Organization: Acumen Fund is a non-profit global venture fund that uses entrepreneurial approaches to solve the problems of global poverty. The fund seeks to prove that small amounts of philanthropic capital, combined with large doses of business acumen, can build thriving enterprises that serve vast numbers of the poor. Its investments focus on delivering affordable, critical goods and services – like health, water, housing and energy – through innovative, market-oriented approaches.
Project: To be determined August 2010.
Awards and Recognition: The Economist – Acumen Fund and Financial Innovation, The New York Times – Acumen Fund Founder Jaquelin Novogratz
Organization: Aflatoun was started and is led by Skoll and Schwab Awardee and Ashoka fellow Jeroo Billimoria. Their mission is to empower children to break the cycle of poverty through social (human rights) and financial education. They are now working in28 countries and are preparing to start programs in more than 30 others.
Project: To be determined August 2010.
Organization: Ashoka is a global organization that identifies and supports leading social entrepreneurs. Founded on the premise that the most effective way to promote positive social change is tosupport leading Social Entrepreneurs who have innovative solutions that are sustainable and replicable, both nationally and globally.Ashoka Fellows work in all topics and issues in over 70 countries. Ashoka also builds the communities and infrastructure that empower all to be Changemakers.
Project: To be determined August 2010.
Organization: Benetech creates new technology solutions that serve humanity and empower people to improve their lives. Founded by an actual rocket scientist and now social entrepreneur extraordinaire, Jim Fruchterman, the company use technology innovation and business expertise to solve unmet social needs. These life-changing solutions include the world’s largest accessible digital library for those with vision and reading disabilities, science and information technology for human rights advocates, and project management tools for environmental conservation practitioners.
Project: To be determined August 2010.
Awards and Recognition: Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship, MacArthur Fellowship
Organization: Criterion Ventures incubates and scales ideas that create a better world. Criterion does this by partnering with founders to form independent social ventures and consulting on key components for existing ventures. Criterion works in the social change space, often in fields such as health, finance, education, poverty, and religion.
Project: To be determined August 2010.
Awards and Recognition: Tactical Philanthropy – Criterion Ventures Structure Lab
Organization: Fundacion Paraguaya is a leading edge social enterprise that seeks to develop innovative solutions to poverty and unemployment and proactively disseminate them throughout the world. The organization is a self-sufficient social enterprise that promotes urban and rural entrepreneurship through three interrelated strategies: a) a microfinance program, b) economic education program for children and young people, and c) a self-sufficient agricultural high school that teaches organic agriculture and business skills.
Project: To be determined August 2010.
Awards and Recognition: World Innovation Summit on Education Award, Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship
Organization: Kiva is the leading peer-to-peer micro-lending organization in the world. Over $100 million dollars has moved through Kiva to provide microfinance to some of the poorest people in the world—helping them to lift themselves out of poverty.
Project: To be determined August 2010.
Awards and Recognition: CNN – Your $25 can Start a Business and Change a Life, Forbes – When Small Loans Make a Big Difference
Organization: MicroPlace helps alleviate global poverty by enabling everyday people to make investments in the world’s working poor. Similar to Kiva, individuals can lend to entrepreneurs in developing countries around the world–however, there’s one added component–these individuals can earn up to a 6% return on their investments, making MicroPlace loans an actual financial investment! This component allows even more capital to flow to the world’s poorest and makes for an even more sustainable lending model.
Project: To be determined August 2010.
Awards and Recognition: CBS – Invest a Little, Get a Lot, The Wall Street Journal - Consider it an investment
Organization: The Peery Foundation is an innovative family foundation that seeks out and funds social entrepreneurs—leveraging its grants and capital to create the greatest impact possible. They have global partnerships with a number of leading social entrepreneur and enterprises including Root Capital, Vittana, Teach a Man to Fish, the Downtown Streets Team, and are becoming well known for unique and engaged philanthropy as well as a strong understanding of what Social Entrepreneurship is all about.
Project: To be determined August 2010.
Awards and Recognition: Modern Giving - Crowd sourcing Philanthropy and Greater Transparency, Working Wikily – Strategy at the Peery Foundation
Organization: Hundreds of millions of the world’s poor lack access to eyeglasses, a basic, low-cost health product that allow people to work and support their families. VisionSpring empowers local entrepreneurs to launch their own businesses selling this needed product. Each “Vision Entrepreneur” receives his or her own Business in a Bag, a sales kit containing all the products and materials needed to market and sell eyeglasses. Through this business model, VisionSpring is providing a sustainable service that is improving the quality of life of those at the bottom of the pyramid.
Project: To be determined August 2010.
Awards and Recognition: Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship, Featured at 2009 Clinton Global Initiative
Organization: Vittana is an early-stage non-profit startup bringing student loans to the developing world through the power of person-to-person microfinance. Vittana is built off of Kiva’s peer-to-peer lending model and using this model to give young people the chance to gain higher education.
Project: To be determined August 2010.
Awards and Recognition: The Huffington Post – Vittana, #1 Game Changers in Philanthropy Award