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Peddling Poor Products to the Poor: What’s Our Responsibility?
Non-communicable diseases like diabetes and heart disease are now the biggest worldwide killers, surpassing infectious diseases like HIV, malaria and tuberculosis. As large businesses like Nestl? deepen their engagement in low-income markets, increasing sales of both beneficial and deleterious products to the poor, what is our responsibility?
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- Uncategorized
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Affordable Housing for All – In Our Lifetime
In order to fix broken affordable housing value chains, each player needed to move from a mindset where they were competing for a limited ?wallet share, to one in which multiple players ? each with different assets to make the wallet actually expand in size - came together in significant and increasing numbers to overcome major obstacles.
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- Finance, Uncategorized
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- housing
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Housing Series: Empowering an Urban Community After Disaster
Communities like Simon-Pel? present many challenges, all magnified by the 2010 earthquake. Habitat for Humanity Haiti used a community-based enumeration (survey) process aimed to help the community take stock of its resources, prioritize its needs and develop action plans. The surveys and focus groups are tools for building more than housing.
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- Uncategorized
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- housing
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1,300 Schools is a Good Start, but the True Learning Curve is Sustainable Livelihoods
The recent announcement of Aziz Premji Foundation (APF) to launch 1,300 schools across various districts in India is expected to improve the education scenario in many rural districts. Impressive as it is, focusing on access to education for children, instead of building sustainable incomes for their parents, may not be the bridge out of poverty.
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- Uncategorized
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The G20 Challenge Applying Proven Business Models to the BoP
Last week, the doors swung wide for full applications to the G20 Challenge on Inclusive Business Innovation. The Challenge doesn’t offer prize money to winners - rather its value is in opening the doors of opportunity for BoP-focused enterprises with proven models.
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- Education
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Building a Business Around Combating Counterfeit Pharmaceuticals
As more businesses enter the BoP, many will need to focus on reducing counterfeiter’s grip on the market. Sproxil is trying to limit that hold on the pharmaceutical market in emerging economies by literally putting the power in the hands of the end consumer through cell phones.
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- Health Care, Technology
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Weekly Roundup: Venture Capital Might Just ‘Save the World’, First it Needs Some Efficiency
The Forbes cover story asks: "Can Venture Capital Save the World?" But as the article points out, Acumen Fund doesn?t mirror a traditional venture capital firm. Having led a Santa Clara University study, retired venture capitalist John Kohler says social capital markets could stand to learn a few lessons on efficiency from the VC world.
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- Investing, Social Enterprise
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- venture capital
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2011 Social Finance Forum: Investing in Good Deals
Last year, over 300 people gathered for the launch of the Mobilizing Private Capital for Public Good report by the Canadian Task Force on Social Finance. It was a call to action on the role of capital markets to create economic/social sustainability. This year, Canada’s impact investing marketplace will tackle what it means to invest in good deals.
- Categories
- Investing, Social Enterprise
