Category: Social Entrepreneurship

Social Entrepreneurship

Scaling New Peaks

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Local problems, global solutions
Living in the shadow of the majestic mountains, Bharti and Jain soon found that a number of conditions were hampering the economic progress of the people of their locality. They set up a social organization, AVANI, to help local communities access basic infrastructure amenities like electricity.AVANI was set up as the Kumaon Chapter of The Social Work and Research Center, also known as the Barefoot College, based in Rajasthan.

“We worked on the premise that everyone can do everything if they are provided with the opportunity. We also believe you have to trust people, so we never look for professional qualifications; instead we help train the labor force,” explains Bharti.

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Calendar, Mentoring, Social Entrepreneurship

Sankalp Summit

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The annual Sankalp Summit is one of Asia’s largest collaborative platforms to bring together social enterprises, impact investors, policy makers, academicians, and other market makers. Initiated in 2009 with the vision of catalyzing impact investments into social enterprises globally, the forum today has evolved into a community of over 350 social enterprises, over 300 investors and 300 sector stakeholders. Sankalp’s 4 key round-the-year services are designed to address scale-up challenges that social enterprises face regularly i.e. Access to Finance, Capacity Building, Knowledge and Talent Gap. In 3 years, over 150 social enterprises have benefited from our services.

Apart from programmatic diversification, Sankalp in 2012 will expand to include path-breaking models from South East Asia. This year, the summit will also delve deeper into the evolution of urban business models in South Asia, and what it means for under-served urban markets.

Sankalp’s key success also lies in sourcing a strong deal flow pipeline year on year, through the Sankalp Awards. Vetted by the best investment houses globally, 30 investible, high-impact enterprises from India and South East Asia will be showcased at the forum. The annual Summit that witnesses over 700 participants will be held from April 11-13, at Taj Land’s End, Mumbai, this year.

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Mentoring, Motivations, Resources, Social Entrepreneurship

Sustainable Development

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The CII-ITC Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Development is an institution that creates a conducive, enabling climate for Indian businesses to pursue sustainability goals. It creates awareness, promotes thought leadership, and builds capacity to achieve sustainability across a broad spectrum of issues.

A pioneering effort by CII, the Centre is the fountainhead of ideas and practices to promote Sustainability. It enables Indian businesses become sustainable, and channels the potential of Indian industry to power India’s agenda for inclusive growth and sustainable development. It enables businesses transform themselves by embedding the concerns of sustainable development into their own strategies and processes.

The Centre recognises businesses that make outstanding contributions to sustainable development. In the process, they become role models for India’s corporations in adopting cutting edge practices to promote sustainable development.

The Centre of Excellence :-

  • Conducts advocacy and awareness generation on triple bottom line issues
  • Conducts professional training for capacity building on sustainable development not only for the large companies but also the medium and small companies.
  • Recognises and rewards companies that contribute to sustainable development and promote role models in different sectors of the Indian Industry.
  • Encourages sustainability thought leadership.

Click Here for their website

 

Business Plans, Resources, Social Entrepreneurship

INDIAN INSTITUTE FOR SUSTAINABLE ENTERPRISE

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INDIAN INSTITUTE FOR SUSTAINABLE ENTERPRISE

Transformation to sustainability is the biggest business challenge–and opportunity–in the history of capitalism. World population has grown 3 times in approximately 60 years. United Nations projects the world population to reach 10 billion by 2100! Most of the products currently developed are for the affluent 1 billion people and give very little attention to environmental issues. As we gear up to serve the needs of the several billion aspiring middle-classes and BoP customers, we are on a path that is environmentally unsustainable. If growth in consumption rates continues at its present pace, we could literally destroy the natural systems‚ soils, watersheds, fisheries, forests, and climate‚ that underpin all economic activity, and indeed, human existence.

MISSION

The mission of the Indian Institute for Sustainable Enterprise is to dramatically increase the number and success of intrapreneurs and entrepreneurs focused on socially inclusive and environmentally sustainable business development for the 21st century. We aim to make the Kanakpura campus in Bangalore the hub for these activities, along with field-based affiliates in India and partners around the world.

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Motivations, People / Stories, Social Entrepreneurship

Technology of Spirituality

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A talk by Khurshed Batliwala, director of World Alliance for Youth Empowerment at Ruia College, Mumbai.

With a post graduate in Mathematics from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, Khurshed Batliwala, or Bawa as he is fondly known (a nick name that has stuck from his IIT days) is an extraordinary personality.

In his own words, he decided it was better to teach people meditation and make them happy rather than teach them mathematics and make them miserable and thus chose the unconventional and challenging career path as a faculty member of the Art of Living, sharing the vision of its founder, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, which is to see a smile on every face on the planet.

THIS VIDEO IS THE PROPERTY OF THE ART OF LIVING ORGANIZATION.
http://www.artofliving.org/in-en
http://www.yesplus.org

Business Ideas, Social Entrepreneurship

Plastic soda bottles become light source

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This is INNOVATION at its best !
Lighting up dark places using a soda bottle, water, bleach, sealant, and little else…
Solves a major problem, and doesn’t cost that much…
Something quite amazing about how the poor make their life a little better  !
And what we usually take for granted.
Check our some of the Videos.
Courtesy : Khushnood Viccaji
Social Entrepreneurship

Promotion of non-reversible socio-economic development

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International Center for Entrepreneurship and Career Development (ICECD)

The Mission

“To create a new cadre of Entrepreneurs, Managers and Specialized Professionals to foster the process of non-reversible socio-economic development on the global arena.”

ICECD has been the vanguard of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) Development amongst varying target groups and has worked extensively around the globe keeping gender issues in sharp focus. It has consistently striven to increase access/control of the poor on productive resources and facilities.

The Centre’s first task was to develop women for economic activities, thus starting the process of empowerment and influencing the national policy for their development. At one time, it was the only organization in India catering to the multi-faceted needs of developing women, enabling them to set up micro – small and medium enterprises.

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Business Ideas, Motivations, People / Stories, Social Entrepreneurship

ETASHA – to bridge the gap between ‘what is’ and ‘what can be’.

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Established as a not-for-profit organisation in January 2006, ETASHA (Enabling and Training Adolescents for Successful and Healthy Adulthood) provides market-oriented employability and vocational skills to disadvantaged Indian youth (aged 15-30 years). Our career guidance workshops and short-term training programmes equip them for entry-level jobs in the organised sector, in industries such as retail, accounting, hospitality and business process outsourcing. Unlike many vocational training providers, we aim to get them started into a career and not just a job.

Click Here for their website