NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

The SEEP Network’s 2014 Annual Conference will serve as a platform to promote learning and exchange around proven and emerging approaches, strategies and models for reaching substantial numbers of poor and vulnerable populations on a sustainable basis. The conference will explore scalable solutions that involve inclusive business models, private sector partnerships, technology applications, and new investment and financing models. The conference will organize learning around overarching questions such as: How do we define scale? What are the greatest challenges to scaling development impact? Which innovations in products, delivery and partnerships promise the greatest results and are likely to endure? How can market facilitators be more effective in this context? What are the potential trade-offs between reaching large numbers and achieving impact?

Technical Tracks:

1. Technology—Addressing Market Constraints and Facilitating Wide-scale Behavior Change in Market Systems

2. Basic Services—Market-based Solutions to Expand Access, Efficiency, and Quality

3. Combining “Push and Pull” Strategies for Greater Scale and Poverty Outreach

4. Research and Evidence for Scaling Up Inclusive Solutions

Keynote speaker: Paul Polak

Paul Polak is the founder and CEO of Windhorse International and Paul Polak Enterprises, two social ventures aiming to inspire and lead a revolution in how companies design, price, market and distribute products to benefit the 2.6 billion people living on less than $2 a day. For the past 30 years, he has worked with thousands of farmers in locations around the globe—including Bangladesh, India, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Myanmar, Nepal, Vietnam, Zambia and Zimbabwe—to help design and produce low-cost, income-generating products that have already moved more than 20 million people out of poverty. By pairing affordable and innovative technologies with transformative market strategies, Polak’s work has had a substantial impact on the field and on the lives of millions worldwide.

To register for The SEEP Network’s 2014 Annual Conference: CLICK HERE

Note: NextBillion is serving as a media partner for the conference.