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Good News for Microfinance: Grameen America Discusses Promising New Research on its Anti-Poverty Impact
In an atmosphere of considerable skepticism about microfinance's anti-poverty impact, Grameen America recently released some positive findings: Early results from an RCT on its group lending model show solid impacts on areas ranging from members' credit scores to their business operations. NextBillion spoke with Marcus Berkowitz, VP of Technology & Innovation at Grameen America, to discuss these results and their implications for microfinance in the U.S. and globally.
- Categories
- Finance, NextBillion Originals
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Unpacking NextBillion’s Reader Survey: What the Responses Show – And How They’ll Shape Our Coverage
You likely noticed that NextBillion has been conducting a reader survey over the past few months. But you may not have noticed that the survey recently concluded. In the spirit of transparency – and because we find the results interesting – we’ve compiled some highlights from the 500+ responses. We also share our initial reactions to this reader feedback, and discuss how this survey data might impact new editorial directions on the site.
- Categories
- Finance, NextBillion Originals, Technology
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Three Key Trends in Social Impact: Announcing NextBillion’s Special Series for 2019
NextBillion is pleased to announce the topics of our three special series for 2019: “By Women, For Women: Leaders and Innovations in Gender Equity,” “Scaling Up Without Selling Out,” and “New Frontiers in Renewable Energy.” Each series will be managed by a different member of NextBillion’s editorial team: Check out the descriptions and email the appropriate editor if you’d like to explore a potential guest post on any of these topics. We’re looking forward to seeing how the discussion in these series will develop in the coming months.
- Categories
- Energy, Finance, Investing, NextBillion Originals
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Why the Social Impact Sector Needs a ‘Bizarro Davos’: A Modest Proposal That Nobody Will Like
It’s that time of year again: Time to talk about the true meaning of Davos. But among all the hot takes and well-earned snark at the expense of insufferable elites, it’s worth asking if the rest of us are so different. Even those of us who work in the social impact sector don’t seem to object to high-brow conferences, and few regular folks seem willing to make the kinds of sacrifices that may be necessary to tackle the generational challenges we face. NextBillion editor James Militzer discusses this dynamic, and makes a sure-to-be-unpopular proposal.
- Categories
- Environment, NextBillion Originals
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See Who Won NB’s Top Post of 2018 Contest
Thank you to everyone who voted in NextBillion's seventh annual Top Post of the Year contest. Here are the winners and their vote percentage totals as well as the complete results for this year's competition. Congratulations to the top three winning contributors for their articles, which both challenged and enlightened us. And Happy New Year to all of our readers.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Education, Energy, Environment, Finance, Health Care, Investing, NextBillion Originals, Technology, WASH
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What Was the Top NextBillion Post of 2018? Vote for Your Favorite
As 2018 comes to a close and we look back at the year's top posts, it's clear that the social sector is developing an increasingly willingness to challenge long-held assumptions – even when this leads to uncomfortable discussions and difficult course corrections. As NextBillion launches our seventh annual "Top Post of the Year" contest, we encourage you to vote for the post that influenced you most in 2018. You can vote up to once every six hours until 12:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (U.S.) on Jan. 3, and the winners will be announced on Jan. 4. Thanks for reading, and happy holidays!
- Categories
- Agriculture, Energy, Finance, Investing, NextBillion Originals, Technology
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NextBillion’s Reader Survey: Results Coming Soon!
As part of our ongoing efforts to better serve our readers, NextBillion put together a brief (15 question) survey. The questions were aimed at helping us determine the topics and types of content that interest our audience the most – while also helping us get to know our readers a bit better. As an incentive, all participants were entered into a raffle for one of three US $50 Amazon, Flipkart or Jumia gift cards. As of Feb. 28, the survey is closed - NextBillion will share the results, and announce the winners of the three gift cards, in the coming days.
- Categories
- NextBillion Originals
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Impact Investing Impasse: The Case for 4-Hour Due Diligence
Impact investors are often guilty of stringing along social entrepreneurs with needlessly long due diligence processes, "abusing their power and privilege," says Andy Lower at investing firm A Different Approach to Poverty. Weeks can easily turn to months – a delay that's unfair to entrepreneurs, and unacceptable in other industries. In response, his firm has devised a four-hour due diligence process, which has sparked interest – and a fair amount of push-back – in the sector. Lower discusses the approach in this provocative Q&A.
- Categories
- Investing, NextBillion Originals
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