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Developing a ‘Purpose Mindset’: How Microsoft’s Employee Giving Efforts Are Impacting the Company – and the World
Microsoft is mainly known for its tech innovations, but it has brought a similarly inventive approach to employee giving. Akhtar Badshah at Catalytic Innovators Group, who led Microsoft’s philanthropic efforts for 10 years, explores this model in his new book, "Purpose Mindset: How Microsoft Inspires Employees & Alumni to Change the World." He discusses the company's efforts to effect large-scale social change through small-scale staff donations and volunteerism, and shares lessons for other organizations that want to foster a culture of purpose and empathy.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Technology
- Tags
- COVID-19, nonprofits, philanthropy
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Addressing COVID-19 While Building Long-Term Capacity: Trends and Opportunities in Africa’s Growing Pharmaceutical Markets
The African pharmaceutical market’s estimated worth is between US $40 – $65 billion, but it remains largely untapped, with a heavy reliance on imports. According to Biodun Awosusi at Health Systems and Development Enterprise, the COVID-19 crisis shows the urgent need to unlock new partnerships and investments to accelerate the local production of medical supplies, medicines and vaccines, which could save lives and create jobs. He explores how Africa’s pharmaceutical sector is responding to the pandemic, and how it could be strengthened for the longer term.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Health Care
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When Economies Turn Down, Entrepreneurs Turn Up: How COVID-19 Has Spurred Nigerian Businesses to Build for an Inclusive Future
The COVID-19 crisis has devastated lives and livelihoods around the world. But as Eloho Omame at Endeavor points out, it has also re-shaped economies in more positive ways, revealing businesses' weak spots, areas for improvement and inefficient processes. She explores the impact this is having on Nigeria’s innovation ecosystem, where entrepreneurs have built or adapted business models that have saved lives, created jobs, and contributed to economic prosperity and the digitization of the economy.
- Categories
- Coronavirus
- Tags
- COVID-19, innovation, scale, startups
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Recovery 2021: Introducing NextBillion’s New COVID-19 Series
For over a year, COVID-19 and its economic fallout have been inescapable facts of life, taking a particularly heavy toll on vulnerable communities – and the businesses that serve them. Now, with a vaccine promising to gradually bring an end to this historic crisis, we anticipate that the conversation around the pandemic will evolve, as impact-focused businesses and development organizations move to a longer-term effort to “build back better.” To highlight these discussions, NextBillion is expanding upon our COVID-19 coverage through a new special series called “Recovery 2021.”
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Social Enterprise
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When ‘Hibernation’ Is Not an Option: How a Small Business in India Fought to Stay Alive During the Pandemic
Soon after the COVID-19 lockdown started, Lal10 – a social enterprise that connects India’s indigenous artisans to formal markets – faced cratering demand for its standard products, like saris and other textiles. As Sachi Shenoy at Upaya Social Ventures explains, in order to survive, the company essentially had to start over. She explores how Lal10 managed to quickly pivot to meet the intense demand for personal protective equipment, while continuing to connect its artisans to dignified work – and building a more efficient company in the process.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Social Enterprise
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Preparing for Life After COVID-19: How India’s Healthcare System Can Better Respond to Future Shocks
India’s public healthcare system was tested by the onset of COVID-19. Now that a vaccine promises to bring the end phase of the pandemic (gradually) into sight, Puneet Khanduja and Mitul Thapliyal at MicroSave (MSC) say it’s time to make the system more robust, to better absorb such shocks in the future. They share research that MSC conducted with low-income households in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Odisha and Bihar, and make recommendations to improve the healthcare system's preparedness for the next crisis.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Health Care
- Tags
- COVID-19
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A Silver Lining During the Pandemic: Three Financial Inclusion Success Stories in the Age of COVID-19
COVID-19 has had a dramatic negative impact on businesses across practically all sectors. When it comes to financial inclusion, the pandemic has sparked concerns about a widening digital divide, rising gender inequality, growing skepticism over informal financial practices, and the risk of overlooking financially vulnerable customers. But as Anshul Saxena at MSC points out, the crisis has also generated some encouraging success stories. He highlights three businesses that have found ways to thrive during the pandemic.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Finance
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Innovation for Adaptation: How a New Fund Is Helping Service Providers Navigate the Challenges of COVID-19
The impact of COVID-19 has been amplified at the local level in Kenya and Rwanda, where non-profit service providers working with vulnerable populations are finding it more difficult to support their beneficiaries. Michael Kiema and Linda Ndungu Wambua at Instiglio explore learnings from the COVID-19 Adaptation Fund, which is providing funding to nine qualifying service providers to help them implement innovations that will support their efforts to serve beneficiaries during the pandemic.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Technology