Articles by Heather Esper
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Guest Articles
Thursday
October 20
2011Creating Demand With Social Marketing: ColaLife’s Approach
Too often ventures forget they need endeavor to create demand for the products they offer in BoP markets. ColaLife is a rare example, as it thought this through this early in the design phase. Fitting into the unused spaced between crated bottles, ColaLife’s "AidPods" contain Anti-Diarrhea Kits (ADKs) for home use by mothers and caregivers.
- Categories
- Health Care, Social Enterprise
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Tuesday
August 2
2011From the Field: The Livestock Sector
Despite the clear value that livestock offers BoP farmers and producers offer, in Kenya it’s clear there many areas of the sector still could be enhanced. This includes moving toward decentralizing the animal health system, providing insurance to producers and educating livestock producers, all of which present opportunities for BoP ventures.
- Categories
- Agriculture
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Thursday
June 23
2011Recap from ANDE Metrics from the Ground Up Conference
The future of metrics is unfolding at ANDE. As an attendee of their third metrics conference, I can say it has been fascinating to observe how the metrics conversation has changed and the progress that has been made. Read on for a recap of some of these exciting developments and a look towards new work that is underway.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment
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Thursday
April 21
2011Narratives Are Not Enough
Many of you have been tracking the aftermath of the 60 Minutes report about Greg Mortenson?s non-profit, Central Asian Institute (CAI), the allegations of mismanagement and misrepresentations in his book, Three Cups of Tea. It shows how critical it is to collect actual data on how organizations impact poverty. How can we increase transparency?
- Categories
- Impact Assessment
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Tuesday
April 19
2011Talking Metrics: Is Standardization a Dream?
Last week I sat down with Calvert Foundation, Grassroots Business Fund and E+Co to discuss the use of metrics by socially oriented businesses. The conversation focused on how they use metrics within their organizations and what role they see metrics playing in the future. The discussion demonstrated the need to change how stakeholders view metrics.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment, Investing
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Tuesday
March 29
2011ANDE?s 2010 Impact Report Charts A Growth Course
Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE) released its second annual impact report today, which highlighted the growth of the small and growing business (SGB) sector with the launch of new 31 funds looking to SGBs in emerging markets, in addition to the impact of their 110 members on the sector.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment, Investing
- Tags
- impact investing
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Guest Articles
Monday
January 31
2011Improving Development, One Failure at a Time
The development community needs to learn to better manage failure and stop sweeping it under the rug. On Jan. 14, Engineers Without Borders Canada with Peace Dividend Trust launched a website to challenge development organizations worldwide. Admittingfailure.com is a platform for individuals to submit mistakes they?ve encountered in their work.
- Categories
- Social Enterprise
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Tuesday
December 28
2010Best Ideas of 2010: Pushing Metrics Forward
In 2010, discussions about metrics, largely with a focus on impact investing, were everywhere. Although many, many more discussions are needed before we can compare the poverty alleviation impacts of all venture strategies, the diverse set of stakeholders engaged in the conversation will help us get there.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment
- Tags
- impact investing