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Fighting ‘Tech Complacency’ in Social Enterprise: Why it’s Time to Embrace Blockchain
All around us, Fortune 500 firms and VCs are embracing disruptive innovation – so why aren't more social entrepreneurs following suit? Gautam Ivatury, founder and CEO of LendLedger, says the time has come for the social sector to take some risks and get out of its comfort zone – instead of simply waiting for technologies to filter down to its target beneficiaries. With blockchain, he says, social entrepreneurs "can redraw how industries work, not just create the latest in an endless series of mission-driven service providers."
- Categories
- Finance, Social Enterprise, Technology
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Unboxing Solar: An Israeli-run Startup Works to Expand Energy Access in the Palestinian Territories
Sometimes the path to social entrepreneurship can be unexpected. Take Israeli entrepreneur Yo'Av Moshe: After an armed confrontation with Israeli soldiers, he decided to use his skills to create social change in his country. He later found the inspiration for his business after leaving Tel Aviv to build a home on wheels with its own solar power system. Moshe now runs the startup SolarBox, which provides off-grid solutions in the Palestinian territories and other areas in and around Israel. He discusses the company’s unique origin story, its struggles and its tangible impact.
- Categories
- Energy, Social Enterprise
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Power Play: Can Energy Access Entrepreneurs Survive the Relentless March of Grid Electricity in India?
Despite the dubious claims from the Modi administration that India has electrified every village in the country, the march to extend grid infrastructure continues unabated. So where does that leave energy access enterprises? Ananth Aravamudan, Renewable Energy lead at Villgro, explores how these firms can find creative new ways to stay relevant.
- Categories
- Energy, Social Enterprise
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Trust, Not Peer Pressure: Adapting the Global Microfinance Model for the U.S.
After years of working with global MFIs at Whole Foods’ Whole Planet Foundation, Steve Wanta saw that the group lending model that helped microentrepreneurs abroad could also work for Hispanic female entrepreneurs in Texas. But he also realized that the traditional microfinance model could function better with a few twists. In this Q&A with NextBillion, Wanta discusses the lessons he's learned leading the nonprofit JUST, which is adapting the microfinance model for the U.S. market.
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- Uncategorized
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Banking on the Unbanked: Assessing True ‘Creditworthiness’
The combination of advanced fintech with off-grid solar solutions has been a winning combo for Colibrí, a social enterprise devoted to promoting energy access in rural Nicaragua. Its Fácil-Pago technology, powered by Angaza Design, has succeeded partly thanks to the business' approach to an often-difficult financial task: responsibly assessing the credit-worthiness of unbanked customers. Morgan Babbs, Colibrí founder and CEO, explains why the approach to calculating credit-worthiness has resulted in exceeding low default rates among other advantages.
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Breaking Out of the Social Impact Conference Rut: Five Ways to Design a Truly Impactful Event
Have you ever been to a conference and felt a strange sense of déjà vu – an uncanny feeling that you've seen the sessions, read the buzzwords and heard all the stories before? Even for passionate, insightful members of the social impact community, it's easy to fall into the “same old” when planning a conference. Madhu Viswanathan at the Subsistence Marketplaces Initiative at the University of Illinois shares tips for fellow changemakers who seek to avoid this rut when organizing their own gatherings.
- Categories
- Social Enterprise, Uncategorized
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Why ‘Chat Banking’ is the Future of Financial Services in Africa
WhatsApp alone reports that users send 65 billion messages per day. Yet, despite the continued growth of messaging apps and changing user behavior, very little has been done to integrate financial services into the messaging experience. Sidharth Garg, founder and CEO of Teller, recently returned from East Africa, where he researched user behavior as it relates to mobile money, mobile phone use and communication preferences. He sees a vast opportunity in integrating banking, payments and mobile money features into messaging apps. He thinks now is the time to invest in those integrating technologies, and that Africa may be the place.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
- Tags
- digital finance, fintech
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Reviving India’s Artisans: How a Hybrid Model Helped One Social Enterprise Connect Craft Makers with Consumers
Exploitation in the global garment industry is well-known. But despite the perils of the sector, social enterprise Industree Foundation sees in it an opportunity. The organization provides skills training, safe working conditions and necessary equipment to rural women in Indian villages, bringing sustainable livelihoods to remote areas and time-honored artisan craftsmanship to the wider world. As part of NextBillion's "Course Correction" series, two Industree employees share how the organization overcame challenges of scale and sustainability with a hybrid model of social business.
- Categories
- Social Enterprise
