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It’s Time to Talk about Founder Wellbeing in Africa: A Landmark Survey Highlights the Need for Greater Support
The pressure of building a successful business takes a mental, emotional and physical toll on entrepreneurs, and this can affect their business outcomes if they don’t make their own wellbeing a priority. Yet as Stella Klemperer at Flourish Ventures argues, the topic of founder wellbeing has not been given the attention it deserves. She shares insights from the first large-scale survey of entrepreneurs’ journey and wellbeing in Africa, including nearly 200 startup founders across 13 countries. As she explains, this research shows why supporting entrepreneurs' wellbeing is a strategic imperative for investors, founders and other stakeholders.
- Categories
- Investing, Social Enterprise
- Tags
- impact investing, research, startups
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Announcing NextBillion’s Most Influential Articles of 2024: Vote for Your Favorites by Jan. 5
As we bid farewell to an eventful year, it's time for NextBillion’s annual tradition: our “Most Influential Articles of the Year” contest. Each December since 2012, we've selected 12 of our most-read articles from the past year, inviting readers to vote for the ones that influenced their thinking the most. Check out the articles in this year's contest (if you haven't already), and vote for your favorites: You can vote up to once per hour between Dec. 18 and 11:59 pm EST on Jan. 5.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Energy, Environment, Health Care, Impact Assessment, Investing, Social Enterprise, Technology
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Subsidy and Synergy: How Philanthropy Can Complement Impact Investing More Effectively
The original goal of impact investing was to build out the funding spectrum between philanthropy and commercial investment. But according to Asad Mahmood at SIMA and Nanno Kleiterp, the arrival of private equity firms — promising scale and market-rate financial returns — has pulled all the sector's energy toward the commercial end of the spectrum. They explore the key role philanthropic subsidy has played in the development of emerging markets business, clarify some misconceptions about its role in impact investing, and propose some ways philanthropists and impact investors can better align their efforts.
- Categories
- Energy, Finance, Investing, Social Enterprise
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Doing Business During a Crisis: Lessons for Driving Social Impact While Navigating Adversity in the World’s Toughest Environments
During a recent trip to Nairobi, Brigit Helms at Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship found her delegation engulfed in chaotic street protests that forced them to seek shelter in a partner's local office. As she explains, the experience highlighted the kinds of challenges faced by social enterprises and other organizations navigating crises around the world. She shares lessons from three Miller Center partners operating in three different crisis zones, which show how resilient organizations can drive impact, even in the harshest conditions.
- Categories
- Social Enterprise
- Tags
- MSMEs, NGOs, nonprofits, refugees
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The Problem with ‘Forced Entrepreneurship’: How Universities — and Venture Capitalists — are Failing Climate Tech Innovators
Universities are increasingly positioning themselves as hubs of business innovation, and as Emre Eren Korkmaz at the University of Oxford explains, their support has become an important driver of climate tech innovation. But he argues that universities’ "one size fits all" approach to supporting these innovators is fundamentally flawed, prioritizing the pathway to entrepreneurship — and the demands of venture capitalists — rather than empowering true innovation. He explores the problem and highlights some alternative approaches.
- Categories
- Education, Environment, Investing, Social Enterprise, Technology
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Mind Over Matter: Why Developing a Growth Mindset is Key to Unlocking Women Farmers’ Success in Africa
Agricultural development in sub-Saharan Africa has typically centered on training farmers, providing them with inputs like seeds and fertilizers, and introducing technologies to improve their farming practices. Yet as Michelle Kurian at The Harvest Fund explains, these efforts have failed to spark a “green revolution” across the region. She explores the key role that a growth mindset can play in farmers' success, and argues that fostering this mindset shift — particularly among women — is a crucial priority that demands immediate attention.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Social Enterprise
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Putting Communities at the Center of Impact Measurement: Why Locally Led Evaluations are Key to Measuring Project Success
Development organizations and donors often measure impact by asking if their target population was lifted, to some degree, out of poverty. But as Henok Begashaw at iDE argues, traditional impact measurement approaches centered around poverty reduction — like household surveys designed by outside technical experts — can fail to capture the key outcomes of an initiative. He explores the benefits of a locally led measurement approach that allows organizations to develop a rich picture of project outcomes, based on what beneficiaries themselves say is important.
- Categories
- Social Enterprise
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Measuring Systems Change: Three Tools for Understanding Your System-Level Impact
There's a growing realization that traditional solutions to individual global challenges often fail to address the interconnected causes at the root of these issues. As a result, impact-focused organizations are increasingly viewing these problems as part of a broader system, and developing solutions that aim to make positive systemic change. But as Gaurav Gupta and Bianca Samson at Dalberg and Saloni Atal at Artha Global explain, measuring system-level impact presents some unique difficulties. They explore these challenges and share some measurement tools that can allow organizations to separate the signal from the noise.
- Categories
- Social Enterprise, Technology
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