Social Business Program

The blog for our India fellows.
 

Ausência Temporária: [india.socialbusinessprogram.org] TED Fellow Program Application for 2012 Deadline July 25th Apply Now

I will be in Colombia from July 7th to July 12th, with limited internet access. I will reply your e-mail as soon as possible. For urgent matters please write to iluska@artemisia.org.br. Thank you very much.

Warm regards,

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Estarei na Colómbia do 7 ao 12 de Julho, com acceso limitado a internet. Responderei assim que me for possível. Para temas de suma urgência por favor escrever a iluska@artemisia.org.br. Muito obrigado.

Um abraço,

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Estaré en Colombia del 7 al 12 de julio, con acceso restringido a internet. Respondere tan pronto me sea posible. Para temas de suma urgencia por favor escribir a iluska@artemisia.org.br. Muchas gracias.

Saludos cordiales,

Andres Bustillos

Posted July 12, 2011 by email 
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TED Fellow Program Application for 2012 Deadline July 25th Apply Now

About the TED Fellows program
 

 
TED Fellows is an international fellowship program designed to nurture great ideas and help them spread around the world. Benefits of the Fellowship include conference admission, round-trip transportation, housing, and all meals. Fellows will also participate in a pre-conference with the opportunity to present a short talk that will be considered for TED.com, elite skills-building courses taught by world experts, social opportunities, and surprise extras. 
 
The program seeks remarkable thinkers and doers who have shown unusual accomplishment, exceptional courage, moral imagination, and the potential to increase positive change in their respective fields. The program focuses on innovators in technology, entertainment, design, science, film, art, music, entrepreneurship, and the NGO community, among other fields. The program targets individuals from the Asia-Pacific region, Africa, the Caribbean, Latin America, and the Middle East, though consideration will be given to applicants from the rest of the world. Applicants are generally between 21 and 40 years of age, though anyone over 18 may apply. They must also be fluent in English.
 
For more information:
     Visit: www.ted.com/fellows
     Follow: @tedfellow
     Watch: www.youtube.com/TEDFellowsTalks
     Join: www.facebook.com/TEDFellow
     Read: http://tedfellows.posterous.com

Posted July 12, 2011 by email 
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In the food deserts of Jakarta - a social business leads the way?

Instead of eating home-cooked food, people in these neighborhoods buy the cheapest meals they can: food from street vendors.  The equivalent of 20 cents in Jakarta can buy a meal of rice fried with soy sauce and a little chicken, or deep fried fish cakes.  Ten cents will buy a snack.   Overcrowded, kitchenless housing has given rise to a culture of street food that has done wonders for tourism in Asian cities — the most crowded parts of the planet.  But it has also condemned tens or hundreds of millions of people to an almost nutrition-free diet.

Mercy Corps couldn’t think of anything traditional that a nongovernmental group could do about this.  So it did something very untraditional:  in April, 2009, it started a healthy street food business called Kedai Balitaku, or My Child’s Café, that has since spun off into a for-profit company.  “The idea was to provide access while raising awareness about healthy food and creating economic opportunity,” said Sean Granville-Ross, Mercy Corps’ Indonesia country director.

via opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com

Here's a social business that's been using the market mechanism to their advantage in order to crack the tough problem of healthy nutrition in slums in Jakarta. Not replacing existing efforts to change behavior long-term through education, but rather complementing it with the necessary 'infrastructure' for healthy eating, they are creating a chain of street food vendors who sell healthy, but at the same time cheap food.

However, as the article points out - this business (as many others) are facing the challenge posed when playing by the 'market rules' - how to price your product appropriately when profits is not the motive? How to compete on quality when the consumer's choice necessarily is constrained by price (and usually based on a perception of 'quantity')?

Read the full article at NYTimes: http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/05/23/in-food-deserts-oases-of-nutr...

Filed under  //   indonesia   nutrition   social business cases  
Posted May 30, 2011 by Linus Kendall 
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Day 3 of the Artemisia India Social Business Ventures Summit ((tag; social business, Summit 2))

Day 3 of the Artemisia Social Business Ventures Summit in Bangalore, India was both inspiring and informative. 

We began the day by studying the Strengths and Constraints Matrix, which is a strategy tool that is used to look at common problems faced by social businesses and identify solutions. We completed this exercise for our own social businesses which was incredibly helpful for not only recognizing which areas are currently most critical to our organizations success, but also how it can be used as a consulting tool to plan for future strategies. We also each presented a case study of a major challenge that our own social business is currently facing, and got the opportunity to recommend ideas and solutions to eachother.

In the afternoon we headed out for a field visit to the shared office of two fellow Artemisia Social Businesses mDhil and Babajobs. This was by far one of the highlights of the summit, as we got to meet the entrepreneurs and founders to gain insights and ask questions about their experiences as well as see the working environment of some fellow interns. mDhil offers interactive healthcare information to Indian consumers via text messaging and mobile web browsers, while Babajobs provides better jobs for the informal sector by connecting employers and job seekers in India via the web and mobile phone. 

Sitting as a group on the rooftop of the office, surrounded by plants, lounges and even a hammock, overlooking the skyline as sunset approached was unforgettable. During those moments of reflection on what brought me to the social business field and India itself, I was incredibly thankful for the opportunity to be involved in such an exciting field. Getting to interact with these bright and determined entrepreneurs using innovative technologies to find solutions a variety of social issues in a profitable way was motivating and a bit intimidating at the same time! There are so many opportunities and challenges facing the field of social business that it seems to require every positive character trait in the book: determination, adaptability, knowledgeable, humbleness, and continual learning. It often involves incredible personal sacrifice and motivation to make a committed jump into starting a successful social business.

One of the key takeaways from that meeting is that the social business field is still very new and continually evolving. It requires talented minds from a wide variety of backgrounds such as business, public health and IT to work together. What was also refreshing to see was the level of partnerships and networking that goes on in the social space, in that many companies reach out to eachother to combine skills to tackle common issues. We left the office both exhausted and exhilarated from all the information and ideas racing around in our minds, and looking forward to Day 4 of the summit. We want more!

-Caroline Irvine

(download)

Posted April 14, 2011 by carolineirvine 
// 0 Comments
 

Day 3 of Artemisia India Social Business Ventures Summit ((tag; social business, Summit 2))

Day 3 of the Artemisia Social Business Ventures Summit in Bangalore, India was both inspiring and informative. 

We began the day by studying the Strengths and Constraints Matrix, which is a strategy tool that is used to look at common problems faced by social businesses and identify solutions. We completed this exercise for our own social businesses which was incredibly helpful for not only recognizing which areas are currently most critical to our organizations success, but also how it can be used as a consulting tool to plan for future strategies. We also each presented a case study of a major challenge that our own social business is currently facing, and got the opportunity to recommend ideas and solutions to eachother.

In the afternoon we headed out for a field visit to the shared office of two fellow Artemisia Social Businesses mDhil and Babajobs. This was by far one of the highlights of the summit, as we got to meet the entrepreneurs and founders to gain insights and ask questions about their experiences as well as see the working environment of some fellow interns. mDhil offers interactive healthcare information to Indian consumers via text messaging and mobile web browsers, while Babajobs provides better jobs for the informal sector by connecting employers and job seekers in India via the web and mobile phone. 

Sitting as a group on the rooftop of the office, surrounded by plants, lounges and even a hammock, overlooking the skyline as sunset approached was unforgettable. During those moments of reflection on what brought me to the social business field and India itself, I was incredibly thankful for the opportunity to be involved in such an exciting field. Getting to interact with these bright and determined entrepreneurs using innovative technologies to find solutions a variety of social issues in a profitable way was motivating and a bit intimidating at the same time! There are so many opportunities and challenges facing the field of social business that it seems to require every positive character trait in the book: determination, adaptability, knowledgeable, humbleness, and continual learning. It often involves incredible personal sacrifice and motivation to make a committed jump into starting a successful social business.

One of the key takeaways from that meeting is that the social business field is still very new and continually evolving. It requires talented minds from a wide variety of backgrounds such as business, public health and IT to work together. What was also refreshing to see was the level of partnerships and networking that goes on in the social space, in that many companies reach out to eachother to combine skills to tackle common issues. We left the office both exhausted and exhilarated from all the information and ideas racing around in our minds, and looking forward to Day 4 of the summit. We want more!

(download)

Posted April 14, 2011 by carolineirvine 
// 0 Comments
 

Social Business Distribution Models that work ( From Beyond Profit Publication) ((tag; Social Business))

The Models that Work

Posted by Abby Callard on April 7, 2011

This story originally appeared in our April 7, 2011 e-magazine. Click here to subscribe.

Reaching the rural poor has always been a challenge. We look at five models that work.


http://beyondprofit.com/the-models-that-work/

Posted April 14, 2011 by email 
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FINANCIAL INCLUSION BY ALW ARTEMISIA INTERN RECIPIENT ORGANIZATION

Financial Inclusion in India: Interview with Anurag Gupta from A Little World

Financial inclusion has long been a challenge in India, where bank transactions are mainly urban based and people living in rural areas rarely even have a bank account. Financial inclusion is the delivery of banking services at affordable costs to vast sections of disadvantaged and low-income groups.  The Reserve Bank of India’s initiative to reach rural India by extending banking services through Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), Micro Finance Institutions (MFIs) and other Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) has been a welcome step forward.


http://www.nextbillion.net/blog/2009/06/24/financial-inclusion-in-india-interview-with-anurag-gupta

Posted April 11, 2011 by email 
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Artemisia India Social Business Summit Day One ((tags; social business, India summit))

The Artemisia Social Business Summit kicked off this past Wednesday in Bangalore. It brought together interns working with social businesses located across India to share experiences, knowledge and challenges they face, so that they may discover solutions. Additionally, the conference intends to build interns' practical knowledge to be used during the internships and in future career trajectories, to develop entrepreneurial competencies, and to widen their understanding of the social business ecosystem.    

The first day was used to deepen the interns understanding of social business by showing them examples across various industries, and through examples of how other passionate, committed and creative people can better lives and the planet using market-based solutions.  The interns got to know one another as well and share a bit about themselves and their social businesses. Which the exception of Australia (and Antarctica), every continent is represented. The social businesses represented at this years conference are:

ONergy
 
 
 - a renewable venture focused on eradicating the use of kerosene and diesel in rural India, where it is commonly used for lighting and electricity

Altis - a micro-insurance provider for the large population of the working poor in India, particularly in rural India. It aims to provide a safety net for vulnerable families by providing insurance at low premiums.  

Inclusive Planet
 
 
 - a global community that enables persons with visual and print impairment to share accessible content with each other, build conversations around the experience and make friends amongst the global print impaired community

Barrier Break
 
 
 - provides a diverse range of assistive technologies to assist people with a wide range of disabilities and impairments to overcome their limitations and achieve greater independence. 

Piramal Water
 
 
 - uses a franchise business model and technologies to create viable mass-market solutions to India's drinking water crisis, with local communities at the center of each solution. The water is sold under the brand "Sarvajal", meaning "Water for All".

Babajob.com
 
 
 - 
dedicated to connecting informal sector workers - cooks, maids, guards, etc.- and employers to India and eventually worldwide. It's based on the simple idea that everyone deserves to get a better job - even if you can't read English and work in another's home.

mDhil.com
 
 
 - provides basic healthcare information to the Indian consumer via text messaging, mobile web browser, and interactive digital content.

In the days to comes the interns will explore the space more in depth: discussing the current state of the social business in India, learn about tools to help with personal and professional development, speak with a representative from Ashoka and hold an open forum with social entrepreneurs. It should be an eventful, engaging and inspiring couple of days in Bangalore.  

Posted April 10, 2011 by vinaykambli 
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Changing the Public View of Affordable Private Schools

The cover story in our recent issue about education looked at investment opportunities in affordable public schools—schools that charge less than US$12 (INR600) per month. In response to that article, Bongu Bharat posted an article to his blog that garnered the following comment from Dr Vibhu Pal:

Our Society runs two A P S near Delhi. Although the schools are doing good, we are facing some tough problems:
Since the fees is low, the schools have been branded of low brand value in spite of the fact that education wise our Schools are fully equipped – trained staff, infra structure on par with branded schools, every year 100% result of our Board classes etc. Good schools are measured with the fees being charged.

When having conversations with investors while researching the story, it became clear to me that the only true way to win over the public is by improving—and tracking—student learning levels. Investors running the gamut from Grey Ghost Ventures, Omidyar Network to the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation all agreed.

Interesting read for our fellows in the affordable private schools!

http://beyondprofit.com/changing-the-public-view-of-affordable-private-schools/

Filed under  //   Affordable private schools  
Posted March 17, 2011 by Linus Kendall 
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