Articles by James Militzer
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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.
- Categories
- 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.
- Categories
- Health Care
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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.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment, Investing
- Tags
- impact investing
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Guest Articles
Friday
August 1
2014The Best-Kept Secret in Impact Investing: A little-known legal tool lets businesses tap mainstream investor capital – so why don’t more social enterprises use it?
A common complaint in impact investing is the lack of options for non-wealthy investors. Many feel that this hamstrings both mainstream investors and the social enterprises that could use their capital. But as Jenny Kassan, CEO of Cutting Edge Capital, describes it in part 4 of our Impact Investing Insights series, a solution to this problem already exists.
- Categories
- Social Enterprise
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Saturday
July 19
2014Weekly Roundup – 7/19/14: Can’t we all just get along?
In a week marked by conflict and tragedy on the global stage, the financial world experienced its share of both. And though this was balanced with a fair amount of good news, even the positive developments sparked discord. We explore these issues in this weekly roundup.
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- Uncategorized
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Wednesday
July 9
2014A Really Inconvenient Truth: The documentary “Spent” raises awareness of low-income Americans’ financial plight – but are banks really to blame?
To help spark a national dialogue about improving financial services, American Express sponsored the documentary "Spent: Looking for Change." Produced by the director of "An Inconvenient Truth," the film profiles struggling Americans who are ill-served by the financial industry. But it also illustrates another hard truth: our choices can impact our financial health more than our banks can.
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- Uncategorized
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Guest Articles
Saturday
June 28
2014Weekly Roundup – 6/28/14: “A New Day” for Impact Investing?
On June 25, the Obama White House hosted a roundtable on impact investing, at which over 20 corporations, banks, foundations, and individuals committed to invest more than $1.5 billion in new capital into companies and funds focused on social impact. Some hailed it as a turning point for the sector - but will it be enough? We discuss these developments in this week’s Roundup.
- Categories
- Investing
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Friday
June 20
2014Start Small, Stay Small: Can better finance help Latin America’s microenterprises take the next step?
According to the World Bank, 60 percent of Latin America employees work for businesses with five or fewer employees. And its new companies grow at a much slower rate than similar businesses in other middle-income regions. In part 3 of our Impact Investing Insights series, we speak with Venture South’s managing director George Petty about how better finance can help.
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- Uncategorized