Getting a paid job in microfinance can sometimes seem like the Holy Grail of nonprofit work. The fact of the matter is that the top-notch, innovative, entrepreneurial economic development strategy draws a slew of top-notch, innovative, entrepreneurial job candidates. Whether you’re a soon-to-be recent grad or looking to transition into the field, here’s how to [...]
Back-to-back with their recent Financial Times honors, Sparkseed has just accepted seven new student-led social enterprises into its highly selective incubator program. The incoming class of student leaders will receive seed funding, personal business coaching, hand-matched mentors, pro-bono legal services, extensive skill-building workshops, and a four-day networking summit in Silicon Valley. Sparkseed works exclusively with undergraduate [...]
The University of Washington, Tufts University, Purdue University and the University of Texas at Austin all have yearly Social Entrepreneurship competitions in place to spur social innovation into action on college campuses. You can now add the University of Villanova to the list. The Villanova Social Entrepreneurship Competition (VSEC) was started in 2009 by two [...]
When I first found out about this year’s Microfinance USA conference from my friends over at California-based microlender Opportunity Fund, I wanted to go for one reason and one reason only: the conference’s focus on the U.S. side of the industry. Those who know me from my Main Street Microfinance posts know that I’ve got [...]
My organization, Sparkseed, recently ran a successful grassroots fundraising campaign. Most of the legwork was done in just three weeks and we raised over $20,000. After crossing the fundraising finish line I reflected on the experience and realized that a great question to ask at the start of any campaign is, “How can we use [...]
This is essentially the question raised by Theo Vermaelen, professor of finance at INSEAD, in a recent post arguing that MBAs should NOT sign the MBA Oath. The MBA Oath, started at Harvard Business School, aspires to apply to business management a formal oath and code of ethics, similar to the Hippocratic Oath taken by [...]
A delegation of presidents from prestigious Chinese universities and public officials is visiting University of the Pacific this week to learn about higher education trends in the United States. The group is interested in developments in recruiting, fundraising, classroom quality and university collaboration with local and regional organizations. “Choosing Pacific is a symbol of Pacific’s [...]
While finding work that pays a good salary is still important to business students, finding work that promotes social good is becoming a priority for many of them, too. Recent national surveys by the Aspen Institute Center for Business Education found that 88 percent of business students believe for-profit companies should do more to address [...]
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Georgetown University, and the Society for International Development will host a panel on social entrepreneurship as a catalyst for reducing poverty and strengthening economies in the developing world. This discussion, featuring experts from the White House and the Brookings Institution, along with six social entrepreneurs from the Arab [...]
About a year and a half ago Erica Dhawan called James Wu and Molly Alexander at Acumen Fund looking for an opportunity to volunteer. Not even two years later, a group of young professionals have helped to raise over $25,000 for Acumen Fund through their efforts. And what makes it even more amazing, is that [...]
Last night I had the good fortune of attending a “Summit on Leading in Crisis” at the University of Minnesota facilitated by Bill George. George, former CEO of Medtronic cum Harvard Business School professor, brought together four of the nation’s more admirable leaders and thinkers to provide their stories, reflections and lessons on leading in [...]
Among many other privileges we take for granted in the ‘West,’ the simple gift of electricity is one we rarely think about. While nearly every U.S. citizen is connected to the grid, many in the world have never even seen a light switch – access to electricity isn’t just a boost to standard of living, [...]
Exciting news for Saudi Arabian women interested in social entrepreneurship (or any woman for that matter). The Wellesley Centers for Women in conjunction with the Center for Women’s Leadership at Babson College are partnering with distinguished global organizations Dar Al Hekma College and ICF International to create a US-Saudi Women’s Forum on Social Entrepreneurship; the [...]
