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What Makes Toniic Tick? Part One of an Interview With Stephanie Cohn Rupp, CEO of the Impact Investor Network
Investing for social impact can be a risky business, and it helps if impact investors can leverage the knowledge of like-minded peers. Toniic, a global network of impact investors, aims to facilitate those interactions, bringing social entrepreneurs and investors together for the benefit of both. NextBillion Financial Innovation recently spoke with Toniic CEO Stephanie Cohn Rupp to discuss its approach, and the evolution of the sector.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment, Social Enterprise
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Nigeria, From Pure Growth to Harnessed Opportunity: A new report on the 3D role of business in the unfolding transformation
It is easy to pretend that there are two separate Nigerias: one a thrusting consumer powerhouse, and one socially divided and pocked by violence and poverty. For business, which relies on the success of the former, acknowledging the latter can be difficult, but they are two sides of the same coin. This week we are in Abuja to launch a new report by Business Action for Africa and the Initiative for Global Development: “The New Africa – Nigeria: From Growth to Opportunity”.
- Categories
- Education, Social Enterprise
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Good Ideas, Multiplied: How NGO, research collaboration is boosting social entrepreneurship
Social entrepreneurs are celebrated for bringing new ideas to the table. But is a great idea enough to have the intended impact? While entrepreneurship celebrates the new, what role should existing research networks and NGOs, who bring deep sector expertise and trusting relationships with target communities, play in supporting social entrepreneurship?
- Categories
- Education, Impact Assessment, Social Enterprise
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Impact Investing in the Base: A chat with Vox Capital’s Daniel Izzo
Daniel Izzo is the pioneering co-founder of Brazil’s first impact investing fund, Vox Capital, which focuses exclusively on BoP-serving businesses. Vox has invested in 12 companies, six with equity stakes and six with convertible debt investments, in Brazil. Tara Sabre Collier talks with him about the ins and outs of reaching the BoP demographic.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment, Social Enterprise
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Putting Microbusiness on the Map: U.S. students survey local businesses to compete for social enterprise seed funding
In the U.S., 3.7 million people remain long-term unemployed. Without job opportunities, many Americans are becoming entrepreneurial out of necessity - but they often lack capital. That’s why Lend for America is working with local students in the Philadelphia area to provide microfinance for social entrepreneurship.
- Categories
- Finance, Impact Assessment, Social Enterprise
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NexThought Monday – Collaboration to Save the World: The answer to ‘wicked problems’ like poverty is radical collaboration
There are a few trends that are driving more intense collaboration. We are more connected to each other because of the reach of technology and social media. This interconnectivity provides more possibilities for collaboration, innovation, and communication in ways that we have not experienced even a generation ago.
- Categories
- Social Enterprise
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Cashless Education: How mobile money helps Bridge International Academies deliver quality for-profit education for $6 a month – Part 5 in our Digital Finance Plus series
Bridge International Academies has integrated mobile money fully into its business. All of the school’s 300+ branches accept no cash, using mobile money for school fees, student lunch purchases, payments to staff and vendors, and expense reimbursements. In part 5 of our Digital Finance Plus series, Marie Leznicki explains how going cashless helps Bridge maintain its customer focus.
- Categories
- Education, Social Enterprise, Technology
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Niches for Social Enterprises: How hybrid-model social enterprises cluster in Kenya and Vietnam
A review by the Overseas Development Institute (ODI), of social enterprise activity in the agriculture and health sectors of Kenya and Vietnam found that hybrid-model social enterprises cluster in niches that mainstream business and state provision do not reach. Identifying and understanding these context-specific niches could hold the key to effective support of social enterprise activities.
- Categories
- Education, Social Enterprise
- Tags
- research
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