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Social Business Roundup: Laureate Education Goes Big, Omidyar Gives Directly, Surdna Foundation Embraces Impact Investing
In social business news this week, the world's biggest for-profit college company raised $490 million in its public debut, Omidyar Network gave a $493,000 grant to support GiveDirectly's mission of sending unconditional cash transfers to the poor, and the Surdna Foundation announced plans to dedicate 10 percent of its endowment ($100 million) to a new impact investing fund. Read about these developments and more in our news roundup.
- Categories
- Education, Health Care, Investing, Social Enterprise
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The Bridge International Controversy: Ignore ‘Fabricated Information’ – Bridge is Disrupting the Failing Status Quo
Bridge International Academies Co-Founder Shannon May, responding to criticism, says Bridge is out to change the status quo: "Our innovative model is proving that education can be delivered at a very low cost in the poorest parts of the world and, more than that, the level of education provided can be better than other alternatives."
- Categories
- Education, Social Enterprise
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The Bridge International Controversy: Bridge Schools ‘Undermine the Rule of Law, Transparency and Fundamental Rights’
The Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights is concerned about the direction Bridge International Academies is headed, says Sylvain Aubry, and those "concerns are based on real, substantiated, independent evidence that not only the Bridge business model may be shaky, but that Bridge schools could undermine ... the rule of law, transparency and fundamental rights."
- Categories
- Education, Social Enterprise
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Social Business Roundup: Building Our Immunity to Anti-Vaxxers, Solar Loans With a Side of Health, and SRI Goes Robo
There’s a crisis of trust in the world, some of it well earned – and some, like skepticism about vaccines, completely unwarranted. We cover an alarming uptick in the anti-vax movement's profile, an effort to pair solar loans with health care in Ghana, and the emergence of "robo-SRI" in this news roundup.
- Categories
- Energy, Health Care, Investing, Social Enterprise, Technology
- Tags
- ESG, impact investing, solar, vaccines
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Announcing NextBillion’s 2017 Editorial Calendar and Our First Monthly Theme: Microfinance
It's a new year, and NextBillion is announcing a new approach to showcase our diverse array of content: Each month, along with our regular coverage of the broader social business world, we’ll dedicate special coverage to a specific sector. We're launching the concept this month, with a special focus on microfinance. You can view our full 2017 editorial calendar here.
- Categories
- Social Enterprise
- Tags
- microfinance
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Tools of the Recycling Trade Include … Tricycles
Lagos has a trash collection problem. A very big one. When Bilikiss Adebiyi-Abiola heard about it, she thought it represented a business opportunity. So she started a recycling firm, Wecyclers, which shuttles recyclable materials from homes to processing centers on a fleet of tricycles. In this Q&A, she talks about how she got the idea and where she hopes to take it.
- Categories
- Environment, Social Enterprise
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Announcing NextBillion’s Most Influential Posts of 2016
Congratulations to the three winners of NextBillion’s “Most Influential Post of 2016” contest. Each winner brought a unique mixture of topicality, engaging writing and thought-provoking analysis to their posts, which tackled some of the most important issues facing the social business world in the past year.
- Categories
- Health Care, Social Enterprise
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Summer of Impact Investing: ImpactAlpha Flags 10 Recent Developments Shaping the Sector
In July, NextBillion launched a collaboration with ImpactAlpha to highlight coverage of the top stories, leaders and trends in impact investing. This article, which appeared on July 12, proved to be the most popular post that month, and is entered in this year's Most Influential Post of 2016 contest. We're publishing a new entrant in the contest every day through Jan. 2; be sure to vote for your favorite.
- Categories
- Investing, Social Enterprise
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