Articles by James Militzer
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Guest Articles
Friday
October 30
2015From ‘Nice to Have’ to ‘Need to Have’: The GIIN’s Kelly McCarthy discusses the growing momentum – and ongoing challenges – of impact assessment
IRIS Senior Manager Kelly McCarthy at the Global Impact Investing Network believes that “the impact investing community is embracing the value of social and environmental impact data, which is very encouraging.” McCarthy spoke about the momentum behind impact measurement, investors’ changing attitudes toward it, and the challenges of getting companies on board in the Q&A.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment, Investing
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Guest Articles
Friday
October 23
2015James Militzer / Scott Anderson / Kyle Poplin
Weekly Roundup 10-23-15: Impact Investing Recovers from ‘The Cooties’
Most people don’t associate Department of Labor policy changes with excitement. But this week’s announcement of changes to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) has primed the impact investing movement to party like it’s 1994. We explore the move in this roundup, along with some inspiring words on what every social entrepreneur should ask themselves, and some critical points on business school ethics.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment, Investing
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Thursday
October 22
2015(UPDATED) Weekly Roundup 10-2-15: Kiva Zip folds in Kenya – what happened? Updated with a Kiva Zip response
Kiva Zip was launched in 2011 to considerable acclaim, and its dual operations in the U.S. and Kenya appeared to be progressing smoothly. But recently, Kiva Zip announced that it is winding down its Kenyan operations. What happened, and what does it mean for the future of the direct person-to-person lending approach in microfinance? Kiva Zip's senior director responds.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Tags
- microfinance
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Friday
October 16
2015Scott Anderson / James Militzer / Kyle Poplin
Weekly Roundup 10-16-15: The built-in drama of SOCAP
The world of double-bottom-line investment is still in its infancy, relatively speaking, and it’s growing. The key players are still trying to understand each others’ motivations and how best to work together. That intricate, evolving dance between investors and investees is, at the end of the day, what SOCAP is all about, and why it’s so compelling.
- Categories
- Energy, Environment
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Guest Articles
Thursday
October 15
2015Impact Investing Goes to School: What researchers have learned about the sector – and how much they still don’t know
Cathy Clark, the founder and director of the i3 initiative, has been working at the crossroads of academic research and impact investing for over two decades. We caught up with her at last week's SOCAP15 conference to discuss where the field is heading, how it's being impacted by the academic world, and how much researchers still don't understand.
- Categories
- Education, Impact Assessment, Social Enterprise
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Monday
October 12
2015Overcoming Assumptions and Prejudices to Forge a Network of Self Reliance: Why Zidisha targets young, tech-savvy entrepreneurs with loans
The nonprofit Zidisha built a different kind of micro-lending platform: One that is peer-to-peer, transparent and caters to entrepreneurs who came of age during the Internet era. In part two of our interview with CEO Julia Kurnia we discuss how Zidisha maintains its borrower-friendly focus, differentiates itself from other lending networks, and holds steadfast to the idea that loans are better than cash transfers.
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- Uncategorized
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Wednesday
October 7
2015Microlending Peer to Peer … and Back Again: After six years, Zidisha CEO presses for low-debt loans, high transparency
Many have called for more transparency and increased accountability in microcredit - and raised concerns about the often high cost of microloans to poor recipients. Since it was founded six years ago, the nonprofit Zidisha has sought to address these issues by providing a direct connection between lenders and entrepreneurs. CEO Julia Kurnia discusses the model and its challenges in part one of this Q&A.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Tags
- crowdfunding
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Interviews
Wednesday
September 30
2015F.B. Heron Foundation President Clara Miller is Stepping Down: Watch our 2015 Video Interview
In June, the F.B. Heron Foundation announced that it was moving 100 percent of its assets into impact investments, aiming to complete the process by the end of 2017. On September 30, the foundation's president Clara Miller joined NextBillion for a live Google Hangout. We discussed Heron’s bold move – and the lessons it has learned from its efforts to align its capital with its mission. You can view the replay in this post.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment