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Five Key Building Blocks for Sustainable, Inclusive Recycling Systems
For the past year, a working group formed by the MIT Practical Impact Alliance (an MIT D-Lab program) has been exploring strategies for developing effective inclusive recycling systems in India, Africa and Latin America. The result is the publication of a guide for practitioners that includes five key steps for developing inclusive systems, nine case studies and a tool for promoting recycling systems that benefit all stakeholders.
- Categories
- Environment, Social Enterprise, WASH
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Enhancing Access to Finance for Women Entrepreneurs – What Should Financial Institutions Do?
IFC determined that 70 percent of women entrepreneurs are un(der)served and face a USD $300 billion annual credit deficit. Anup Singh and Christine Wanjiru Gachui of MicroSave make the case for banks extending credit to women, who end up being roughly twice as profitable for them as men.
- Categories
- Social Enterprise
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ShelterTech Mexico 2017: Promoting Entrepreneurship and Investment in the Housing Sector
Habitat for Humanity, in partnership with Village Capital, launched ShelterTech Mexico 2017, a three-month accelerator focused on housing sector startups that are increasing access for marginalized communities to basic services in any of three areas: water and sanitation, energy, and innovative construction materials. Melva Flores talks about the two teams selected by their peers to receive an investment of US $50,000 each.
- Categories
- Energy, Social Enterprise
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Making Hardware Easier: ASME ISHOW Helps Expand Social Impact of ‘Frugal Technologies’
There are few resources to help “frugal technologies” and their makers succeed. That’s the problem that ISHOW, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers' innovation showcase, tries to solve. The competition draws on ASME’s network of engineers, industrial designers, product specialists and diligence and standards experts, as well as venture capitalists and business specialists, all of whom are keen to see hardware innovation achieve a new level of positive impact.
- Categories
- Social Enterprise, Technology
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Rethinking the Flush Toilet: It’s Time to Move Sanitation Infrastructure Off the Grid
Virginia Gardiner, inventor of the Loowatt toilet system, says sanitation infrastructure has to move off the grid, just as mobile communications did in the 20th century. She points to a growing number of companies, including her own, that are piloting the provision of non-sewered sanitation to households thorough container-based sanitation, a system that presents the most viable alternative for urban areas in need of sanitation solutions.
- Categories
- Environment, Health Care, Social Enterprise, WASH
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Fear of a Jobless Planet: Can Entrepreneurship Counter the Coming AI Employment Crisis?
Imagine a future where robots are capable of doing just about everything under the sun, rendering countless professions across practically every industry obsolete. The first part of that dystopian vision has already come to pass. The second part hasn't, but could well be coming. What might be the solution? According to what we learned in July – entrepreneurship month at NB – it might fall on small businesses to answer the challenge.
- Categories
- Social Enterprise, Technology
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Innovations in Financial Inclusion: Delivering Capital to MSMEs and Growing Businesses in India
India's 51 million-plus micro, small and medium enterprises are critical drivers of growth in the nation's economy, employing an estimated 115 million people. But due to several factors, including information asymmetry, the sector has been unable to access credit as readily as larger corporations. Intellegrow CEO Akbar Khan discusses some innovations and initiatives that are helping deliver capital to these vital businesses.
- Categories
- Investing, Social Enterprise
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Entrepreneurship is a Skill, Not a Talent: The Power of the Group-Based Graduation Model
Village Enterprise implements a cost-effective, group-based, one-year graduation program for rural Africans who live on less than $1.90 per day. The organization believes that entrepreneurship is not just for the naturally business-minded, it's a skill like leadership or teamwork that can be fostered and learned. Its aim, therefore, is to unlock the potential of those who are entrepreneurs by nature and instill the skills of entrepreneurship in those who are not.
- Categories
- Social Enterprise
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