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Best Ideas of 2011: The Reshaping of Capitalism
As much as I can and often do criticize the Occupy Wall Street movement for its lack of focus, direction, and tangible outcomes - there is something about it that makes me extremely hopeful. Capitalism is slowly undergoing a massive transformation, a call launched by Occupy, and answered by the Social Enterprise Movement.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment, Social Enterprise
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Best Ideas of 2011: Revolutionizing mindsets for a new Arab World
People from the Arab World showed that the impossible is possible. Citizens fought for their rights, shaping a new Arab World associated with ?opportunity? and ?change? instead of ?disenfranchisement? and ?stagnation? by people from both inside and outside of the region - and setting the ground for unleashing entrepreneurial energy!
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- Impact Assessment
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A Corporation’s Role in Building Local Communities – A response to Acumen Fund Lesson #4
Over the past ten years, Acumen Fund has refined its approach for investing in market-based solutions to uplift the poor. In Acumen’s 10 lessons from the past decade, lesson #4 emphasizes the significance of local solutions driven by strong leadership to solve poverty in their communities. Here’s how some corporations have embodied this lesson.
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- Impact Assessment
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Social Innovators Collective, Shared Experiences (Without Consultants)
The Social Innovators Collective was established to address common challenges and share resources among social entrepreneurs. The NYC group is deep seeded in the belief that collective (as the name suggests) insights and efforts are more effective when united than apart. Launched nearly two years ago, the network is charting a new path for growth.
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- Impact Assessment
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Guest Post: Harnessing Technology for Transformation
Technology is not just being used to organize the Twitter/Facebook fueled uprisings in the Arab world. It is empowering citizens to intervene in risk-laden social issues, while providing a platform to rapidly scale these interventions. It’s time for the social sector to firmly commit to increasing our investments in these kinds of innovations.
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- Impact Assessment, Technology
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Challenging a Meme: When ’Africans’ Are ’No One’
You may have seen the image online: A bus station photo-shot featuring two posters in simple style, with the captions "one dies, million cry" under the Apple brand mark, and "millions die, no one cries" under a map of Africa. The poster implies that the world would be a better place if only people (Westerners) mourned African deaths more. Really?
- Categories
- Impact Assessment
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Unconvention 2011 Hones in on Landing Top Socent Talent
Villgro’s Unconvention is billed as the ONLY conference in India focused on social entrepreneurs, while addressing the overlap between innovation AND social entrepreneurship. With just a few days before the third Unconvention kicks off in Chennai, I spoke with Sucharita Kamath, head of Villgro’s Innovation Ecosystem, on what to expect.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment
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SELCO: A Business, Ongoing Case Study in Solar-Powered Social Impact
SELCO, a social enterprise traditionally focused on providing solar energy to the rural underserved, has launched a new urban model in India that has helped electrify a set of slum-dwelling households in Bangalore. The early success has been less about the feat of solar power in slums, and more about creating a ripple effect for social impact.
- Categories
- Energy, Impact Assessment