Articles by James Militzer
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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.
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- 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
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Friday
September 25
2015Scott Anderson / James Militzer / Kyle Poplin
Weekly Roundup 9-25-15: The Pope, SDGs and why VW’s eco impact lies matter to social enterprise worldwide
The setting couldn't have been grander for Business Call to Action’s (BCtA) sixth annual forum Thursday in New York City where the Sustainable Development Goals were the focus. The streets were buzzing with anticipation of Pope Francis’ arrival later in the day, but some were disappointed with his climate change pitch. We look at both, plus what B Labs can teach VW.
- Categories
- Environment, Transportation
- Tags
- transportation
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Tuesday
September 1
2015Serving the 57 Percent: That’s the percentage of American adults who are struggling financially – CFSI research illuminates their needs
At first, the headline number may seem hard to believe: 57 percent of American adults are struggling financially. But that's what the Center for Financial Services Innovation found in its recent Consumer Financial Health Study. We spoke with Aliza Gutman, the CFSI director who has led the study, about the challenges facing this group - and the opportunities in serving them.
- Categories
- Education
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Interviews
Friday
August 28
2015Accelerating Social Entrepreneurship in Latin America: An interview with Agora Partnerships’ CEO Ben Powell
As Ben Powell, its founder and CEO puts it, Agora Partnerships "accelerates entrepreneurs that are solving social and environmental problems in Latin America." Powell describes the process – including some surprising challenges most entrepreneurs face – and discusses emerging trends in social business and investing in this video interview.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment, Social Enterprise
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Guest Articles
Friday
August 14
2015Needed: A ‘Facebook’ for Impact Investing: Why the Sector Needs to Embrace Failure – And Also Produce Some Inspiring Successes
Impact investing has had some notable success stories, but no true breakout companies that – like Facebook – can inspire public attention and draw more entrepreneurs and investors to the sector. That's a problem, says Vox Capital director Daniel Izzo – as is the fear of failure, both financial and social, among investors. He discusses these challenges, and some possible solutions, in this video Q&A.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment, Investing, Social Enterprise
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Guest Articles
Thursday
August 6
2015Defining ‘Good Practices’ in Microfinance: Smart Campaign Director Isabelle Barrès addresses the thorny issues of profits and pricing – and discusses its next steps
The Smart Campaign was launched to promote customer protection in microfinance – most notably by certifying the practices of participating MFIs. But critics have taken issue with the profits and pricing of some certified institutions. The campaign's director, Isabelle Barrès, responds to these criticisms, and discusses its next steps, in part two of our Q&A.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment
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Guest Articles
Wednesday
August 5
2015An Uphill Climb: Smart Campaign director Isabelle Barrès, on the challenges of promoting client protection in microfinance
The Smart Campaign’s numbers are growing: It has certified 39 microfinance institutions as meeting its client protection standards, and these MFIs now serve slightly more than 20 million clients. But achieving this momentum hasn’t been an easy task for the campaign – or for the industry it’s trying to improve. Smart Campaign director Isabelle Barrès discusses the challenges in part one of this Q&A.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment