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A Day at Husk Power University
Acumen Fund invested in Husk Power Systems (HPS) in 2010 to help scale their innovative business model of using discarded rice husks as a source for rural off-grid electricity generation. HPS has since expanded to over 90 plants all over Bihar, India, and has launched Husk Power University (HPU), a technical training institute for future mechanics and operators for HPS. I spent a day there.
- Categories
- Education, Energy, Environment
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Bottoms Up: A Thought Experiment on Designing for Social Impact
I have been a participant in several student-led communities lately that demonstrated some of the social principles of biomomicry: The Social Enterprise Boot Camp (a collaboration between Columbia, NYU and SVA Design for Social Innovation), GES (Global Engagement Summit at Northwestern) and the NYC Creative Interns. While they still may not have cracked the code for how we will evolve to become a sustainable species, they provide enough hope to keep us all working at it.
- Categories
- Education, Impact Assessment
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Technology & Savings: Competing for Kenya’s Base of the Pyramid
Last year alone, mobile phones transferred over US $10 billion representing almost 30 percent of the Kenya’s GDP. Our new research study examines how Kenya’s rapidly evolving market has opened up to a wide range of new and dynamic players and looks at what this means for savings products available at the bottom of the pyramid.
- Categories
- Education
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NexThought Monday: In Failure, a Marketing Lesson for Social Entrepreneurs: What we can learn from the closing of The Hoop Fund
The Hoop Fund was built on a truly innovative premise: Allow consumers to purchase premium goods from small businesses in the developing world, while simultaneously supporting those businesses with microloans. Unfortunately, the model suffered from critical gaps in marketing strategy, which made it almost impossible to achieve scale.
- Categories
- Education
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The NextBillion Case Writing Competition Returns for 2012-13: How You Can Contribute to Thought Leadership for Good
Discovering the very best cases exploring the risks and rewards of organizations deploying market-based approaches to economic or social development was the impetus for the NextBillion Case Writing Competition. The contest took a hiatus for the 2011-2012 academic year, but I’m happy to announce its return for 2012-2013 with a new sponsor: Citi Foundation. Find out how to enter.
- Categories
- Education
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What’s Hindering the Growth of Health Businesses in Ghana and Kenya
A new paper focuses on constraints to growth among private health firms in Ghana and Kenya.
I spoke with lead author Nicholas Burger, an economist at the nonprofit RAND Corporation, about the study’s findings: What hinders growth and how expanded engagement between the public and private health sectors could strengthen health care in Africa.- Categories
- Education, Health Care
- Tags
- public health, research
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Siemens SMARTly Designs Products for Emerging Markets, Will Others Follow?
SMART products (simple, maintenance-friendly, affordable, reliable and timely-to-market) have now become a primary focus for Siemens. The focus on local markets has led to breakthrough innovations in products such as X-ray machines, medical devices, and water treatment products. After three years, the company is now beginning to see the fruits of its efforts.
- Categories
- Education
- Tags
- product design, research
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Weekly Roundup – Inspiration, With Questions
While monologues by veteran leaders who have starred down adversity can be rousing to throngs of cap and gowned graduates, dialogues have their own special appeal. So in this season of pomp and circumstance (and sometimes banality) it was great to see a new series of one-on-one interviews hosted by Jonathan Lewis at ionPoverty hit the Internet. iOnPoverty is an online video series targeting young professionals and students seeking careers in economic opportunity and justice work.
- Categories
- Education
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