Posted on May 11, 2009 by Raj Melville
I had gotten a copy of Acumen Fund founder, Jacqueline Novogratz’s, book “The Blue Sweater” a couple of months ago and had kept promising myself that I would read it. Once I started reading I was hooked. Before I knew it I had plowed through the entire volume. This is an extraordinary and powerful book.
Filed under: BOP, Health, Information Technology, Investment, Philanthropy, Social Business, Social Ecosystem, Social Entrepreneur, bottom of the pyramid, international development, micro-finance, social Innovation, sustainable development, venture philanthropy | Tagged: Acumen Fund, BOP, Health, Information Technology, international development, micro-finance, Philanthropy, Social Business, Social Ecosystem, Social Entrepreneur, social entrepreneurship, Social Impact, social Innovation, Social Investment, Sustainable ventures, venture philanthropy | 2 Comments »
Posted on April 22, 2009 by Raj Melville
Speaking at the Legatum Center’s Lecture series at MIT, Jacqueline Novogratz described the innovative work of Acumen fund and how it helps build social solutions through its venture philanthropy.
Filed under: Health, India, Investment, Micro-enterprises, Poverty, Sanitation, Social Business, Social Ecosystem, Social Entrepreneur, Water, international development, micro-finance, social Innovation, venture philanthropy | Tagged: Acumen Fund, Health, international development, micro-finance, microfinance, Philanthropy, Social Business, Social Ecosystem, Social Entrepreneur, social entrepreneurship, Social Impact, social Innovation, Sustainable ventures, Water | Leave a Comment »
Posted on April 21, 2009 by Raj Melville
Vibha Krishnamurthy is the founder of Ummeed, and Ashish Karamchandani, leader of Monitor, Monitor Inclusive Markets, visit Boston
Filed under: Health, India, Social Business, Social Ecosystem, Social Entrepreneur, international development, micro-finance, non-profit, social Innovation, sustainable development | Tagged: Ashoka, Boston, Health, international development, micro-finance, non-profit, Social Business, Social Ecosystem, Social Entrepreneur, Social Investment, sustainable development, Sustainable ventures | Leave a Comment »
Posted on March 4, 2009 by Raj Melville
The opening keynote to the 10th annual HBS Social Enterprise Conference was a truly inspirational presentation by Linda Rottenberg from Endeavor, Inc. Linda traced the arc of social entrepreneurship as it accelerated over the past decade from an idea to formally becoming a key movement.
Filed under: Conference, Micro-enterprises, Philanthropy, Social Business, Social Ecosystem, Social Entrepreneur, international development, non-profit, social Innovation, sustainability, venture philanthropy | Tagged: Bill Gates, Bono, Conference, ecosystem, Endeavor, international development, Linda Rottenberg, non-profit, Philanthropy, Social Business, Social Ecosystem, Social Entrepreneur, social entrepreneurship, Social Impact, social Innovation, Social Investment, sustainability, Sustainable ventures, yunus | 5 Comments »
Posted on August 20, 2008 by Raj Melville
Paul Polak is a physiatrist by training but has spent the past 25 years working to alleviate poverty in the developing world. Paul has encapsulated his learnings in a book “Out of Poverty”. More recently, Paul has posted an interesting video on You tube that summarizes his “Twelve Steps to Practical Problem Solving”.
Filed under: Agricultural Development, BOP, Poverty, Rural Development, Rural Entrepreneur, Social Ecosystem, Social Entrepreneur, Water, Water resources, international development, non-profit, sustainable development | Tagged: appropriate technology, bangladesh, BOP, innovation, international development, Paul Polak, Poverty, poverty alleviation, Social Ecosystem, Social Entrepreneur, Social Impact, social Innovation, treadle pump, youtube | Leave a Comment »
Posted on August 11, 2008 by Raj Melville
I came across this article that summarizes Amy Smith’s philosophy of design for low cost solutions.
Here are her 7 key points. You can read the entire article on Popular Mechanics.
Filed under: BOP, Education, Poverty, Rural Development, Social Ecosystem, international development, social Innovation, sustainable development | Tagged: Amy Smith, BOP, Education, innovation, international development, invention, Low Cost Design, MIT, Poverty, Social Entrepreneur, Social Impact, social Innovation, sustainable development | Leave a Comment »
Posted on August 8, 2008 by Raj Melville
Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending the final presentation of the International Development Design Summit at MIT – the brainchild of Amy Smith, MacArthur Fellow and lecturer in MIT’s Mechanical Engineering department. This, now yearly, event brought together nearly 60 students from 20 countries around the world to work together with a team of mentors and staff to tackle a number of design problems facing NGOs and non-profits in developing countries.
Filed under: Agricultural Development, BOP, Education, Poverty, Rural Development, Social Ecosystem, Social Entrepreneur, international development, sustainable development | Tagged: social Innovation, Rural Development, Agricultural Development, international development, sustainable development, BOP, design, Social Impact, MIT, social entrepreneurship, Amy Smith, IDDS, MacArthur Fellow, innovation, invention, engineering design, mechanical engineering | Leave a Comment »
Posted on June 27, 2008 by Raj Melville
Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to spend a month in India and visited several NGOs while there. One of the innovative organizations is BAIF (Bharatiya Agro Industries Foundation) — I visited their operations outside of Hubli in Northern Karnataka state and wrote an article about their work for Lokvani.com, that I have reproduced below
Filed under: Agricultural Development, Rural Development, Rural Entrepreneur, Water, Water resources | Tagged: Agricultural Development, BAIF, ecology, ecosystem, Hubli, India, international development, Karnataka, Manibhai Desai, rainwater harvesting, Rural Development, Water, Water resources | Leave a Comment »
Posted on June 22, 2008 by Raj Melville
The Social Ecosystem
Exploring Entrepreneurial Ideas that Address Social Issues, Enhance the Environment, Sustain Development and Transform the Developing World
This blog is about innovators that are addressing social challenges with fresh ideas, new approaches, and innovative business and entrepreneurial models. These breakthroughs come from a variety of sources ranging from academics, traditional non-profits to for-profit organizations. [...]
Filed under: Social Ecosystem, Social Entrepreneur | Tagged: international development, non-profit, Rural Development, Social Business, Social Ecosystem, Social Entrepreneur, social entrepreneurship, social Innovation, sustainable development | Leave a Comment »
