Microfinance and beyond...

Free web-based UNCDF Microfinance Distance Learning Course

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 15:54:27 +0100

For anyone who would like to learn about Microfinance this is a great online tool. I took this distance learning course back in 2003 and it was great but now it is interactive and it is free. A thanks to Camelia Hrab for sending me this info. UNDP Microfinance Distance Learning Course

Social Progress Index- going beyond GDP

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 17:08:25 +0100

A new benchmark to measure the wellbeing and success of countries, the Social Progress Index (SPI), was launched at the 10th Skoll World Forum (April 10-12). This initiative was launched by the Social Progress Imperative and Harvard Business School Prof. Michael Porter (who co-created the business concept of "creating shared value"). This new measure aims to provide a more holistic measurement compared to the one dimensional GDP per capita to assess the progress and standing of countries which shall be useful to policy makers as well as corporations. The SPI measures the extent to which countries provide for the social and environmental needs of their citizens by using indicators in the areas of basic human needs (nutrition, water, air, medical care, sanitation, shelter, personal safety), foundations of wellbeing (access to basic knowledge, access to information, health and wellness, ecosystem sustainability), and opportunity (personal rights, access to higher education, personal freedom of choice, equity and inclusion).

What's new in crowdfunding, crowdinvesting

Sun, 17 Mar 2013 17:56:06 +0100

Crowdfunding platforms are continuing to be launched and according to industry sources there are more than 500 platforms. Of the 4 types of crowdfunding sites (donation-based, reward-based, loan based and equity based) this year we are likely to see a surge of equity based crowdfunding sites (in particular in the USA) that would allow for investment in startups. This is due to the passage of the JOBS Act last year that includes the Crowdfund Act. A recent article titled Crowdfunding Clean Energy by David Bornstein gives an excellent insight on the recent trends in this area. In addition to Solar Mosaic described in this article there are several new green crowdfunding sites that look appealing. Impact Crowd, Abundance Generation, OnGreen

Learning Creative Learning a live/online course of MIT Media Lab

Mon, 11 Feb 2013 16:59:03 +0100

I am taking part in this experimental course Learning Creative Learning offered by MIT Media Lab. It is awesome that nowadays one can learn from wherever one is (as long as one has internet connection) an amazing number of different courses and many of these are for free. It is the start of the democratization of education. The MOOC (massive open online courses) revolution is certainly changing the way we learn and interact with the teachers and classmates and the way schools and universities operate. For anyone interested in seeing what kind of courses one can apply checkout Coursera you will find over 300 courses online by top universities around the world.

Update: Solar electrification of Kandwi, Zanzibar by Barefoot solar engineers

Mon, 10 Sep 2012 18:37:09 +0100

Last August I accompanied Bunker Roy of Barefoot College to Zanzibar where he was selecting grandmothers in the village of Kandwi who would be travelling to India to be trained as solar engineers.(see entry)
This project named "Women Empowerment Project" was supported by Giving Women. Just 12 months later, the women solar engineers are installing the solar panels and LED lights for 100 houses in Kandwi. It is remarkable to see the changes in these women too. It is impressive that the whole project cycle from visiting the village, selecting the grandmothers, getting the village approval, preparing them to go to Tilonia for training, the 6 month training, getting back and preparing the maintenance workshop, getting the solar equipment out of customs and solar electrifying the village houses all this has been achieved in 12 months!
Congratulations to Fatima, Patima and Mwashamba the three solar barefoot enginners, the villagers of Kandwi, Barefoot College and Giving Women for their great work! (video showing the installation, courtesy of Kathrin Legg)

A must see video from the Skoll World Forum 2012

Sat, 21 Apr 2012 14:02:40 +0100

This year's Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship was titled FLUX: Seizing momentum and driving change. This forum continues to be one of the best venues to meet up, update, share, collaborate and form new partnerships between all the players, social enterprises, private sector and public sector. One of my favourites talks at this year's Skoll Forum was Hans Rowling's presentation on the future of world population.

Book Tips: 2 books I enjoyed reading in 2011

Thu, 29 Dec 2011 07:26:48 +0100

2011 ...a busy year and one that went by so quickly... I managed to read a few books finally in the second week of December.

Most fun and inspiring read was Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson. The 570 page biography is a page turner and a must-read. The subject matter of course is fascinating, a genius, a powerful and intense individual with many contradictions that transformed 7 industries (personal computer, animated movies, music, phones, tablet computing, digital publishing, retail stores) with his passion and pursuit for making great products and making a great company that would last. And it is beautifully written.

Another book which is a useful read for people interested in social entrepreneurship, the future of capitalism and how the silos are breaking between the business and the social world is Sir Richard Branson's latest book "Screw Business as Usual" I enjoyed reading the second half as it iillustrates many examples of how some of the large global corporations/brands are starting to shift/experiment ways for "doing well and doing good". I find it powerful that this call for change is coming from one of the world's famous and admired business leaders.

sosense.org - where philanthropy meets entrepreneurship

Sun, 25 Sep 2011 16:44:38 +0100

We (Socential Ltd.) are happy to announce the launch of sosense.org. Our new platform sosense.org is dedicated to support high impact social enterprises operating both on a global scale, mainly in developing countries, as well as those operating in Switzerland. We strive to make it simple for social investors and donors to search, select and support these enterprises. Our aim is to facilitate collective impact.
We feature outstanding social enterprises that are working efficiently and effectively in solving some of the major social and environmental issues that we face today. Take a look at VisionSpring, Tostan, International Bridges to Justice, Riders for Health, Gram Vikas, Landesa to name a few. You can see the short video on their pages to get an overview of these inspiring organizations.
We realized during our pilot phase that supporting the social enterprises makes much more sense and creates a larger and long lasting impact than trying to dedicate to funding independent projects. www.sosense.org is a brand and it is owned and managed by Socential Ltd.
We still have a lot to improve on a number of fronts. It is work in progress which shall improve and we look forward to your collaboration and feedback!
..

Barefoot Women Solar Engineers (Zanzibar)

Sun, 14 Aug 2011 11:39:45 +0100

Bunker Roy, founder and Director of Barefoot College visited Zanzibar from July 31 to Aug 3 to select the women (young grandmothers) in rural villages who would be trained to become solar engineers. I have been a fan and supporter of Barefoot College for some time especially after I visited them in Tilonia, India in early 2009. (visit report) Also as part of Socential, we have been promoting and funding solar electrification projects in Africa and Central America. I was very happy to be able to join Bunker in Zanzibar thanks to the invitation from my friend Meagan Carnahan who is a member of Giving Women, a Swiss based philanthropic organization and the leader of their Zanzibar Barefoot women solar engineers project. It was facinating to see Bunker at work. At the end of his short stay we had achieved to 1) select 2 women from the village of Kandwi which was approved in a meeting with the entire village and in the presence of the Indian Consul General H.E. D.S. Singal (top foto second from right). These 2 women will be travelling in September to Tilonia for the 6 month training program. 2) Meagan wrote a press release of this event which was published in the section of Zanzibar in The Guardian, a major newspaper in Tanzania. 3)The selection of one woman in the village of Matemwe was also made in a village meeting and the second candidate will be approved by the village chief (These 2 ladies will be attending the 6 month training in March 2012)
Barefoot College has solar electrified over 1000 villages in 37 countires (28 countries in Africa) saving 4.6 million kerosene a year, reducing carbon emission of 7 million kg a year, lighting over 34,000 house and training 683 solar engineers.

Thank you Professor Yunus

Sun, 15 May 2011 12:10:21 +0100

On May 12th, Nobel Laureate Yunus Muhammad resigned from Grameen Bank after a two and a half month battle with the Bangladesh government which was determined to remove him as the head of the successful bank he created. It is a sad and unjustified chapter for Prof Yunus but this shall not discredit what the microfinance movement has accomplished and its continuing positive impact. Prof Yunus addressed his colleagues a letter on his departure, asking them to to remain strong and united. I thank Yunus for his wonderful and inspiring work which lead me (and many others) to move from mainstream into the world of social enterprises. I have no doubt that he will continue impacting lives through his work in creating social businesses.

Just two days before, on May 10th, I attended an exhibition on "How I can make a difference" by the 5th graders at the Inter-Community School in Zurich. This is a programme that requires that students engage in a collaborative, transdiscipplinary, inquiry process that involves them in identifying , investigating and offering solutions to real-life issues or problems. Connor Frey, one of the bright 5th graders (and the son of my friends Ali and Markus) had chosen "microfinance" as his topic. A month ago I was interviewed by Connor on this subject. I was very impressed and moved to see Connor's exhibits about microfinance, the history, about Yunus Muhammad and the pamphlete he made on the dos and don'ts on investing in microfinance. He is passionate about the subject and spreading the word! Great job, Connor. I could not stop thinking that Yunus would have enjoyed seeing his exhibition.

Skoll Forum 2011

Sun, 24 Apr 2011 17:52:03 +0100

A belated report on the Skoll Forum 2011. This year's main theme was "Large Scale Change" . Lots of content. I recommend the selection of superb blogs, and in highlights you can find all the sessions and plenaries as video or podcasts. It was nice to have been able to attend Skoll forum for the 5th time in a row as initially I planned to be in Japan teaching social entrepreneurship for the YES Japan Creating Drivers for Sustainability program (which was understandably cancelled due to the triple disaster). My takeaways: of course the optimistic, positive energy that always flows at Skoll Forums, networking, the interactive meetings at Oxford Jam and last but not least connecting with Shino (Japan Research Center), Ichi (Social Media) and Patrik Meier (Crisis Mapping, Ushahidi) to discuss and share information on how to support Japan in the wake of the recent triple disaster.

Rebuild Japan! Social Entrepreneurship Fund launched

Sat, 26 Mar 2011 18:23:04 +0100

We (at Socential) have launched an initiative to help rebuild the lives of the Japanese people impacted by the triple catastrophe (earthquake, tsunami and nuclear power plant damage) that hit northeastern Japan on March 11. The fund aims to mobilize youth and social entrepreneurs to create initiatives/projects for the rebuilding of the infrastructure and to help the families and children impacted in northeastern Japan to rebuild their lives. The fund also aims to unleash the entrepreneurial spirit in Japan and to provide much needed hope by encouraging them to work and engage for their future. Socential is teaming up with trusted partners in Japan in the area of social entrepreneurship (Ashoka Japan) and sustainable development to select the initiatives. Please join us in our efforts by spreading the word, donating for this project and/or praying for Japan.
For more information go to Rebuild Japan! Social Entrepreneurship Fund.

Impact investments and social entrepreneurship: opportunities and awareness emerging in Japan

Tue, 08 Mar 2011 16:29:06 +0100

On March 1st Daiwa Microfinance Fund, the first Japanese investment trust fund to provide commercial financing for microfinance institutions was launched with the fund size of USD 242mn. The fund will be managed by Developing World Markets (DWM) which launched at the same time the underlying vehicle DWM Microfinance Fund-J.The fund is distributed by Daiwa Securities and managed by Tokyo Marine Asset Management. The minimum subscription is of Yen 1000 or 12 USD.
Daiwa seems to be leading the way amongst the big financial institutions in Japan regarding impact investments they had launched a bond that invests in IFC (which invests in MFIs) and also have distributed the GAVI bonds.

Japan has been lagging in the area of impact investments but during my last visit to Tokyo in mid January I could feel/hear that there is finally a lot more interest, awareness on the topic of social entrepreneurship and impact investment. I was lucky also to coincide with the official launch of the Ashoka Japan office. Bill Drayton was in Tokyo to give interviews and to introduce the Japan representative Kashiwa Maki and the long time Ashoka supporter Nana Watanabe. Ashoka Japan had started to operate last year the Youth Venture program.
I also met with Ichi (Hiroyasu Ichikawa) who I had met last year at SOCAP and Skoll who is doing a great job as a social media consultant in Japan. I also met several players in the financial industry that expressed their interest in making impact investments. Once there is interest.... Japan can move boldly... a lot to look forward to!

Impact investments...going mainstream in 2011

Fri, 28 Jan 2011 08:37:31 +0100

Looks like 2011 will be a breakthrough year for impact investments. A recent report by J.P. Morgan/Rockefeller Foundation and Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN) defines impact investment as "investments intended to create positive impact beyond financial return". In other words, investments intended to; improve or provide access to energy, water, education, health, housing, and financial services for the poor, create jobs or mitigate climate change while also providing a financial return.
The term "impact investments" only surfaced less than 3 years ago and now thanks to the impressive efforts of the Rockefeller Foundation and GIIN it is emerging as an asset class. It is capturing the attention of investors in all segments from philanthropic foundations, high net worth individuals, financial institutions and governments as they all seek to make more efficient use of their capital, achieve better returns (social, environmental and financial) and help solve the world's social problems. Estimates on potential market size (investment capital) over the next 5 to 10 years range from USD 400bn to USD 1 trillion. Major efforts have been made also in developing standardized metrics with Impact Reporting and Investment Standards (IRIS) and more recently on ratings the Global Impact Investment Reporting Standards (GIIRS) is testing its rating methodology with 25 pioneer funds. Impact investments has been featured in conferences such as Skoll World Forum, Clinton Global Initiative and SOCAP last year and certainly this year it will take center stage.
Suggested readings
Impact Investments- An emerging asset class (J.P.Morgan, The Rockefeller Foundation, GIIN)
Impact Investing: A Framework for Policy Design and Analysis (Pacific Community Ventures, Harvard University)
Money for Good (Hope Consulting)
Investing for Social and Environmental Impact (Monitor Institute)
related blog What is impact investment?

Book Tips: 3 awesome books I read in 2010

Tue, 07 Dec 2010 17:08:00 +0100

My favourite books this year may seem a bit biased geographically as all authors are living in California.

-Switch-How to change things when change is hard- by Chip Heath and Dan Heath
-The Dragonfly Effect -quick, effective and powerful ways to use social media to drive social change by Jennifer Aaker and Andy Smith
-the Mesh -why the future of business is sharing- by Lisa Gansky

I was very fortunate to have been able to attend the lectures of Chip Heath and Jennifer Aaker when I participated this summer in the Stanford GBS Executive Program in Social Entrepreneurship (EPSE). Both are remarkable lecturers and their books are fun, effective, full of amazing examples and inspiring. Switch is about how we can effect transformative changes by understanding the two competing systems; the rational mind and the emotional mind. The Dragonfly Effect is a how to guide on driving social change (by using social media). I picked up Lisa Gansky's book, the Mesh, while attending SOCAP10 in autumn. The Mesh explains one of the "big ideas" or one of the most important trends that is shaping new businesses logic providing products and services through sharing.
Happy reading!