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Skoll Award Recipients Focus on Ecosystem Services Market
Having focused much of my research at Oxford on carbon markets and the development of ecosystem services markets, I was thrilled to see the Skoll Foundation?s recent investments in this area at last night?s ceremony for their 2010 Awards for Social Entrepreneurship. Three of the seven recipients were from the field of forest valuation.
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Funding the Small Fish: Association for Development of Pakistan
With a proliferation of small projects and business ideas bubbling up in developing countries, a gap is emerging: the lack of a dedicated donor pool willing to angel fund such projects. Enter the Association for Development of Pakistan, an organization that provides grants in amounts less than USD $10,000 to groups in Pakistan.
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Voices From the Skoll World Forum Opening Plenary
The opening plenary at the Skoll World Forum had numerous themes and Twitter-perfect quotes, but to me one of the most important threads that ran through the evening was the importance of giving individuals a voice to help themselves out of conflict, abject poverty, and the effects of natural disaster.
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Notes from the Base of the Pyramid(s)
Try Googling ?Base of the Pyramid? and ?Egypt.? You will learn about the size of the base of the Cheops pyramid, the length of its sides, and that it was built to be as square as possible. Not exactly what one might be looking for in the context of enterprise and development?
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Skoll World Forum 2010: Themes and Sessions to Watch
The Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship kicks off today in Oxford, United Kingdom. I have been lucky enough to be living in Oxford since September, and now feel even more fortunate to be part of the social media team for this exciting event.This year?s theme is "catalyzing collaboration for large scale change."
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Targeting the Ultra Poor: The BRAC Model
The ultra-poor are the poorest individuals in low income markets and are frequently neglected by private sector initiatives. The BRAC model is a recent attempt to develop an economically sustainable program, specifically targeting this segment to push the poor above the poverty line and teach them how to run their own business.
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Keystone Performance Survey: Social Investment 2010
Last fall, Acumen Fund worked with Keystone Accountability to develop and execute a survey of all of our investments. This was the first time we had done a portfolio-wide survey in years; we had reached a point in our growth where it was important to pause and take in look in the mirror to see how we were doing as partners to our investees.
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ANDE Launches Impact Report and Announces Grants
The Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE) - now a global network of more than 80 high-profile organizations supporting high-impact entrepreneurship in developing countries - today announced the findings of its 2009 Impact Report. For instance, the report notes that ANDE members have made 2,500 investments totalling $830 million.
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