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A Portfolio Approach to ESG and CSR: Why Supporting Social Entrepreneurship Accelerators Makes Sense for Corporate Funders
Many corporations seek to support social enterprises as a way to meet their environmental, social and governance (ESG) or corporate social responsibility (CSR) goals. But as Brigit Helms at Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship explains, corporations often find it challenging to identify and engage with these enterprises one at a time, and instead prefer to work with social enterprise accelerators. She shares insights from a recent Miller Center white paper that attempts to quantify the benefits corporate partners can obtain from supporting these accelerators.
- Categories
- Investing, Social Enterprise
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Efficiency vs. Effectiveness: What Low- and Middle-Income Countries Can Learn from a Key Business Mistake in the Developed World
Over the centuries, free enterprise has excelled at driving efficiencies and innovations, from the cotton gin to the sewing machine, that have powered societal development. But author and entrepreneur Ed Chambliss argues that, as societies grow more prosperous, an overemphasis on business efficiency – as embodied by the concept of shareholder primacy – is no longer enough. He urges businesses in developed countries to broaden their focus to include all their stakeholders' diverse needs – and encourages businesses in developing countries to adopt this broader definition of sustainable success.
- Categories
- Social Enterprise
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Pushing the Water Boundaries: How Social Impact Incentives Can Make WASH Enterprises More Innovative, Impactful and Catalytic
The water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) sector is ripe for change, as it is far from being on track to achieve universal access to safe drinking water (SDG 6). According to Shabana Abbas at Aqua for All, and Bjoern Struewer and Patrizia Baffioni at Roots of Impact, impact entrepreneurs can drive the sector forward, but their funders will need to move away from the usual grant models to explore more innovative and sustainable financing approaches. They discuss one such model – Social Impact Incentives – and how it's being applied successfully to support WASH enterprises.
- Categories
- Finance, Impact Assessment, Social Enterprise, WASH
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How Behavioral Science Can Improve Digital Services: Exploring the Impact of an Innovative Accelerator Program on Social Enterprises in Latin America
Though behavioral science is a relatively new field of study in Latin America, it is increasingly being leveraged to address financial inclusion and other needs in the region – and it has particular relevance to social enterprises working in the digital space. Juan Pablo Marichi at New Ventures and Santiago Mesa at Acceso explore how New Ventures' SUMA accelerator program has applied the study of behavioral science to the issues of financial health and inclusion, and share some lessons that participants – including Acceso – have learned in the process.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Finance, Social Enterprise, Technology
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How to Build a Career that Will Change the World: Six Keys to Shifting Your Work Toward Social Impact
With the rise of remote work, the COVID-19 pandemic has transformed many people's professional lives. But Roshan Paul at the Amani Institute points out that the crisis has also had a profound impact on young professionals, prompting a global reassessment of the meaning of work. With millions of people questioning the very purpose of their work and pushing their organizations to address social problems, he explores the movement towards impact-first work, sharing insights from his new book “The New Reason to Work: How to Build a Career That Will Change the World.”
- Categories
- Education, Social Enterprise
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NextBillion’s 2022 Reader and Guest Writer Survey: Share Your Views and Help Shape Our Coverage
As an open forum for the development through enterprise sector, almost all of NextBillion's content is guest written. That's why it's important for us to check in periodically with our writers and readers, to get a better sense of how well our coverage is suiting your needs – and what we could do better. To that end, we've put together a brief, six-question survey, and we invite both writers and readers to share your views. Your input will be highly valuable as we work to highlight the businesses, innovations, debates and leaders that are shaping the sector.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Coronavirus, Education, Energy, Environment, Finance, Health Care, Impact Assessment, Investing, Social Enterprise, Technology, WASH
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How Cross-Industry Collaboration Can Spur the Digitalisation of the Last-Mile Distribution Sector
Last-mile distributors play a critical role in bringing energy and other life-changing products and services to customers in sub-Saharan Africa, and digitalisation is key to enabling these companies to operate at scale. But as Javier Baranda Alonso at Energy 4 Impact explains, both distributors and digital service providers often struggle to understand and service each other’s needs. He shares insights from a research report that highlights ways to accelerate the digitalisation of last-mile distribution by building bridges between the two sectors.
- Categories
- Energy, Social Enterprise, Technology, Telecommunications
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Redefining the Corporate Value Chain: How Social Procurement Can Benefit Both Corporations and Social Businesses
The challenges of scale and the need for greater corporate involvement are perennial topics of discussion in the social business sector. But according to Lucie Durand and Daniel Nowack at Yunus Social Business, both of these challenges can be addressed through social procurement – the practice of integrating social businesses into corporate value chains. They discuss how this strategy can harness corporations' buying power to scale social enterprises, and share insights from a how-to guide for industry practitioners interested in social procurement.
- Categories
- Social Enterprise
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