On NextBillion.net, we have discussed business models, strategies, and funding for successful enterprises aimed at the world’s poorest citizens. Another critical issue is getting the right talent.

Sure, you are catering to the Next Billion people. Sure, you have unprecedented hype - and investment. But what about the people to lead and drive the next phase of development through enterprise?

A friend at a leading social investment consulting firm spoke to me about their interns from Ivy League universities in the US. Many, he said, took far too long to get acclimatized to India. As he put it, "before they settled down, it was time to go back".

While it is indeed commendable that these students have travelled far for an internship, it raises serious questions about whether this is talent that will endure, and be equipped to make the biggest impact on the "next billion."

Consider India, at the heart of green and social enterprise. Unlike in the US, the vast majority of talented students elect to major in Engineering or Medicine. The engineering graduates are then hounded for opportunities in the software industry, and code their way to narrowing a global arbitrage. Few consider a career in Development Through Enterprise. For some, it's about the remuneration. But for most engineers, they choose software due to a lack of understanding and exposure to alternate opportunities. (Of course, a number of IT professionals help effect social change).

If enterprises investing in developing economies are to be sustained, they should attract the best talent. And much of this can come from providing students access to a challenging work environment.

It may seem all too obvious. But the gap has not been driven out. On one hand, some of the brightest talent is seeking internship opportunities. On the other, social enterprises need the perspective and energy of young employees.

I propose: Engineers for Social Impact: an opportunity for current sophomores to spend a summer at a social enterprise, gain understanding and contribute. Connecting, to begin with, say the 10 best candidates from 10 reputed universities to the 10 most credible for-profit social enterprises.

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Each year, the Acumen Fund Fellows Program provides extraordinary young professionals with a unique opportunity to use their skills to effect real social change with our portfolio organizations in Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, India and Pakistan, and to build lasting relationships with other like-minded individuals.

Joining us in September 2008, Fellows will spend one year working with our team and with local entrepreneurs, gaining intensive experience in price performance, logistics, distribution systems, scaling and innovative technology. Fellows will learn and apply these skills while enjoying an unusual level of responsibility both at Acumen Fund and within our portfolio

Applications accepted online from September 17 until noon on October 24, 2007.

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"In China, people try not to think about the countryside at all. When they do, it is not of a rural idyll, but a grim, dirty place where people are poor and life is harsh. In Britain the countryside is somewhere to escape to. In China it is somewhere to escape from." I read these lines sometime ago on "China's rural millions left behind," a BBC news story. The author compares how in British people tend to see the countryside as an idyllic place where people aspire to move/ retire/ relax. This is definitely not the case in China, because of poor living conditions, the absence of good education, local political corruption, few doctors and a general lack of economic opportunities.

There are approximately seven hundred and fifty million Chinese who live in rural areas, and very few have access to finance. In an effort to serve an unmet need, the Chinese government began to give small loans through the Agricultural Bank of China beginning in 1999. The program’s focus is poverty alleviation through government action rather than a for-profit business activity. The journal Knowledge @ Wharton covers the program in a recent article, "Can Rural Finance Take Root in China? About 750 Million People Hope So." I enjoyed the author’s analysis of difficulties that microfinance institutions are encountering.

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