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NexThought Monday: In Failure, a Marketing Lesson for Social Entrepreneurs: What we can learn from the closing of The Hoop Fund
The Hoop Fund was built on a truly innovative premise: Allow consumers to purchase premium goods from small businesses in the developing world, while simultaneously supporting those businesses with microloans. Unfortunately, the model suffered from critical gaps in marketing strategy, which made it almost impossible to achieve scale.
- Categories
- Education
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NexThought Monday: Complexity is the New Black
NYT columnist David Brooks recently called on social enterprise types to take a dose of realism. I argue it’s time to accept full responsibility for changing politics as part of social impact. If in attempting to improve some economic or social aspect of people’s lives we aren’t also improving their political standing and the rule of law, any economic or social impact remains temporary.
- Categories
- Education, Social Enterprise
- Tags
- impact investing
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Guest Post: A Healthy Dose of Idealism – How David Brooks Got it Wrong
New York Times columnist David Brooks recently criticized social entrepreneurs for being too idealistic and out of touch with the realities of politics in developing countries. In response, Echoing Green’s Nidhi Chaudhary says Brooks fundamentally misses the point.
- Categories
- Education, Social Enterprise
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At the 2012 Clinton Global Initiative University: ‘Talent is Universal: Opportunity is Not’
Last weekend over 1,000 students from around the world gathered on the campus of the George Washington University in Washington, D.C. for the 2012 Clinton Global Initiative University. To get there, each of them had to make a commitment to action. From tracking cholera epidemics in Bangladesh, to reducing delinquency among disadvantaged young women in Arkansas through mentoring and coaching, to creating awareness about campus sustainability issues in Florida,
- Categories
- Education, Impact Assessment
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On the Impact Road Trip: How Wakami Value Chains are Weaving Change in Guatemala
Business incubator Communities of the Earth targets women in rural villages throughout Guatemala by teaching them how to make bracelets and necklaces. Women who receive the training work together in small groups (called “Wakami Value Chains”) to craft products for Kiej de los Bosques – a Guatemala City-based business that produces an assortment of handicraft products for both national and international consumption.
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- Education, Social Enterprise
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NextThought Monday: From Job-Takers to Changemakers – Nurturing Entrepreneurship, Social Innovation in Higher Ed
A few weeks ago, the Ashoka U Exchange conference brought together 500 students, faculty, and staff as well as social entrepreneurs to connect and nurture collaboration for instilling a culture of entrepreneurship and social innovation in higher education. Ashoka U identifies and selects pioneer campuses and supports establishing campus change teams.
- Categories
- Education
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National Social Entrepreneurship Forum: Creating a Network With Purpose
Recently I had a chance to interact with Yashveer Singh, Founder, National Social Entrepreneurship Forum (NSEF) about the organization and about their unique Authors of Change Program. (NSEF) is an organization working towards democratizing social innovation and Entrepreneurship amongst Indian youth.
- Categories
- Education, Social Enterprise
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Growing Up Fast, What the Dalberg Survey Tells Us About Successful Social Entrepreneurs
Want to find out what made the good enterprises great - and not just in anecdotal form? Dalberg Global Development Advisors clearly thought so. Working with Harvard, the consulting firm polled more than 60 social entreprenurs to find out how they lept the hurdles that every venture faces. Check out the survey and a replay of the live webinar.
- Categories
- Education, Social Enterprise
- Tags
- impact investing, research, scale
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