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Beyond Inclusion: How Mission-Based Small Business Lenders are Evolving Their Definition of Impact
While microfinance institutions have grown rapidly around the globe, so too has economic inequality in developed countries. More than two decades ago, Accion in the U.S. and Opportunity Fund responded by adapting their microlending model from low-income markets to the United States. Gina Harman and Luz Urrutia, the respective CEOs of those two organizations, share new research on small loans have impacted revenues and profits for borrowing entrepreneurs, most of whom lacked the financing and resources they needed to start or grow their businesses.
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How a tiny Indian state is battling joblessness through entrepreneurship
A nationwide survey in 2016 said the state had the best working conditions for women in India. The literacy rate is seventh highest and its young are educated but, without jobs, drifting into drugs and despair.
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- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
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- employment, youth
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Viewpoint: Here is Why Social Entrepreneurs are Silent Revolutionaries
State Institutions lack typical characteristics that enterprises have – greater focus on outcomes and ability to explore various models to solve complex problems. That is where social entrepreneurs come in.
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- South Asia
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The Economic Lives of Sex Workers: Can Financial Inclusion Offer Women a Path Out of the Sex Trade?
True financial inclusion involves reaching marginalized workers, and few are more marginalized than sex workers. Like everyone, these workers have financial needs and goals - including, for many, the goal of finding a safer livelihood. Daryl Collins, CEO of BFA, walks through the revenues and expenses of a sex worker in Ghana to show how access to financial services can impact sex workers – and why mainstream providers need to see the value in this overlooked population.
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81 Designs: A social enterprise that marries art with women’s empowerment
The brand oversees a group of refugee women as they recreate the works of leading Middle Eastern artists in the traditional “tatreez” style of cross-stitching.
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- Uncategorized
- Region
- North Africa & Near East
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- gender equality, refugees
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Press release: Opportunity Fund Launches Largest Small Business Impact Fund
Opportunity Fund, a leading Community Development Financial Institution, creates the largest Small Business Impact Fund in the country that lends directly to underserved entrepreneurs, helping the California-based organization expand its offerings across the country.
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- Uncategorized
- Region
- North America
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How one engineer made it his business to help refugees become entrepreneurs
Usman Iftikhar turned his struggle to land a full-time engineering job into a startup accelerator that helps refugees and migrants realise their entrepreneurial ambitions – and received a Royal seal of approval for his efforts.
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Younger Entrepreneurs Choose Social Impact As Their Top Business Priority
One in five entrepreneurs considers social responsibility, being active in the community, or environmental responsibility as their top priority as a business owner, rather than prioritising areas such as maximising shareholder value or economic prosperity.
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- Uncategorized
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