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Creating a Culture of Innovation By Letting Employees Lead the Way
For nearly 30 years, Pro Mujer has been a regional leader in Latin America – not only in microfinance, but in women’s empowerment. But facing an evolving landscape with emerging technologies and new market participants, the organization realized that it needed to develop a more innovative approach. As it considered how to establish a culture of innovation, Pro Mujer turned to a surprising (yet intuitive) resource: its employees. Cassandra Salcedo, Associate Director of Strategy and Innovation at Pro Mujer, shares five key lessons the organization learned from the process.
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- Finance, Technology
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Big Problem, Small Solution: Can Do-It-Yourself Processing Machines Help Combat Plastic Pollution?
From the viral video of a diver swimming in a sea of plastic, to National Geographic’s major focus on the topic this year, there’s growing public attention on the problem of plastic waste. So there was plenty of excitement when a Dutch engineer’s do-it-yourself plastic recycling machines started gaining traction around the world. Could the devices empower a global army of small entrepreneurs to turn plastic waste into revenue-generating products? The solution sounds appealing, but when Bali-based social enterprise Kopernik assessed its effectiveness, they came across one small problem.
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- Environment, Impact Assessment, Social Enterprise, Technology
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Making AI Work for Africa: Why Google Must Go Local with its New Research Center in Ghana
In June, Google announced that it would open an Artificial Intelligence (AI) research center in Accra, Ghana later this year – one more sign of Africa’s vast untapped potential for AI innovation. But since developing countries will be hit hardest by manufacturing job losses caused by AI-fueled automation, Google must avoid “merely creating an African outpost for its pre-existing research efforts,” says Ghanaian entrepreneur Timothy Kotin. He explores the transformation impact that companies like Google could make if they invest in regional talent to develop locally relevant AI solutions.
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- Technology
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Navigating Change: A Step-By-Step Approach to Revising a Social Enterprise Business Plan
By 2018, EarthSpark International had already built two micro-grids in Haiti, sold around 18,000 clean energy products, and invented the leading meter for micro-grids, which sold 40,000 units in 22 countries. The company seemed to be primed for a successful future. But EarthSpark faced significant problems, both in terms of profitability and social impact. To achieve its mission, it needed to make major changes to its model. Social business pioneer Eric Carlson describes how the company revised its business plan, using the paradigm from his new book, Building A Successful Social Venture.
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- Energy, Social Enterprise
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The Missing Link in the Blockchain: The Need for Trust in a ‘Trustless’ System
Blockchain has become the ultimate tech buzzword, and development organizations are seeking to apply it in projects of every stripe. But as Rose Davis discovered in researching the technology’s social impact applications for Stanford, reliable digital identification is an essential precursor to many blockchain initiatives. Does a distributed ledger that has supposedly transcended the need for centralized oversight actually require some form of verification from trustworthy authorities? And if so, who should provide it? Davis explores these questions in this thought-provoking post.
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- Technology
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Three Ways Inclusive Businesses Can Become More Customer-Centric
In any successful business, the customer always comes first. However, impact-focused enterprises often paint customers at the base of the pyramid with wide brush strokes, overlooking nuances in culture, location and literacy. Christian Jahn, Executive Director of the Inclusive Business Action Network, understands the desire to "help" poor people – but notes well-intended social entrepreneurs risk ignoring what their customers really want. Instead, Jahn recommends businesses develop a holistic view of customer needs, viewing them through a realistic lens for more meaningful impact.
- Categories
- Social Enterprise
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Outside the Echo Chamber: How Silence is Sabotaging Impact Investing
From individual investors to giants like Goldman Sachs and TPG, impact investing continues to gain new adherents. But despite the range of actors falling under the impact investing umbrella, the sector's narrative is largely dominated by the loudest voices in the room – a group that Bar Cudkevich of Aspectus Group argues is largely unrepresentative of the field's burgeoning diversity. She explores why a "strong, smart communications strategy" is essential for investors of all sizes.
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- Investing
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‘It is Time to Rethink Microfinance’: Exploring a Sector in Transition in the Asia Pacific Region
The Asia Pacific microfinance sector is changing. Its MFIs have seen rampant growth, and the enterprises they serve have financing requirements that are growing more complex. In response, some MFIs are adapting their business models into different types of financial institutions, such as small banks. In short, the sector is evolving from a niche segment to a mainstream industry – with all the challenges and opportunities that implies. The Asia Pacific Microfinance Forum will discuss this evolution in Singapore on October 30-31, bringing together MFIs, NGOs, impact investors, entrepreneurs and others, all committed to building a better world.
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- Finance
