-
From Counting Women to Valuing Women: Practical Impact Measurement Tools for Complex Contexts
The old way of measuring the gender equality of a company or program consisted of simply counting women – from the number of female employees and clients, to the number of women beneficiaries and board members. The new way is all about valuing women by collecting data on how they are impacted by a company or program. Rebecca Baylor at WDI's Performance Measurement team provides some concrete strategies for gender-based impact measurement and management.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment
-
Machine Learning in PAYGo: What You Need to Know Before You Jump In
Machine learning is an exciting technology with plenty of potential applications in social impact business. But as Jacob Winiecki at BFA points out, the hype around the approach may make it tempting to jump in without first determining if it's the right tool for the job. He offers a clear run-down of how machine learning actually works in practice, along with three concrete steps for how a PAYGo enterprise can implement the technology, based on the work BFA’s FIBR Project has done with ZOLA, a leading PAYGo solar operator in Africa.
- Categories
- Energy, Finance, Technology
-
A Microfinance Pioneer Branches Out: Early Learnings from FINCA’s Experiences as an Impact Investor
Some three decades after launching its work in microfinance, FINCA International has gotten into impact investing. Hoping to better understand emerging innovations and their impact on its customers and operations, FINCA Ventures has invested in six social enterprises operating in sub-Saharan Africa. Ami Dalal, the initiative's managing director, discusses the lessons it has learned so far, and how these investments improve FINCA's business strategy while furthering its mission.
-
How to Help Social Enterprises Scale: New Research Suggests it’s Not Just About Financial Capital
For businesses that need to scale, human capital support can provide long-lasting benefits. But Mark Horoszowski, co-founder and CEO at MovingWorlds.org, says that in spite of the value of investing in the people behind the enterprises, initiatives for capacity building, coaching and consulting largely go underfunded. Horoszowski explores findings from a first-of-its-kind report that show the power of human capital, and discusses three paths for building talent in the sector.
- Categories
- Investing, Social Enterprise
-
Enough Equity Financing: Why the Future of Impact Fintechs Depends on Private Debt
Many high-profile impact-focused fintech firms have been successful in raising Series A and B equity rounds, and many believe that form of capital can serve both growth and scale goals. But it can’t, says John Beckham, Chief Investment Officer at MicroVest Capital Management. Instead, he advocates more debt financing for fintechs that have proven their models. He explores why investors should embrace private debt as a key opportunity to turn a nascent marketplace for impact fintechs into a thriving one.
- Categories
- Finance, Investing, Technology
- Tags
- fintech, impact investing
-
When Will Clean Cooking Hit the Gas? An Interview with New Alliance CEO Dymphna van der Lans
In March 2018, Dymphna van der Lans was appointed CEO of the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, an industry group representing businesses, investors and NGOs. The organization has since rebranded as the Clean Cooking Alliance and has set a new goal: to achieve universal access to clean cooking by 2030. In this video interview with NextBillion editors, we ask van der Lans about how the alliance is helping to reach those goals – as well as the criticism it has faced about the sector's social impact.
- Categories
- Energy, Environment
-
See Who Won NB’s Top Post of 2018 Contest
Thank you to everyone who voted in NextBillion's seventh annual Top Post of the Year contest. Here are the winners and their vote percentage totals as well as the complete results for this year's competition. Congratulations to the top three winning contributors for their articles, which both challenged and enlightened us. And Happy New Year to all of our readers.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Education, Energy, Environment, Finance, Health Care, Investing, Technology, WASH
-
Pulling Back the Curtain on a Social Enterprise Merger: Practicalities and Surprises as Two Companies Become One
When Pollinate Energy began executing its recent merger with a former competitor, Empower Generation, some stakeholders doubted they would succeed. But as its CEO Alexie Seller describes, though the two companies were based in different countries, their models and missions were similar. Even so, they faced multiple challenges – and more than a few surprises – in the merger process. In this revealing post, Seller explores what has worked, and what hasn’t, as the companies have combined.
- Categories
- Energy, Social Enterprise