NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Piloting the 2014 Findex

As President Kim pointed out earlier this month at the plenary of the World Bank/IMF Annual Meetings, 2.5 billion adults worldwide aren’t using the formal financial system

Source

World Bank Blogs (link opens in a new window)

Categories

Education, Impact Assessment

Tags

financial inclusion, research

Focusing New ‘Lenses’ in Investing for Change: An Interview With New Calvert Foundation CEO Jenn Pryce

Detroit’s legendary Woodward Avenue is the pipeline into some of the harshest poverty in the United States. It’s also where Calvert Foundation recently teamed up with other funders to build a retail investment vehicle for inner city revitalization. Scott Anderson spoke with Jenn Pryce, Calvert’s new CEO, about this and other initiatives, the evolution of impact investing, and her vision for Calvert.

Categories

Impact Assessment, Investing

Tags

financial inclusion, interviews

Google Hangout with Antony Bugg-Levine: Watch the replay of our conversation with an impact investing pioneer

NextBillion Financial Innovation’s first Google Hangout took place on Oct. 15, and we hosted an outstanding guest: Antony Bugg-Levine, CEO of the Nonprofit Finance Fund and a true pioneer in impact investing. Check out our videotaped Q&A in this post.

Categories

Impact Assessment

Tags

financial inclusion, impact investing

Exploring the Role of Venture Capital in Latin American Economic Development: Dalberg, IDB study assesses VC’s social impact

In advanced economies, it’s easy to see the positive impact of venture capital: Facebook, iPhones and FedEx packages all came from companies that were once venture-backed. But can venture capital also help fight poverty or spur social and environmental well-being in the developing world? Dalberg explored this question in a study commissioned by IDB on the impact of venture capital in Latin America.

Categories

Education, Impact Assessment, Investing

Tags

research, venture capital

Financial Innovation Goes to School

Later this month, the United Nations will discuss a high-level report on global development priorities for the period following the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which expire in 2015. Quality education is one of the global priorities that world leaders will be taking up.

Source

Project Syndicate (link opens in a new window)

Categories

Education, Impact Assessment

The Future of Impact Investing: A conversation with Sasha Dichter, Acumen’s Chief Innovation Officer

Sasha Dichter is the Chief Innovation Officer at Acumen, a noted speaker and blogger - and a panelist at the William Davidson Institute’s upcoming BoP Summit on Oct. 21-23. He spoke with NextBillion Financial Innovation recently about Acumen’s approach to impact investing, growth and challenges in the sector, and the need for more risk taking and innovation.

Categories

Impact Assessment

Tags

impact investing

PULSE Merged Into B Analytics Platform

B Lab and Acumen announce today that PULSE is being incorporated into B Analytics. From custom metrics to comparable ratings, B Analytics is now the one stop shop for measuring, benchmarking & reporting on impact.

Source

CSR Wire (link opens in a new window)

Categories

Impact Assessment

Scaling Impact Investing: Are there lessons from aid?

Will the impact investing sector ever be big enough to make a dent in the social problems it is trying to address? And what’s the best path to better financial returns and positive social or environmental impact? Acumen’s Head of Impact Tom Adams draws parallels to the history of development aid to ask how impact investing can truly scale.

Categories

Impact Assessment

Tags

impact investing, scale