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Universities Must Teach Their Budding Scientists Entrepreneurship
As Africa continues to develop, there will be growing demand for experts who can address its social and economic needs. According to professors Karl Kunert and Christopher Cullis, the region's budding scientists can help meet that demand by acquiring business-oriented skills - but these skills aren’t usually part of their training. They explore the benefits of teaching students to turn scientific innovations into business opportunities, and the key role universities can play.
- Categories
- Education
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The Planetary Potential of Banishing Kerosene Lighting – And How Entrepreneurship Can Help
Kerosene lamps are still used by hundreds of millions of people in sub-Saharan Africa. They contribute to climate change by releasing not only CO2 but also black carbon, an especially potent greenhouse gas. What's more, they exact a grim human toll, from burns and fires to toxic smoke and poisoning hazards. Alicia Oberholzer and Fid Thompson at Solar Sister call for an end to kerosene lighting, and highlight how women's entrepreneurship can make it happen.
- Categories
- Energy, Social Enterprise
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The Business Roundtable Announcement: How We Can Ensure It’s Part of a Paradigm Shift – and Not Just Window Dressing
Last week members of the Business Roundtable, an organization comprised of CEOs of some of the world’s largest corporations, signed a statement "modernizing its principles on the role of a corporation." They declared that the purpose of a corporation is to create value for employees, suppliers, customers and communities – not just shareholders. At face value, it's a game-changing announcement. Impact investing pioneer Margot Brandenburg explores how to hold these companies accountable to it.
- Categories
- Investing
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Is Your Data Collection Program Ready to Go Mobile? Four Steps (And a Free Guide) to Help You Get Started
From decision support to enhanced communication with beneficiaries, mobile data collection can be an incredibly useful tool for impact-based organizations. But for all its benefits, it's no silver bullet, cautions Sam Farnham at Dimagi. Farnham stresses the importance of doing due diligence on collection methods before moving onto digital tools, and offers a free guide for determining mobile data collection's relevance for your organization in this constructive post.
- Categories
- Technology
- Tags
- data, digital inclusion
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Yes, Your Pitch Deck is That Important: Here’s How to Get Investors’ Attention and Raise Your First $100K
Entrepreneurs often have a lot of misconceptions around fundraising when they start their business. And according to Mehak Malik, Investment Associate at Beyond Capital Fund, these misunderstandings can undermine one key element of their success: the all-important pitch deck. She discusses the questions entrepreneurs need to ask themselves before drafting a pitch deck, based on a recent series of entrepreneur workshops from Beyond Capital and ANDE.
- Categories
- Investing, Social Enterprise
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What Does ‘Selling Out’ Mean? Four Lessons on Navigating Trade-offs While Scaling Your Social Enterprise
“Selling out” is a common concern for social entrepreneurs, as they strive to balance their ideals with the needs of a growing business. But Amanda West at Mercy Corps Ventures raises an interesting question: Can one person’s “selling out” be another person’s logical business decision? She explores the inevitable compromises that occur when a social business scales up, and shares lessons learned by four prominent enterprises that have scaled their impact.
- Categories
- Social Enterprise
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Empowering Female Entrepreneurs: Solutions to Five Key Barriers to Women’s Financial Inclusion
In developing countries, only 59% of women have a bank account – an issue VisionFund is addressing through its Women’s Empowerment Fund. But though the fund has supported thousands of female-led businesses, it has also faced persistent challenges – many of which are unique to women. Johanna Ryan, VisionFund's Global Director of Impact, discusses five obstacles the fund has encountered, and how they've responded.
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EXTENDED: SOCAP19 Summer Special Ends Sept 6: Register Now – And Get $250 Off With NextBillion’s Discount Code
SOCAP19 is coming sooner than you think, and NextBillion is proud to once again serve as a media partner. The conference, convening Oct. 22-25 in San Francisco, is expecting over 3,000 impact investors, entrepreneurs and innovative cross-sector practitioners, and will feature over 150 breakout sessions and 500 speakers. Register by Aug. 30 to get their Summer Special pricing, and use NextBillion's discount code for an additional $250 off.
- Categories
- Investing
- Tags
- impact investing
