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SOCAP Recap: OPTIMISM … With a Dash of Skepticism:
With warplanes thundering overhead (seriously), the crowd at Thursday's SOCAP sessions conducted a stimulating and wide-ranging discussion of the many facets of social business and investing. But among the usual positivity was a distinct note of impatience. Our editors discuss what they saw and heard at yesterday's proceedings.
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- Health Care, Impact Assessment, Social Enterprise
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NexThought Monday – Applying Wall Street Ideas to NGOs in Rural India: A closer look at the first education impact bond
Business and financial buzzwords that have long dominated boardrooms and global conference calls - like “make vs. buy” or “risk and return” – are entering the landscape of NGOs. The latest manifestation of this is a new type of bond for development programs that leverages investor and risk dynamics typically found in business deals. The very first of these “development impact bonds” in education launched in rural India last year.
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- Impact Assessment
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F.B. Heron Foundation President Clara Miller is Stepping Down: Watch our 2015 Video Interview
In June, the F.B. Heron Foundation announced that it was moving 100 percent of its assets into impact investments, aiming to complete the process by the end of 2017. On September 30, the foundation's president Clara Miller joined NextBillion for a live Google Hangout. We discussed Heron’s bold move – and the lessons it has learned from its efforts to align its capital with its mission. You can view the replay in this post.
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- Impact Assessment
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‘Financial Inclusion for Sustainable Development’: European Microfinance Week Nov. 18th – 20th
European Microfinance Week is a major annual event featuring high level, in-depth discussions by all sectors of the European microfinance community. The conference, which will take place Nov. 18th – 20th in Luxembourg, will welcome over 400 top professionals in the industry, from several dozen countries. NextBillion will be a media partner at the event, providing live tweeting, blog coverage and interviews with key participants.
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- Finance, Impact Assessment, Technology
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The Risks of Government-Led Financial Inclusion: Why agent networks in India need to move beyond government mandates
Over the years, the government of India has facilitated financial access by promoting account opening through various programs. And, at first glance, some of the numbers associated with the government's inclusion mandates look good. But a more detailed look reveals a bleak picture that includes high agent attrition and low account activity rates.
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- Impact Assessment
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Rising Star or Red Flag?: South Africa’s financial inclusion growth raises questions for the entire industry
South Africa placed second in a recent Brookings Institute study comparing financial inclusion in 21 developing countries – surpassed only by Kenya. But though this has led to celebration in some quarters, there’s a troubling aspect to these findings. Illana Melzer argues that the risks of burgeoning financial access and usage are too significant for beneficiaries, development organizations and donors to ignore.
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- Education, Impact Assessment
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A New Wave of Capacity Building: Enabling private investment in the university education of students in developing countries
Human capital is a nation’s most critical capacity, yet many students in developing countries can't afford a higher education. And neither scholarships and financial aid nor bank loans are sufficient to meet the level of need. Brighter Investment enables private investors to fund the university education of students in the developing world, in exchange for a fixed percentage of their future income - its co-founder discusses their unique model.
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- Education, Impact Assessment
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Accelerating Social Entrepreneurship in Latin America: An interview with Agora Partnerships’ CEO Ben Powell
As Ben Powell, its founder and CEO puts it, Agora Partnerships "accelerates entrepreneurs that are solving social and environmental problems in Latin America." Powell describes the process – including some surprising challenges most entrepreneurs face – and discusses emerging trends in social business and investing in this video interview.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment, Social Enterprise