WOW, a hybridization of investment capital, incubator for small to medium enterprises, philanthropic resources linked to a foundation led by four women in the U.S. but focused on Senegal is getting off the ground. It’s also got a partnership with Adina, the fair trade juice company that’s raised a pile of money and is moving […]

As a long time journalist I’ve come to know how media cycles go. A week ago, the international food summit ended in a train wreck; developing countries didn’t get rich countries to stop subsidizing their farmers in ways that would let the poor countries have open access to free markets. This week, out comes a predictable […]

The first nonprofit “IPO,” created to resemble the initial public offerings public companies use to raise money, has brought in $700,000 for an affordable-housing center. From Value Network.

Launched a year ago with help from billionaire-investor Warren Buffett, the effort sells “fundraising” shares, priced at $32 each, with proceeds going to Homeward Bound of Marin.

Newsweek magazine recently wrote a story on Celso Grecco, founder of the “first” social stock exchange (Brazil’s Social and Environmental Stock Exchange (BVS&A)). The article is a good one - and while it does include under one umbrella term of “exchange” ones in Brazil and South Africa - which are really online donor platforms - […]

Kutabana a rural phone tree for Zimbabwean activists got the top award from the Knight Foundation’s journalism grants program. Bev Clark, a graphic designer and co-founder of Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe (GALZ) founded the site in 2001. The concept looks pretty interesting.

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Originally uploaded by k masback

The worst news from the Skoll World Forum was from another investor. They were trying to co-invest with a venture philanthropy fund, but found two significant barriers; one that fund does not co-invest, nor release its due diligence reports […]

Just back from the Skoll World Forum, which was as great in the hallways as ever and quite a bit better in its explicit content. People who wanted to talk about the capital to make social enterprise grow had to create their own venues. And in the next three weeks I fly to Chicago […]

Next month MyC4, the community lending site led by my Danish friend Mads Kjaer will pass the first 1,000 loans funded in Uganda, Kenya and Ivory Coast with approximately one million euros in risk capital from +3,000 investors from 50 countries. The average ROI is 11.6% and their first four provider’s are able to […]

Both the Times of London and the Financial Times are carrying stories about Mark Campanale’s Social Stock Exchange and the support it’s getting from both the Rockefeller Foundation and the UK government. The Times highlighted government support and the FT the funding event. I will be having lunch with Mark this week after the Skoll […]

happiness as alternative to gdp Originally uploaded by tintin5021

People are exploring happiness as an alternative to the GDP.Then there is Bhutan in the WSJ. And the Economist says at least look at GDP per capita. Impact, in its various forms, is making it onto the balance sheet. Risk return and […]