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Embracing Failure at the Harvard Social Enterprise Conference
In business, failure is part of the game, but this reality is often taboo in the social sector. At Root Cause, Phil Buchanan of Tactical Philanthropy provided his thoughts on the importance of "learning from history" from successful philanthropic cases.
- Categories
- Social Enterprise
- Tags
- failure
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Guest Post: Listening to the Voices of Experience
Acumen Fund created the Global Fellows Program because we wanted to build a core group of leaders from across the globe who not only had the intellect, passion and business skills, but also the experience of serving low-income consumers in some of the most challenging environments in the world. Last month I got a glimpse into that complexity.
- Categories
- Education, Social Enterprise
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NextThought: Quick Reflections from Harvard’s Social Enterprise Conference
The students of Harvard met and exceeded expectations at their annual Social Enterprise Conference through a healthy mix of panel discussions, hands-on workshops and a student-driven entrepreneurial spirit that was palpable in every hallway.
- Categories
- Finance, Social Enterprise
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Advancing Healthcare With the BoP: To Emerging Markets and Back Again
What happens when a large U.S.-based multinational company wants to get a product to market in the BoP? For Pfizer and GE, the approach is two-fold: part market-based and part philanthropic but both closely linked to market objectives of the firms.
- Categories
- Health Care, Social Enterprise
- Tags
- philanthropy
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Why Inclusive Growth is Critical for Economic Success in Brazil’s BoP
Racial and gender inequity, sex tourism, cultural tourism, and economic opportunity form a complex intersection in Brazil, though it is one that is shifting. Upgrading labor market access through transportation, education and social policies - and this has already begun. But can Brazil’s tourism industry be shifted to perpetuate greater equality?
- Categories
- Investing
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Awakening a ’Sleeping Giant,’ Microfranchise as a Distribution Platform
Hapinoy is an example of a conversion franchising model that attracts existing, independently-owned businesses to a standardized network. The company negotiates bulk product purchases via supplier contracts with Nestle and Unilever, among others. Products are purchased in bulk and distributed via ’Hapidelivery’ to a network of community stores.
- Categories
- Environment
- Tags
- distribution
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NextThought Monday: How Can I Pay My Loans If I Can’t Afford an Onion?
Sure, one might argue that growing debts and high interest rates have lead to suicides in India and rising default rates. Perhaps you may even conclude that greed finally got the better of the MFIs. But when I visited Andhra Pradesh and almost couldn’t afford a watermelon, I gained a whole new perspective on the MFI crisis.
- Categories
- Finance
- Tags
- lending, microfinance
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Detroit: Emerging from the Ground Up
A couple of weeks ago, I attended a unique social enterprise conference, Revitalization and Business. Its focus was not on a continent, a region, or a nation in need. Rather, it focused on one single American city-Detroit, Michigan, where small projects and individuals are making powerful waves from the ground up.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment, Social Enterprise
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