Posted on November 5, 2009 by Raj Melville
Another successful conference on Social Entrepreneurship was held on October 23rd, this time at Babson College in Boston’s Wellesley suburb. Details on the conference and photos were posted in a local e-magazine, Lokvani.com and are reproduced for those who could not attend. For details go to
http://blog.ambientengines.com
Filed under: Conference, Education, Social Business, Social Ecosystem, Social Entrepreneur, social Innovation, sustainable development | Tagged: Babson college, Boston, Carol Cone, Conference, ecosystem, Leonard Schlesinger, microfinance, non-profit, Pamela Hawley, Philanthropy, Pitch contest, Rural Education, Social Business, Social Ecosystem, social entrepreneurship, Social Impact, social Innovation, Social Investment, sustainable development, venture philanthropy | Leave a Comment »
Posted on October 14, 2009 by Raj Melville
An Investors perspective of Microfinance – Over the past years, microfinance has grown increasingly prominent and found its way into the common vernacular. As microfinance has become increasingly mainstream, major investors have started to take positions in microfinance companies. What are the potential returns and social impacts that investors see in this segment? More details at http://blog.ambientengines.com
Filed under: Conference, Social Ecosystem, Social Entrepreneur, micro-finance, microfinance, social Innovation | Tagged: Babson college, Boston, Conference, ecosystem, Investment, investors, micro-finance, microcredit, microfinance, Social Ecosystem, Social Entrepreneur, social entrepreneurship, social Innovation, Social Investment | Leave a Comment »
Posted on October 13, 2009 by Raj Melville
Our annual conference on Social Entrepreneurship – ForSE 2009: Forum for Social Entrepreneurs will be held on Friday October 23. This time we are working together with Babson College’s Net Impact Undergrad organization to host it at Olin Hall on Babson College’s lovely Wellesley campus.
Filed under: Conference, Investment, Micro-enterprises, Philanthropy, Social Business, Social Ecosystem, Social Entrepreneur, Venture Capital, creative capitalism, micro-finance, microfinance, non-profit, social Innovation, sustainable development, venture philanthropy | Tagged: Social Entrepreneur, Social Ecosystem, social Innovation, microfinance, Conference, micro-finance, Boston, sustainable development, ecosystem, Social Business, sustainability, Social Investment, venture philanthropy, MIT, social entrepreneurship, non-profit, Sustainable ventures, Accion, universalgiving, Babson college | Leave a Comment »
Posted on June 24, 2009 by Raj Melville
Couple of months ago we had the privilege to host Mr. N. Srinivasan in Boston. Mr. Srinivasan is the author of the ‘Microfinance in India: State of the Sector Report 2008’, was Chief General Manager of India’s National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) where he served for 25 years. Here are excerpts from an interview and Mr Srinivasan’s open letter to the Indian Government.
Filed under: Investment, Micro-enterprises, Social Ecosystem, micro-finance, microfinance, sustainable development | Tagged: India, micro-finance, microcredit, microfinance, NABARD, savings, sustainable development, yunus | Leave a Comment »
Posted on June 9, 2009 by Raj Melville
Bala Vishwanath, an IIT and IIM alum, saw an opportunity to multiply the social impact of every dollar, quit his job and worked to setup www.UnitedProsperity.org United Prosperity helps provide loan guarantees that enable poor entrepreneurs to borrow from Microfinance Institutions to build their enterprises in developing countries.
Filed under: India, Micro-enterprises, Philanthropy, Social Business, Social Ecosystem, Social Entrepreneur, bottom of the pyramid, international development, micro-finance, microfinance, social Innovation, sustainable development | Tagged: India, Kiva, micro-finance, microcredit, microfinance, Philanthropy, Social Business, Social Ecosystem, Social Entrepreneur, Social Impact, social Innovation, Social Investment, sustainable development, United Prosperity, yunus | 1 Comment »
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 September 28, 2008 by Raj Melville
We have a terrific line up of speakers and panels for ForSE 2008 on October 10th at Boston University. See the list below. Do make sure you have registered as there are very few seats left.
To register go to: http://www.bu.edu/forse
Filed under: Conference, Education, Food, Information Technology, OLPC, Philanthropy, Poverty, Service, Social Business, Social Ecosystem, Social Entrepreneur, environment, micro-finance, mobile technology, non-profit, social Innovation, sustainability, sustainable development | Tagged: adaptation, BOP, Boston, Climate Change, Conference, ecosystem, Education, Food Security, Food Supply, ForSE 2008, Global Warming, microfinance, mobile technology, Social Ecosystem, Social Entrepreneur, social entrepreneurship, Social Impact, social Innovation, sustainability, sustainable development, Sustainable ventures, youth, Youth entrepreneurship | Leave a Comment »
Posted on September 20, 2008 by Raj Melville
Microfinance, as demonstrated by Nobel Laureate Mohammad Yunus, provides disadvantaged entrepreneurs with small loans to run their businesses and eventually help lift them out of poverty. This has become a wide spread phenomenon all over the world encouraging millions of families out of poverty. What’s next? There is a huge business opportunity for both, investment in the MFIs and providing other business services to these micro-enterprises at the bottom of the pyramid.
Filed under: BOP, Conference, Education, Poverty, Social Business, Social Ecosystem, Social Entrepreneur, bottom of the pyramid, micro-finance, microfinance, social Innovation, sustainable development | Tagged: Boston, Conference, ecosystem, Education, ForSE 2008, microfinance, Social Business, Social Ecosystem, Social Entrepreneur, social entrepreneurship, Social Impact, social Innovation, yunus | 1 Comment »
Posted on September 10, 2008 by Raj Melville
The Forum for Social Entrepreneurship, or ForSE for short, brings together social innovators with leading business professionals, investors, donors, government officials, academics, and students to facilitate the sharing of new technology and business ideas along with hard-earned management learnings to foster informed discussion and action on new social venture concepts. Registration for the ForSE 2008 is now open. Registration is limited. Register early for the discounted registration rates available to the first 180 registered attendees.
Filed under: Conference, Education, Health, Information Technology, Micro-enterprises, Poverty, Rural Development, Social Ecosystem, Social Entrepreneur, environment, international development, micro-finance, mobile technology, non-profit, social Innovation, sustainability, sustainable development | Tagged: Boston, Climate Change, Conference, ecosystem, Education, Food Security, Food Supply, Gerald Chertavian, Global Warming, Health, internet, microfinance, Mobile, mobile technology, Social Ecosystem, Social Entrepreneur, social entrepreneurship, Social Impact, social Innovation, sustainable development, Sustainable ventures, Year Up, Youth entrepreneurship | Leave a Comment »
Posted on August 8, 2008 by Raj Melville
Tapan provided a refreshingly different viewpoint that emphasized the needs of the end user in developing countries. By harnessing technology to make things simpler, Tapan has provided platforms that make the daily grind of field workers in rural parts of the world a lot easier. For his innovative and inspiring work, Tapan was identified as one of the 35 Innovators under age 35 by MIT’s Technology Review magazine and named Technology Review’s Humanitarian of the Year for 2007.
Filed under: BOP, Information Technology, Poverty, Social Ecosystem, Social Entrepreneur, international development, micro-finance, mobile technology, social Innovation, sustainable development | Tagged: Berkeley, CAM, cell phone, ekgaon, Guatemala, human-computer interaction, humanitarian, India, Information Technology, microfinance, MIT, mobile technology, Social Ecosystem, Social Entrepreneur, Social Impact, social Innovation, Tapan Parikh, Technology Review, University of California | Leave a Comment »
