NextBillion - A WDI Publication

Wharton School, WWB Focus on Innovation in Microfinance

PHILADELPHIA, Feb. 3, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Women’s World Banking (WWB) Center for Microfinance Leadership, and the ...

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The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania (link opens in a new window)

Social Entrepreneurship and the Common Brand

As GOOD magazine reported yesterday, Alex Bogusky and John Bielenberg, have launched a new social entrepreneurship platform called COMMON that is part incubator and part creative community that enables collabor...

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Fast Company (link opens in a new window)

Microfinance Banking and Finance Institute Launched in Kabul

Afghanistan Institute of Banking and Finance (AIBF), the first institute to provide traditional banking and microfinance knowledge and understanding to the Afghan community was recently launched in Kabul, said a report released by MIFSA. AIBF was established to build a strong knowledge base of the industry in Afghanistan. It works in close collaboration with Da Afghanistan Bank (DAB), the Afghanistan Banking Association (ABA), and the Microfinance Investment Support Facility for Afghani...

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Microfinance Focus (link opens in a new window)

Region

South Asia

Behind the Seams: The Disadvantaged Women Creating Hong Kong Fashion

The founders of Dialog Worldbutik, Malaysian Dong Shing Chiu and New Generation Award winner Cassandra Postema, started their social business after the 2004 tsunami. They sold " Hope Tee " T-shirts for tsunami relief fundraising and expanded into women’s handbags and accessories using recycled materials by 2007. "Eco-friendly and fair trade is our trademark and the stories behind our designs are important. But the design...

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CNN Go (link opens in a new window)

Region

Asia Pacific

Fancy Solar Cooker a Possible Solution For Off-Grid Communities

Images via Yanko Design Solar cookers f...

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Treehugger.com (link opens in a new window)

In A Shift, Cubans Savor Working for Themselves

BAUTA, Cuba - Marisela Álvarez spends much of the day bent over a single electric burner in her small outdoor kitchen. Her knees are killing her. Her red hair smells of cooking oil. "I feel useful; I’m independent," said Ms. Álvarez, who opened a small cafe in November at her home in this scruffy town 25 miles from the capital, Havana. "When you sit down at the end of the day and look at how much you have made, you feel satisfied." Eagerly, warily, Cubans are tak...

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The New York Times (link opens in a new window)

Region

Latin America

Hire for Attitude, Train for Skill

By Bill Taylor In a recent issue of The New Yorker , Atul Gawande, the gifted writer and accomplished doctor, published yet another of his must-read accounts of the health-care crisis and the innovators trying to change things for the better. One of the organizations he highl...

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Harvard Business Review (link opens in a new window)

CASE at Duke University Coordinating Research for B Lab and GIIRS

DURHAM, N.C., Feb. 02 /CSRwire/ - With funding from the Rockefeller Foundation, the Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship (CASE) at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business is leading an effort to create priorities for future research for the national and global data being collected by B Lab and the Global Impact Investing Rating System. The Rockefeller Foundation is also providing support for B Lab and GIIRS. "B Lab and GIIRS are collecting a unique pool of data, ...

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CSRwire (link opens in a new window)