(For the record, Pablo took himself out of the running when McKinsey offered him a job; as for me, I rescinded my application when I was offered a full-time gig here at Acumen Fund. That should also serve as a full disclosure, but if not: I work for Acumen Fund.)
Back to the topic at hand...if you read this site regularly and care about market-based approaches to poverty alleviation, then this might be your dream job. Seriously - how else can you spend a full year living and working at the nexus of development and enterprise, unless you're already doing it or on the verge of starting your own company.
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Organization:Growing Inclusive Markets Initiative, United Nations Development Programme. The new flagship UNDP multi-stakeholder Initiative on "Growing Inclusive Markets" is UNDP's most visible strategic and sustained global advocacy tool for the important role of the private sector in achieving the Millennium Development Goals.
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Zipporah is one of the 16 entrepreneurs that took part in this year's Global Social Benefit Incubator, at Santa Clara University. Her project is a great example of how rural communities can be empowered and brought into the value chain of products that are key to the dignity, health, and productivity of poor women in Kenya.
Binti Africa Foundation creates microenterprises with women in rural Kenya to produce safe and affordable sanitary pads that are sold to schools and distributed to girls throughout the country. Thereby it fulfills the goals of empowering rural communities through enterprise and income generation, as well as girls in the poorer areas of the country who, thanks to Binti's sanitary pads and educational campaigns, no longer see significant changes in their routines and productivity during their menstrual periods.
Zipporah's primary objective while attending GSBI was to build a business plan to strengthen Binti's product development ability and expand it's operations into new markets like Sudan and Congo, among others.
Stay tuned for more GSBI entrepreneurs this week as well as an upcoming post looking in retrospect at this visionary and highly impactful initiative.
NextBillion ally and friend Kevin Jones passed along word that the Good Business Network is hosting an interesting event next week in San Francisco about social investing and low-income markets. If you're in town, be sure to check it out.
If you are currently located in/ can re-locate to Hyderabad, have a strong interest in the acceleration of sustainable SMEs and their role as a driver for sustainable development, or know someone who fulfills these characteristics, please read on and see the attached file for a full job description. Applications are due next September 19.
Position Summary: The World Resources Institute (WRI) and CII-Sohrabji Godrej Green Business Centre (CII- Godrej GBC) is seeking an entrepreneurial and dynamic Country Director for its New Ventures India program with a background in business/finance and an interest in sustainable business and investment.
New Ventures is a business accelerator that works toward long-term, sustainable natural resource use by supporting environmentally- and socially-responsible enterprises in emerging economies. We identify profitable small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) that generate unique social and environmental benefits and provide them with business advisory services and access to capital. Additionally, we work with local and international investment communities and networks to help further develop capital resources available to these enterprises. Since its inception in 1999, New Ventures has supported 178 sustainable enterprises worldwide and helped facilitate over US $120 million in investment into these enterprises. In collaboration with local partners, New Ventures operates non-profit centers of sustainable entrepreneurship in Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, China, Indonesia and India.
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Renato Mercado had worked as an assistant architect for 15 years in Saudi Arabia. Last year, he got a one-month leave and was finally able to visit his family in Laguna province after four years.
Upon arrival, he was shocked to know his family was in disarray. His wife was not able to save a single centavo from the remittances he had been making; his eldest son was a drug addict.
For Renato, all the sacrifices and years of hard work was for nothing.
This story is a familiar refrain for many families of overseas Filipinos workers. The social consequence of this continuing migration of Filipinos has been broken families and problematic children who grow up without the proper guidance of parents.
Mai Añonuevo, together with other overseas Filipino worker (OFW) returnees, decided to form Atikha, a nonprofit organization that aims to provide economic and social services to overseas Filipinos and their families. Atikha is currently active in supporting families of OFWs in the provinces of Batangas and Laguna.
The Center for Sustainable Global Enterprise at Cornell University's Johnson Graduate School of Management is accepting submissions for its 2008 Base of the Pyramid (BoP) Narrative Competition. This short-essay competition seeks to highlight the challenges of implementing business in underserved markets and identify innovative business initiatives or solutions to those challenges.
The 2008 BoP Narrative Competition (PDF) has been created to help identify cutting-edge experiences of business innovation in underserved or marginalized communities.
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I first learned of the Social Capital Markets conference from organizer Kevin Jones, a friend whom I've often run into at various conferences through the years. Last year, Kevin - a principal at Good Capital - began to think that it was time to break down silos and get various 'social enterprise' factions to start talking. The result? A social capital markets conference that's bringing together both well-known and emerging leaders in this sector. (We first wrote about SoCap08 back in July.)
The conference will be held in San Francisco from October 13-15, with speakers including Jed Emerson, Bob Annibale, Premal Shah and Andrew Kassoy. These are just a few of the can't miss folks slated to attend. (I would be remiss if I didn't mention that my Acumen Fund colleague, Sasha Dichter, is also slated to speak.)
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Things are generally slower in August, as many folks take vacation and less gets done by those who are at the office. (For a refreshing and innovative take on this phenomenon, you might consider Seth Godin's advice to work like your hair is on fire while the competition sleeps.)
For the rest of us, this means there's less content than normal floating around the base of the pyramid blogosphere. Despite this, here's a quick roundup of worthy reports and posts:
The GSM Association commissioned a report summarizing the findings of 20 top research papers. It might sound like a glorified literature review, but it's worth your time. This is really the first report to put together, in one place, research on the economic and social impact of mobile phones in developing countries. Jack Ewing of BusinessWeek gives the quick analysis, while Dave Tait at the Emerging Futures Lab provides a handy link to download the 36-page PDF file. From Ewing's blog post:
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This post is the second in a two part series on how to get involved in the base of the pyramid movement. Part 1 was a personal story of involvement, and Part 2 focuses on the role of students in bringing social transformation.
I recently attended the Social Enterprise Knowledge Network (SEKN) colloquium at Harvard Business School and had a conversation with a professor about the role of students in BoP ventures. He left me with this parting insight: "Don't forget - students change the world. Many social movements throughout history have been started and led by students."
It wasn't a surprise for me to hear this at the SEKN colloquium. One of the main objectives of SEKN is to empower business school professors with knowledge, research, and insights on social enterprises in order to influence students -- who will ultimately drive social transformation. "SEKN seeks to advance the frontiers of knowledge and practice in social enterprise through collaborative research, shared learning, case based teaching, and the strengthening of institutional capacities in management education."
During my time at the colloquium, I was able to rub shoulders with a number of HBS professors who had a lot to share about students and BoP ventures. Michael Chu, who teaches a base of the pyramid class at HBS, said his class is always oversubscribed. Another indicator of this enthusiasm on campus is the fact that HBS's base of the pyramid club has the highest membership of all student clubs.
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If you're in the market for a job in the base-of-the-pyramid space, you might want to check out the five current job openings listed on Acumen Fund's web site.
There are two openings in India, one for a Business Development Manager and the other for a Portfolio Associate. Both are accepting applications and hope to close the application period early next week (August 20). View both job descriptions in PDF format, and consider applying.
The Acumen Fund Pakistan office also has an opening, this time for a Business Manager. Apply by September 10.
Finally, here in New York, we're recruiting a Senior Accountant and a Talent Intern. Neither has a set application deadline, but the sooner you submit information, the better.
As always, if you know someone qualified for these positions or others listed on NextBillion.net, please share them freely - and thanks in advance for your help.
The Social Enterprise Knowledge Network (SEKN) brings together a number of Latin America academic institutions interested in exploring the concept of social enterprise and market-based solutions to poverty. Last week the network convened for a research colloquium in Harvard Business School to share the major findings of their upcoming publication titled Inclusive Business in Iberoamerica: Challenges and Opportunities.
It was an interesting venue in which I had the opportunity to learn about thriving BoP business models in Latin America like Cruzsalud in Venezuela, which is bringing high-quality healthcare services to the poor of Caracas. It was also exciting to meet and talk to very interesting people like Nancy Barry and Michael Chu, surely two of the most influential characters of the microfinance revolution. Interestingly, both have moved on from microfinance to engage in the broader BoP/ Social Enterprise space. Stay tuned for upcoming posts in which I'll summarize my conversations with both of them and their current ventures.
I would like to use the rest of this post to present two simple ideas that I believe could be of use to SEKN, as it enters its new research cycle. In particular, I see great opportunities for the network to more effectively deliver its messages and findings while also turning their academic research into action, by further engaging with students and practitioners in the countries where the network is present.
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If you have between 2 and 5 years of professional experience, a strong interest in social enterprise/ venture philanthropy and a desire to spend 10 months working for organizations in Latin America, Africa or Asia, please read on.
The LGT Group is the asset management group of the Princely House of Liechtenstein. Each year, the Group's philanthropy arm conducts a call for applications to its fellowship program, through which it engages professionals and social enterprises in developing countries, seeking to go beyond financial support and offer their portfolio organizations access to increased intellectual and social capital. This year's program features organizations working in an interesting array of disciplines in Brazil, Colombia, South Africa and Tanzania.
The deadline for applications is September 14, 2008. Click here to learn more about the programs and the specific requirements for applicants.
NextBillion.net brings together the community of business leaders, social entrepreneurs, NGOs, policy makers, and academics who want to explore the connection between development and enterprise. Read more...
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Things are generally slower in August, as many folks take vacation and less gets done by those who are at the office. (For a refreshing and innovative take on this phenomenon, you might consider Seth Godin's advice to 
If you're in the market for a job in the base-of-the-pyramid space, you might want to check out the five current job openings listed on 
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On Social Entrepreneurs from GSBI 2008: Meet Zipporah Ongwenyi, from Binti Africa Foundation
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