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NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Contributor.

Rob Katz

After co-founding NextBillion.net and spending 8-plus years working at the intersection of business and international development, Rob Katz is currently pursuing a MBA at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business.

 

Prior to Stanford, Rob was Acumen Fund’s Knowledge Manager, leading Acumen’s efforts to understand where markets work –and where they don’t – in terms of solving the problems of poverty. Most recently, he co-authored From Blueprint to Scale: The Case for Philanthropy in Impact Investing(Monitor Group and Acumen Fund, 2012.) In addition to writing reports, he was responsible for applied research and writing efforts across the firm; he also oversaw Acumen’s knowledge management systems.Rob joined Acumen Fund in 2008, managing online communications as well as knowledge before shifting full time into applied research work.

 

Before Acumen Fund, Rob worked with the Markets and Enterprise Program of the World Resources Institute, where he began his career researching, writing and speaking about “base of the pyramid” business approaches to poverty alleviation. At WRI, he co-founded www.NextBillion.net, a web site and blog about enterprise and development, and co-authored The Next 4 Billion: Market Size and Business Strategy at the Base of the Pyramid (IFC and WRI, 2007).

 

Here at NextBillion, Rob is both a member of our Advisory Board and a contributor to the blog.

 

Rob earned his B.A. in Political Economy from Georgetown University.

 

Follow Rob on Twitter @robertkatz.

 

Articles by Rob Katz

  • Friday
    June 9
    2006

    Rob Katz

    Social Innovation Podcasts

    Looking to load your iPod with interesting content before the weekend? Check out the Social Innovation Conversation series, a project of Stanford?s Center for Social Innovation. These podcasts feature social entrepreneurs ? everyone from Jed Emerson discussing blended value to Ethan...

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  • Wednesday
    June 7
    2006

    Rob Katz

    Mapping the Majority

    At a press conference in DC yesterday, the IDB unveiled a cool new interactive tool called ?Mapping the Majority.? It?s an interactive Flash mapping tool ? low-bandwidth readers, consider yourselves warned before clicking through. But for those of us with fast enough connections, I...

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  • Monday
    June 5
    2006

    Rob Katz

    What’s in a Map?

    For many of us, the combination of economic data plus policy recommendations is the literary equivalent of NyQuil. Unfortunately, good research generally requires the presentation of both data and analysis. So how do we researchers and writers solve this problem? Increasingly, the answer is...

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    Uncategorized

  • Thursday
    June 1
    2006

    Rob Katz

    BOP Roundup – News and Stories of Note

    As I mentioned yesterday, I?ve been MIA while working on a BOP mapping project that will be publicly unveiled on June 12 at the IADB conference. Side note ? have you seen the speaker list? Cardinal Maradiaga, Carlos Slim, Hernando de Soto, Nicholas Negroponte, Portia Simpson Miller, Bill...

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  • Wednesday
    May 31
    2006

    Rob Katz

    Back From Mapping the BOP

    I?ve had a couple emails from NextBillion readers, wondering why I haven?t been blogging much of late. Despite their pleas to the contrary, I?m back. In all seriousness, I?d like to update you all on why I?ve been so conspicuously absent from these pages. You may remember that the...

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  • Monday
    May 15
    2006

    Rob Katz

    Revisit San Francisco in Today’s Wall Street Journal

    Attendees of 2004?s Eradicating Poverty Through Profit conference may have only dim memories of the 3-day BOP bonanza (flashes of Scott Shuster, anyone?), but not me. Which brings me to today?s Wall Street Journal, whose front page featured 3 conference speakers in an article entitled...

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  • Thursday
    May 11
    2006

    Rob Katz

    Aavishkaar Wins World Business Award

    Aavishkaar, the Indian micro venture capital fund that we?ve profiled on NextBillion and in GreenBiz, has been awarded the World Business Award as one of the top ten business models of the world contributing to the fulfillment of the Millennium Development Goals. Other winners of the award...

    Categories
    Education
    Tags
    academia

  • Monday
    May 8
    2006

    Rob Katz

    Yakking It Up at the BOP in China

    Yaks for development? Withhold judgment and read on ? this BOP project has legs (4, in fact). NextBillion ally Carol Chyau doesn?t think yak jokes are funny ? with a partner, she?s behind the newly-formed Yashmere and Cheese for Change for-profit social enterprises. The Harvard Crimson...

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