicue bulbs? The time they took to go on? The harsh light? Despite their drawbacks, compact fluorescents have sold fairly well in the US. They save customers money. Utilities promoted and subsidized CFLs, particularly in California. Walmart pledged to sell 100 million of them. Time magazine put one on the [...] >

  • Whole Foods: Misguided about GMOs?

    Marc Gunther
    7 Jun 2013 | 7:37 am
    I’m not a scientist, and I don’t pretend to be one. But where possible, I try to be guided by science in my writing. That’s true when it comes to climate change. That’s true, too, when it comes to genetically-modified organisms, aka GMOs. That’s why I’m uneasy about the path-breaking policy towards GMOs announced recently [...] >
 
  • add this feed to my.Alltop

    Global Envision

  • Brother or bully: Leaders squabble over big business’ role in alleviating global hunger

    Isaac Otto
    18 Jun 2013 | 1:22 pm
    Image: The G8’s goal to increase private sector investment in Africa could offer new solutions to global hunger or it could be the new face of a failed solution.  G8 leaders expanded the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition last week in the lead up to the G8 Summit in Northern Ireland. The New Alliance, started by the G8 last year, has an ambitious goal of lifting 50 million people out of chronic poverty over 10 years. In 2012, $4 billion was committed in support of private sector investment in African agriculture. British Prime Minister David Cameron wordily explained last…

  • A penny saved is two pennies earned for women in savings groups

    Jessica Perkins
    17 Jun 2013 | 8:51 am
    Image: In May, Oxfam America and Freedom from Hunger published the largest study to date on the impact of community-based savings groups. And the findings are promising. The poor, often unconnected to banks, can benefit from savings groups because they offer a safe place to save money, the chance to borrow small amounts on flexible terms and a strong support group. Saving for Change is an Oxfam America program that operates in 13 countries throughout the world with 680,000 members, most of them women. Saving for Change works in rural areas, training women to save regularly by meeting…

  • Quotable: Grameen Intel CEO believes in leading with education, not technology

    Nisma Elias
    14 Jun 2013 | 6:49 am
    Image:  Although Grameen Intel uses technology to solve social problems, CEO Kazi Huque says education about how to use that technology is key in addressing the world's toughest challenges.I believe in leading with education; technology is just an enabler. We have the information and technology. The missing link is education, and identifying local people on the ground to [effectively] use the technology.Our software eAgro has been the most successful in analyzing farmers’ soil and recommending the right amount of fertilizer, but people have to be willing to listen and adapt.

  • Teachers in Afghanistan to receive salaries to their mobile wallets

    Nisma Elias
    13 Jun 2013 | 8:22 am
    Image:  Afghani public school teachers--mostly women--will start receiving their salaries directly to their mobile wallets, bypassing the decades old problem of corruption and inefficiency.“Once the teachers have received their salaries in their Maiwan bank accounts, they will receive an SMS notification. Because it is a transparent transaction, mobile salary disbursement ensures the teachers get their pay in full amount and on time. Teachers no longer need to travel great distances just to get to a bank branch and withdraw their salaries.”Maiwan Bank has started setting up…

  • Free trade between the U.S. and EU could change the dynamic of value chains in Africa

    Aaron Faust
    12 Jun 2013 | 8:42 am
    Image:  A free trade agreement between the U.S. and EU could provide a much needed economic boost, but not for banana farmers in Ghana.President Barack Obama stated during his 2013 State of the Union address that negotiating a free trade agreement between the United States and the European Union was a high priority during his second term in office. This agreement, known as the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), would effectively abolish trade tariffs between member nations and allow access to markets that were previously closed.The potential economic boon associated…
  • add this feed to my.Alltop

    Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

  • Gaming for Sustainability: How Balaji Prabhakar’s Lottery Beats Traffic Congestion

    6 Jun 2013 | 1:24 pm
    Imagine someone offered you $1 to leave the house an hour earlier in the morning so as to shift your commute to an off-peak train. Will you do it? If you’re like most people, you will say no. Now imagine you’d be offered a 1-in-100 chance of winning $100. You might find this offer much more enticing. You may even end up gladly altering your commuting habit. This might seem rather obvious when you consider the behavioral-economics insight that the average person is risk-seeking when stakes are small. But how ingenious it is to apply this insight to reduce congestion-related costs (fuel,…

  • Caltech: Founding Values

    22 May 2013 | 5:57 pm
    Address on receiving Caltech’s Distinguished Alumni AwardMay 18, 2013Caltech was founded to give back to society through science and engineering, to discover knowledge and apply that knowledge. There was tremendous optimism about the value of training engineers and scientists and how that would benefit all of humanity, especially in the southern California of a century ago which was reshaped through the wonders of technology.Caltech’s small size makes its faculty and students incredibly agile when it comes to understanding a broad array of fields: there is a need here to be able to…

  • Martín Burt’s Best Kept Secret

    17 May 2013 | 1:21 pm
    Martín Burt is one of the greatest social entrepreneurs I’ve had the pleasure of knowing for many years. So I was recently taken by surprise when I discovered by mere coincidence that he had become the Chief of Staff for the Interim President of Paraguay, Federico Franco! It turns out Martín was asked by Franco to join his administration when he took office in June 2012. He will serve in this position until Franco finishes his term in August 2013. I found it incredible that almost no one in the social entrepreneurial field knew about this and decided a blog post was in order!Martin Burt…

  • Technology for All: From Gandhi to TED - Part 2

    14 May 2013 | 1:07 pm
    Technology has the potential to improve the lives of millions across the world. Unfortunately, most companies won’t pursue projects without the promise of big profits and the people who need tech tools the most often can’t afford them. In this two-part series I explore the concept of “Technology for All” and Benetech’s commitment to both ensuring that the technology required to meet a social need is developed and that it reaches far beyond the richest 10 percent of people who can most afford it.You can read Part 1, here.                 …

  • Technology for All: From Gandhi to TED - Part 1

    10 May 2013 | 6:11 pm
    Technology has the potential to improve the lives of millions across the world. Unfortunately, most companies won’t pursue projects without the promise of big profits and the people who need tech tools the most often can’t afford them. In this two-part series I explore the concept of “Technology for All” and Benetech’s commitment to both ensuring that the technology required to meet a social need is developed and that it reaches far beyond the 10 percent of people who can afford it.                           …
  • add this feed to my.Alltop

    Environmental Management & Energy News

  • Veolia Achieves Processor Status to Recycle Mercury-Bearing Lamps

    Environmental Leader Staff
    18 Jun 2013 | 10:07 am
    Veolia Environmental Services North America, one of the largest waste services companies in the world, announced that its Port Washington, WI, facility achieved approved processor status for the Take Back the Light program, allowing the facility to recycle fluorescent and other mercury bearing lamps that are subject to the program’s strict operational and environmental requirements. [...]

  • Honeywell, Safran Test Electric Aircraft Taxiing System

    Jessica Lyons Hardcastle
    18 Jun 2013 | 7:23 am
    Honeywell and high-tech company Safran say they have completed the major phase of testing of their electric green taxiing system (EGTS). Developed by EGTS International, a joint venture between Honeywell and Safran launched in 2011, the EGTS technology allows aircraft to avoid using their main engines during taxiing and instead taxi autonomously under their own [...]

  • Chevron’s Angola LNG Ships First Gas

    Jessica Lyons Hardcastle
    18 Jun 2013 | 7:20 am
    Chevron’s Angola liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant has shipped its first gas cargo. The company says the $10 billion African project marks the first new LNG supply to come on-stream since 2010 and will help meet the increasing global demand for LNG. The first cargo was sold to Angola’s state oil and gas company Sonangol [...]

  • Whiskey is for Making Biofuels?

    Jessica Lyons Hardcastle
    18 Jun 2013 | 7:10 am
    Scottish startup Celtic Renewables says it can turn waste from the country’s £4 billion ($6 billion) whiskey-making industry into millions of gallons of renewable fuel, creating a £60 million ($90 million) biofuels industry, National Geographic reports. Only 10 percent of a distillery’s product is future whiskey, the magazine says. The other 90 percent is daft, [...]

  • Ford Sustainability Report: Energy Down 12%

    Tamar Wilner
    18 Jun 2013 | 7:09 am
    Ford’s relative energy consumption fell 11.8 percent from 2,778 kWh per vehicle in 2011 to 2,449 kWh per vehicle last year, according to the company’s 2012 sustainability report. Its absolute energy consumption fell 9.7 percent, from 15.5 billion to 14 billion kWh. The automaker’s efficiency initiatives last year included continued implementation of a new parts-washing [...]
 
  • add this feed to my.Alltop

    Have Fun • Do Good

  • Zen Under Fire: Big Vision Podcast Interview with Marianne Elliott

    Britt Bravo
    12 Jun 2013 | 6:31 am
    "The difference that I could make was really much less grand than saving the world, but it was in many ways much more powerful because it was actually something that all of us can do. All of us always have the opportunity to serve the person who is right in front of us." ~ Marianne Elliott This month's Big Vision Podcast features the lovely Marianne Elliott. Marianne is a writer, human rights advocate, and international yoga instructor. Trained as a lawyer, Marianne helped develop human rights strategies for the governments of New Zealand and Timor-Leste, has worked as a Policy Advisor for…

  • Wanna Give a Free $25 Loan to an Entrepreneur on Kiva?

    Britt Bravo
    10 Jun 2013 | 8:22 am
    When some friends got married recently, they didn't set up a registry because, "We are in our 40s and already have lots of stuff." Instead, they asked that we do something kind for someone else. I decided to make a loan to Kiva.org, a nonprofit organization that facilitates regular people (like you and me) making micro-loans to entrepreneurs across the globe. I liked the idea of giving a Kiva loan as a wedding gift because once the loan is repaid, it can be re-loaned to another entrepreneur, and another and another, so it's a wedding gift that will keep on giving. I've made 14 loans over the…

  • News Media: Take Responsibility for Your Influence

    Britt Bravo
    3 Jun 2013 | 10:38 am
    I'm tired of the news. Browsing the headlines on The New York Times, CNN, USA Today, and Google News' sites is one long litany of horror: Murder. Rape. Cruelty. Lies. Selfishness. Riots. Fighting in Congress. Natural disasters. I used to watch The Daily Show to feel better about the world, but even Jon Stewart has had enough, and is taking a break. Why does positive news about people being kind, problems being solved, and hope being rekindled have to be allocated to a separate site, like Positive News, Good News Network, and Happy News, or to its own section, like HuffPost Good News? So many…

  • Why "Be the Change That You Wish to See in the World” Really Works

    Britt Bravo
    9 May 2013 | 11:09 am
    You've probably seen the Gandhi quote, "Be the change that you wish to see in the world,” somewhere. You might even have it tacked up on the wall of your office, or home. Well, guess what? It really works. Last week, I started a (free) Coursera class, Inspiring Leadership through Emotional Intelligence, which I'm loving.  One of the modules is about emotional contagion. Basically, how you feel and manage your feelings affects other people. If you go into work feeling sad, or angry, your co-workers may start to feel the same way. Even if you put on a happy face, if you're feeling down…

  • Celebrating Grandmother Power: Interview with my Gram

    Britt Bravo
    7 May 2013 | 11:38 am
    The Grandmother Power Blogging Campaign is a collaborative effort of hundreds of bloggers writing about how grandmothers are changing the world from May 7-14, 2013. It's being organized by Tara Mohr (creator of the Ten Rules for Brilliant Women Workbook), and Paola Gianturco (author of Grandmother Power: A Global Phenomenon). You can read all of the Grandmother Power posts, and add your own on taramohr.com. "Some people don't even begin to use all the power they have." ~ my Gram "I think the answer to everything is education. You can try to re-educate some of the older people, but it's not an…
  • add this feed to my.Alltop

    Greenbang

  • Dublin taps into real-time data to ease traffic congestion

    admin
    23 May 2013 | 1:12 pm
    Officials in Dublin are hoping to solve the Irish city’s traffic problems by making smarter use of data. Using systems built with the help of IBM, the city is now streaming in masses of data from multiple sources to build a digital map of traffic, especially the location of public buses, in real time. This stream of “big data” — from bus timetables, closed-circuit television cameras, traffic detectors and GPS devices on board 1,000 city buses — is being used build a digital, real-time map of which vehicles are where on Dublin’s roadways. Coupled with…

  • Cheap soy catalyst produces hydrogen fuel

    admin
    24 Apr 2013 | 2:07 pm
    A US research team inspired by the work of twin sisters from a New York high school has identified a low-cost but effective catalyst that could replace expensive platinum for hydrogen production. Hydrogen has long been touted as a clean-burning, efficient fuel that could power cars and fuel cells for energy storage. However, the process of splitting hydrogen from water can be costly, especially when using a platinum catalyst. A new catalyst tested by a research team at the US Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory is not only cheaper than platinum, but performs better in…

  • Meet the ‘best for the world’ businesses

    admin
    17 Apr 2013 | 9:04 am
    Businesses that have won B Corporation certification for their social and environmental impact aren’t necessarily the best in the world, but they are among the best for the world, the organization asserts. The B Corporation, which assesses companies on social and environmental performance, has come out with its 2013 list of Best for the World Honorees. Categorized by size — mid-size, small or micro — this year’s “best-for” businesses include: Echale a Tu Casa, a social housing production company based in Mexico City, which earned a top overall B score of…

  • Big data: It isn’t just for big business anymore

    admin
    3 Apr 2013 | 7:08 pm
    There’s a reason we call today’s plethora of information “big data.” With almost every action and transaction we engage in leaving a digital trail, we’re generating an unprecedented amount of data – 2.5 quintillion bytes’ worth – every day. If that doesn’t compute, think about it this way: a full 90 percent of the data out there today has been created in just the past two years. While the amount of information available today is mind-bogglingly big, insights from that information are available to more than just big corporations with global IT resources. Thanks especially to…

  • How is a social business a better business?

    admin
    27 Mar 2013 | 9:26 pm
    We’ve all heard the stats about the explosion of social media users. One-billion-plus on Facebook. One hundred seventy-five million Tweets a day. An expected 5 billion professional searches on LinkedIn in 2012. But that’s all mostly for Justin Bieber fans, politics junkies, people who like to exchange snark or professionals looking for new jobs or business contacts, right? Wrong. Increasingly, businesses – rather than individual fans or job-hunters – are finding value in social media-like applications. Done right, these so-called “enterprise social networks” can help organizations…
  • add this feed to my.Alltop

    GlobalGiving Blog - News and Updates

  • Virtual Community, Actual Impact

    donna
    4 Jun 2013 | 2:18 pm
    Paul was a teenager when he was drafted into the United States (US) Army during the Vietnam War.  And when the US ended its military involvement in Vietnam, it was just the beginning of a longer battle for him.  He was later deployed to multiple other international posts, and when he finally returned home, he was left with little support and undiagnosed Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).  The disorder wreaked havoc on his life, leaving him homeless, unemployed, over-medicated, and depressed. Today, with the help of Canines with a Cause (CWAC) and the generous donations of VMware…

  • How they won: American Open Challenge Winner says "crowd-sourcing was the key to our success"

    marc maxson
    13 Feb 2013 | 1:49 pm
    Jared Schwartz of Frogloop (a nonprofit online marketing blog) interviewed the guys from Critical Exposure and have some excellent advice for nonprofits trying to succeed on GlobalGiving: http://www.frogloop.com/care2blog/2009/9/7/how-a-small-nonprofit-used-social-media-crowd-sourcing-to-wi.html  The goal was simple. Earn a permanent spot on the GlobalGiving website by raising at least $4000 online from 50 individual donors in three weeks. Win up to $6000 in additional bonuses for out-fundraising the 70 other participating organizations. The challenge was daunting. How does Critical…

  • google hunger relief campaign: simple ways to take a bite out of hunger

    donna
    10 Jan 2013 | 11:31 am
    Koro is a six-year old girl who arrived at A Child for All’s orphanage (ACFA) without a home or family, her thin body extremely malnourished.  The founder of ACFA, Kadiatou Sidibe, remembers the first meal Koro had with the organization in 2010.  “It was lunch-time, and you know how in Mali, we all eat around one large plate of food.  Koro saw the food; her eyes grew big.  Then she took the whole dish and ran away—she didn’t know that there would be another meal later.” Koro’s health has improved dramatically with the help of ACFA and its donors throughout the world.  It’s…

  • 10 lessons in 10 years: you ain’t seen nothing yet.

    acarlman
    21 Dec 2012 | 11:43 am
    Ten years ago, Co-Founders Mari Kuraishi and Dennis Whittle launched GlobalGiving in the United States. In honor of the past ten years and in the spirit of one of our guiding core values, ‘Listen. Act. Learn. Repeat,’ we have launched a monthly blog series guest-written by former and current staff members. Each writer has spoken speak candidly about his or her experience with GlobalGiving and something that they learned. Dennis finishes off the year-long series with this post.  Mari Kuraishi and Dennis Whittle, Co-Founders of GlobalGiving The other day a friend asked me to look back at…

  • 10 Lessons in 10 Years: Don’t give in; Don’t settle; Love what you do.

    acarlman
    15 Nov 2012 | 11:42 am
    Ten years ago, Co-Founders Mari Kuraishi and Dennis Whittle launched GlobalGiving in the United States. In honor of these past ten years and in the spirit of one of our guiding core values, ‘Listen. Act. Learn. Repeat,’ we have launched a monthly blog series guest-written by former and current staff members. Each writer will speak candidly about their experience with GlobalGiving and offer up something that they have learned. This month’s writer, Steve Rogers, demonstrates how life lessons sometimes imitate baseball.  ____ Seven years ago, when I joined GlobalGiving, I had just…
 
  • add this feed to my.Alltop

    GlobalGiving Projects - Just added

  • Educate a Mexico Girl-Child from the Barrios

    Bobbi Bosch
    14 Jun 2013 | 12:16 pm
    $10 — Could provide a girl with fruits and vegetables for a week$100 — Could provide text books and school supplies for a girl for a year$250 — Could provide 3 girls with complete school uniforms for a yearSummaryChristel House provides impoverished Mexican girls from the barrios with life-changing, quality education, health care, nutritious meals, character/life skills development and continued guidance after graduation. Our goal is to help these girls overcome the barriers of poverty and become self-sufficient, contributing members of…

  • Provide food for 35 elderly people in Nepal

    Tejanath Pokharel
    14 Jun 2013 | 7:25 am
    $10 — will provide 10 kg rice for one elderly person for one month$60 — can feed fruits and vegetables for an elderly person for one year.$120 — will buy 120 kg rice for one elderly person for one year.SummarySankhuwasabha Education Scholarship Foundation (SESF) plans to provide food and monthly allowance for fruits, vegetables and other costs to 35 helpless, elderly people (from 55 to 91 years old) residing at Manakamana Bridhashram, an Old Age Home, in eastern parts of Nepal for years.Project Needs and BeneficiariesThere are 35 helpless…

  • Supplementary Education to 100 children in India

    Beatrice Vanaja
    13 Jun 2013 | 6:43 am
    $10 — Coaching materials for a month$20 — Honorarium to teacher for coaching 10 children in a month$24 — Exposure visit to 4 children (one time in a year)SummaryMany children living in Trichy slums drop out of school before completing their education. This project supports at risk students in grades 4-10 by giving them coaching classes. The classesgive students the individual attention they lack at school & the guidance they lack at home.Specially trained teachers help students improve in subjects that are difficult for them, whichare…

  • Train Talented, Underprivileged Runners in Kenya

    Sylvester Renner
    12 Jun 2013 | 6:53 am
    $25 — will provide nutritional food for runners while training$50 — will provide running shoes for 3 youths$100 — will provide a tuition scholarshipSummaryThere are thousands of underprivileged, talented runners in Kenya with undeveloped potential. This project provides the training, support and motivation they need as they prepare for their future careers as runners. They are encouraged to pursue their education in general. Together we can help ensure that these talented Kenyan runners continue to pursue their dreams. Help raise the future…

  • Integrate 45 refugee Human Rights Defenders Uganda

    Kulihoshi Musikami
    11 Jun 2013 | 12:02 pm
    $10 — Can buy 4 notebooks$25 — Can buy 3 boxes of pens$50 — Can rent a room for a training for one daySummaryThis project will help refugee human rights defenders from various countries now in exile in Uganda to continue with their work of promoting human rights. It will give them the required tools to understand the concept of refugee rights and the necessity to promote the rights of refugees in Uganda. The concept of refugee rights is one the key areas to focus on for the holistic protection of refugees in Uganda. In order to do so we need a…
  • add this feed to my.Alltop

    Cleantech Blog

  • Ta-Ta (For Now)

    Richard T. Stuebi
    18 Jun 2013 | 3:30 am
    I am pleased to announce that, as of last week, I have assumed the position of President and Chief Executive Officer of MAR Systems. MAR addresses some of the most challenging wastewater treatment needs, cost-effectively removing highly toxic contaminants (e.g., mercury, selenium, hexavalent chrome, arsenic, antimony, etc.) from discharges into the world’s water bodies that [...]

  • Worlds of Differences

    Richard T. Stuebi
    3 Jun 2013 | 4:50 am
    I’ve always known that Americans hold a pretty different view about the state of the energy sector than elsewhere in the world, but never really knew how to characterize those variances. Today, I write in gratitude, thanking the efforts of Sonal Patel, senior writer at Power magazine.  Patel developed this helpful visual framework summarizing the [...]

  • Tesla, First Solar, Better Place and Comments on a Weird Quarter in Cleantech

    Neal Dikeman
    31 May 2013 | 12:05 pm
    Wow.  This has been a really interesting few months in cleantech. First Solar announced a $0.99 cent/Wp target within 4 years for installed with trackers utility scale in its investor deck.  That equates to around $4-5 henry hub gas price in a new combined cycle gas plant. The scary thing is that best utility scale [...]

  • Contrarian Wisdom Isn’t Necessarily Better Than Conventional Wisdom

    Richard T. Stuebi
    27 May 2013 | 8:47 am
    For years, many observers (including myself) have argued that — from an environmental perspective — it is preferable for energy prices to be higher, so as to (1) discourage consumption of energy, mostly from fossil fuels which generates significant environmental impact, and (2) make various forms of energy efficiency and cleaner (if not zero-emission) alternative [...]

  • TVA Privatization: An Idea Whose Time Has Not Come, And Is Not Approaching

    Richard T. Stuebi
    20 May 2013 | 3:30 pm
    For those who are irate about the U.S. government intervening in the energy markets, you’ll have to go back a long time to find when that was not the case. To illustrate, rewind 80 years:  in the 1930′s, the Administration of Franklin D. Roosevelt looked at the physical and economic backwaters of southern Appalachia and [...]
  • add this feed to my.Alltop

    Echoing Green Blog

  • A Shared Commitment to Advancing Equality and Ensuring Justice

    Decker Ngongang
    18 Jun 2013 | 9:36 am
    Students of Reach Incorporated courtesy reachincorporated.org As we enter into our second year of our partnership with the Open Society Foundations to support the 2013 Black Male Achievement Fellows, we are reminded at the essential nature of collaboration and commitment between organizations working towards similar goals. The Open Society Foundations’ U.S. Programs support efforts to advance equality, fairness, and justice with a focus on the most vulnerable and marginalized communities and the most significant threats to open society in the United States today. In particular, the Campaign…

  • Pioneering Across Generations: Partnering with Newman’s Own Foundation

    Lara Galinsky
    13 Jun 2013 | 8:08 am
    Students of ConTextos courtesy con-textos.org Earlier this week, we announced the thirty-seven individuals who comprise the 2013 class of Echoing Green Fellows. We had some help in this announcement by way of several established and successful social entrepreneurs who are an integral part of the Echoing Green Fellowship ecosystem: Vikram Akula (SKS Microfinance), Gemma Bulos (A Single Drop for Safe Water), Nick Ehrmann (Blue Engine), and others. By reflecting on the legacy of their own work, and offering up advice to this next generation of visionaries, these individuals point to the simple…

  • Introducing the 2013 Echoing Green Fellows

    Cheryl L. Dorsey
    11 Jun 2013 | 7:30 am
    Echoing Green is pleased to announce the 2013 Class of Echoing Green Fellows, continuing our legacy of twenty-five years pioneering social change. Comprised of both Echoing Green and Black Male Achievement Fellows, this class includes a number of firsts for us: our first Fellow from the Democratic Republic of the Congo; first Fellow working in El Salvador; and our first Fellows working on social impact bonds. Selected from an initial applicant pool of 2,872, the twenty-eight organizations in this year's portfolio represent the top one percent and will join Echoing Green's rich ecosystem of…

  • Brenden Millstein: Changing the Outlook on Climate Change

    Contributor
    6 Jun 2013 | 7:46 am
    Bold Idea: Carbon Lighthouse is working to swing perspectives from skepticism to optimism, in order to reverse carbon emissions and stand as a beacon for positive social change. Bring up the subject of carbon footprints, and nine out of ten brows will furrow with dutiful worry. That's why an encounter with 2011 Fellow Brenden Millstein, co-founder of Carbon Lighthouse, proves slightly unnerving. Nearly every sentence ends in an optimistic exclamation point, which is quite a feat when talking about global climate change. "I'm not interested in a doom-and-gloom discussion. We're cobbling…

  • Maile Broccoli-Hickey: What's Gained in Translation

    Contributor
    4 Jun 2013 | 8:32 am
    Bold Idea: When it comes to language, context is everything. While ENGLISH @ WORK trains immigrant employees in the language of their workplace, the organization itself is learning to speak the language that communicates its value to a range of its own supporters. When 2007 Fellow Maile Broccoli-Hickey describes herself as a “language person,” she means more than simply earning her double major in French and English at University of Texas, Austin, while getting her secondary teaching certificate and volunteering as an ESL instructor. She’s also thinking about context and outcomes. Her…
 
  • add this feed to my.Alltop

    AfriGadget

  • Kiambu chopper et al

    Juergen Eichholz
    29 May 2013 | 5:57 pm
    Sharing good content online isn’t always easy, as we prefer original (first-hand) content – contributed by our readers – that comes along with a permission to share these jewels. The following post first appeared in a Kenyan newspaper a month ago – we’ve tried contacting the editor in charge, but haven’t received a reply from them so far. Still, the story is so unique, it needs to be shared: Residents of Magomano village in Kiambu have been flocking to a homestead for a glimpse of a homemade helicopter which has been assembled by a 20 year-old farm hand.

  • Wheel balancing is totally overrated

    Juergen Eichholz
    13 May 2013 | 9:20 am
    A Kenyan Facebook user recently shared these images of a craftsman in Eldoret (Kenya) who repairs rims: Kenya fixit? Eh! (via Silas Salavi)

  • How to fix a bicycle tube

    Juergen Eichholz
    22 Feb 2013 | 8:10 am
    How to fix a bicycle tube… when a glued patch isn’t appropriate: (direct link to the video) “To fix such a problem, we designed a new way of fixing. You can simply tie the place, no need of glue, no need of nothing.” The reasoning for this unusual fix may be a bit strange (as a correctly applied patch will also work under the influence of heat), but the solution is smart and obviously works. [via, thx!]

  • AfriGadget TV

    Juergen Eichholz
    30 Jan 2013 | 2:55 pm
    AfriGadget is graduating from the small screens of laptops and smart phones to the larger screens of broadcast television. The production company Made in Africa TV is taking AfriGadget to the East African airwaves to inspire millions of viewers to become active creators of new and ingenious products, themselves. Each episode of AfriGadget TV will consist of five thoughtful stories from around the region, highlighting remarkable and unexpected hardware innovations by East Africans. These stories are inspiring mini-documentaries, portraying young and old, men and women, as well as high and…

  • The Farmking of Nigeria: 4-in-1 Farming device

    Erik Hersman
    11 Nov 2012 | 8:25 am
    Sulaiman Famro is a cheerful, 65 year old engineer, and a master of branding. He built the prototype “Farmking” three years ago and claims he can save the country $1 billion a year, just in savings on starch importation. The Farmking is a one-stop processing plant for cluster and farm-site processing of root crops and grains. It has a diesel powered engine that allows for remote processing, with power out connections for lighting so that it can work all night, if needed. On one end you have 3 devices, for chipping, grating and milling. In the middle is the power plant, and in the…
  • add this feed to my.Alltop

    Timbuktu Chronicles

  • RLG Communications

    Emeka Okafor
    18 Jun 2013 | 3:00 am
    In Ghana founded by Roland Agambir: RLG Communications is a computer and hand-set manufacturing company, and one of the first indigenous African companies that assembles laptops and mobile phones:

  • African Furniture - Built for the World

    Emeka Okafor
    17 Jun 2013 | 3:00 am
    Trish Lorenz writing in the FT: Hamed Ouattara image courtesy of David Crookes African furniture is undergoing a transformation. Forget village handicrafts; today’s designs are contemporary, high-end and beginning to sport “Made in Africa” branding. They are also a growing presence in both local and overseas markets. The continent’s creative industries are on the rise, boosted by a buoyant economy and emerging middle class with a growing disposable income. The sub-Saharan economy, according to the World Bank, is likely to increase by more than 5 per cent over the next three years,…

  • The Rise of the 254Makertrons and Chumabot I

    Emeka Okafor
    16 Jun 2013 | 3:00 am
    iHub's Jessica Colaço reports on the nurturing of a maker group, the 254Makertrons. Please stay tuned these folks are awesome: Liz with the Picopter Photo credit: @whiteafrican As a Mobile and Robotics Tech Evangelist in Kenya, I have been mentoring and working with a group of 4 students from Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology and the Technical University of Kenya for the last 3 months. These students are passionate, inspirational and eager to learn. They are natural innovators and makers – Festus, Hezron, Elizabeth and Muuo. From Left: Hezron, Festus and Elizabeth…

  • Farm Shop | Agricultural Supply Chain Service

    Emeka Okafor
    15 Jun 2013 | 3:00 am
    In Kenya: Farm Shop is building a franchise network of agro dealers located in rural, underserved areas of Kenya. Farm Shop says its retail shops are clean, modern, and professionally managed. The business wants to increase the earnings and productivity of Kenyan farmers by providing them with high quality products, services and information. Madison Ayer and Farouk Jiwa, founders of Farm Shop, told How we made it in Africa’s Dinfin Mulupi about how they want to transform smallholder farming in Kenya...[more here]

  • 3D Printed Medcine

    Emeka Okafor
    14 Jun 2013 | 3:00 am
    From TED: Chemist Lee Cronin is working on a 3D printer that, instead of objects, is able to print molecules. An exciting potential long-term application: printing your own medicine using chemical inks. Image from the Cronin Research Group                                       
 
  • add this feed to my.Alltop

    Startup Africa

  • The $1.25 per month startup budget

    Sam
    27 May 2013 | 10:00 pm
    A lot of would be founders say launch capital is the first hardest and for a lot of them their businesses don’t even require legal registrations: just a hard drive behind some web server. Why buy what you can get free of charge? Here’s how I do: Get free code & database hosting from Heroku/AppFog Get free file hosting from Amazon S3 Get free email hosting on Outlook.com or Zoho Get free email campaigns from MailChimp Free analytics from Google or MixPanel Free Ad coupons from LinkedIn & Google Free guest blog posts duh Free listing in business directories Free commenting…

  • The “Habit Startup” Philosophy

    Sam
    25 May 2013 | 11:00 pm
    In case you haven’t noticed, habits are a big deal, becoming increasingly important in technology products and in many cases, a necessity to compete – Ryan Hoover In Africa where (local?) startup technology hasn’t gone mainstream it seems more critical than in the developed world for technology companies to engrave the methodology of habit startups into their products if they want a shorter “market education” period and a faster market penetration. Ryan Hoover recently touched on the overlooked topic in a blog post. In his argument, he said many of today’s…

  • How can a bootstrapped startup earn from the side?

    Sam
    24 May 2013 | 12:41 pm
    I get this a lot & i’m condensing personal experiences here. It’s a common scenario that when you bootstrap your startup and your veins are still full of the startup-bug’s poison you see a 2-3 month gap before you are ramen profitable and shortly after you enter the envisioned land of profitability. Except that when you’re no longer under the bug’s influence and reality sets in you know you are falling faster than your chute is slowing you (or no chute if not a penny is coming through the door). In my experiences over the years with (my or other’s)…

  • Founder’s dilemma: Lifestyle Business path vs Startup path

    Sam
    9 Jan 2013 | 5:31 am
    Where lifestyle business means doing something in a similar, twisted, or better way than it’s done everywhere else off- or online (like a shared hosting provider); and startup means disrupting how an industry has been known to operate or creating an entire market altogether. With all the songs of (deserved) praise to the likes of Jeff Bezos, Jack Dorsey, Aaron Levie, Drew Houston and  David Karp many entrepreneurs are now convinced that to be worthy of a National ID document they need to disrupt something otherwise they cannot “change the world” or “live a…

  • Startup Weekend Johannesburg

    admin
    29 Nov 2012 | 11:10 pm
    This Weekend is Startup Weekend Johannesburg. I will be attending, and check back Monday for a report back.
  • add this feed to my.Alltop

    Creating a World Without Poverty

  • Mark Cuban and Poverty Reduction

    Grameen Foundation
    8 Jun 2013 | 5:52 am
    By Christopher “Happy” Tan, Grameen Foundation Asia Region CEO Cross-posted from Qualcomm OnQ After the Miami Heat won the 2012 NBA Championship, a Twitter exchange erupted between Mark Cuban, the outspoken owner of the Dallas Mavericks; and Skip Bayless, sports journalist, TV personality and ESPN commentator. This led to a heated episode of ESPN’s First Take  that went viral. Cuban contested that Bayless and other sportswriters only spoke in generalities. Whether Bayless was speaking of Lebron James’ “biggest collapse of a superstar that we’ve ever witnessed” or…

  • 10 Ways to Improve Savings Products for the Ultra-Poor

    Grameen Foundation
    31 May 2013 | 7:29 am
    The following post was created from a new case study written by researchers at Grameen Foundation India and edited by Kimberly Davies. Cross-posted from NextBillion.net The poor need access to financial services to create diversified and reliable sources of livelihood, which help them move out of poverty. As an industry, microfinance, however, has found it difficult to reach the very poorest. The Livelihood Pathways for the Poorest project, which is jointly implemented in Gaya District, Bihar, India by the Grameen Foundation and the Livelihood School (part of BASIX group of companies),…

  • Where is the data? Analyzing customer footprints for better product design

    Grameen Foundation
    20 Apr 2013 | 8:49 am
    Jacobo Menajovsky, Senior Data Analyst – Grameen Foundation Cross-posted from the Institute For Money, Technology & Financial Inclusion These are my daughter’s old shoes. We just took them out of the closet to pass them on to her younger brother who’s recently started walking, but when I took a closer look at them, I wondered if their best days weren’t behind them. Call me crazy, but I immediately started decoding all the signs and indicators of their usage. Yes, to me, data is everywhere. We are constantly gathering, interpreting and acting on data. Think about it. Every time you…

  • Eleven Tips to Help Ensure that Your Mobile Financial Services Program Is Successful

    Grameen Foundation
    19 Mar 2013 | 2:23 pm
    Cross-posted from the Institute For Money, Technology & Financial Inclusion While “mobile money” is a common term, the reality is that money programs vary across regions and between implementing partners, mobile money products are not all the same, and the clients who use them vary. That said, we have found a number of “dos” and “don’ts” that apply for all microfinance-related mobile financial services (MFS) programs. Microfinance institutions (MFIs) should consider the following tips as they roll out and tweak their mobile financial services programs. Read the full post at…

  • Reflecting on International Women’s Day

    Grameen Foundation
    8 Mar 2013 | 9:58 am
    Shannon Maynard, Vice President, Chief Talent and Knowledge Officer, Grameen Foundation On this International Women’s Day, I find myself struggling to celebrate the progress that women have made in all facets of society, while acknowledging that more than 3 billion people in the world – the majority of them women – still live on less than the cost of my morning cup of coffee. This sobering fact puts into perspective the Marissa Mayer debate on the problems of privilege that I face as a working mother.  Flexible work schedules, telecommuting, affordable child care – how about a…
  • add this feed to my.Alltop

    From Poverty to Power by Duncan Green

  • A great film on girls’ rights wins an international prize (and my sister in law made it)

    Duncan
    18 Jun 2013 | 12:11 am
    Time for a spot of well-deserved nepotism. My sister in law, Mary Matheson, makes films for Plan International and yesterday won a prize at the Annecy International Animation Festival 2013. Chosen from more than 2000 entries, her animation “I’ll Take It From Here”, shot in Malawi last summer for Plan’s ‘Because I am a Girl’ campaign, won the UNICEF Award for best film promoting children’s rights. Mary writes: ‘We are both daunted and thrilled to see our film in the same programme as animation giants Disney Pixar (Monsters University) and Illumination Pictures (Despicable Me…

  • Politically smart aid? Of course! Political aid? Not so sure. Guest post by Tom Carothers and Diane de Gramont

    Duncan
    17 Jun 2013 | 12:10 am
    Thomas Carothers and Diane de Gramont summarize the arguments of their new book on aid and politics How political is development assistance? How political should it be? These questions provoke divergent reactions within the aid community. For some, being political means using aid to advance geopolitical interests aside from development. Others emphasize the far-reaching political consequences aid can have on recipient countries, from bolstering dubious strongmen to undermining systems of domestic accountability. These two perspectives highlight how aid’s political motivations or side…

  • Off on holiday, so here’s a Dilbert

    Duncan
    12 Jun 2013 | 12:10 am
    Off on holiday in Wales this week, luxuriating in near tropical conditions (no harm in dreaming). Here’s an oldie-but-goodie Dilbert to keep you amused til I’m back.

  • What kind of science do we need for the aid and post-2015 agenda?

    Duncan
    11 Jun 2013 | 12:10 am
    Spent an intriguing evening last week speaking on a panel at the wonderful Royal Society (Isaac Newton and all that), on the links between the post-2015 agenda and science. The audience was from the government/science interface – people with job titles like ‘Head of Extreme Events’. I talked (powerpoint here – keep clicking) about how science can help developmentistas by bringing them up to date with what science is actuallyabout. Less Newton more Darwin, in terms of moving from a 19th Century world of linear causal chains, static equilibria and reductionism, to ecological and…

  • Dancing on hot sand: Egypt and the IMF loan

    Duncan
    9 Jun 2013 | 11:22 pm
    Dr Mohga Kamal-Yanni is Oxfam’s Senior health & HIV policy adviser, and works on financing for development, including how powerful institutions influence developing countries policies. As an Egyptian, she is also passionate about ‘the revolutionaries who opened the door for the power of the youth to change the world for the better.’ As summer approaches in Egypt, people worry about endless hot days with electricity cuts. Fridges in Egypt are not a luxury. Cooling water takes a major part of fridge space in a low/middle class homes. Loaves of bread packed onto fridge shelves save the…
 
  • add this feed to my.Alltop

    CIPE Development Blog

  • The Democracy Diagnosis

    Brent Ruth
    17 Jun 2013 | 9:59 am
    Whereas doctors can conduct an examination to determine a person’s overall health, how do you diagnose something as ambiguous as the health of a country’s democracy? CONTINUE READING

  • The Economic Challenges Facing Pakistan’s New Prime Minister

    Emad Sohail
    14 Jun 2013 | 12:29 pm
    In the May 11 general elections, Nawaz Sharif became Pakistan's newest elected prime minister. For the first time in the country's 65-year history, a democratically elected government has handed over power after completing its term and holding a fair election. The transfer of power is indeed a successful continuity of democracy in Pakistan. However, the country's economy remains in a state of...

  • What Causes Implementation Gaps?

    Maiko Nakagaki
    13 Jun 2013 | 11:31 am
    The implementation gap – the difference between laws on books and how they function in reality – is a problem experienced all around the world. CONTINUE READING

  • Politics – a Family Business?

    Anna Nadgrodkiewicz
    11 Jun 2013 | 12:17 pm
    Allies of the president's anti-corruption and economic growth program won big in the recent Philippines midterm elections, but will dynastic politics continue to hold the country back? CONTINUE READING

  • What Can Save Pakistan’s Economy?

    Emad Sohail
    10 Jun 2013 | 8:27 am
    Pakistan’s economy since independence has been confused. Much has been discussed about poor government regulations that resulted in an uncertain economy, necessitating dramatic changes in the regulatory framework to address alarming economic challenges. What should be done to get the economy humming, and prevent GDP decline? CONTINUE READING
  • add this feed to my.Alltop

    ODI Opinion

  • The G8 development dividend

    14 Jun 2013 | 12:00 am
    'the G8 summit can start to chart a new course – and the communique needs to provide a road map. Here are five details to watch out for.'

  • Shining a light on land deals: sharing lessons for transparency

    14 Jun 2013 | 12:00 am
    'To ensure protection for poor people’s natural-resource rights are real and meaningful, it is important to get a much better sense of what is actually happening to people on the ground when land deals happen.'

  • On low hanging fruits and revolutions: transparency at the G8

    12 Jun 2013 | 12:00 am
    'Advocates for greater transparency appear seldom to stop and ask themselves why some of the world’s most transparent governance systems operate amidst high levels of poverty and inequality – think of the United States.'

  • IF only: a wish-list for development campaigns

    12 Jun 2013 | 12:00 am
    'Most in the development community agreed there was both a moral and practical imperative to act on the findings: a quarter million marched in 2005, but engagement rates had been in decline ever since...'

  • G8 and trade: the development angle

    11 Jun 2013 | 12:00 am
    'Each piece of the G8 puzzle is complex and trade negotiations are historically hard to progress. The principle of ‘do no harm’ makes breakthroughs harder to come by, but when they do come their potential value is much greater than that offered by aid increments. If the G8 were to forget that fact then they could be paying for it for a few years yet.'
  • add this feed to my.Alltop

    ZeroDivide

  • The Importance of Leadership in Educational Technology

    Elaine Carpenter
    13 Jun 2013 | 10:06 am
    The Importance of Leadership in Educational TechnologyBy Elaine Carpenter Thursday, 13 June 2013 - 10:06am Reading EdSource’s recent article on the departure of Oakland Unified School District Superintendent Tony Smith, I was not surprised by the significance placed on his leadership for the future of the community school movement in California. We at ZeroDivide know what the research says about the importance of leadership to the success of education programs and we have observed it ourselves. Research by RAND Corporation suggests that almost 60 percent of student achievement can be…

  • Project Update: State Youth Advocacy Network

    Amber Milks
    31 May 2013 | 12:10 pm
    Project Update: State Youth Advocacy NetworkBy Amber Milks Friday, 31 May 2013 - 12:10pm In January, The California Endowment and Lady Gaga’s Born This Way Foundation joined forces for our #dreambrave youth summit in Los Angeles. This campaign was part of the larger partnership between ZeroDivide and The California Endowment to promote and empower the Endowment’s Youth Advocacy Network in California. In the next few weeks, ZeroDivide will complete selection of 25 young adults to serve as Health Action Leaders, working on two statewide campaigns centered around health in their communities.

  • Generation ZD BTOP Video

    admin
    14 May 2013 | 3:54 am
    Generation ZD BTOP Video Generation ZD BTOP Video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ealNZsge0mk

  • ZeroDivide Featured for Best Practices in NTIA Broadband Adoption Toolkit

    McCrae Parker
    2 May 2013 | 12:22 pm
    ZeroDivide Featured for Best Practices in NTIA Broadband Adoption Toolkit By McCrae Parker Thursday, 2 May 2013 - 12:22pm Achieving broadband or high-speed Internet adoption in all communities is essential to creating jobs, increasing educational achievement, and building both businesses and a civically-engaged population. To support this effort the Federal Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) has released the 2013 NTIA Broadband Adoption Toolkit. The toolkit documents best practices from BTOP computer centers and adoption projects, and provides practical strategies, methods and…

  • #13NTC NTEN’s Annual Nonprofit Technology Conference

    Nasser Halteh
    1 May 2013 | 11:49 am
    #13NTC NTEN’s Annual Nonprofit Technology ConferenceBy Nasser Halteh Wednesday, 1 May 2013 - 11:49am NTEN’s Annual Nonprofit Technology Conference, NTC, took place this year in Minneapolis, MN during an unusually cold April snowstorm. NTEN is the leader in nonprofit technology and their hosted event enables individuals and organizations across the US to come together and discuss technology.  NTC has continued to be an engaging forum in which organizations can share their experiences and what they have learned with the larger nonprofit community. The NTC provides a real life platform on…
 
  • add this feed to my.Alltop

    Sustainable Industries: All Articles

  • Who says there ain't no love in the heart of the city?

    17 Jun 2013 | 3:34 pm
    Shanghai, China by Lowcola Whereas upwardly mobile Americans have for decades fled inner cities for a suburban paradise replete with spacious homes, large vehicles and big-box consumer troughs, a post-recession urban revival is today making the suburbs the home of the down-and-out.So goes the storyline of an epic June 7 article in the Financial Times that tracks the slow re-emergence of downtown Detroit, civic enlightenment among the retiring U.S. "baby boom" generation, and the spectacle of street life only virbant cities can offer. "America’s growing love affair…

  • Sustainability and the C-suite

    Sustainable Industries
    13 Jun 2013 | 11:45 am
    On June 13, Sustainable Industries hosted an informative webinar on sustainability engagement in the C-suite in partnership with Newport Consulting Group and the University of Oregon's Sustainability Leadership Program in Portland. Nearly 250 professionals from a wide range of leading companies registered for the web conference.Missed it? No problem – You can view and hear the free one-hour webinar by clicking the "Watch Webinar" button below. In the days ahead, we'll be adding answers to additional attendee questions on this page. You can keep the…

  • Game-changer for energy-efficiency financing?

    12 Jun 2013 | 1:05 pm
    Denis Hayes, Bullitt Foundation Seattle City Light and the Bullitt Foundation have announced a first-of-its-kind model for financing advanced energy-efficiency improvements in new and existing commercial buildings.The model has two key differentiators from typical financing plans. First, an energy-efficiency meter measures real-time energy savings and allows it to be sold as it occurs. Second, a 20-year contract is inked between the utility and energy-efficiency investors.Very few building owners currently make the bold, long-term investments needed to achieve “deep” energy…

  • New York to spend billions on climate resiliency

    Sustainable Industries
    11 Jun 2013 | 5:08 pm
    Nearly eight months after Hurricane Sandy slammed the northeastern United States, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is proposing a far-reaching $20 billion plan to build flood barriers and "green infrastructure" to protect low-lying areas of Manhattan from future superstorms. Following Sandy, the mayor appointed a task force to assess the city’s vulnerability. In a report released this week based on its recommendations, the mayor cited scientists' predictions that sea levels could rise as much as 31 inches by 2050, accompanied by severe storms and prolonged spells…

  • Waste Management and William McDonough launch collaborative

    10 Jun 2013 | 5:30 pm
    Waste Management (NYSE: WM), one of North America’s largest recyclers and environmental solutions providers, and William McDonough, designer, author, and sustainability thought leader, on June 5 announced the launch of a sustainable innovation collaborative to help foster and guide future product and packaging design innovation among industry-leading companies.The initiative—the Waste Management McDonough Sustainable Innovation Collaborative—will focus on directly serving producers, manufacturers, retailers and suppliers of packaged goods and products as they strive to…
  • add this feed to my.Alltop

    Dani Rodrik's weblog

  • Turkey’s Protests Send a Strong Message, But Will Not Bring Democracy

    Dani Rodrik
    4 Jun 2013 | 1:09 am
    What follows below is the original, unedited version of my oped in the Financial Times today, for those who cannot access it. (UPDATE: I should add that neither the title of the FT piece nor the subtitle is mine. The subtitle in the print edition "A political class has turned violent to mask its weaknesses" is misleading and has little to do with the content of my piece; I have no idea why the FT found it apt.) __ The protests that engulfed Turkey in recent days caught by surprise even those observers who, like me, have been vehement critics of Prime Minister Tayyip Erdoğan’s…

  • What is wrong (and right) in economics?

    Dani Rodrik
    7 May 2013 | 1:12 pm
    The World Economics Association recently interviewed me on the state of economics, inquiring about my views on pluralism in the profession. You can find the result on the WEA's newsletter here (the interview starts on page 9). I reproduce it below. 1. How would you briefly state your perspective on economics? I would say I am pretty conventional and mainstream on methods, but generally much more heterodox on policy conclusions. I have never thought of neoclassical economics as a hindrance to an understanding of social and economic problems. To the contrary, I think there are certain…

  • Experts, knowledge and advocacy

    Dani Rodrik
    25 Apr 2013 | 7:52 am
    This is so absolutely brilliant and important: “One thing that experts know, and that non-experts do not, is that they know less than non-experts think they do.” It comes from Kaushik Basu, currently chief economist at the World Bank and one of the world’s most thoughtful expert-economists. Economists would be so much more honest (with themselves and the world) if they acted accordingly – letting their audience know that their results and prescriptions come with a large margin of uncertainty.  Public intellectuals would do so much less damage if they did likewise.  And if…

  • What the BRICS could do

    Dani Rodrik
    11 Apr 2013 | 10:29 am
    My newest Project Syndicate column is on the BRICS.  These countries – Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa – have little in common. Most prognostications suggested they would agree on very little. Yet they have surprised the world by proposing a New Development Bank to focus on infrastructure finance. This is a beginning, but is it a useful one? I suggest not. What the world needs from the BRICS is not another development bank, but greater leadership on today’s great global issues. The BRICS countries are home to around half of the world’s population and the bulk of…

  • The IMF a convert to Growth Diagnostics?

    Dani Rodrik
    5 Apr 2013 | 1:27 pm
    It’s surprising how the language of growth diagnostics and binding constraints springs up in all kinds of unexpected places.  The latest example is the IMF’s new report on jobs and growth. The IMF’s analysts say all the usual things about the primacy of macroeconomic stability and fiscal sustainability – no surprise there.  But then we get a plea for contextual analysis and recipes that sounds, to this set of ears, at least quite pleasing.  “There is scope,” the IMF says, for: More systematic diagnostic analysis of the growth and employment challenges and the…
  • add this feed to my.Alltop

    PHILANTHROPY 2173

  • Public Action Requires Privacy Protections

    Lucy Bernholz
    10 Jun 2013 | 1:11 am
    (photo: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Leben_der_anderen.jpg) Have you seen the movie, The Lives of Others? The 2006 Academy Award winner for best foreign film, the movie tells the story of authors and artists living under the Stasi in East Germany, when everyone spied on everyone else, all typewriters were registered with the government, and there was virtually no way to publicly protest the government. In a world with no privacy, there can be no public action. Privacy, in other words, is critical to civil society. In February, I wrote this post about why we need rules for how, the heart…

  • Balancing the voices of good and evil

    Lucy Bernholz
    5 Jun 2013 | 12:30 am
    There's a shift afoot. Those who question the power of technology for good are starting to make themselves heard as nuanced contributors to an overall conversation, not just as polemics. This must come as a bit of a relief to some, a headshaker to others, and just more of the "same old, same old" to others. But I think it's worth noting. Perhaps we've passed through the inevitable phase that accompanies each technological shift in history, that in which the tech is either all good or all bad. Now we can begin to really consider the good, the bad, and the need-to-change parts. We've had a…

  • Data Science for Social Good

    Lucy Bernholz
    1 Jun 2013 | 3:30 am
    The Data Science for Social Good Summer Fellowship has announced its first class of Fellows. These 36 DSITs ("data scientists in training" - my term, not theirs) hail from around the country and range in academic backgrounds from Math to Criminal Justice. They'll spend the summer in Chicago, working with various city agencies and local nonprofits to make sense of - and useful tools for - datasets that can help people address social challenges. It's an inaugural year for the program, run by the Computation Institute and the Urban Center for Computation and Data with support from Eric and Wendy…

  • Fixing C4s Won't Fix the Problem

    Lucy Bernholz
    29 May 2013 | 3:52 pm
    Finding solutions depend on how you define the problem. If the current mess at the IRS is truly a case of civil servants or elected politicians infringing on the free speech of specific political groups, that’s a problem for law enforcement and the courts. So far, what appears to have been demonstrated is incompetence and mismanagement, not crimes. If you define the problem as the blurry line about these organizations engaging “primarily" in social welfare activities, you can be fix it with a definition -  a simple declaration of percentages, a cap, or a flat rate. That no…

  • Digital Civil Society and the DPLA

    Lucy Bernholz
    28 May 2013 | 2:43 pm
    This post appeared originally on PBS MediaShift Why would anyone want to attend a party to celebrate the opening of a virtual repository of metadata? A better question might be — what is a virtual repository of metadata? In this case, the repository I’m talking about is the Digital Public Library of America, which launched on April 18.* Underneath its beautiful website and inviting tag line, “A Wealth of Knowledge,” the DPLA is a set of linked, accessible, digital materials from libraries, archives and museums around the country. It’s one of hundreds of such national or regional…
 
  • add this feed to my.Alltop

    Acumen Fund Blog

  • +Acumen Online Leadership Academy

    Sasha Dichter
    13 Jun 2013 | 6:00 am
    For the last year we have quietly been experimenting with what it would take to bring the core of Acumen’s leadership programs to the world.  We think we’ve hit on something exciting, and we want to share it with you. Acumen launched our first formal leadership program, the Acumen Global Fellows Program, in 2006, and since then we have been honing our curriculum and scaling our programs.  Today, we have more than 120 Acumen Fellows, and are expanding our offerings through our East Africa Fellows Program, Pakistan Fellows Program, and, in 2013, our soon-to-be-launched India…

  • Jacqueline at Skoll World Forum (VIDEO)

    Acumen
    6 Jun 2013 | 2:02 am
    At this year’s Skoll World Forum, Jacqueline Novogratz gave a talk titled “Impact Investing: A New Chapter.” Within the talk she outlines the history of the sector and projections for growth. She discusses the need to have realistic and honest conversations about the types of financial and social returns that impact investing can achieve. The growth of the sector is exciting, but there is a risk that people will lack the necessary patience to change the way the world tackles poverty. She ends by sharing our Manifesto with the audience. Watch the full talk below: The post…

  • The Power of Connections: Reflections from the India CEO Summit

    Prerna Khanna
    5 Jun 2013 | 2:08 am
    On May 22-23, Acumen India held its first CEO Summit to reflect on lessons learned over the past few years, explore opportunities for collaboration across the Acumen community and discuss the path forward. The Summit was held at the Aravind Eye Care System campus in Madurai and brought together 15 CEOs from Acumen’s portfolio companies across India, as well as the India team and a few sector-specific experts. Aravind holds special significance in Acumen history as it was our first investment back in 2001. Today, Aravind is the largest and most productive blindness-prevention organization is…

  • Seen & Heard – What you might be missing

    Niklas Peters
    31 May 2013 | 2:02 am
    Seen & Heard is a collection of recent headlines in the news about our world, our work, and the spaces and places in between. In each post, we also share a list of job openings at Acumen Fund and in our sector. Seen & Heard appears once a month on the blog. For those of you who like keeping a pulse on the latest news as it’s happening, please consider following us on Twitter and Facebook! Finally, if you have ideas for how we can improve Seen & Heard, please don’t be shy and leave a comment below to let us know. Thanks for reading!  ___ Headlines Acumen officially changes…

  • Building an ecosystem for social entrepreneurship in rural India

    Parmesh Shah
    29 May 2013 | 1:19 am
    Editor’s note: this post was originally published on World Bank’s Ending Poverty in South Asia blog. Acumen is a partner organization of the Bihar Innovation Forum. Traditionally, both government and the private sector have struggled to reach remote and poverty stricken parts of India, especially eastern states such as Bihar. Even social entrepreneurs and civil society organizations struggle to apply their innovations because of poor reach and lack of absorption. However, Jeevika, a program jointly supported by Government of Bihar and the World Bank, has built a…
  • add this feed to my.Alltop

    Mercy Corps

  • Meet our field staff: Inas

    Megan Zabel Holmes
    17 Jun 2013 | 7:03 pm
    Once a refugee herself, Inas knows firsthand the challenges in post-revolution Libya. That's why she's determined to empower women to take an active role in shaping their nation’s future.

  • Syrian refugees outside camps struggle to meet needs

    Sumaya Agha
    11 Jun 2013 | 2:33 pm
    These are a few of the thousands of families we've been able to reach in northern Jordan. There are many more like them who need our help.

  • Bringing youth together on and off the pitch

    Lindsay Murphy
    10 Jun 2013 | 5:03 pm
    Last month, I stood on the sidelines of a field that felt all too familiar, yet worlds apart. I was in Garowe, Somalia — more than 8,000 miles from home in Portland, Oregon — celebrating Somali Youth Day with a 10-day youth soccer tournament.

  • Fighting poverty in the Spice Islands

    Rae Lyon
    5 Jun 2013 | 3:24 pm
    Amid the tropical beauty of Indonesia's Maluku islands some families are living on less than 36 cents a day. We're helping spice farmers turn the abundance all around them into profit.

  • Feeding families from the ground up

    Mathieu Rouquette
    31 May 2013 | 1:57 pm
    Thousands displaced by conflict are trying to start new lives in Abyei. But access to food is limited in the contested border region.
  • add this feed to my.Alltop

    iD4D

  • Que pensez-vous des futures orientations de l’AFD en matière de biodiversité ?

    Jean-Luc François
    17 Jun 2013 | 8:33 am
    La mangrove à marée haute, sur l’île de Bunaken en Indonésie L’Agence Française de Développement (AFD) se dote d’un nouveau Cadre d’Intervention Transversal « Biodiversité ». Après...Cet article Que pensez-vous des futures orientations de l’AFD en matière de biodiversité ? est apparu en premier sur iD4D.

  • Le secteur bancaire africain en pleine recomposition

    Julien Lefilleur
    17 Jun 2013 | 6:01 am
    Dans une agence bancaire, au Congo. © Nicolas Guyot Le développement rapide des banques locales pousse le secteur bancaire africain à se recomposer. Si le...Cet article Le secteur bancaire africain en pleine recomposition est apparu en premier sur iD4D.

  • Que faire pour les futurs cheveux gris du continent noir ?

    Laurent Nowik
    13 Jun 2013 | 1:12 am
    Copyright Photo : Morten Hammer Les réflexions économiques et sociales sur le thème du vieillissement démographique ne sont l’apanage ni des sociétés occidentales ni des...Cet article Que faire pour les futurs cheveux gris du continent noir ? est apparu en premier sur iD4D.

  • Le bien-être, socle du développement ?

    Thierry Liscia
    4 Jun 2013 | 1:48 am
    Il est courant d’assimiler traumatisme à conflit et psychosocial à humanitaire. Il est vrai qu’à l’issue d’un conflit, le maître-mot est la perte : perte...Cet article Le bien-être, socle du développement ? est apparu en premier sur iD4D.

  • Pour un accompagnement psychosocial des populations dans les projets de développement

    Guillaume Pégon
    24 May 2013 | 5:51 am
    Améliorer les conditions de vie des populations est un des objectifs visés par les actions de développement, tels que la construction d’écoles ou de réseaux...Cet article Pour un accompagnement psychosocial des populations dans les projets de développement est apparu en premier sur iD4D.
 
  • add this feed to my.Alltop

    Adventures in Hope: Stories of DiscoverHope

  • Village Bank Profile: Rosa Condor, Mother and Entrepreneur Extraordinaire

    Desirée Ledet
    29 May 2013 | 7:00 am
     Rosa selling her delicious potatoes and ceviche Petite in her blue coat, Rosa Condor navigates the streets and markets in Cajamarca, looking for fresh produce to prepare her daily recipe of ceviche and potatoes. With help from DiscoverHope, Rosa has achieved her independence and is able to provide for her four children. She has a successful small business and even before Rosa sets up her food, clients are already waiting for her. This is for sure a success story, and one of many I have heard since arriving in Cajamarca. There are hundreds of women whose lives are being changed by…

  • Alfajores Recipe is Income Generating for Peruvian Women

    Desirée Ledet
    27 May 2013 | 7:48 am
    “Alfajores de maicena” are soft and delicious pastries in South America made with cornstarch and filled with “dulce de leche”, but in Cajamarca, Peru, they are filled with the delicious “manjar blanco,” a variety of “dulce de leche”. Alicia Yupanque, a 15-year old instructor, taught women how to make alfajores at the Hope House last Wednesday, May 15th.  Alicia  started her own business baking alfajores on weekends and sold them to street vendors and local stores in Cajamarca. She shared her baking skills with 25 women and her students got excited with a new…

  • In Peru, Witnessing the Power of Microcredit Loans in the Lives of Driven Women

    Desirée Ledet
    22 May 2013 | 10:51 am
    Mila with the women of Village Bank "Las Azucenas" It was an honor to meet the joyous women of the Azucenas village bank. Rosario Yupanque “Charo”, a DiscoverHope instructor, who travels to the village banks outside the city, invited me to one of her classes. I was greeted with a glass of yellow Inca Kola as the women prepared their yarn for their lesson. This was going to be both a knitting class and a repayment meeting. It didn’t take long before the women welcomed me and soon the room was filled with laughter. It was obvious that the women were more than just members of the same…

  • Introducing the 2013 Meadow's Fellows

    Desirée Ledet
    20 May 2013 | 10:10 am
    Hello DHF Family, Mila, Sarela (HopeHouse Assitant), Alexandra & Tania We’ve been extremely busy here in Cajamarca and I’m glad to say we survived Mother’s Day.  Here in Peru, Mother’s Day is one of the most important and celebrated holidays. Most Peruvians travel home to be at their mother’s side and in most schools, plays and musicals are organized in honor of mom’s hard work and dedication. This year most schools and state institutions were given a 4 day weekend!  On May 2nd, DHF and Multicredit organized our 3rd Annual Mother’s Day Event in which more than 200…

  • YEAR IN REVIEW: CELEBRATING 2012 WITH ABUNDANCE & GRATITUDE!

    Desirée Ledet
    24 Apr 2013 | 10:00 am
    Hello DHF Family, This is an exciting time for all of us here in Peru and back in the United States. With so many new and motivating things occurring right here, right now, I think it’s only fair to rewind and reflect on our amazing accomplishments in 2012. With that said, I am excited to announce that our 2012 DHF ANNUAL REPORT  is ready for review! As you peruse the report, please realize that this document is a living testament of our incredible labor of love due in part to your generous time, talent, donations, and unwavering commitment to bring opportunities of abundance to the…
  • add this feed to my.Alltop

    (BLOG) RED

  • Thumbs up to Dads: (RED) Gift Ideas

    13 Jun 2013 | 11:26 am
    Dad. Daddy-o. Papa. Father.  Whatever you call him, he’s the man. Here are our Top 5 (RED) Father’s Day Gift Ideas.  Idea #1: Love or hate his taste in music, he’ll love an Apple (PRODUCT)RED iPod Shuffle. Idea #2: Serve up a (HEAD)RED  Special Edition Tennis Backpack.  Aces all round.   Idea #3: With the (MOPHIE)RED  iPhone juice pack for iPhone 5 he’ll always have enough battery power to get hold of you.   Idea #4: The new (BED BATH & BEYOND)RED Gift Card is a guaranteed winner. Idea #5: And of course, the classic. The INSPI(RED)…

  • Ten stories. Three teams of judges. One winner- The MothSTORYSLAM: RED Event

    12 Jun 2013 | 7:34 am
    Who doesn’t love great storytelling… especially when you add the element of competition? Like moths to a flame, audiences are drawn to simple, powerful stories. And so is (RED)! We’re excited to be partnering with The Moth for a night of special stories, the MothSTORYSLAM: RED. But hold on, the story doesn’t end there! We have a pair of tickets to this sold-out event up for grabs, and you have the chance to join The Moth and (RED) on the evening of June 17th in New York City. The event will challenge everyday storytellers to deliver five-minute true stories based on RED - a color…

  • Welcome to agit8 – change the world through the power of protest song

    11 Jun 2013 | 10:07 pm
    Guest post by Jeff Davidoff, CMO of ONE We’ve been hard at work here at ONE over the last few months, getting ready for our new project in the lead-up to the G8 – and I’m so excited to finally be able to share it with you. Do you think music can change the world? We do. Together we can raise our voices to virtually eliminate extreme poverty by 2030, but we know that it’s not a force of nature, it’s an act of will… and we need millions more voices to come together to urge those in power to finish the job. That’s why we are using the power of the protest song to…

  • We heart the new (GIRL)RED decks from Mike Carroll & Kenny Anderson

    10 Jun 2013 | 9:46 am
    The newest Girl (PRODUCT)RED Special Edition boards are in and we love them!  Andy Jenkins, Art Director of Girl Skateboards, has teamed-up again with pro-skaters Mike Carroll and Kenny Anderson to bring you fresh designs that we think are pretty sweet! Beautifully designed, the Kenny Anderson (PRODUCT)RED Special Edition and Mike Carroll (PRODUCT)RED Special Edition decks are built to last with high-quality materials and solid construction.  These decks are ready to roll out with 50% of profits going to the Global Fund to help those living with HIV/AIDS - that’s more than 2 weeks…

  • SHARE (RED), SAVE LIVES: HELP RAISE $100,000 WITH (RED) & J&J Like It. Tweet It. Pin It.

    10 Jun 2013 | 5:51 am
    With our friends at Johnson & Johnson we’ve created this powerful image to show the progress that has been made in preventing the transmission of HIV from pregnant moms to their babies. In 2003, 563,478 babies were born with HIV. In 2011, that number was 330,000. And by 2015, we could get that number close to zero. We’re making progress but we’re not there yet. To help get that number close to zero, every time you like this image on Facebook, tweet it or pin it on Pinterest, Johnson & Johnson will donate $1 to the Global Fund up to $100,000. All you need to do is go to (RED)’s…
  • add this feed to my.Alltop

    Women Thrive Worldwide

  • At the End of the Farm Bill Debate, Women Farmers of the World

    eyoung
    31 May 2013 | 5:05 am
    Elise YoungMay 31, 2013Over the last several weeks, the White House and key members of the House of Representatives and Senate have begun considering U.S. food aid reform -- including provisions that could reduce waste, fight hunger, and empower women.   As I follow the developments in Washington, I can’t help but think of Women Thrive Worldwide’s partner Lydia Sasu and how these reforms might help her and the women producers she’s working to empower in Ghana. I believe that women smallholder farmers have the know-how, strength, and power to help make the world more food secure. And…

  • AAUW and NASPA to Celebrate Women Trailblazers at Conference

    cburley
    30 May 2013 | 1:46 pm
    May 17, 2013Albany Times UnionThis article originally appeared on the website of the Albany Times Union: "On May 30, the American Association of University Women (AAUW) and NASPA—Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education will honor six women innovators in media, advocacy, politics, and business at the Women of Distinction Awards ceremony as part of the 28th annual National Conference for College Women Student Leaders (NCCWSL) at the University of Maryland, College Park. Honorees include gay rights activist Katie Miller, Owens Media Group CEO Deborah Owens, Girls Who Code Founder…

  • This is a form

    wt
    2 Jul 2012 | 9:44 am
    d;gksgfksnf;s;lk;zkc

  • Board Member Spotlight: Trevor Tomkins

    wt
    16 Jun 2012 | 10:00 pm
    June 16, 2012Trevor Tomkins and his wife, Jenny, instilled in their two children a sense of social responsibility from an early age.  For the Tompkins, it was a “do as I say AND as I do” parenting philosophy. Trevor spent his career working in the dairy industry and travelling the globe as a livestock researcher and advisor.  In this capacity, he witnessed poverty and hunger first-hand.  He decided to use his expertise to help alleviate these societal hardships.  So when he became CEO of Milk Specialties in 1999, he steered the company on a socially responsible course.In 2004, Trevor…

  • New Bill Pushes Comprehensive U.S. Action on Global Violence Against Women

    wt
    6 Jun 2012 | 10:00 pm
    Press Contact: Anu PalanContact person by email202-884-8399Release Date: June 7, 2012 atWomen Thrive Worldwide Welcomes the Introduction of the International Violence Against Women ActWASHINGTON, DC--Women Thrive Worldwide welcomes the introduction in the U.S. House of Representatives today of the International Violence Against Women Act (I-VAWA/HR 5905), which puts the weight of U.S. foreign policy and international assistance behind ending the global epidemic of gender-based violence, which is estimated to affect one in three women and girls worldwide. The bill was introduced…
 
  • add this feed to my.Alltop

    ONE

  • What we learned at Erne

    Adrian Lovett
    18 Jun 2013 | 4:50 pm
    ONE’s reaction to the G8 outcomes by Adrian Lovett, Europe Director of ONE There are two ways to analyze a G8 communique.  One is what you do in the minutes after it is issued, desperately scanning sentences, paragraphs, whole pages in seconds, your eyes alert for keywords, trying to build an instant impression of whether they’ve pulled a fast one, whether things have come out better (don’t hold your breath) or worse (more like it) than you had expected.  In these moments, the smallest things loom the largest, like the use of “for example” rather than “including” (the…

  • A G8 transparency revolution: yeah, some

    Alan Hudson
    18 Jun 2013 | 11:19 am
    ONE’s reaction to the G8 outcomes on Transparency, by Verity Outram, Policy Consultant and Alan Hudson, Policy Director for Transparency & Accountability Back in January the UK Prime Minister set out a ground-breaking agenda for this year’s G8 Summit ontrade, tax and transparency. While those of us who have been pushing for the G8 to take decisive action on phantom firms are left feeling a little disappointed by the lack of ambition, overall the verdict on thecommuniqué is reasonably positive. ONE set out its ambitions for the G8 in our recent report “Summit in Sight”. In…

  • ‘Saving Mothers, Giving Life’ celebrates 1 year of reducing maternal mortality

    Guest Blogger
    18 Jun 2013 | 9:26 am
    Saving Mothers, Giving Lifewas launched in June 2012 with the goal of supporting countries where women are dying at alarming rates during pregnancy and childbirth to aggressively reduce maternal mortality. This post, which reflects on the program on its 1-year anniversary, was written by Celina Schocken, director of Saving Mothers, Giving Life. No woman should die in childbirth.  In fact, most maternal deaths are preventable. Yet nearly one woman dies in childbirth every two minutes, and 99 percent of these deaths occur in the developing world. This month marks the first anniversary of…

  • Engineering change through energy access in Tanzania

    Guest Blogger
    18 Jun 2013 | 7:48 am
    Photo credit: David Youmans For the past five years, a group of San Francisco engineers from Engineers Without Borders USA (EWB-USA) have partnered with a Tanzanian community thousands of miles away to harness the sun’s energy to provide electricity to the town and meet the villagers’ basic human needs. Kelsey Gross, EWB-USA communications coordinator, shares their story.  Community members in the rural village of Ngelenge, Tanzania, have a reason to rejoice when the hot, African sun beats down on them. Solar energy now provides solutions to a serious problem – lack of access to…

  • 59,664 US petition signatures to G8 leaders: Delivered!

    Guest Blogger
    17 Jun 2013 | 12:28 pm
    ONE staffers with White House Chief of Staff for the Office of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs Yohannes Abraham outside the White House This post was written by Caitlin Hodes, a member of ONE’s Field team. She was one of the lucky ONE staffers to visit the White House last week. On Friday, a group of ONE staff  members and a herd of summer interns delivered your voices to the White House. Together we met with Yohannes Abraham, chief of staff for the Office of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs, to represent the 59,664 US ONE members who signed our G8…
  • add this feed to my.Alltop

    Jolkona Blog | Jolkona Blog

  • Give Together for Education

    Madison Abshire
    17 Jun 2013 | 7:59 am
    Give Together is live! And our opening feature issue is Education. We have three projects that significantly help both teachers and students internationally move towards a brighter future. Give Together today, choosing your favorite project and pooling your contributions with others who share your same interests. Here is an introduction to our featured projects: Empower Burmese Women to Become Effective Teachers Educational Empowerment supports education in SE Asia, especially in Myanmar. A third of children in the country are unable to access education at all, and 70% of those who do never…

  • 3…2…1…RELAUNCH!

    Andres Garza
    14 Jun 2013 | 7:59 am
    Today is re-launch day at Jolkona, and we are ecstatic to share our new website and new program Give Together.  If you don’t know already, Give Together is our new giving campaign that encourages you and your friends to “give together.” Let’s Give Together Give Together is a program that connects you and your friends to trusted organizations and projects that you can support.  The best way you can support the organizations and projects that you love is to subscribe to a monthly donation. These monthly donations start at just 10 dollars, and Jolkona will send you updates on how…

  • It’s About Impact: What Makes a Gift Transformational

    Madison Abshire
    12 Jun 2013 | 3:07 pm
    One of the big questions around philanthropy, is how much money really makes a difference? Most of us are aware of the kinds of gifts that are thousands if not millions of dollars. If you can only spare $15 or $50, how much will your gift really accomplish? While this is certainly a struggle for the potential donor, it is also a concern for those who are trying to fundraise. How do you convince donors that their gift is meaningful, and create a relationship between them and a cause? Georgette Lemuth, president of the National Catholic Development Conference has answered some of these…

  • Jolkona’s New Giving Program: Give Together – Coming Soon!

    Gabriel St. John
    10 Jun 2013 | 3:06 pm
    Change is in the air – and has been for quite a while at Jolkona HQ here in downtown Seattle. We’ve been busy getting ready to launch two new and very significant changes to the way we operate. The first we’re announcing today – our new giving program, Give Together, which launches later this week on June 14th! Give Together explained Give Together is a giving program which helps you discover trusted organizations you can give to on a monthly basis, allowing you to pool your donations with others who share your interests and passions. Thereby, you amplify the impact of your…

  • Want to Donate to a Nonprofit? There’s an App for That

    Andres Garza
    3 Jun 2013 | 3:06 pm
    Google has taken a break from mapping the world, making cars drive themselves, and creating glasses which capture of every. This time to support a good cause: helping nonprofits connect with potential donors. Google created One Today, a groundbreaking app that allows users to donate a single dollar to their favorite nonprofit. One Today’s slogan is, “Do a little, Change a lot.” (Photo Source here) How One Today Changes Everything One Today is groundbreaking in two ways: 1. It makes users aware of more projects going on around the world. 2. It makes donating social. (We have already…
  • add this feed to my.Alltop

    The Change Blog

  • Changes You Refuse To Accept

    Steve Errey
    18 Jun 2013 | 6:30 am
    Photo by Graeme Law By Steve Errey Twice in my life I’ve had unwanted, seismic change forced on me. The first was when I had a breakdown aged 30; a breakdown that left me without a clue who I was or where I was, and that unravelled my patterns of thought so fundamentally that I was unable to understand the simplest conversations. The second was when I was diagnosed with M.E./CFS in 2008, a chronic, incurable illness that’s with me right now. They were changes of the worst kind; unwanted, unwelcome and, at first glance, unacceptable. You will have had your own crises, times when…

  • Dad, Show Us How to Change

    Gary Stokes
    16 Jun 2013 | 8:10 am
    Photo by macinate By Gary Stokes Fathers can show their children how to change by pursuing their own emergence. But my dad did not know that we are emergent beings in an emergent universe. He didn’t know that our assignment in life is to grow and develop. To emergeTo change. Dad never spoke about wanting to change anything about himself. He almost never spoke to me about wanting me to change. Dad never changed, so he didn’t give me a model for addressing my weaknesses, for turning personal difficulties into opportunities to learn, or for examining one’s life. Dad showed me a model of…

  • Why I Can Now Thank My Battle With an Eating Disorder

    Tegan Westra
    11 Jun 2013 | 6:50 am
    Photo by daniellehelm By Tegan Westra The happiness of your life depends on the quality of your thoughts. – Marcus Aurelius I still remember the day I forced myself to throw up for the first time. I was sitting at home on the couch watching my favourite TV show at the time ‘Home and Away’. I was 13 and there was a young girl on the screen not much older than me who was anxious about her weight. It had just been someone’s birthday on the show and there was a giant chocolate cake in the fridge which she took to her room and engulfed. Ashamed, she quickly ran to the bathroom, stuck…

  • Finding Peace on the Slow Road to Change: 5 Steps to Live By

    Dan Erickson
    9 Jun 2013 | 5:30 am
    Photo by Kai Schreiber By Dan Erickson “Destiny is not a matter of chance; it is a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved.” – William Jennings Bryan Change is not always something that happens overnight. I’ve read the stories about those who quit their jobs on a whim and do their own thing. They start their own business or travel to a foreign country to live out their dreams. I love those stories. But that’s not my story. Sometimes change is slow. Sometimes change takes patience and commitment to doing the same thing day in and day…

  • What Carolina Panthers’ Dance Team Auditions Taught Me About My Power

    Candace Doby
    6 Jun 2013 | 5:30 am
    Photo by James Willamor By Candace Doby Make the best use of what is in your power, and take the rest as it happens. - Epictetus I stood in line with 150 other girls who wanted the same thing I did—a spot on the TopCats dance team to cheer on National Football League’s Carolina Panthers from the sidelines. Nineteen and 21-year-olds listened to tryout music in their earphones and spun their perfect, spray tanned, sequin adorned bodies into pirouettes as they practiced their first-round routines. They appeared as though they had been dancing their entire lives unlike me who had only taken…
 
  • add this feed to my.Alltop

    SocialEarth

  • The Rise of Social Entrepreneurship in China

    3BL Media
    17 Jun 2013 | 12:37 pm
    Posted By Daniel Elliot The beating heart of NuoMi, a small clothing design business, lies in a modest, three-story house in a nondescript suburb about an hour’s drive from downtown Shanghai. The [...]

  • Ford Updates Sustainability Progress

    3BL Media
    17 Jun 2013 | 9:28 am
    By Vikas Vij Ford (NYSE: F) trained 325 suppliers in sustainability management in 2012. A total of nearly 2,100 suppliers have now received training through this program.That’s one of the [...]

  • Van Mon – Prison of Hearts

    Children of the Mekong
    13 Jun 2013 | 7:39 am
    In 1912, the French colonial administration wanted to build a leprosy hospital in Van Mon, 250 kilometres south of Hanoi; it was to be a different kind of leper colony [...]

  • An Innovative Approach to Financing: Integrating Different Forms of Capital to Catalyze the Growth of a Promising Social Enterprise

    3BL Media
    13 Jun 2013 | 7:38 am
    An Innovative Approach to Financing by Kate Danaher Normally, when a values-driven non-profit social enterprise needs a large influx of capital to purchase property and expand its operations, it has [...]

  • Getting Myanmar’s Energy Balance Right

    3BL Media
    11 Jun 2013 | 8:18 am
    A new report, released today at the World Economic Forum on East Asia, provides insights to assist Myanmar in its transition towards a new energy architecture. Myanmar’s re-emergence into the [...]
  • add this feed to my.Alltop

    Social Velocity

  • What Change Does Your Nonprofit Seek?

    Nell Edgington
    18 Jun 2013 | 7:54 am
    What I love best about my job is opening nonprofit leaders to new and bigger possibilities. Last week was a busy one. I was in Phoenix for part of the week speaking at the Planned Giving Roundtable Conference and then I flew to New York to lead a board retreat at the National Guild for Community Arts Education. When I am speaking to or leading a group, I love the moment when they move from discouraged, exhausted or burned-out, to energized by new ways of thinking. At the Planned Giving Roundtable I delivered a keynote address about the power of a theory of change. A theory of change is such…

  • Listening to Nonprofit Beneficiaries: An Interview with Perla Ni

    Nell Edgington
    13 Jun 2013 | 6:05 am
    In this month’s Social Velocity blog interview, I’m talking with Perla Ni, CEO of GreatNonprofits. Perla was the founder and former publisher of the Stanford Social Innovation Review, the leading journal on nonprofit management and philanthropy. Prior to her work at SSIR, Ni co-founded Grassroots Enterprise, later acquired by global public relations firm, Edelman. A frequent speaker on nonprofits and philanthropy, she has been named a “Top Game Changer” by the Huffington Post. You can read past interviews in the Social Innovation Interview Series here. Nell:…

  • Why Your Board Should Raise 10% of Your Nonprofit’s Budget

    Nell Edgington
    11 Jun 2013 | 7:24 am
    It’s no secret that nonprofits struggle with money. In fact, the Nonprofit Finance Fund’s most recent State of the Nonprofit Sector Survey found that 41% of nonprofit respondents ran a deficit in 2012. If we really want to rewrite this rule for the nonprofit sector, we need to make some pretty big changes. So here’s a radical idea. What if every nonprofit board were responsible for bringing in 10% of their nonprofit’s annual operating budget? That means that if your nonprofit’s budget is $1 million, your board would be responsible for raising $100,000 each year.

  • 10 Great Social Innovation Reads: May 2013

    Nell Edgington
    6 Jun 2013 | 6:00 am
    May was about the “era of adaptation.” We are living in an age where change is a true constant, and we must adapt. We must adapt how we use technology, give money, get educated, use data, and the list goes on. It is an exciting (if sometimes overwhelming) time filled with opportunity. Below are my 10 favorite social innovation reads in May. But, as always, add your favorites to the list in the comments below. And if you want to see my expanded list, follow me on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or my newest addition, Google+. You can see the 10 Great Reads lists from past months here.

  • What Does the Future Hold For Nonprofits?

    Nell Edgington
    4 Jun 2013 | 6:12 am
    The nonprofit sector and the philanthropy that funds it have been changing dramatically over the past several years, and there’s plenty more change to come. This month’s Social Velocity webinar, Embracing the Future of the Nonprofit Sector, will help nonprofit leaders and board members understand how the sector is changing and what they can do to keep up. Here are some of the future trends facing the nonprofit sector that we’ll cover in this webinar: More Demand for Outcomes There is a growing demand for nonprofits to 1) articulate what results they hope their work with…
 
  • add this feed to my.Alltop

    Social Enterprise by us

  • Social Enterprise Summit Wrapup by Rolfe Larson

    Rolfe Larson
    12 Jun 2013 | 8:07 pm
    Here are some highlights from the recent 2013 Social Enterprise Summit (Social Enterprise Alliance) in Minneapolis: The Summit coined the term “purpose economy” as the defining element of the 21st century. Second, the summit launched the concept of leveraging policy change as a major thrust of the social enterprise movement’s overall strategy. This sea change started with the inspiring Van Jones who said it best – “[i]t is possible to turn the latest economic breakdown into a breakthrough.” Aaron Hurst, founder of the Taproot Foundation [told the group] “[p]urpose will…

  • Should Social Enterprises Get Preferential Treatment? by Rolfe Larson

    Rolfe Larson
    14 May 2013 | 7:46 pm
    I’ve been wondering lately: is it always a good thing for social enterprises and related organizations to receive preferential treatment, in the form of public or philanthropy subsidies and other forms of preferential treatment? There’s a parallel capital marketplace of community development finance institutions (CDFIs), community development corporations (CDCs), micro-finance organizations, and so on, largely funded with public and philanthropic resources, that provides preferential financing to early-stage companies that promise important social or economic development benefits…

  • Spiritual side of social enterprise by Rolfe Larson

    Rolfe Larson
    2 May 2013 | 6:21 am
    I was intrigued and inspired this morning by the following, which the Social Enterprise Alliance posted yesterday on the npEnterprise Forum: Eric Dawson, an Ashoka fellow and the CEO of Peace First, recently wrote a beautiful piece for Social Enterprise Alliance. It’s about working for social change that we may never see happen in our lifetimes, and why it’s still essential to do so. An excerpt: I was asked recently how I knew that the work I did mattered. I began the usual way – statistics, evaluation reports – and the woman interrupted: “No. How do you know your work…

  • Top 10 Social Enterprise Sound Bites by Rolfe Larson

    Rolfe Larson
    18 Apr 2013 | 2:15 pm
    From dozens of suggestions in the npEnterprise Forum, our social enterprise social media site, here is our: TOP 10 SOCIAL ENTERPRISE SOUND BITES Social enterprises are businesses that: Use the marketplace to solve pressing social problems. Have a primary purpose to do social good. Serve the common good, making money while solving social problems. Are values-led and committed to the triple bottom line of people, planet and profit. Use the power of business for positive social change. Believe the bottom line and social change can be hardwired together. Develop and sell products or services…

  • Scale Isn’t Everything… by Rolfe Larson

    Rolfe Larson
    7 Apr 2013 | 7:39 pm
    The notion of “scale” gets a great deal of attention in the social enterprise world. It seems to suggest fast growth from taking a successful model to expanded size, locations and social impact, all at warp speed. Social capital, business competitions, even funders often talk about scale as if it were the ultimate goal for every social enterprise, and those that aren’t ready “to go to scale” need to find a way to get there.  Avoid Growth for Growth’s Sake Sure, growth is often a good thing, but rapid growth often is not.  Moreover, “going to…
  • add this feed to my.Alltop

    Care2 Causes » Trailblazers For Good

  • Making Sense of the Complicated World of Natural Products

    Care2 Causes Editors
    17 Jun 2013 | 12:00 pm
    Buying natural and organic products can be overwhelming and confusing. The founders of AbesMarket.com want to make it easier for consumers to live naturally.

  • Designer Creates the World’s First Comic for the Blind

    Julie M. Rodriguez
    14 Jun 2013 | 1:00 pm
    When most of us create art or entertainment, the last thing we’re thinking about is how someone with a disability will interact with our work. Accessibility is usually an afterthought, if it’s addressed at all. So we end up with Braille transcriptions of books. Versions of movies with every scene narrated aloud. Closed captions that [...]

  • 10 Innovations Making Cities More Fun

    s.e. smith
    14 Jun 2013 | 10:00 am
    We all know urban life can be a real grind — sometimes it’s hard to stop and smell the roses, let alone admire the art. In cities across the world, people are setting out to change the urban environment, making it more interactive, more fun and sometimes more political as well. Check out some of [...]

  • Edward Snowden Threatens the Establishment, Not Our Security

    Kevin Mathews
    10 Jun 2013 | 8:46 pm
    Just days after the Guardian published news of the NSA’s massive surveillance programs, Edward Snowden, the source of this classified information, has come forward. Already, politicians and pundits alike are calling for his head, outraged that Snowden has compromised national security. But we must ask ourselves: WHOSE security has been jeopardized? And it’s probably not [...]

  • Nike Sponsors Its First Openly Gay Pro Athlete

    Kevin Mathews
    8 Jun 2013 | 11:30 am
    As corporate America continues to warm to the LGBTQ community, advertisers have begun to recruit new types of faces as role models. Following that cue, Nike is now sponsoring its first openly gay professional athlete: new WNBA player Brittney Griner. But it’s not just Griner’s sexuality that makes the endorsement excitingly progressive: Griner has also [...]
 
  • add this feed to my.Alltop

    Social Finance - Blog

  • An Alternative to Microfinance Institutions: Village Lending in Ethiopia

    Devon Krainer - SiG National Intern at Social Innovation Generation (SiG)
    18 Jun 2013 | 12:28 pm
    By Devon Krainer Though microfinance institutions have helped many at the Bottom of the Pyramid (BoP) escape from poverty, such programs continue to receive widespread criticism. Some of these concerns, including aggressive lending practices, and the high profits generated by microlending organizations are described in greater detail in a 2011 post by Alex Kjorven.  In response to such criticism, institutions have begun to enact client protection programs, like those described by Eugene Ellman in his April post. In other instances, NGOs such as CARE and Mennonite Economic Development…

  • Canadian Responsible Investment Conference Day 1 – Liveblog

    Tristina Sinopoli - Project Coordinator, MaRS Centre for Impact Investing
    17 Jun 2013 | 10:42 pm
    By Tristina Sinopoli SocialFinance.ca is pleased to be covering this year’s Canadian Responsible Investment Conference! The conference is taking place from June 17th to June 19th and features a strong line up of workshops and panels with a stellar line up of industry leaders and trailblazers in responsible investing. We've been liveblogging conference and encourage you to join the conversation at #sioconf2013. If you couldn't join us, missed what happened yesterday, or want to review some of the highlights, take a look! [View the story "Canadian Responsible Investment Conference: Day 1…

  • Canada’s Spot on the G8 Impact Investing Totem Pole: An Interview with Ted Anderson

    Bronwyn Oatley - Interim Managing Editor, SocialFinance.ca
    17 Jun 2013 | 8:37 am
    By Bronwyn Oatley What’s your response if asked by the Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom to speak in front of an audience of international leaders in your field—mere days before you had expected to attend the event as a guest? If your name is Ted Anderson, you say yes.   On June 6, Director of the MaRS Centre for Impact Investing Ted Anderson, spoke to an audience of senior government officials, business leaders, academics, and major philanthropists on behalf of Canada at the G8 Social Impact Investment Forum. Originally, Anderson had been asked to…

  • Developing a New Profession: The Social Impact Analyst

    Kate Ruff - Lead Analyst - Social Enterprises, Charity Intelligence Canada
    14 Jun 2013 | 8:00 am
    By Kate Ruff For our Friday Video of the week, we've chosen to feature the presentation given by Kate Ruff at the most recent Social Impact Analyst Association Conference. Ruff's video is embedded below, but here's a teaser to get you interested:  In the mid-1800s, it was far from obvious that anyone could ever standardize financial reporting. While today, income statements and uniform measures of financial profit are ubiquitous, it wasn’t too long ago that such indicators were deemed too unique and complex to measure. So goes the argument by Kate Ruff, in her…

  • HUB Ottawa: Release of the Organization’s first Impact and Failure Report

    Bronwyn Oatley - Interim Managing Editor, SocialFinance.ca
    13 Jun 2013 | 4:50 am
    By Bronwyn Oatley Quieting an energetic crowd of fifty just over one week ago, Vinod Rajasekaran, Executive Director of the HUB Ottawa, a coworking community in the nation’s capital, took the microphone to welcome guests and HUB members alike to the launch of the organization’s first Impact and Failure Report. The report, the first such document produced by any of the 38 HUBs worldwide, chronicled the successes and missteps of the organization’s first year. It also demonstrated the social businesses’ willingness to look internally and ask the tough questions: Are HUB…
  • add this feed to my.Alltop

    Young Entrepreneur Council

  • YEC Member Spotlight: Steph Beer, Chief Communications Officer, nsight2day

    The Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC)
    18 Jun 2013 | 8:00 am
    Using our consumer-facing platform, 4MeNU, nsight2day helps individuals and organizations truly engage with one another. Using innovative tags, users can share information with their network in context. We call these messages Gems. Follow her @stephbeer. Who is your hero?  My grandfather, who is Swiss (this makes sense if you know me). What’s the single best piece of business advice that helped shape who you are as an entrepreneur today, and why? Don’t be low-end. This means low margin, but it also means don’t behave badly. The other piece of advice I love is don’t…

  • How to Avoid Hiring the Wrong Person for Your Startup

    Nathaniel Koloc
    18 Jun 2013 | 5:00 am
    “He sounded so capable in the interview!” “I just don’t know what happened. It seemed like she had exactly the right experience we were looking for!” “The whole team loved him, so we just went with it.” Perhaps you’ve uttered these words yourself, or heard them from a hiring manager who is experiencing frustration and buyer’s remorse when a new hire turns out to be a dud. Hiring someone who fails to meet expectations is a huge headache, especially when it was your job to vet them in the first place. But there are ways of making sure that you don’t get snowed by someone who…

  • Meet YEC’s Danny Boice of Speek on #StartupLab

    The Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC)
    17 Jun 2013 | 6:00 am
    Streaming live on #StartupLab, Speek CTO Danny Boice will answer questions from readers TOMORROW , Tuesday, June 18th at 3 p.m. Eastern (12 p.m. Pacific). During the hour-long #StartupLab live chat presented by Citi, Danny will appear live via video chat broadcast on our Facebook app. Click here to RSVP>> Danny Boice is the CTO of Speek – a 500 Startups funded startup that let’s users do conference calls with a simple link (speek.com/YourName) rather than using phone numbers and PINs. A serial entrepreneur and executive, Danny started his career as a software engineer…

  • 14 Ways to Make Customer Service a Priority

    The Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC)
    17 Jun 2013 | 5:00 am
    Question: How do you stay on top of customer service, no matter how busy you get? (name one tip)Make FuseDesk a Feature"My teams use FuseDesk to handle incoming requests, assign cases and track case history. The app links directly to an Infusionsoft account so we don't spend a lot of extra time trying to remember who is emailing for support, what they bought and when it was shipped. It's all integrated making it easy to send a template response. The system cut our response time dramatically!" - Kelly Azevedo | Founder, She's Got SystemsHelpScout Helps Out"We use HelpScout to provide a…

  • How to Measure the Potential of Your Startup Idea

    Rahul Varshneya
    17 Jun 2013 | 4:59 am
    You have a business idea that you feel has tremendous potential. You probably got the insight by solving a problem that you had. Brilliant. Most successful companies today were created because of this very insight. To give you an example, YouTube was founded by Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, and Jawed Karim, who were all early employees of PayPal. According to an oft-cited story, Hurley and Chen developed the idea for YouTube during the early months of 2005, after they had experienced difficulty sharing videos that had been shot at a dinner party. When you’re solving your own problem or one…
  • add this feed to my.Alltop

    Return On Now

  • Google AdWords Enhanced Campaigns: What You Need To Know

    Tommy Landry
    14 Jun 2013 | 12:07 pm
    The following post is copyrighted by Return On Now - Austin Internet Marketing Consulting ServicesIf you are running pay per click campaigns via Google AdWords, it is time to start thinking about the new enhanced campaigns that are coming in the next few weeks. Google has already announced that they will be moving all campaigns over to enhanced at some point this summer. Google has since advised that  July 22, 2013 is the target date for the forced upgrade. While some SEM managers have decided to wait until the last minute as a point of protest against merging mobile and desktop platforms…

  • Social Media Agencies: What to Look For

    Tommy Landry
    12 Jun 2013 | 1:43 pm
    The following post is copyrighted by Return On Now - Austin Internet Marketing Consulting ServicesOver the past 5-6 years, social media has really come into its own as a business discipline. Most companies now understand that they need to, at a minimum, have some sort of presence on the social networks and other social media. But not everyone can afford to hire full time support, so we find ourselves with a budding cottage industry of specialized social media agencies. These agencies come in all sizes, and attack their area of specialty in their own unique way. When evaluating a partner, it…

  • 10 Tips for PPC Campaign Optimization

    Site Admin
    6 Jun 2013 | 8:26 am
    The following post is copyrighted by Return On Now - Austin Internet Marketing Consulting ServicesEnjoy today’s guest post courtesy of Promodo SEM. The views of contributors are their own, and not necessarily those of Return On Now. Running a pay per click (PPC) campaign is one of the best ways to market businesses and their products online. As the name suggests, the model is based on getting people to click on the ads that are posted by marketers. The business pays for that traffic on a per-click basis. Each person who clicks on the ad is directed to a website or landing page in order…

  • Remarketing vs. Search Retargeting: What’s the Difference?

    Tommy Landry
    5 Jun 2013 | 2:31 pm
    The following post is copyrighted by Return On Now - Austin Internet Marketing Consulting ServicesOne of the main service offerings we provide is Search Engine Marketing (SEM), a.k.a. Pay Per Click (PPC) Advertising. We typically opt to describe it as SEM rather than merely PPC, because it casts a much wider net. There are several different ways to manage SEM, PPC, and online advertising as a whole. One of the hot topics over the past few years has been remarketing. If you ask 10 different internet marketing professionals what remarketing is, you could very well get back 10 different…

  • How to Prepare For Google’s Summer Algorithm Plans

    Tommy Landry
    30 May 2013 | 2:41 pm
    The following post is copyrighted by Return On Now - Austin Internet Marketing Consulting ServicesEarlier this month, we posted a video from Matt Cutts with our analysis of the contents. If you missed that post, you can review it at the following link: 2013 Google Penalty Plans After a relatively quiet first few months of the year with respect to major penalties and algorithm updates, Google is on the cusp of rolling out a series of improvements. With so many areas being affected, let’s look at the best ways for you to insulate against the upcoming changes. Audit Your Links The original…
 
  • add this feed to my.Alltop

    Hub LA

  • Hub LA Community Curator

    Hub LA
    3 Jun 2013 | 4:27 pm
    We’re hiring! COMMUNITY CURATOR We’re looking for someone special to be our Community Curator. This role empowers and responds to members’ needs by co-creating solutions for those looking for knowledge, resources, relationships and expertise. By doing this, the Community Curator is viewed as an important leader who acts as a point person to create and hold inspired space at the Hub LA. JOB SUMMARY The Community Curator is responsible for guiding and building the Hub LA member community of values-oriented changemakers. All Hubs are professionally hosted environments that actively…

  • Let’s Jam! GovJam LA, June 4-6, at the NEW Hub LA Media Lab

    Hub LA
    21 May 2013 | 8:44 am
    WHAT is GovJam? This June, join us at GovJam LA, presented by the Hub LA and friends. Global GovJam is a 48 hour global event where teams of Gov folks and private citizens work together on the challenges faced by public services. Teams will collaborate to come up with innovative solutions to real-world problems. Participants will apply design principles and multi-disciplinary expertise to develop ideas through to prototypes. While the theme is government, the objective is learning through experience. Human-centered design gives us tools to rethink public services in a new light. This 2.5 day…

  • Hub LA Summer 2013 Fellows Program

    Hub LA
    14 May 2013 | 8:17 am
    Looking for a community to grow and build your ideas this summer? How about joining Hub LA as a Fellow! We’re looking for bright individuals with a passion for social impact. Work with Hub LA in helping us launch as a dynamic, social enterprise for the Summer of 2013. Your efforts will be critical in building a professionally hosted place where high-impact consultants, entrepreneurs, investors and innovators come to work, meet, learn, and connect alongside diverse peers. And, just to sweeten the deal, our Fellows benefit from FREE membership and access/member discounts to all our…

  • Livestreaming the 2013 Civic Innovation Showcase & MyLA311 Launch Party

    Hub LA
    3 Apr 2013 | 6:00 pm
    Live, from the Arts District DTLA, it’s…the Hub LA 2013 Civic Innovation Showcase! Thank you to TechZulu.com for the live stream! The post Livestreaming the 2013 Civic Innovation Showcase & MyLA311 Launch Party appeared first on Hub LA.

  • Hub LA Civic Innovation Showcase 2013

    Hub LA
    26 Mar 2013 | 6:41 pm
    Celebrating seven LA-area start-ups and the launch of the City of Los Angeles’ new MyLA311 mobile application WHAT: Civic Innovation Showcase & City of LA’s NEW MyLA311 App Launch Party WHEN: April 3, 2013, 7pm-10pm WHERE: Hub LA, 830 Traction Avenue, Third Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90013. Parking lot fee $5-$7: free street parking available on Traction Ave. RSVP: $20 online/$25 at the door; ticket price include early access, free consulting, and free beta apps from participating showcase start-ups. Tickets available HERE We are proud to announce a partnership with the LA Mayor’s…
  • add this feed to my.Alltop

    Dutiee

  • Jagriti Yatra : Learn About India’s Startup Train

    Deepa Chaudhary
    12 Jun 2013 | 11:22 pm
    There is a famous quote of Thomas Edison which I truly believe in when it comes to starting something new – “I find out what the world needs, then I proceed to invent” - T Edison. I was delighted to see that in India some people are actually putting this quote to the test, there is a massive initiative underway that’s designed to nurture entrepreneurship with this approach. The program called Jagriti Yatra (Journey of Awakening) is an annual train ride that takes hundreds of India’s highly motivated youth across the length and breadth of the country, exposing them to the…

  • Medical Checkups Are Now An iPhone App Away, Thanks To This TED Fellow

    Deepa Chaudhary
    12 May 2013 | 11:26 pm
    Myshkin Ingawale is a senior TED Fellow and has presented at the TEDGlobal conference twice, both the times unveiling revolutionary medical technologies. At his first TED conference in 2012, Myshkin showcased his invention ToucHb, a low-cost, portable, handheld device that could do a blood test without bleeding to scan for anemia. At TED 2013, Myshkin unveiled a smartphone app called uChek, that could analyse your urine in seconds to check for a range of medical conditions including diabetes, urinary tract infection, liver and kidney problems. Don’t worry you don’t have to pee on your…

  • BRCK – A Device For Uninterrupted Internet Connectivity

    Deepa Chaudhary
    7 May 2013 | 12:33 am
    Imagine losing power and with that your internet access for a few hours, sounds bad? While most of us could live with no power for a few hours, losing internet access would just make it that much more painful. Spotty internet access and power is a big problem in most of the developing nations and surprisingly in a lot of the developed world too. Ushahidi, a nonprofit tech company that operates in rugged environments believes that reliable internet connectivity is very important no matter where you live and to solve this problem they’ve developed the BRCK. BRCK is a wifi router, plus a…

  • Data for Social Good: A Beginners Guide for Nonprofits and Social Ventures

    Deepa Chaudhary
    29 Apr 2013 | 11:04 pm
    Data is gaining tremendous prominence in the business world. Companies are becoming highly data driven in every aspect of their business – from gaining new customers, providing better personalized services, cutting costs, to developing new products. With the visible benefits of increased profits and efficiency, companies are spending more resources than ever to understand, visualize and monetize data. The positive outcomes for data driven businesses has got nonprofit thinkers and leaders excited to try and spark the same kind of excitement around data in the social sector. Currently,…

  • Slow Money Movement Puts A Break On The Fast Food Nation

    Deepa Chaudhary
    26 Apr 2013 | 6:33 am
    If you haven’t heard of Slow Money or Slow Food before don’t be surprised, both are a relatively new movements that are gaining ground in America. These movements make a case for slowing down, with things that matter – money, food, soil and community. The Slow Food movement stands for seasonal, local and sustainably grown food, which maintains soil fertility and the many environmental and health benefits that flows from consuming slow food. Slow Money is the movement that’s bringing capital to invest in small food enterprises – local food producers who are employing…
  • add this feed to my.Alltop

    Changemakers Ideas ExChange

  • Nutrients for All: Thriving Ecosystems for Productive, Resilient Food Systems

    kristiewang
    25 Jul 2013 | 9:04 am
    Natural ecosystems ensure that vital nutrients flow from soils to food to people. Thriving ecosystems are the bedrock of healthy nutrient chains, the basis of all life on the planet. So what’s the issue? read more

  • E HealthPoint transforms rural health care by providing access to clean water and affordable treatment

    John Converse Townsend
    25 Apr 2012 | 9:35 am
    Editor's note: This post was written by Andrea Boston, freelance writer for Ashoka Changemakers. For many families in developing countries, traveling to a nearby city for a doctor’s visit is expensive and inconvenient, and a lack of safe drinking water can make existing health conditions even worse. E HealthPoint provides low cost, clean water and quality medical treatment to rural Indian communities with a unique technology-based management and delivery system. read more

  • Saúde Criança: A winning innovation for global family health

    John Converse Townsend
    20 Apr 2012 | 9:48 am
    Editor's note: This post was written by Vanuza Ramos, a Brazilian journalist and collaborator with Ashoka Changemakers, with contributions from Andrea Boston. The Saúde Criança Association (Children’s Health Association, or ASC), one of Brazil’s most robust health initiatives, has been recognized—not for the first time—for its clever and comprehensive approach to pediatric and family care. read more

  • FNMI Summit Blog: Paul Martin's speech

    bjacoby
    18 Apr 2012 | 6:03 am
      by Shawna Snache There have always been Changemakers in our midst. read more

  • Congratulations to the Winners of the Innovations for Health Competition!

    cmblog
    16 Apr 2012 | 12:33 pm
    After thoughtful deliberation, our expert panel of judges has selected three winners in the Innovations for Health: Solutions that Cross Borders competition, co-hosted by Ashoka Changemakers and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Pioneer Portfolio.   read more
 
  • add this feed to my.Alltop

    Dutiee

  • Jagriti Yatra : Learn About India’s Startup Train

    Deepa Chaudhary
    12 Jun 2013 | 11:22 pm
    There is a famous quote of Thomas Edison which I truly believe in when it comes to starting something new – “I find out what the world needs, then I proceed to invent” - T Edison. I was delighted to see that in India some people are actually putting this quote to the test, there is a massive initiative underway that’s designed to nurture entrepreneurship with this approach. The program called Jagriti Yatra (Journey of Awakening) is an annual train ride that takes hundreds of India’s highly motivated youth across the length and breadth of the country, exposing them to the…

  • Medical Checkups Are Now An iPhone App Away, Thanks To This TED Fellow

    Deepa Chaudhary
    12 May 2013 | 11:26 pm
    Myshkin Ingawale is a senior TED Fellow and has presented at the TEDGlobal conference twice, both the times unveiling revolutionary medical technologies. At his first TED conference in 2012, Myshkin showcased his invention ToucHb, a low-cost, portable, handheld device that could do a blood test without bleeding to scan for anemia. At TED 2013, Myshkin unveiled a smartphone app called uChek, that could analyse your urine in seconds to check for a range of medical conditions including diabetes, urinary tract infection, liver and kidney problems. Don’t worry you don’t have to pee on your…

  • BRCK – A Device For Uninterrupted Internet Connectivity

    Deepa Chaudhary
    7 May 2013 | 12:33 am
    Imagine losing power and with that your internet access for a few hours, sounds bad? While most of us could live with no power for a few hours, losing internet access would just make it that much more painful. Spotty internet access and power is a big problem in most of the developing nations and surprisingly in a lot of the developed world too. Ushahidi, a nonprofit tech company that operates in rugged environments believes that reliable internet connectivity is very important no matter where you live and to solve this problem they’ve developed the BRCK. BRCK is a wifi router, plus a…

  • Data for Social Good: A Beginners Guide for Nonprofits and Social Ventures

    Deepa Chaudhary
    29 Apr 2013 | 11:04 pm
    Data is gaining tremendous prominence in the business world. Companies are becoming highly data driven in every aspect of their business – from gaining new customers, providing better personalized services, cutting costs, to developing new products. With the visible benefits of increased profits and efficiency, companies are spending more resources than ever to understand, visualize and monetize data. The positive outcomes for data driven businesses has got nonprofit thinkers and leaders excited to try and spark the same kind of excitement around data in the social sector. Currently,…

  • Slow Money Movement Puts A Break On The Fast Food Nation

    Deepa Chaudhary
    26 Apr 2013 | 6:33 am
    If you haven’t heard of Slow Money or Slow Food before don’t be surprised, both are a relatively new movements that are gaining ground in America. These movements make a case for slowing down, with things that matter – money, food, soil and community. The Slow Food movement stands for seasonal, local and sustainably grown food, which maintains soil fertility and the many environmental and health benefits that flows from consuming slow food. Slow Money is the movement that’s bringing capital to invest in small food enterprises – local food producers who are employing…
  • add this feed to my.Alltop

    Charles Lee

  • Jocelyn K Glei – Manage Your Day-to-Day

    Charles
    7 Jun 2013 | 8:45 am
    In this episode, Charles Lee interviews Jocelyn K Glei, editor-in-chief and director of 99U who’s mission is to provide the “missing curriculum” on making ideas happen. She oversees the 99u.com website—which has won two Webby Awards for Best Cultural Blog—and leads the curation and execution of the popular 99U Conference, which has presented talks from visionary creatives including Jack Dorsey, John Maeda, Brené Brown, Jonathan Adler, Stefan Sagmeister, Jad Abumrad, AJ Jacobs, and many more. She is also the editor of the 99U book series, which includes Manage Your Day-to-Day…

  • Everyone Fakes It & It’s Okay

    Charles
    6 Jun 2013 | 9:55 am
    In our world of social, many project an edited version of their lives that conveniently removes or at least covers the things they don’t want others to see or discover. I do it (and so do you). Why not? It’s becoming increasingly easier to embellish our words and works via a few clicks, edits, endorsements, and pics. I mean, who doesn’t want or need better public perception? If selective exaggeration helps you do what you’re passionate about, do it. All of us are the best marketers of ourselves, right? A Good Motive to “Fake It”? I don’t blame us for…

  • The Nonprofit Sector is a Bad Christmas Present

    Charles
    23 May 2013 | 7:07 am
    Guest Post by Andrew Means, the founder of Data Analysts for Social Good and the lead quantitative analyst for the YMCA of Metro Chicago. We’ve all been there. It’s Christmas morning and we’re passed the present from grandma. Out of the corner of our eye we see her beaming, so proud of her purchase. As you unwrap the paper you become more horrified with each tear. Inside is something you would never have gotten yourself, not in a million years. She spent her money, who knows how much, on something that is of absolutely no value to you. Economists call what just happened Dead Weight…

  • Moving Forward Despite Creative Dissatisfaction

    Charles
    22 May 2013 | 7:07 am
    Developing a high quality skill set for creative work takes time. In this insightful video by Ira Glass, an American public radio personality, and host and producer of the radio and television show This American Life, he encourages creatives to continue in their craft past the initial gap between a creative’s killer taste and the work they produce. I hope you find this encouraging and that you will continue to live forward. Ira Glass on Storytelling from David Shiyang Liu on Vimeo.

  • Ideation Intensive on Non-Profit Fund Development & Partnership Relations

    Charles
    19 May 2013 | 11:04 pm
    I’d like to invite you to join fellow practitioners for a One Day Ideation Intensive on Monday July 15th (9am – 3pm) in Santa Ana, CA with Keith Kall (see bio below) on “The Art & Skill of Non-Profit Fund Development & Partnership Relations“. This intensive is designed for non-profit leaders that desire to develop long-term strategies and solutions for funding their respective organizations. Whether you are a founder, executive team member, development lead, or seeking to launch a new organization, this intensive will give you great perspectives and…
  • add this feed to my.Alltop

    maternova.net

  • A 24 Country Flight for Every Mother: Maternova Research partners with Dr. Sophia Webster

    Maternova
    17 Jun 2013 | 5:51 pm
    We are so excited to announce our partnership with Flight for Every Mother. Dr. Sophia Webster is a 21st century Amelia Earheart with a mission for mothers. She is a flying obstetrician/gynecologist making a 24 country flight piloting her own Cessna to deliver knowledge and supplies to obstetricians and midwives. And she leaves in August! We love her approach because it is one part advocacy and two parts practicality. Maternova Research will be sending life-saving obstetric supplies including the non-pneumatic anti-shock garment. We’ll also be working with Dr. Webster on how best to…

  • Is syphilis lurking behind many of the global preterm births and stillbirths?

    Maternova
    4 Jun 2013 | 5:00 pm
    Every once and a while we need to get back to basics. Yes, we need to focus on the day of birth because of the high incidence of maternal and newborn mortality that occurs on this critical day. But what insidious factors are at play and underlie problems on the day of birth? What causes that day of birth to occur TOO EARLY IN THE PREGNANCY? What if a certain sexually transmitted disease was easy to detect and easy to treat? According to the World Health Organization (WHO), each year more than 2 million pregnant women are diagnosed with active syphilis (Treponema pallidum), 65% of which result…

  • Coming full circle: back to the communities for birth in rural Canada

    Maternova
    3 Jun 2013 | 10:13 am
    We believe there is a tipping point for each community--a point where the access to full backup in the case of obstetric emergencies is perfectly balanced with the preservation of important community psychological and spiritual supports. In the week after the national Women Deliver conference, it's a good time to pause and reflect briefly on where we are. As a global movement, maternal health has made great strides. More women have access to professional skilled attendants, yet we know that quality of care and respectful care is an unrelenting challenge. This interesting story from Alberta,…

  • A Powerful Moment for the World's Women: Marking Progress and Charting the Future at Women Deliver 2013

    Maternova
    28 May 2013 | 11:52 am
    What an exciting week for global women's health. The third Women Deliver conference is taking place in Malaysia. We are in booth 244! So much energy has gone into putting together the agenda for this event and creating the background reports, marking progress and charting the future. We'd like to focus just briefly on the Countdown to 2015 report just published. The authors highlight many challenges but this paragraph rings true: But, ultimately, this report is about hope. The country profiles contain many success stories which show that commitment, investment, and coordinated action can…

  • New butter/Nutributter® now being tested for pregnant moms

    Maternova
    21 May 2013 | 10:26 am
    By this point, you may be familiar with Plumpy'Nut®, the miraculous peanut paste in a foil pouch that is being used to treat children with severe acute malnutrition in communities around the world. To recap: the genius of this innovation is that children can be treated at home rather than as inpatients. But what you may not know is that a variation of Plumpy'Nut®'s sister product, Nutributter® is being tested for improving the odds for pregnant women and their infants. Nutributter® is also a micronutrient-fortified semi-solid paste. It's also known as a lipid-based nutrient supplement…
 
  • add this feed to my.Alltop

    The Rang De Blog

  • Rang De makes Moms smile!

    admin
    29 May 2013 | 3:38 am
    This Mother’s Day, over 60 individuals participated in it and helped raise around Rs.1,50,000 to empower many Rang De Moms and their families all over India! As a token of appreciation, Rang De sent out a special Mother’s Day card to the mother’s of individuals that participated in our campaign. We’re presenting to you some of the reactions our social investors sent in! Rang De Social Investor Mohith's mom was extremely proud of the fact that he was making a difference in the lives of many rural entrepreneurs. Rang De Social Investor Anshul Goel's mother sent him…

  • Honour your Mom. Empower Many.

    admin
    2 May 2013 | 5:25 am
    Did You know? 95% of Rang De Borrowers are women  730 Rang De Moms have taken Education Loans to give their children a better tomorrow 30 of them mothers are in need of your support Would you like to empower these women? This Mother’s Day, honour your mom by supporting a Rang De Mom. Make an investment of Rs.1000 and above in a Rang De borrower and gift your mom a beautiful Mother’s Day Greeting Card with a personal message from you!  This does not end here. You get back your money by the next Mother’s Day! What are you waiting for? Support a Mom Now!

  • My Rang De, My Passion!

    admin
    16 Apr 2013 | 3:18 am
     Nandkishor Boddu, Rang De Social Investor & Former Rang De Hyderabad Chapter Member My association with Rang De started in October 2010 when I met Ram (Rang De Co-Founder and CEO) at an entrepreneurship summit in Bangalore where Ram was one of the speakers. In his session, he spoke about Rang De and the work Rang De Chapters were doing in India and abroad. After his session, I discussed with him about starting a chapter at Symbiosis Institute of Operations Management, Nashik where I was studying at that point Around the same time, I was selected for the Tata Jagriti Yatra (a 2-week…

  • Rang De Groups

    admin
    11 Apr 2013 | 2:18 am
    If you are a passionate individual and you are keen on contributing to social change through microcredit, Rang De Groups is a great place to meet like minded people. What’s more? Rang De Groups takes ‘creating social impact’ to the next level and makes social investing even better! Rang De Groups let you engage with your friends, family and other social investors on RangDe.Org and allows you to lend to rural entrepreneurs as a team. All it takes is joining or creating a Rang De Group for your alumni, work network or a cause you believe in! You can create your own group, invest on…

  • Positive News. Happy Stories. Unsung Heroes

    admin
    8 Apr 2013 | 11:25 pm
    Presenting Rang De’s new initiative, “Changemaker of the Month” we present a changemaker and their inspiring work every month. Our first story is about a website that focuses on spreading positive news in India and highlighting an India that we don’t very often see: The Better India.  In early 2010, The Better India featured Partho Bhowmick founder of Blind with Camera, an initiative thatconnectsvisually challenged individuals to photography as a medium to express themselves. While many people applauded this intriguing yet fascinating project, one particular response stood out. A…
  • add this feed to my.Alltop

    Nate Riggs Blog | Restaurant & Retail Marketing Strategy

  • How To Make An Entrance (And Have Everyone Remember It)

    Nate
    18 Jun 2013 | 3:00 am
    For the GoInbound 2013 speakers, Wednesday evening began by  gathering with the team from Element Three for dinner and an evening of relaxed conversation. Susan had arranged transportation by mustache to Black Market, one of Indy’s hidden culinary gems that’s grown top become a local hotspot as a result of their Daily Pickles and other interesting culinary delights. I honestly thought Marcus was going ...

  • GoInbound 2013: One of the Best Marketing Conferences in the Midwest

    Nate
    17 Jun 2013 | 5:00 am
    I get asked this question about a lot by folks I meet: ”What are the best marketing conferences in the Midwest?” Just for fun, click here to Tweet the question up there from your own Twitter account and see what you get back. Perhaps you’ll get a difference list than mine below. In my opinion, there are really ...

  • My Father’s Day Story for 2013

    Nate
    16 Jun 2013 | 3:00 am
    Each Father’s Day, I find myself remembering the times when my brother and I, my dad and my grandfather would get dressed up and attend the annual Epworth United Methodist Church Father and Sons banquet. I want to share that story with you today. I need to finally come to terms with this, and while it ...
  • add this feed to my.Alltop

    csi.gsb.stanford.edu

  • New Models to End Extreme Poverty

    zach
    31 May 2013 | 2:35 pm
    Jake Harriman, Founder & CEO, Nuru International Short Description:  Nuru International is a social venture fighting to address extreme poverty, the greatest humanitarian crisis of our generation. In this audio interview, Jonathan Chang speaks with Jake Harriman, Founder and CEO of Nuru International. Harriman tells the story of his personal path to working with the rural populations of Kenya and Ethiopia. He explains his focus on solutions to poverty that consider more than strictly financial definitions as part of our ongoing Impact Innovators series. "Poverty is not just about an…

  • Thinking about Talent: The Key to Successful Nonprofit Management

    zach
    29 Apr 2013 | 11:24 am
    Sal Giambanco, Director of Human Capital and Operations, Omidyar Network Short Description:  Attracting, engaging, and retaining the right talent is key to successful nonprofit management. In this audio lecture from the Stanford Social Innovation Review’s Nonprofit Management Institute, Omidyar Network partner Sal Giambanco discusses how a nonprofit can build a strong team to reach its organization’s core objectives. He shares specific approaches to building a talent pipeline and maximizing productivity to enrich a nonprofit’s management strategy. Human capital is the most valuable…

  • The Art of Collaborative Leadership: Building Networks of Interconnected Leaders

    zach
    23 Apr 2013 | 3:57 pm
    Akaya Windwood, President, Rockwood Leadership Institute Short Description:  In an increasingly polarized and complex world, leaders can no longer afford to work in isolation. In this audio lecture from the Stanford Social Innovation Review’s Nonprofit Management Institute, Rockwood Leadership Institute president Akaya Windwood discusses how we can get our movements and sectors to work together to advance the common good. Windwood discusses specific tools that we can utilize to build communities of interconnected leaders in order to make social movements more effective. Good leadership…

  • A Crash Course on Creativity

    zach
    19 Apr 2013 | 1:43 pm
    Tina Seelig, Executive Director, Stanford Technology Ventures Program Short Description:  Creativity often feels like a mystery. Struggling to unleash our creative potential can sometimes hinder us on the path to social innovation. In this audio lecture from Stanford Social Innovation Review’s Nonprofit Management Institute, Stanford Professor Tina Seelig discusses the tools and conditions each of us has that allow us to increase our creativity—our own, our team’s and our organization’s. She shares specific approaches to rethinking questions and reframing problems to unlock the…

  • The Critical Role of the Strategic Brand

    zach
    12 Apr 2013 | 2:15 pm
    Nathalie Kylander, Senior Research Fellow, Harvard’s Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations Short Description:  Branding plays a unique and powerful role in the nonprofit sector. In this audio lecture from Stanford Social Innovation Review’s Nonprofit Management Institute, Harvard researcher Nathalie Kylander discusses how a strategic brand can enable an organization to build capacity and impact. Based on research conducted at Harvard University’s Hauser Center for Nonprofits, Kylander shares the framework that she and her colleagues developed to help nonprofit leaders develop a…
 
  • add this feed to my.Alltop

    Justmeans

  • Home Eco Innovations Celebrated at the Scotiabank EcoLiving Awards

    Robyn Hall
    17 Jun 2013 | 8:45 am
    A low carbon apartment complex prototype. A social mobile app that allows homeowners with smart meters to compare their energy use with other consumers. Small scale, energy efficient, independent homes that sustainably add density to neighbourhoods.These Canadian innovations were awarded top honours at a gala event honouring innovations in home energy efficiency. The Scotiabank EcoLiving Awards are a cornerstone of Scotiabank's consumer-facing EcoLiving Program, and are designed to inspire consumers to reduce their energy use.The winners in the three award categories were as follows:Lanefab…

  • Social Innovation Summit 2013: What's Next?

    Reynard Loki
    17 Jun 2013 | 5:10 am
    What happens when 800 social innovators get together to share ideas?I recently attended the 2013 Social Innovation Summit, a two-day conference held in New York at JPMorgan and the General Assembly of the United Nations. This biannual conference launched in 2010 by Landmark Ventures, a New York-based strategic and financial advisory firm, the summit brings together venture capitalists, social entrepreneurs, Fortune 500 executives, government officials and heads of foundations discuss and share innovative solutions to some of today's most challenging social issues, including education, global…

  • Dunkin' Brands Reaffirms Focus on Sustainable Solutions

    Vikas Vij
    17 Jun 2013 | 1:47 am
    Dunkin' Brands Group, Inc. (DNKN), in collaboration with the Nutrition Advisory Board (NAB) is revising its menu portfolios to improve the nutritional profile of its products. Both its brands, Dunkin' Donuts and Baskin-Robbins,now have specially focused menus that offer a full selection of better-for-you food and beverages that meet a number of pre-determined nutritional criteria.This is one of the highlights of the company's second Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) report, Focused on Sustainable Solutions. The report provides a detailed insight into the company's current CSR initiatives…

  • New, Innovative Test for Colorectal Cancer Announced

    Antonio Pasolini
    17 Jun 2013 | 1:13 am
    The July issue of The Journal of Molecular Diagnostics has good news regarding cancer diagnosis. It concerns a new, non-invasive test to pick up early signs of colorectal cancer (CRC), the second most lethal cancer in the U.S. It could provide an alternative or an accompanying option to standard tests such as colonoscopy, besides monitoring cancer progression and treatment.Like most types of cancer, early detection is crucial to improve chances of surviving the disease, which in the case of CRC increases to 90 per cent if diagnosed before metastasis. The research was carried out by a team…

  • Ford Updates Sustainability Progress

    Vikas Vij
    14 Jun 2013 | 3:08 am
    Ford (NYSE: F) trained 325 suppliers in sustainability management in 2012. A total of nearly 2,100 suppliers have now received training through this program.That's one of the several achievements recorded by the company in its 14th annual sustainability report that highlights key efforts and achievements on the sustainability front.More significant figures: the company has recorded a 37 percent drop in carbon dioxide emission levels at global facilities between 2000 and 2012. Another 30 percent reduction is planned between 2010 and 2025.Ford has also delivered on its commitment to bring down…
  • add this feed to my.Alltop

    Social Enterprise Buzz

  • B Corporation “Disconnect” raises VC funding to address online privacy

    Melissa Ip
    18 Jun 2013 | 7:02 am
    Sales of George Orwell’s 1984 spiked 7,000 percent during the 24-hour period after Edward Snowden blew the whistle on the NSA’s surveillance programs.  It’s no doubt that people care about their privacy.  But how do you protect yourself when you’re not even sure who is looking at what, if anything, you may be posting on the web? When it comes to online privacy, B Corporation Disconnect is all about helping people understand and take control of their online data.   As if there’s no better timing, the company announced yesterday that it completed a $3.5 million Series A round led…

  • Impact investing in Africa

    Melissa Ip
    17 Jun 2013 | 7:26 am
    The African Development Bank (AfDB) abandoned its Abidjan headquarters in 2003 shortly after civil conflict broke out in the Ivory Coast.  After spending ten years in Tunisia, the Bank announced that it will begin moving its headquarters and 1,500 employees back to Ivory Coast at the end of this year, hoping to make it in time to celebrate its 50th anniversary in November 2014. The Financial Times reports that the move will deliver a big blow to the economy of Tunisia, a nation who is recovering from a 2011 uprising and ensuing political volatility, but will bolster confidence in Ivory…

  • Ambassador for the UK Public Services (Social Value) Act announced

    Melissa Ip
    13 Jun 2013 | 7:20 am
    Confused about the Public Services (Social Value) Act?  Have no fear, the ambassador is here. Minister for Civil Society Nick Hurd announced today at the Social Value Conference that Chris White, MP for Warwick and Leamington who was responsible for initiating the Social Value Act, is appointed as the first official Social Value Ambassador. In this role, White will be working closely with local governments and the voluntary sector to raise awareness of the Act, which came into effect on January 31, 2013. “I look forward to working with stakeholders in local government and the public sector…

  • Six U.S. governments receive assistance to launch social impact bonds

    Melissa Ip
    10 Jun 2013 | 10:01 am
    Microfinance was an idea that traveled far and wide.  Social impact bonds (SIBs) look to share the same destiny.  The idea, which began in 2010 in the UK, has already made its way across borders to Australia, the U.S., and beyond. “Social impact bonds have traveled from concept to execution faster than any other social innovation in recent history,” said Kippy Joseph, associate director for innovation at The Rockefeller Foundation. They have also caught the attention of all levels of government.  Today, The Rockefeller Foundation and the Social Impact Bond Technical Assistance…

  • LeapFrog demonstrates the business case for impact investing

    Melissa Ip
    3 Jun 2013 | 6:58 am
    Leading up to the G8 Impact Investment Forum on June 6th, which will be hosted by British Prime Minister David Cameron, LeapFrog Investments released new business numbers today to demonstrate that investors can merge financial results with social impact. A global impact investing fund that primarily invests in insurance and related financial services to emerging consumers in Africa and Asia, LeapFrog now reaches 23.7 million people, 13.2 million of whom are poor or low-income. In 2012, LeapFrog’s portfolio of companies recorded an average revenue increase of 24.6 percent.  In…
  • add this feed to my.Alltop

    Give to Get Jobs RSS

  • Summer Research Analyst Internship

    11 Jun 2013 | 2:27 pm
    Summer Research Analyst Internship

  • Social Media Internship

    15 May 2013 | 10:00 pm
    Social Media Marketing Internship for Social Good Startup

  • Accounting Associate

    15 May 2013 | 10:00 pm
    Arabella Advisors seeks a dynamic and enthusiastic individual interested in working with a dynamic and growing professional team. The accounting assistant supports the firm in maintaining its day-to-day operations while adhering to financial policies and

  • Summer Intern

    15 May 2013 | 10:00 pm
    Summer Internship - Help Stop Cholera in Haiti

  • Program Assistant, Managed Organizations

    7 May 2013 | 10:00 pm
    Arabella Advisors seeks a socially-minded, organized, detail-oriented and highly motivated self-starter to support our efforts to launch and manage innovative social sector projects.
 
  • add this feed to my.Alltop

    TeasasTips

  • Can You Make Money with a Home Based Business?

    LaTease Rikard
    23 May 2013 | 11:14 am
    If and when you make the decision to become a home based business owner, you must understand one simple and constant fact: It takes money to make money. It doesn't matter if you're selling Avon (it costs to get started); or if you want to be a Mary Kay sales rep and one day drive a pink car, there is a cost to do that. So, don't let an excuse that it costs money or that it looks like a pyramid scheme hold you back from pursuing your dreams! Mary Kay, Avon, even companies like Nike have levels. These are levels or management positions you earn by doing a good job. That's not a pyramid scheme,…

  • Organizational Structure of Social Media Teams {INFOGRAPHIC}

    LaTease Rikard
    13 May 2013 | 5:12 pm
    Infographic by- GO-Gulf.com Web Design Company

  • Got It Free Pennington Smart Feed Sprayer System

    LaTease Rikard
    13 May 2013 | 12:13 pm
    Here are some great tips to making your landscaping regimen a breeze. Using your Pennington Smart Feed Sprayer System, if you follow these tips, you'll have the most gorgeous lawn and garden in your neighborhood. All your neighbors will be jealous! 1. Try not to use a lot of beds and borders that will need weeding and edging. 2. If you have places where you have planting beds, use an ample amount of mulch to keep weeds away and to minimize the amount of time you spend watering. 3. Make your beds narrow enough so that you can reach them easily, but not so narrow that plants continually outgrow…

  • How to Protect Your Privacy From Social Graph on Facebook

    LaTease Rikard
    1 May 2013 | 10:08 am
    Facebook's Social Graph has been rolled out to the public now and personally, I don't like it. I liked being able to search in the old search bar method and find people and things I didn't know existed. With the Social Graph, it is an individual users' nightmare, while it is helpful to marketers. But, one thing that most people don't know about Facebook's Social Graph is that it diminishes your privacy. Now is the time to learn how to manage your privacy controls on Facebook. If you want to keep some things in your life personal, set your privacy controls to 'friends only.' There are many…

  • [INFOGRAPHIC] GUN CRIME AND OWNERSHIP

    LaTease Rikard
    28 Apr 2013 | 11:47 am
    With so much being debated in the mainstream media, coffee shops, hair salons and wherever you go about gun control and the right to own a gun, it makes me wary to even post this INFOGRAPHIC. Warning: This graphic is not for or against gun control. I am simply providing a graphic as a resource. No opinions are expressed by the author, only those opinions that make it into the comment jar below LOL. Make your own decisions, you have been warned!
  • add this feed to my.Alltop

    ConnorMeaks.com ~ The Aspiring Renaissance Man

  • Life Without Challenge Is Kinda Boring

    Connor Meakin
    13 Jun 2013 | 5:00 am
    ConnorMeaks.com ~ The Aspiring Renaissance Man - Curious musings on work, play, and getting what you want in life Forward momentum is something I spend a lot of time thinking about. For whatever reason, I need that constant feeling of progress – the reassurance that I’m not wasting time, not moving backwards. Moving forward is about never settling with where you’re currently at. Why should I settle when there is so much more out there? Bucket lists, careers, and living a life worth living. I’m starting to contemplate how you only get one go at this thing. Why waste time on anything?

  • How to Apply Meditation to Your Life

    Connor Meakin
    17 May 2013 | 5:00 am
    ConnorMeaks.com ~ The Aspiring Renaissance Man - Curious musings on work, play, and getting what you want in life Since I started experimenting with a mindfulness meditation practice six months ago, my perspective changed. So today I’ll share how you can reap the benefits of meditation by being more mindful. I’ll preface this by saying if you haven’t read my thoughts on meditation, here are the cliffs: I started with sitting in a dark room – observing my breath, clearing my thoughts, and noticing any sensations in my body. Now six months in, the differences in my personal well being…

  • How Does It Feel To Run Your First Marathon?

    Connor Meakin
    9 May 2013 | 5:00 am
    ConnorMeaks.com ~ The Aspiring Renaissance Man - Curious musings on work, play, and getting what you want in life Despite my inability to walk afterward, the feeling of crossing that line and finishing my first marathon is difficult to put into words. It’s an adrenaline rush like no other. Everything slowed after crossing the line. Although I was a bit lightheaded and could barely walk, to finally enjoy that moment with the roaring crowd is thrilling. Coasting on Emotions After a day or so to reflect, I’m still blasted by a ton of emotions. Mainly I’m appreciative for having the ability…

  • Two Weeks to Marathon ~ Is the Journey the Reward?

    Connor Meakin
    24 Apr 2013 | 5:00 am
    ConnorMeaks.com ~ The Aspiring Renaissance Man - Curious musings on work, play, and getting what you want in life The saying that ‘the journey is the reward’ doesn’t hold for marathon training. But, that is not to say that the journey is not a fulfilling process. Let me explain as I’m two weeks to marathon completion. Marathon training over the past month certainly is a journey. Reward? Not sure about that one yet. The fulfilling part is pushing my personal limits, both physically and mentally. You’d be surprised what thoughts creep into your mind three hours into a…

  • Why Your New Diet Won’t Work

    Connor Meakin
    13 Apr 2013 | 8:36 am
    ConnorMeaks.com ~ The Aspiring Renaissance Man - Curious musings on work, play, and getting what you want in life Cooking a fluffy stack of pancakes after my Saturday morning run, I got to thinking about all of the ill-informed eaters out there. This is something I normally stay away from – what you eat is your choice. I couldn’t care less what you throw down your hatch. What I do care about is when people push their dogma on others as gospel. Now some of these folks base their eating choices around new diets. I’m all for trying new things and experimenting, especially with anything…
Log in