I have been in India for the past week and one of the trends I have noticed is the increased focus on the rural market. Perhaps it is the ongoing elections or maybe the global recession, but companies across the board seem to have a renewed emphasis on targeting the rural consumer.
Culling thru the headlines there are a few key facts that seem to stand out: Continue reading
Posted in Agricultural Development, BOP, bottom of the pyramid, India, Investment, micro-finance, microfinance, mobile technology, Poverty, Rural Consumer, Rural Development, sustainable development
Tagged BOP, Coca Cola, eJeevika, GE, India, micro-finance, mobile technology, Poverty, rural BPO, Rural Consumer, Rural Development, Social Impact, sustainable development, Wall Street Journal, WIPRO
We were pleased to have Vibha Krishnamurthy and Ashish Karamchandani visit us in Boston on Sunday.
Vibha Krishnamurthy is the founder of Ummeed, (http://www.ummeed.org ) a first-of-its kind center addressing the needs of the estimated 35 million children in India with developmental disabilities. After completing her fellowship at Boston Children’s Hospital, Vibha moved back to Bombay determined to bring world class care to disabled children in India. She founded Ummeed in 2001 and it now supports over 1000 patient visits a week. Ummeed provides early diagnosis of development disabilities followed by in-house professional, medical and therapeutic care. It allows families to continue proper care and therapy at home by providing training and education programs for parents. For her tireless efforts to bring care to the disadvantaged, Vibha was named an Ashoka Fellow in 2007. http://www.ashoka.org/fellow/4900
Vibha’s husband, Ashish Karamchandani is a visionary in his own right. Ashish returned to India to head Monitor’s Indian consulting office where he spearheaded an effort within Monitor to address the challenges of global poverty with market based solutions. He was successful in starting a new area of research within Monitor, Monitor Inclusive Markets, (http://www.mim.monitor.com) that he now leads. The group has brought scientific and business approaches to providing market-based solutions and has initiated financially-sustainable enterprises to address the needs of the bottom 60% of the income pyramid in India. Their work has identified housing as one of the key areas where market based solutions can alter the social and economic landscape of the country. Ashish has recently published a comprehensive report “Emerging Markets, Emerging Models,” based on their solid fact-based research. Continue reading
Posted in Health, India, international development, micro-finance, non-profit, Social Business, Social Ecosystem, Social Entrepreneur, 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
I was recently interviewed by New England’s largest e-magazine for South Asians, lokvani.com about my views on social entrepreneurship. You can find the full interview at their site here.
“The passage of the Edward Kennedy Serve America Act this week marks the coming of age of Social Entrepreneurship (SE)” says Raj Melville, who is one of the co-founders of the TIE-SE SIG. He talked to Lokvani about this concept which combines for-profit and non-profit work by entrepreneurs to address a social issue in a sustainable and scalable manner. It has now become the new buzz word. (from Lokvani.com)
Posted in Micro-enterprises, micro-finance, microfinance, Philanthropy, Social Business, Social Ecosystem, Social Entrepreneur, social Innovation, sustainable development, venture philanthropy
Tagged micro-finance, non-profit, Philanthropy, Service, Social Business, Social Ecosystem, Social Entrepreneur, social entrepreneurship, Social Impact, social Innovation, sustainability, sustainable development, Sustainable ventures
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
Click on the ForSE 2008 link.
Opening Plenary Panel 9.00 to 10.45 am
Closing Keynote 4.00 to 4.30 pm
Track Themed Panels from 11.15 to 12.15
Adapting to Climate Change
Mobile Solutions for the Masses
Beyond Microfinance: Opportunities for change
Building a Sustainable Food Supply
Cultivating a Generation – Engaging Young Entrepreneurs
Case Studies 1.00 to 2.30 pm
Environment
Mobile Solutions for the Masses
Beyond Microfinance: Opportunities for change
Building a Sustainable Food Supply
Cultivating a Generation – Engaging Young Entrepreneurs
Sustainable Ventures for non-profits
Track Themed Panels from 2.45 to 3.45 pm
Mobile Solutions for the Masses
Cultivating a Generation – Engaging Young Entrepreneurs
Sustainable Ventures for non-profits
Workshops – from 2.45 to 3.45 pm
Careers in Social Entrepreneurship
Marketing for Social Entrepreneurs
Strategic Philanthropy: Implications of Recent Trends
Posted in Conference, Education, environment, Food, Information Technology, micro-finance, mobile technology, non-profit, OLPC, Philanthropy, Poverty, Service, Social Business, Social Ecosystem, Social Entrepreneur, 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
ForSE 2008, Forum for Social Entrepreneurs, has a number of interesting features and topics this year.
We will start the day with a plenary session consisting of a Keynote Panel discussion led by Nishith Acharya, Executive Director, Deshpande Foundation. He will be joined with Naveen Jha, Director of Programs, Deshpande Center for Social Entrepreneurship and Meenakshi Verma Agrawal, Program Officer, Global Exchange Programs, Deshpande Foundation and leading Deshpande Fellows.
After the plenary session, the Forum will break into multiple tracks to maximize interaction between attendees. Within each track we will have: Continue reading
Posted in Conference, Education, non-profit, Social Business, Social Ecosystem, Social Entrepreneur, social Innovation
Tagged Boston, Conference, Deshpande Foundation, ecosystem, Education, ForSE 2008, Gerald Chertavian, Meenakshi Verma Agrawal, Nishith Acharya, Nuveen Jha, Social Ecosystem, Social Entrepreneur, social entrepreneurship, Social Impact, social Innovation, sustainable development, Year Up, Youth entrepreneurship
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The Social Ecosystem 