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Social Business: A More Sustainable Way to Help in Haiti?
Children dressed in school uniforms sit in rows listening to one of their classmates sing a song while snacks are passed around. Two years ago, before a devastating earthquake struck the island, they were in a different location in a building that has since been demolished on a nearby plot of land here in Léogâne, Haiti. Now these youngsters and their families are getting another chance with the help of an innovative antipoverty effort that combines business tactics with so...
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- Agriculture
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New Legal Structures for ’Social Entrepreneurs’
You may have noticed the emerging class of "social entrepreneurs" who are creating companies that seek profit but also are devoted to a social purpose, to create long term, sustainable value. But, until recently, social entrepreneurs would find themselves in the position of choosing whether to organize either as a for-profit company or a nonprofit organization. The problem was that sometimes a company would be too much of a business to be a nonprofit. Yet, it also might be too mission-d...
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- Agriculture
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Samasource, Inveneo Included in Google $40M Grants
In its biggest single-day contribution ever, Google ( GOOG ) on Wednesday announced it has handed out $40 million to battle slavery, promote education and make technology more accessible worldwide, with nearly a fourth of the money going to Bay Area organizations. "The causes we are supporting are issues we’ve been committed...
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- Agriculture
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Wise Ethical Investment Seeks Profit
Like motherhood and apple pie, socially responsible investment warms most people’s hearts. But during a two-year cycle trip across Africa, Swiss investment banker Klaus Tischhauser realized the SRI industry was failing in a key challenge-fighting poverty. Ten years on, the grassroots style of social investing he helped pioneer is wooing many wealthy investors The rich are different, and not just because they have more money. Wealthy individuals often have a wider sense of responsibi...
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- Agriculture
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Should Philanthropies Operate Like Businesses?
It’s your money, and you’re willing to give some of it away to a worthy cause. But you want to see results. Measurable progress toward agreed-upon goals. Regular proof that your investment is achieving maximum impact. That’s the way businesses operate, and charities should be no different. That’s one way to look at it, anyway. Others argue that things work differently in the world of nonprofits and social change. Tackling some of society’s biggest problems is u...
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- Agriculture
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The U.S. Secretary of State’s Global Partnership Initiative on Impact Investing
Recently, I interviewed Kris M. Balderston, Special Representative for Global Partnerships at the Global Partnership Initiative (GPI), which is located in the Office of the U.S. Secretary of State, and Lala Faiz, a Senior Partnerships Advisor at GPI, and who manages their Investing with Impact initiative . Rahim Kanani: Describe a lit...
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- Agriculture
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Wealthy Indonesians Start Sharing the Wealth
There are few places in the word where such vast contrasts exist that one can watch a Bentley overtaking a bajaj on city streets, an act that symbolizes the scale of economic inequality throughout the country. However, several determined Indonesians are aiming to take matters into their own hands as a means to provide greater opportunities to those who are less fortunate. Sandiaga Uno, a successful investor and CEO of Saratoga Capital, has found a unique way to link hi...
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- Agriculture
- Region
- Asia Pacific
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Matt Bannick of the Omidyar Network on Philanthropy, Social Enterprise, Technology and More
Recently, I interviewed Matt Bannick, Managing Partner of the Omidyar Network -a philanthropic investment firm dedicated to harnessing the power of markets to create opportunity for people to improve their lives. They invest in and help scale innovative organizations to catalyze economic, social, and political change. eBay founder Pierre Omidyar and wife Pam established Omidyar Network based on their conviction that every person has the pow...
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- Agriculture