Crowdfunding has the potential to ignite impact investing.
How? Well, for starters crowdfunding is inherently social. Founders of companies and potential investors can talk openly on the web and exchange feedback, concerns, and ideas.
More importantly, when it comes to attracting investors, crowdfunding enables founders to bring to bear what’s called “social capital.” Social capital is essentially all the real and potential value stored in the relationships of the founders and the company.
Month: August 2012
isanctuary.org- bringing sustainability to survivors of human trafficking
Wendy writes to tell us about isanctuary.org, which brings sustainability to survivors of human trafficking through a fashion jewelry business.
OLPC is plowing forward with the successor to the XO-1
Wednesday, August 15th, 2012
OLPC CEO Rodrigo Arboleda said in a released statement today, “There is constant debate over laptops versus tablets in educational programs. But the truth is both have their merits. While maintaining our XO’s award-winning design from Yves Behar’s FuseProject, we have combined features of both devices to deliver dual benefits. The new XO-4 Touch is more than just a device, it’s a new way of facilitating learning.”The XO-4 Touch is expected to be available in the first quarter of 2013. No word on pricing.
Columbia Business School- Social Enterprise Conference 2012
Columbia Business School’s upcoming Social Enterprise Conference this year will be on Friday, October 5, 2012
Time: 7:30 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Location: Lerner Hall, Columbia University
Description: Aligning Strategy to Maximize Impact Ranging from startups to programs embedded in multinational organizations, social enterprise continues to thrive despite complex political and economic environments. Companies and organizations increasingly need to develop strategies internally and across their sectors to mobilize action and tackle major social and environmental issues. While traditional corporate strategy focuses on long-term profit maximization, more forward-thinking organizations are incorporating a broader spectrum of social gains into their organizational strategies. Leadership teams must consider the following questions to build successful strategies:
• What are best practices for developing an internal and external strategy that aligns your vision, mission, operations, and results while also engaging stakeholders and minimizing risk?
• What opportunities exist to build an ecosystem strategy across multiple organizations and sectors?
• What are the opportunities and limitations of pursuing strategies to scale organizations and initiatives to achieve sustained impact
By uniting industry experts, thought leaders and practitioners, the 2012 Social Enterprise Conference will delve deeper into the ways leaders and managers can use strategy as a tool to maximize social change. We will share success stories and challenges across a wide range of sectors and causes.
Conference website: http://www.
Register here:http://
TEDx talk: Solution to indoor air pollution in the third world
Reader Jordana writes:
I’m writing to share this recently broadcasted TEDx talk on how we can save two million lives a year by changing people’s cooking appliances. The BioLite HomeStove is a new technology that generates electricity from the heat of the flame. This enables the stove to power an internal fan, which cuts smoke by 95% and generates surplus electricity to charge mobile phones and home lighting. Drawing on cultural anthropology and user-centered design, the team has developed and will distribute the stove in a manner that is consistent with local cultural, religious, and culinary practices.