SOCIAL ENTERPRISE NEWS AND DISCUSSION

What if there was something you want to tell others, but no one would listen.  What if you felt misrepresented, but have no opportunity to explain yourself.  What if you were kept silent and want eagerly to voice out, but simply cannot.  In rural India, where people are unable to express their concerns due to [...]

When Charity Finance conducted a survey late last year in the UK, it was found that a sizeable amount of the general public have never heard of the term social enterprise.  Similarly, it might not be surprising that the concept of social enterprise is yet to be widely known or covered by mainstream media in [...]

The fact that social enterprise remains unknown to the public means social entrepreneurs need to work harder to communicate their cause.  But have no fear, Muhammad Yunus is here.  Social business will be a major theme at this year’s Scottish Business Awards taking place at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre on February 23. Sir Bob Geldof [...]

Last Wednesday, President Drew Gilpin Faust sent an email to the Harvard community announcing a university-wide contest on social entrepreneurship. “The world’s most pressing problems heed no borders, and to better address them we need to work across boundaries to formulate solutions. I can think of no place better prepared to take on such challenges than [...]

Muhammad Yunus’ vision for social business has always been to create sustainable business models that pay no dividend to shareholders but rather, place all profits back into the company to further generate social value.  Having built the Grameen Group as an empire of social businesses and joint ventures, Yunus is hoping a Rs 50-crore social [...]

Government in the UK has launched a £275 million program to increase social enterprise involvement in supporting the National Offenders Management Service Co-Financing (NOMS CFO) initiative.  They are adopting the Social Enterprise Mark definition of what is a social enterprise to determine participants in the program. According to Social Enterprise Mark’s criteria, a company must earn at [...]

Impact investment pioneer Acumen Fund announced today that it is supporting low-income communities in Ghana with new investments in land rights and agriculture.  The new Acumen Fund West Africa office will be based in Accra, Ghana. The first investments in West Africa include a US$1 million loan to Medeem Ghana, Ltd (Medeem), which aims to strengthen property [...]

MyShelter Foundation’s latest venture, Isang Litrong Liwanag (A Liter of Light), aims to light up disadvantaged communities nationwide with an eco-friendly light bulb made from old plastic bottles.  The project was launched in July 2011 and has since lit up approximately 25,000 low-income homes. The rising cost of electricity leave 40% of the population in the [...]

Since starting a bank for the poor, the Grameen Group led by Muhammad Yunus formed agreements with multiple companies to help those at the base of the pyramid.  Grameen Danone Foods formed with Groupe Danone tackles malnutrition, and Grameen Veolia Water formed with Veolia Water distributes drinking water.  Now, new partnerships are formed with Japanese [...]

Hong Kong has the second highest carbon footprint per capita than any country worldwide.  Beef consumption in Hong Kong is one of the highest in the world.  Given these two facts, something must be done for the environment.  Green Monday is responding to the call by taking the meat off food menus every Monday.  The [...]