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NexThought Monday: FXB, Intervening Holistically for Economic Empowerment
Sean Mayberry, the CEO of the donor-funded FXB, says: "Ultimately, to lift families out of poverty permanently they need the long term ability to create their own revenue streams." FXB’s approach involves three-year programs to support families immediate needs first, and help them long-term achieve economic independence.
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- Health Care
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Need Blind: Vision Spring and Warby Parker Shake Up Eyewear With Impact
Social enterprises Warby Parker and VisionSpring are finding innovative ways to bring glasses to people who can’t afford huge markups. VisionSpring, a nonprofit social enterprise, focuses on selling low-cost glasses to people earning between $1 and $4 per day. Warby Parker, a for-profit B-Corp, sells affordable eyewear in the domestic market while donating a pair of frames to VisionSpring for each pair it sells.
- Categories
- Health Care, Impact Assessment
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Word is Bond: At Duke’s Sustainable Business Summit, Excitement Around Social Bonds and Online Impact Investing Platforms
The theme of the 2012 Sustainable Business and Social Innovation (SBSI) summit at Duke’s Fuqua School of Business was Disrupting the Status Quo. Indeed, there was much discussion about new models to change business as usual in education, health and overcoming the mismatch between the size of social enterprises and the vastness of investing funds.
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- Health Care
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In Tune With the SONG Fund: Investing in health in India
Who’s on top of the lightening-pace Indian impact investment space? One major player is the $17 million USD SONG Investment Company. Funded and owned by Google, the Omidyar Network, and the Soros Economic Development Fund, SONG was launched in 2009 to demonstrate that investing in SMEs can not only elicit shareholders returns, but also improve economic opportunities and jobs for the masses in India.
- Categories
- Health Care
- Tags
- impact investing
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Now for some good news:Two books argue that the future is brighter than we think
The lab-on-a-chip (LOC) is a small device with a huge potential. It can run dozens of diagnostic tests on human DNA in a few minutes. Give the device a gob of spit or a drop of blood and it will tell you whether or not you are sick without any need to send your DNA to a laboratory. In poor countries LOCs could offer diagnostics to millions who lack access to expensive laboratories. In the rich world they may curb rising medical costs.
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- Health Care, Impact Assessment, Technology
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- public health
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Community Workers Help to Bridge Treatment Gap in Mental Health
Training lay people can play a crucial role in helping to deliver effective care for depression and anxiety in resource-poor, primary healthcare settings
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- Health Care
- Region
- South Asia
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Social Innovators Seek to Balance Economic Sustainability and Impact
Bridging the digital-divide in India has long been a cherished dream. While much is yet to happen, IT industry body Nasscom has taken initial steps to identify business models that can change the access of technology at the bottom of the pyramid.This year too, Nasscom presented awards to six businesses that are trying to bring social innovation. The awards showcase the impact and learnings from the ideas of winners that have gained shape, acceptance and success.
- Categories
- Education, Health Care, Impact Assessment
- Region
- South Asia
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A Responsibility and a Market: Why Danone May Represent the Future of BoP Business
Eric Soubeiran leads the company’s BOP business efforts as head of Danone’s newly launched BOP Business Unit based in Gurgaon, India. In our recent conversation, Soubeiran described in detail Danone’s trajectory related to BOP markets beginning with the launch of Fundooz, a yogurt product for kids in India.
- Categories
- Health Care
- Tags
- nutrition