Articles by James Militzer
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Friday
September 5
2014Voices from the Summit: Eight quotes from prominent speakers on Day 2 of this week’s Microcredit Summit
By Day 2 of this week’s Microcredit Summit, we’d interviewed eight leaders and innovators in microfinance – from trenchant critics to the sector’s elder statesman, Muhammad Yunus. We’ve compiled eight quotes – one from each interview – which give a sample of some of the topics under discussion at the conference.
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- Uncategorized
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Thursday
September 4
2014Microfinance’s Irresistible Story: Already mythic in scope, the next chapter’s under way as the 17th Microcredit Summit begins
The development of the microfinance sector has followed a story arc that’s almost mythic in scope, including lots of good things and plenty of bad. Now, the sector is trying to write the next chapter – and events at this week’s 17th Microcredit Summit in Mexico will no doubt be included.
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- Uncategorized
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Thursday
September 4
2014‘The Next Frontier of Financial Services’ (Part 2): Why some m-insurance models have more upside than others, according to BFA’s Jeremy Leach
"The (m-insurance models) that look best are the loyalty and ‘freemium’ models at this stage, primarily because consumers need the market-making capabilities of experiencing their product first, before they are willing to pay for it," says Jeremy Leach of BFA, in the second of a two-part series on microinsurance. He explores the risks and benefits of m-insurance in this Q&A.
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- Entrepreneurship, Technology
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Wednesday
September 3
2014‘The Next Frontier of Financial Services’ (Part 1): Jeremy Leach, director at Bankable Frontier Associates, discusses microinsurance’s potential and challenges
Insurers have traditionally steered clear of the base of the pyramid, for a variety of reasons. But that’s changing, says Jeremy Leach of Bankable Frontier Associates, who sees insurance as the "next frontier of financial services." We discuss the state of the sector, and the challenges and opportunities it faces in serving the BoP, in part one of this Q&A.
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- Entrepreneurship, Technology
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Tuesday
August 26
2014A Shift in Focus: Impact investing needs to concentrate less on problems, more on solutions, says Burckart
Impact investing has generated plenty of discussion and some fairly unbridled enthusiasm - though earlier predictions of $1 trillion in new capital by 2020 now seem overly optimistic. Bill Burckart, managing director of Impact Economy North America, discusses the sector’s growth and challenges in this video interview, part 6 of our Impact Investing Insights series.
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- Entrepreneurship, Impact Assessment
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Wednesday
August 20
2014A Year in the Life: The U.S. Financial Diaries Project’s groundbreaking exploration of the financial activities of low and moderate-income Americans
The U.S. Financial Diaries project collected highly detailed data on the financial activities of 250 lower-income households over the course of a year. A joint initiative of NYU’s Financial Access Initiative (FAI), CFSI and Bankable Frontier Associates, the project has begun publishing preliminary findings. We spoke with Tim Ogden, managing director of FAI, about the research.
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- Education
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Saturday
August 9
2014Weekly Roundup (8/9/14) – Ethics and Africa: Controversy around a White House summit and an Ebola cure highlight tensions between the global north and south
This week, president Obama hosted nearly 50 African leaders at the White House to strengthen business ties with the continent - provoking cautious optimism and quite a bit of criticism. Meanwhile, a new development in the Ebola scare raised questions about the inequalities between rich and poor countries.
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- Entrepreneurship, Health Care, NextBillion Originals
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Thursday
August 7
2014Watch the Replay of our Google Hangout with Margot Kane: A Q&A with Calvert Foundation’s VP of Strategic Initiatives
Margot Kane is VP of Strategic Initiatives at Calvert Foundation. She manages strategy development, fundraising and implementation of new investment initiatives and portfolios that target key impact areas like the revitalization of iconic cities. We discussed these initiatives and other impact investing topics in this live interview.
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- Entrepreneurship, Impact Assessment, Investing, NextBillion Originals
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- impact investing
