Articles by Tracy Elsen
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Monday
September 24
2012NexThought Monday: The Future of Crowdfunding Depends on Avoiding Past Missteps
For small and growing businesses that have the potential to create social and environmental change, financing is not easy to come by. Impact investing is on the rise, but the cost of doing risky deals in faraway lands remains prohibitive for investors, especially when deal sizes are small and returns remain minimal. As investors and thought leaders wrestle with these issues, a new potential solution has arisen: crowdfunding.
- Categories
- Technology
- Tags
- impact investing
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Monday
April 30
2012How Tony Elumelu’s ‘Africapitalism’ Aims to Redefine African Economic Development
Tony Elumelu did not set out to create social change during his tenure at the helm of United Bank of Africa. "We wanted to democratize banking – at the time, it was an economic, not a social act,” he said during a keynote speech the Global Philanthropy Forum. Elumelu turned the failing Nigerian bank United Bank of Africa (UBA), which was purchased in 1997 for $5 million, into a multi-billion dollar financial services powerhouse. Elumelu is now taking his learnings from this experience to redefine strategies for African economic development.
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- Uncategorized
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Tuesday
April 24
2012At GPF, Finding a Way (or Making One) for Foundations to Impact Invest
Family foundations are often considered the low-hanging fruit of impact investing: their mission-driven philosophies combined with their perceived nimbleness make them ideal candidates to become first movers and concept-provers. However, panelists at the Global Philanthropy Forum discussed the barriers that exist even for them when trying to put their money towards companies that create positive impacts.
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- Uncategorized
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Wednesday
April 11
2012At GPF 2012, Business and Philanthropy Mingle ‘Toward a New Social Contract’
For the past decade, the Global Philanthropy Forum has served as a catalyst for social change by bringing together donors and social investors with global leaders in business and government. This year’s forum is built around the theme “Toward a New Social Contract." In a recent interview, Jane Wales, president and CEO of the Global Philanthropy Forum and the World Affairs Council, discusses the shared value agenda.
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- Uncategorized
- Tags
- philanthropy
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Thursday
February 23
2012Assembling a Network for Impact Across Latin America
How far has impact investing come in Latin America, and what steps need to be taken to unleash the potential of business to address social and environmental problems in the region? These are the questions that more than 300 leaders in the impact investing field came together to address in Merida, Mexico at last week’s Foro Latinoamericano de Inversion de Impacto (Latin American Impact Investing Forum), hosted by New Ventures Mexico.
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- Uncategorized
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Friday
January 13
2012Scaling Up Impact Investing In China
Tao Zhang, the Chief Operating Officer of New Ventures, WRI’s center for environmental entrepreneurship with local operations in China and five other high growth markets, says given the need for China to create sustainable economic growth over the decades to come, impact investing has an important role to play and should gain traction there.
- Categories
- Environment
- Tags
- impact investing
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Monday
December 26
2011Best Ideas of 2011: Green Economy and Green Growth
An economy that works better for both people and the planet - it almost sounds too good to be true. But this year, the ideas of green economy and green growth became the subject of much buzz that has the potential to turn into action starting in 2012.
- Categories
- Environment
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Wednesday
April 6
2011Environmental Entrepreneurs: Mexico’s ‘Échale a Tu Casa’ Builds Green Houses
Mexico needs 9 million new homes in the next 20 years to keep up with demographic demand. Yet construction of millions of houses could have significant negative environmental impact. ?chale lowers the environmental impacts of its homes by including features like rainwater harvesting, energy-efficient stoves and composting; all at a low price.
- Categories
- Education, Environment
