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Weekly roundup 6-14-14: When conventional wisdom gets upended
When conventional wisdom gets upended, well, we’re all a little better off for it. Here are two examples from this week, both of which dispel myths that have a tendency to solidify into facts.
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- Education, Technology, Telecommunications
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Inside the Tech Hub Movement: In-depth lessons from a global mobile entrepreneurship initiative
In the U.S. and Europe, startup accelerators have been the flavor of the day, whereas in Africa, Asia, and other emerging markets, entrepreneurial buzz was driven more by the rise of tech hubs. The World Bank has completed an in-depth assessment of about dozen tech hub initiatives since 2010 and it may mean for ITC development gains.
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- Technology, Telecommunications
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Taking a Multi-Dimensional View: Free WDI webinar series on assessing poverty impact
Many BoP ventures struggle to capture a complete picture of what is going on inside their organization. WDI’s Heather Esper on a new webinar series focused on how to how ventures can understand how their actions are truly influencing poverty.
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- Impact Assessment
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Mainstreaming the Movement: Toniic CEO Stephanie Cohn Rupp discusses the future of impact investing
"Eventually, I think the victory will be when everyone who is investing ... can put their capital into impact," says Toniic CEO Stephanie Cohn Rupp. But can retail investors accurately assess their investments’ social impact? Is it responsible for pensions or IRAs to offer impact options? And which investments should qualify as "impact"? In part two of our Q&A, Cohn Rupp discusses these and other questions.
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- Environment, Impact Assessment
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Reflecting Our Energy for Impact: How can we strengthen the contributions of incubators and accelerators?
James Koch, a co-founder of the Global Social Benefit Incubator (GSBI) at Santa Clara University, examines how to strengthen incubators and accelerators, an integral part of enterprise development. Based more than a decade of developing enterprises through the GSBI, Koch offers four suggestions.
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- Uncategorized
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NexThought Monday – MNCs, the Grassroots and the Future of the BoP
Santa Clara State University’s Jim Koch says two big conferences in the last ten years have come to frame BoP market development efforts. What can we learn from what did – and what notably did not – transpire in the decade between the two gatherings? Among other things, Koch says major corporations have been greatly eclipsed by grassroots innovators.
- Categories
- Education
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Pay For Success: Can Social Impact Bonds Provide the Fabled “Win-Win-Win”?
Goldman Sachs recently made headlines by investing in a Massachusetts nonprofit that tries to keep young men out of jail. The investment was part of the largest social impact bond or "pay-for-success" effort to date in the U.S. Rick Edwards of Third Sector Capital Partners discusses the benefits and risks of the approach in part two of our Impact Investing Insights series.
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- Impact Assessment
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How a Blended Model Can Solve Some Market Failures (Part 2): Gradian Finds a Way to Scale Anesthesia Machines According to Demand
Like a traditional business, Gradian spends money on market creation for its anesthesia machine. Unlike a traditional business, however, the company doesn’t expect to recoup that cost; it’s paid for with philanthropic funding so Gradian can offer the machine at as low a cost as possible.
- Categories
- Environment, Health Care
