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NB Quick Takes: Polman’s Out at Unilever – Let the Legacy Debate Begin!
In case you hadn't heard: Paul Polman is retiring as CEO of Unilever at the end of the year. Perhaps no other executive has been as closely associated with corporate social responsibility as Polman, who put social impact at the forefront of his agenda. That's not to say all of his initiatives were successful, nor were they without detractors – his retirement is sparking lots of discussion about his approach and its effectiveness at Unilever, not to mention its influence across the business world. We've gathered some early Twitter reactions in this post.
- Categories
- Social Enterprise, Uncategorized
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Google Impact Challenge Kenya Finalists Unveiled
Google has announced the 12 finalists for the first Google Impact Challenge in Kenya, which sought to identify and fund the most innovative social enterprises using technology to improve society on a local or national scale.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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OPIC commits $50 million to global partnerships’ impact-first development fund
Many of the most inclusive and impactful solutions to poverty are fully sustainable, but not highly profitable. This fund will focus on delivering highly inclusive and highly impactful products and services that commercial markets fail to support.
- Categories
- Investing
- Region
- North America
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Press release: Alipay Teams with NUS Enterprise to Launch Social Innovation Challenge
The Alipay-NUS Enterprise Social Innovation Challenge aims to identify and support the growth of start-ups in Southeast Asia that are using digital technology to build a more inclusive society.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
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This non-profit turns to wealthy, young crypto donors in order to fund social projects
A non-profit called the Social Alpha Foundation is crusading to use cryptocurrency donations as grants. The grants will be awarded to entities dedicated to projects related involving social impact and blockchain education.
- Categories
- Technology
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Why Social Entrepreneurship is Vital to the SDGs: 15 Award-Winning Entrepreneurs Share their Insights
In recent months, the global development sector has faced some unwelcome news: The world is not on track to reach the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). But there is still cause for optimism: The ongoing growth of social business points to possible ways to overcome this slow progress. Mark Horoszowski, CEO of MovingWorlds.org, met with award-winning social entrepreneurs from around the world at the recent SOCAP conference, and asked them how entrepreneurship can help achieve the SDGs. Their responses, compiled here, highlight many of the reasons the sector is moving to the forefront of the global development agenda.
- Categories
- Social Enterprise
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Education + Technology = Equality: An Innovative Learning Platform Aims to Go International
All children deserve an equal education, and most people agree on that goal. Yet globally, tens of millions of children are not in school, and many schools struggle to retain qualified teachers. Suren Aloyan founded the social enterprise Dasaran to address these issues in Armenia, through an online platform that offers interactive learning content and communication and assessment tools to schools, parents and students. Aloyan explores the impact the platform has generated so far – and discusses its plans to scale up.
- Categories
- Education, Social Enterprise, Technology
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Chopping Block to Starting Block: How OPIC (Now IDFC) is Writing the Next Chapter in U.S. Development Finance
The Overseas Private Investment Corp. (OPIC) just survived a near death experience. The agency was among the proposed cuts when the Trump administration came into power and began budget negotiations. But with the passage of the BUILD Act, OPIC will transform into the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation, with a new budget and a new set of financial tools. We caught up with David Bohigian, Executive Vice President of OPIC, at SOCAP18 to find out what these changes mean for entrepreneurs and others seeking development finance.
- Categories
- Finance, Investing, Social Enterprise
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