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India Needs More Non-Profit Unicorns: Here’s How Transparency and Disclosure Standards Can Help Build Them
India's non-profits are tackling huge social challenges, but they're facing a persistent problem: inadequate funding. According to Varad Pande and Rahul Bhide at Omidyar Network, this issue is driven in part by a lack of disclosure standards detailing the information non-profits should share about their impact. They explore how simple yet robust standards could boost transparency and increase trust among donors, bringing more capital and talent into the sector.
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- Impact Assessment
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Not Just Another Startup Accelerator in India: How the Financial Inclusion Lab is Shining a Light on Underserved Customers
India today has an accelerator for almost every domain, ranging from fintechs to healthcare. But as analysts at MSC point out, many of these accelerators face a common shortcoming: a lack of inclusivity. They discuss how the Financial Inclusion Lab accelerator avoids that issue, and how it boosts startups to strengthen the financial inclusion movement in India.
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- Finance, Technology
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No Light at the End of the Tunnel: Why Social Entrepreneurs Are Susceptible to Burnout – And How They Can Prevent It
Starting a business is hard – whether it's a tech company or a social enterprise. Both technology and social startups face an endless set of problems and long, grueling work hours. But as Sam Alhadeff at Finding Impact points out, social enterprises lack the "light at the end of the tunnel" of a large potential pay-out from an acquisition or IPO. He shares several ways social entrepreneurs can avoid burnout and achieve long-term personal and professional fulfillment.
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- Social Enterprise
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Designing for Women: How COVID-19 Could Allow Government Payment Programs to Boost Women’s Economic Empowerment
Governments around the world are deploying government-to-person programs to address the economic crisis caused by COVID-19. But as Amanda Schwartz at IDEO.org points out, unless these programs are designed around women’s unique needs, they could exacerbate gender inequality and financial exclusion. She explores how a gender inclusive approach could "make the single biggest push for women’s economic empowerment that the world has ever seen."
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- Coronavirus, Finance
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Extending Insurance in Times of Crisis: How an Innovative Partnership is Serving Low-Income Micro-Business Owners in Indonesia
During a crisis like COVID-19, insurance can offer businesses in developed countries some degree of resilience. However, entrepreneurs in emerging markets often lack the access or awareness to take advantage of this protection. Carlie Joselowitz at N-Frnds discusses the challenges of delivering insurance to these small businesses – and an innovative partnership that aims to solve them.
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- Coronavirus, Finance, Investing
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Missed Calls = Missed Opportunities: How Starlogik is Converting a Mobile Billing Loophole into an Inclusive Innovation
The mobile telephony industry has done a remarkable job reaching poorer people in developing countries. But as Ignacio Mas at the Digital Frontiers Institute points out, this success has been shaped by customer ingenuity too – for instance, through the common practice of reallocating call charges by requesting call-backs via missed calls. He explores how Starlogik has formalized this billing loophole to create a mutually beneficial new feature.
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- Technology
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Keeping Food on the Table During COVID-19: How Refugee Entrepreneurs Have Stayed Afloat – and Thrown a Lifeline to Others
The COVID-19 crisis has hit the food sector particularly hard, with far-reaching implications for both enterprises and the people they supply with food during the lockdown. Amy Gillett at the William Davidson Institute and Johanna Mendelson Forman at the Stimson Center discuss three key developments that are allowing food sector entrepreneurs to pivot to new business models that can help them weather these challenges.
- Categories
- Coronavirus
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Agency Banking and Off-Grid Energy: Banking the Unbanked Through Solar
In rural Africa, off-grid renewable energy products are gaining momentum - but their upfront cost can make them inaccessible to low-income customers. Commercial banks have struggled to penetrate these markets, but Thelma Obiakor at the Centre for the Study of the Economies of Africa explains that this is now changing. Thanks to agency banking, financial services and solar companies are providing a bridge to both energy access and greater financial inclusion.
