NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on NextBillion en Espanol

In just a few weeks, the Third Annual Latin American Impact Investing Forum will take place. The forum will be a knowledge platform generated through expert lectures and interviews, panels of case studies, workshops and roundtable discussions where the interchanging of experiences between participants are key to finding points of collaboration and facilitating talks of taking action together.

The three-day schedule is designed for participants to have a comprehensive learning experience and network with one another. We will have around 100 speakers, all relevant figures in the field of impact investing at both a global level and in Latin America. Among our speakers will be leaders from organizations like Wayra, Potencia Ventures, Village Capital, Ashoka, ANDE, Oxfam, Unreasonable Institute, IGNIA, Agora, Halloran Philanthropies, Avina, William James Foundation, and Vale for women among others. The daily schedule of the forum can be found at the end of this post.

We’ll also have a very special conference during the second day of the forum (February 21st) titled “Solving Poverty through Business: Designing products and services for three billion new clients,” given by Paul Polak. Recently, an interview with Paul was published on NextBillion Health Care, in which he discussed his projects in the field of health. We’re very pleased to have Paul’s participation in the forum, and are convinced that he’ll give interesting food for thought on the field of impact businesses. For those less familiar with Paul’s work, here is a brief summary:

Paul Polak is a true believer that global poverty can be eliminated through sound business, seeing people at the base of the pyramid as potential business owners and viable consumers. He founded International Development Enterprises, which has provided more than 19 million people with access to agricultural technologies to help them overcome poverty. Polak is now a co-founder of two businesses, D-Rev and Windhorse, that seek alternatives and products at the base-of-the-pyramid. His goal is to help these base-of-the-pyramid companies benefit and demonstrate to other corporations that helping those living in poverty can be a profitable business with great social impact. Paul Polak is an unrelenting warrior in the fight against world poverty. Learn more about Paul here.

Want to attend the forum? Sign up here.

See the full schedule and list of speakers at: Latin American Impact Investing Forum 2013 Schedule