Recently, we had the opportunity to interview Melissa Richer, founder of Ayllu, a new organization whose purpose is to “integrate social enterprise into low-income economies.” Ayllu is currently developing a model to enable social enterprises to franchise their models and microcredit banks to extend financial services to the newly franchised micro enterprises.

---

Melissa’s Background

---

After graduating from college, Melissa joined Ashoka’s Youth Venture Program in Washington DC, later joining Ashoka’s Latin America team. During this time, she concurrently founded Ayllu with a passionate belief that with a ‘hand up, not a hand out, the poor can help themselves.” Like so many of us involved with or interested in helping those at the BOP, she understands the basic principles of equity and sustainability.

Melissa and her team are presently in Brazil conducting market research and feasibility studies with a goal to implement the Ayllu Initiative in September 2010.

---

Interview Transcript

---

Here is brief transcript of our interview:

SocialEarth: From a personal career standpoint, why did you decide on a socially conscious career path?
Melissa: I do this because I can’t do anything else; it’s the only thing I can focus on; I do it because I love it. I am motivated by the incredible people and innovation this career track brings together–they are driving cross-sector solutions in water, energy, healthcare, finance, community engagement etc. If we can provide the right tools, social enterprise can move millions out of poverty. I love how I can focus on business entrepreneurship and social change at the same time.

SE: How did you get started with Ayllu?
M: In college I was really curious about the problems my generation is inheriting and high rates of global unemployment among youth. After college, I began working with Ashoka’s Youth Venture and I learned that some of the poor youth in Mexico were actually adding on income streams to their social change projects by selling recycled goods and organic produce, for example. I asked Ashoka fellows about the possibility to create jobs for young people in ’social enterprise’ and they encouraged me to found Ayllu. Now the idea has evolved to spreading social enterprise through franchising. Youth are still at the heart of our strategy – we think social enterprise will spread most rapidly in low-income communities if young adults are running franchises.

SE: You’re currently conducting market research. What are you learning from your research thus far?
M: I have dubbed our research ‘problem immersion.’ We’re trying to understand our market intricately, so that we can design the most powerful model. What I’m learning is that social innovation in Brazil is pretty advanced, they’re a lot of hybrid forms of it. I’m seeing a lot of private companies that are really interested in social enterprise and there is actually more social venture funding available than there are social ventures able to accept this funding – social enterprise is just emerging. We’re seeing that healthcare, fair trade, and environmental conservation/recycling seem to be the most common social business models.

SE: What are the biggest challenges you’ve faced thus far?
M: Ayllu has a long apprenticeship, the state where you acquire all the skills and understanding of the problem to take your idea to implementation; we have to develop expertise in multiple areas such equity, needs of BOP, franchising, challenges to scale of social enterprises, etc. It’s a lot of information to process. Additionally, funding the research is challenging – since we are not yet implementing a program and our team is young/hasn’t launched a venture before, it can be harder to convince investors. We’ve found that since coming to Brazil and sharing the results of our research, that support for Ayllu is skyrocketing.

SE: What are a few tips you can pass on to aspiring social entrepreneurs?
M: 1) Run it like a business; every single time as you’re making a decision, think about it as what’s going to be most productive for your business; not just to be focused on the cause. 2) In the beginning your knowledge of the market and your network can be even more important than the idea; this gives you a bargaining chip. 3) Connect with other entrepreneurs who are starting up; it provides great support. 4) Of course, don’t give up. Take leaps when you feel stuck; trust your gut and seek input from others. 5) Invest time and energy in your team.

SE: You’re currently in the market research, pilot stage. When do you intend to launch your pilot?
M: We aim to launch our pilot in September 2010 in collaboration with partners in Brazil and abroad.

Below are images from Ayllu Initiative

Howard Weinstein, Ayllu Advisor and Ashoka Fellow

São Paulo, Brazil

São Paulo, Brazil

• Organization Type: Non-Profit
• Website: aylluinitiative.org
• Founder(s): Melissa Richer
• Founded: 2008
• Location: New York, NY and Sau Paulo, Brazil
• See complete company list here

---

Source: Ayllu Initiative

You might also like

Social Capital: Local Meet-ups for Social Good The more we become aware of what it really means to be socially conscious, the more likely we are...

Socially Conscious Music Video #3: Michael Jackson Meets Olodum If you're born into a favela, you don't have much to hope for. Crime, violence, and extreme poverty practically...

Let’s Get (Nearly) Naked and Save the World As if the world needs another reason to take off its clothes... But hey, I have to give props...

Introducing the Entre-pioneers of the “New” New Orleans Last month, I was frequenting the business district of Portland, Oregon where many were lamenting the...