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The Next Big Thing for Energy Access in India? Service-Based Models for Productive-Use Appliances in Agriculture
The global off-grid solar industry has grown exponentially, driven largely by sales or leasing of small appliances enabled by the pay-as-you-go business model. But according to Lanvin Concessao at Oorja Development Solutions, the market is now shifting towards larger income-generating appliances used in small businesses and farms. He explores the impact these appliances can have in India, and how they can drive the irrigation and cold storage sectors' transition to solar energy.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Energy
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Understanding the Other Side of the Table: Closing the Gap between Social Entrepreneurs and Impact Investors
In over a decade working in social impact, Ayla Schlosser, the former CEO of Resonate, increasingly realized that she had a lopsided view of funders. In fact, she says, both entrepreneurs and investors tend to sit on one side of the table or the other, which can lead to mutual blind spots and inefficiencies. She shares insights from a Miller Center research project, in which she interviewed 42 investors, entrepreneurs and others to identify best practices and help bridge this information gap.
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- Investing, Social Enterprise
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- impact investing, startups
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How the Digital Economy is Transforming Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union
While there's a lot of discussion of the thriving digital economy in countries like China, the potential for growth in one vast region remains woefully unrecognized — Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. Aleksandr Gevorkyan and Norean Sharpe at St. John’s University discuss the region's emerging digital powerhouses, and argue that – despite some key remaining challenges – these post-socialist countries are very much open for business.
- Categories
- Technology
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Revisiting our Assumptions About Digital Financial Inclusion: Three Unexpected Findings from BFA’s FIBR Project
When BFA launched its FIBR (Financial Inclusion on Business Runways) R&D project four years ago, it outlined a set of assumptions about how smartphones, increased connectivity and digitization would help to accelerate financial inclusion for small businesses in Africa. As the project wraps up, BFA Founder and Chair David Porteous explores which of those assumptions still hold – and which need to be reassessed as unanticipated developments have reshaped the market.
- Categories
- Finance
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Building Financial Stability: Can Liquid Savings Help Recession-Proof the Economy?
Though the U.S. economy is experiencing a historic expansion, stock market jitters and other recent developments have some economists predicting a recession. And according to Mariel Beasley at Common Cents Lab and Timothy Flacke at Commonwealth, cracks have been forming beneath the surface of the economy for a long time. They explore the surprising financial insecurity facing American households, and explain why short-term, liquid savings could help mitigate the effects of a future recession before it begins.
- Categories
- Finance
- Tags
- financial health, research, savings
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‘You Hired me as a Ballerina and Now Want Me to be a Basketball Player’: Hard Truths About Evolving Talent at Scale
Does your talent strategy look the same as it did a year ago? If it does, you're probably doing it wrong – especially if your organization is scaling. According to Kimberly Langsam at CASE at Duke University, a growing organization's talent strategies and support infrastructure must constantly evolve. She explores why talent is one of the key challenges of scale, and shares insights from social entrepreneurs and others featured in a new report from the Scaling Pathways series.
- Categories
- Social Enterprise
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Unleashing the Social Intrapreneur: Why Organizations Should Look Inward to Boost Global Development and Economic Sustainability
The term “intrapreneurship” has been around for decades, but the concept itself – which refers to practicing entrepreneurship within a larger enterprise or organization – is more important than ever. Authors at IDEX Global Fellowship explore why this entrepreneurial mindset is needed within both traditional and social businesses, and how impact-focused intrapreneurship is not only changing employee management and retention, but also benefiting the broader world.
- Categories
- Social Enterprise
- Tags
- employment
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In People and Dollars, Energy Access Is Growing by Billions: GTM’s Off-Grid Energy Access Forum Explores Why
Previously ignored off-grid populations are quickly becoming a fundamental piece of the energy transition puzzle: 2018 was a banner year for energy access investing, and 2019 is already on pace to surpass it. But as the sector continues to mature, some key issues demand attention, writes Benjamin Attia at Wood Mackenzie. Many of those critical themes will be on the agenda at Greentech Media’s Off Grid Energy Access Forum, taking place Oct. 2 in London.
- Categories
- Energy
