-
The Vanishing American Dream: The Long Road to Financial Stability
The American economy is growing. Unemployment is down, incomes are inching up and the days of the Great Recession are but a distant memory... except for one thing: A shocking 57 percent of the country—approximately 138 million Americans—are struggling to make ends meet. Jennifer Tescher of the Center for Financial Services Innovation and Tilman Ehrbeck of Omidyar Network say the time to address this crisis is now. They share some promising innovations – and a new research tool – that could help.
- Categories
- Inclusive Fintech
-
A Shifting Frontier: How Mobile Money is Reshaping the Gender Gap in Financial Inclusion
Mobile banking can undoubtedly be a useful tool when it comes to closing the financial services gender gap – with the key word being "can." But as the results of the Global Findex report show, fintech is no panacea for addressing longstanding disparities in financial access, and the gap between men and women remains great. Scott Graham of FINCA International explores the potential – and limitations – of digital finance to boost women’s inclusion and empowerment.
- Categories
- Inclusive Fintech
-
Three Steps (and One BFF) for a Perfect Bank-Fintech Match
Finding "The One" has never been easy: you have to know what you want, set appropriate filters, determine mutual understanding, and, of course, remember to take things slow. Fintechs and banks may not seem like natural partners, but as of late they're pairing up more than ever. With so many hurdles to cross, it's only natural that they could use a little help – and that's why BFA and MetLife Foundation teamed up to play matchmaker. In this piece, Maelis Carraro, senior associate at BFA, outlines how they brought together two new fintech-bank power couples in Latin America.
- Categories
- Inclusive Fintech
-
‘Results’ Don’t Equal ‘Impact’: What the Social Business Sector Can Learn from Non-Profits’ Approach to Impact Measurement
It’s common knowledge that non-profits are often beholden to data-hungry donors - hence their focus on long-term impact assessment. But how those organizations measure impact has implications for the rest of the social sector - including for-profits, which often lack a clear assessment strategy. Sarah Sterling of Pomona Impact ponders how impact measurement can be improved across the sector, and discusses a simple tool used by non-profits that could be extremely useful for social business.
- Categories
- Entrepreneurship, Impact Assessment
-
Heads in the Cloud: Leveraging Cloud Computing to Tackle Poverty and Youth Unemployment
Despite rapid economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia, the regions struggle with high youth unemployment and a dearth of highly skilled tech workers. Digital Divide Data (DDD) sees both a challenge and opportunity in these uncertain conditions. DDD’s Becky Santora explores the impact of skills training to teach youth to manage cutting-edge tech in these rapidly-shifting economies.
- Categories
- Technology
-
Enough With the Old Unicorns: Why Argentina’s Tech Sector Needs to Look to the Future to Create Social Impact
Argentina boasts an array of tech "unicorns" and startup accelerators, indicating the sector's potential – but its growth seems to have stalled, says Johns Hopkins SAIS graduate Kevin Garrahan. And small-scale incubators may not be enough to generate the number of tech jobs that Buenos Aires, and the country as a whole, need. Garrahan highlights some ways Argentina could boost its tech industry's role as a cornerstone of economic growth.
- Categories
- Entrepreneurship, Technology
-
Announcing the Latest NextBillion E-book: Insights and Innovations in Financial Health
In response to a growing recognition that financial access alone doesn’t guarantee social impact, many of the sector’s leading voices are shifting their focus to financial health. MetLife Foundation and its partners explored that topic on NextBillion's Financial Health site, through 20 articles that discuss what’s working—and sometimes, what’s not working—in inclusive finance. We’ve compiled these articles into an e-book, which you can download and share here.
- Categories
- Entrepreneurship, Inclusive Fintech, Investing, NextBillion Originals
-
Stop Looking for the Next ‘Uber for X’ and Start Changing the World
The paradigm of the Silicon Valley "tech bro" pioneering the next "Uber for (whatever)" has become a cliché. Its ubiquity is a distraction, says Alex Amouyel of MIT Solve – one that excludes social innovators from much-needed funding and keeps those with capital from making real change through their investments. Instead of looking for the next unicorn and quick exit, she argues, investors should expand their definition of “venture-backable” entrepreneurs to include those driving transformative, mission-driven impact.
- Categories
- Entrepreneurship, Technology
Parent Organization
Partners
Recent Contributors
-
@NextBillion (link opens in a new window)
Reviving India’s Artisans: How a Hybrid Model Helped One Social Enterprise Connect Craft Makers with Consumers… https://t.co/XzW9PJv5Vg (link opens in a new window) -
@NextBillion (link opens in a new window)
News via @NPRGoatsandSoda (link opens in a new window): #India (link opens in a new window) Aims For The World’s Biggest Health Care Overhaul: https://t.co/Xv3LGzlzwm (link opens in a new window)… https://t.co/g49tZvtDrv (link opens in a new window) -
@NextBillion (link opens in a new window)
News via @HealthNews_NG (link opens in a new window): New partnership to provide vaccine access to 8 million people in Liberia, Uganda and Kenya… https://t.co/IT54DWRTzM (link opens in a new window)