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The State of Assessment: Moving the conversation forward to accelerate value creation (Part 2 of 2)
Heather Esper and Yaquta Kanchwala Fatehi of the William Davidson Institute say it's time to stop debating whether businesses should assess social, economic and/or environmental impact, and move on to a conversation about how to extract the most value. They even offer five core activities to accelerate that value.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment
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Impact Investing Goes to School: What researchers have learned about the sector – and how much they still don’t know
Cathy Clark, the founder and director of the i3 initiative, has been working at the crossroads of academic research and impact investing for over two decades. We caught up with her at last week's SOCAP15 conference to discuss where the field is heading, how it's being impacted by the academic world, and how much researchers still don't understand.
- Categories
- Education, Impact Assessment, Social Enterprise
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SOCAP Recap: OPTIMISM … With a Dash of Skepticism:
With warplanes thundering overhead (seriously), the crowd at Thursday's SOCAP sessions conducted a stimulating and wide-ranging discussion of the many facets of social business and investing. But among the usual positivity was a distinct note of impatience. Our editors discuss what they saw and heard at yesterday's proceedings.
- Categories
- Health Care, Impact Assessment, Social Enterprise
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NexThought Monday – Applying Wall Street Ideas to NGOs in Rural India: A closer look at the first education impact bond
Business and financial buzzwords that have long dominated boardrooms and global conference calls - like “make vs. buy” or “risk and return” – are entering the landscape of NGOs. The latest manifestation of this is a new type of bond for development programs that leverages investor and risk dynamics typically found in business deals. The very first of these “development impact bonds” in education launched in rural India last year.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment
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‘Financial Inclusion for Sustainable Development’: European Microfinance Week Nov. 18th – 20th
European Microfinance Week is a major annual event featuring high level, in-depth discussions by all sectors of the European microfinance community. The conference, which will take place Nov. 18th – 20th in Luxembourg, will welcome over 400 top professionals in the industry, from several dozen countries. NextBillion will be a media partner at the event, providing live tweeting, blog coverage and interviews with key participants.
- Categories
- Finance, Impact Assessment, Technology
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Previewing the Biggest SOCAP Yet: 140+ sessions, 2,500+ attendees – here’s what’s on tap at this year’s event
On Oct. 6-9, SOCAP, the leading conference on social enterprise and impact investing, will gather over 2,500 attendees at Fort Mason Center, San Francisco. SOCAP15 will feature more than 140 sessions for learning, connecting and meeting peers and potential partners. NextBillion will be a media partner at the event, and you can take advantage of the $500 discount on registration available to our readers until Sept. 30.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment, Social Enterprise
- Tags
- impact investing
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The Risks of Government-Led Financial Inclusion: Why agent networks in India need to move beyond government mandates
Over the years, the government of India has facilitated financial access by promoting account opening through various programs. And, at first glance, some of the numbers associated with the government's inclusion mandates look good. But a more detailed look reveals a bleak picture that includes high agent attrition and low account activity rates.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment
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Rising Star or Red Flag?: South Africa’s financial inclusion growth raises questions for the entire industry
South Africa placed second in a recent Brookings Institute study comparing financial inclusion in 21 developing countries – surpassed only by Kenya. But though this has led to celebration in some quarters, there’s a troubling aspect to these findings. Illana Melzer argues that the risks of burgeoning financial access and usage are too significant for beneficiaries, development organizations and donors to ignore.
- Categories
- Education, Impact Assessment
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