January 22, 2009 — 10:24 am
Position: Vice President of Business Development and External Affairs
Location: Cambridge, Massachusetts with travel up to 35 percent of the time
4035 Views
January 19, 2009 — 12:45 pm
Not much has been written here on NextBillion.net about the election of Barack Obama to the American Presidency, as our news scope centers on base of the pyramid approaches to development in developing countries. However, I felt compelled to link the two together as we near Inauguration day tomorrow, January 20th, so here it goes.
Obama has a huge opportunity to transform how international aid is designated and distributed and I hope that he will convene a dedicated and experienced team to re-think and re-do the United States' current model of foreign aid. The most recent statistics from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) indicate that in 2005 the United States issued 27.6 billion dollars in official development assistance. While the U.S. funnels much-needed money into developing countries to assist with meeting basic needs such as water sanitation, education, and healthcare services, I'm always left wondering how we can better direct funds. What would happen if the U.S. channeled more funds into microfinance initiatives and small and medium enterprises and made BoP economies more attractive to multinational companies? Wouldn't our stated goals of helping developing countries develop be better achieved by adjusting how and to which agencies we distribute funds? Meeting basic needs is undoubtedly important and should remain, but for countries to develop beyond meeting basic needs, or to empower local people to help meet those basic needs sustainably and profitably, a shift in paradigm is needed.
4608 Views
January 15, 2009 — 06:56 pm
Position: Development Director
Location: Washington, DC
2114 Views
January 15, 2009 — 12:08 pm
The major players of the Microfinance industry will convene twice in Colombia this year. Two major venues are set to take place in the country quite soon.
The first is the Microfinance as a Tool for Peace Building conference, scheduled for next week in Cali and organized by Fundacion Alvaralice, a local NGO. Many of the key actors in the Latin American microfinance community will be part of the discussion, including people like Carmen Velasco from Bolivia's ProMujer, Maria Otero from ACCION and John Hatch from FINCA International.
What's even more interesting about this event is its emphasis on discussing the role microfinance can play in conflict resolution and peace building. The Government Agency in charge of reintegration programs aimed at former guerrilla and paramilitary combatants will play a major role and it will surely be interesting to learn not only about development but also reconciliation through enterprise.
2847 Views
January 15, 2009 — 09:24 am
Attention Indian engineering undergrads: the Engineers for Social Impact (E4SI) fellowship program has opened its annual recruitment process. E4SI matches the most talented undergraduate students from fifteen elite Indian engineering schools with partner social enterprises that focus on development by means of sustainable for-profit entrepreneurship.
I am a big fan of this program, which was co-founded by NextBillion staff writer alum Nitin Rao. (Side note: Nitin developed the idea while a StartingBloc Fellow, another fantastic program that I can't recommend enough.) The E4SI fellowships combine the best of consulting, technology, and social innovation. Fellows get unprecedented access to the development sector as they work with leading social entrepreneurs, attend leadership workshops at the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad, and pitch their ideas to thought leaders as they join an outstanding cohort of exceptional young leaders.
2108 Views
January 14, 2009 — 09:32 am
Position: Enterprise Development Specialists
Location: Africa (various countries)
2418 Views
January 13, 2009 — 08:49 am
We received the following story via e-mail from guest blogger Gretchen Ruethling, a first year Master of Public Administration student focusing on international development at Cornell University. She has worked as a journalist and for an environmental organization and an agricultural research organization in the U.S. and Latin America. She is interested in the private sector's role in development and capacity building among small and medium enterprises.
By Gretchen Ruethling
Entrepreneur and self-described "ideas man" Frank Taylor moved from Cape Town, South Africa to Botswana seeking a challenge, trading game skins and leading archaeology, ethnology and botany exhibitions for a museum in South Africa. "I was living on the smell of an oil rag," Taylor said. "A jack of all trades, master of none."
3858 Views
January 12, 2009 — 02:48 pm
Position: Communications and Development Associate
Location: New York, with potential for extensive travel
2161 Views
January 12, 2009 — 10:44 am
Santa Clara University is known in social entrepreneurial circles for its work helping to organize and judge the Tech Museum Awards – a showcase for social entrepreneurs, mostly from developing countries. Less well-known about the school is the Global Social Benefit Incubator, run by SCU's Center for Science, Technology, and Society and a host of Silicon Valley volunteers.
The GSBI, under the guidance of Professor Jim Koch, selects 15-20 enterprises from developing countries and provides an 8-month mentoring process. The mentoring culminates with an intensive 10-day process in Santa Clara, where entrepreneurs work with their mentors, other experts, and each other to prepare themselves to succeed upon their return home. Applications for the fully-funded 2009 class of entrepreneurs are available now over at Social Edge.
Note: The first application exercise is due this Friday, January 16 - don't delay, start your application today!
1751 Views
January 11, 2009 — 08:33 pm
Here at NextBillion.net, we believe in the power of small and medium sized enterprises to spur economic development at the bottom of the pyramid. This idea - one of the core principles of the "development through enterprise" movement that's gaining steam in business and development circles alike, enjoys widespread support. Unfortunately, that support just fell off a little bit - at least financially.
In a blog post dated December 23 of last year, Google.org's Sonal Shah announced that Google.org - the philanthropic arm of the eponymous search-engine giant - will be "putting [its] SME initiative on the back burner" in 2009. Dot Org first announced its support of small and medium enterprise development this time last year - read the full press release for details.
2395 Views
