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Two Ways to Kill Potential: Liberia and Cameroon
Earlier this month, two western African countries held presidential elections. On the surface, they have little in common ? one country recently emerged from a brutal civil war and has an abysmal economy; the other has been peaceful for decades and enjoys abundant revenue streams. And yet both countries are classic stories of wasted potential.
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- Impact Assessment
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In Ahmedabad, Dharavi’s Redevelopment Model of a ’Slum-free’ City
In keeping with the forward-looking innovation that runs through the city’s blood, a new project launched in July aims to make Ahmedabad a "slum-free city." But a top-down approach leaping from slums to high-rises misses the need for incremental steps to integrate the urban poor - how they live, work and socialize - into the formal housing market.
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- Impact Assessment
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Affordable Housing Series: The Rights to the Land Under Your Home
The migration of millions from rural areas as a result of global urbanization has created informal, and often chaotic, growth. Social business Terra Nova, based in the southern Brazilian state of Paran?, marks a new, unprecedented initiative to solve the lack of land ownership in favelas and to bring "squatter" communities into the formal economy.
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- Uncategorized
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- housing
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The FOUND Middle: Arogyam Organics
As part the "FOUND Middle" series, we share this interview with Kanmani Arumugasamy of Arogyam Organics Pvt. Ltd. Based in India, Arogyam works to promote organic products and improve the quality of life of local farmers by reducing middle man costs. This video is one of many highlighting businesses and organizations making up the "missing middle."
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- Agriculture, Investing
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Bridging the Investor-Entrepreneur Gap
India has developed a well-deserved reputation as a hotbed of social enterprise activity. Yet, India’s wealth of ventures face significant challenges in their efforts to build and then scale. Guidance from seasoned investors who have analyzed countless enterprises is critical, and the driving force behind the Sankalp Investor-Entrepreneur Clinics.
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- Investing, Social Enterprise
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- venture capital
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NextThought Monday: Market, Government and Finding Synergies Between the Two
It’s easy to let advocacy - the process of scaling a solution through policy change - slip into the distance and focus on the market-based approach to scale. Social change has swung toward the market-based approach to scale and largely lost sight of the other method, which involves those sometimes taboo words: institutions, lobbying, and policy.
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- Environment
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- scale
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Weekly Roundup – 10-23-11: Using Social Media to Innovate from the Bottom Up
Large corporations like Deloitte are learning the internal value of social media. But social media also has huge potential for ventures to fulfill a core component of BoP practice. Involving staff and BoP beneficiaries’ voices throughout the design, piloting and scaling process allows ventures to harness knowledge, spur innovation and reduce costs.
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- Technology
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In Guatemala, Alterna Aims to Harness Entrepreneurial Spirit
According to the 2009 Global Entrepreneurship Monitor report, Guatemala has the second highest rate of entrepreneurship worldwide. Since most enterprises develop out of necessity, there is a large gap in training and technical assistance. Launched in 2010, Alterna, an incubator and mentor to social and environmental ventures, aims to fill that gap.
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- Uncategorized
