Posted on April 4, 2010 by Raj Melville
A good article that touches on some of the issues in my last post is a recent interview of Vijay Mahajan on the Credit Suisse website. In the interview Mr. Mahajan points out to some of the prerequisites for microfinance to pull people out of poverty. He also highlights the need to match investment growth in this sector to the available management capacity in order to avoid a bubble in the sector. Here are some extracts from his interview. Read the rest of the post at http://blog.ambientengines.com
Filed under: BOP, India, Social Business, Social Ecosystem, Social Entrepreneur, bottom of the pyramid, micro-finance, microfinance, social Innovation, sustainable development | Tagged: microfinance, micro-finance, sustainable development, BOP, Social Business, microcredit, social entrepreneurship, BASIX, Vijay Mahajan, Credit Suisse | Leave a Comment »
Posted on March 25, 2010 by Raj Melville
Last week I had the opportunity to attend a panel discussion at Continuum, the design consultancy, on “Building Leadership in the Microfinace Sector”. The presentation and discussion centered around some very preliminary findings based on an initial field trip and set the stage for more detailed field research to be conducted later this year. I have outlined some of their observations at the meeting and my reaction to what I heard. Read the details at http://blog.ambientengines.com
Filed under: Social Business, Social Ecosystem, Social Entrepreneur, bottom of the pyramid, micro-finance, microfinance, social Innovation | Tagged: social Innovation, microfinance, micro-finance, BOP, yunus, Social Business, Social Investment, Sustainable ventures, Continuum, Grameen Foundation, Center for Creative Leadership, Shorecap Exchange, Human resources, talent, mid-level managers | 2 Comments »
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: Accion, Babson college, Boston, Conference, ecosystem, micro-finance, microfinance, MIT, non-profit, Social Business, Social Ecosystem, Social Entrepreneur, social entrepreneurship, social Innovation, Social Investment, sustainability, sustainable development, Sustainable ventures, universalgiving, venture philanthropy | 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 »
