The Rise of Social Business
Alistair Rennie, General Manager, IBM Social Business discusses the rise of social business and its benefits including creating a smarter workforce, delivering exceptional customer experiences and turning customers into advocates for your brand.
Whole Foods CEO’s Capitalist Revival
John Mackey sees crony capitalism as an enemy of free markets, and tells Steve Forbes how his book “Conscious Capitalism” is a roadmap for social consciousness in business.
How western science curriculum is impacting Tibetan monastics in exile
A Tibetan Monk and a Neuro-scientist from the University of Washington discuss the Science for Monks program, what it means to the Tibetan Monastic community in exile and how their efforts will help further the impact of Tibetan Buddhism worldwide.
The Forbes 400 Summit On Philanthropy: Change The World
An inside look at the 2012 Forbes 400 cover photo shoot featuring Warren Buffett, Bill Gates and Oprah with Forbes magazine editor Randall Lane.
How Venture Capital Is Driving Social Change
The great banker Walter Wriston once said, “Capital goes where it’s welcome and stays where it’s well treated.” But how do you measure how well money is treated in philanthropy? Four investors, one social, three from Silicon Valley, explore how deploying capital in business and philanthropy are not all that different and how both can create lasting social impact.
Gemvara with CEO/Founder Matt Lauzon | REEL Entrepreneurs
Matt Lauzon, CEO and Founder of Gemvara shares the beginnings of his founding Gemvara, how he stays “humble” and a very sincere behind the curtain glimpse of what it’s been like to build Gemvara and those people who have had such a profound effect on him.
The Million E-Books Movement: An African Revolution
Literacy is a critical driver of prosperity (OECD International Adult Literacy Survey 1994-98), and reading inspires and empowers. Yet in much of the world, children have access to a vanishingly small range of books. Fifty percent of schools in sub-Saharan Africa have few or no books (SACMEQ II), slowing learning and societal advancement. And imagine what children miss if they never discover a favorite book about dinosaurs or space exploration.
Worldreader is a US and European non-profit whose mission is to make digital books available to children in the developing world, so millions of people can improve their lives. As of June 2012, they have put over 200,000 e-books - and the life-changing, power-creating ideas contained within them – into the hands of 1,000 children in sub-Saharan Africa.
In order to join the movement, please visit their “Million Books” portal.
Kiva’s New Frontiers: The Intersection of Technology, Innovation and Poverty Alleviation
Kiva launched onto the scene six years ago disrupting the world of microfinance by leveraging technology. In doing so, Kiva pushed the boundaries of international development. Six years later over $300 million has been lent to over 780,000 borrowers, with an average repayment rate of 98.9%. Kiva continues to pursue its mission of connecting people to enable financial inclusion for underserved and isolated populations in 60 countries around the world, including the United States.
Premal Shah first began dreaming of “internet microfinance” while working at PayPal, the online payments company. In late 2004, Premal took a 3 month leave from PayPal to develop and test the internet microfinance concept in India. When he returned to Silicon Valley, he met other like-minded dreamers and quit his job at PayPal to help bring the Kiva concept to life and eventually to scale. Kiva today raises over $1 million each week for the working poor in 50+ countries and was named a Top 50 Website by TIME Magazine in 2009.
For his work as a social entrepreneur, Premal was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum and selected to FORTUNE magazine’s “Top 40 under 40” list in 2009. Premal began his career as a management consultant and graduated from Stanford University.
A Brief History of Doing Well by Doing Good
Nancy Koehn, Harvard Business School professor and historian, explains how socially responsible business dates back to modern capitalism’s founding era.
Will Seattle Become the Capital of Social Entrepreneurship?
“I think there’s every reason to believe that Seattle will be the capital of social entrepreneurship in the next ten years,” says Brian Howe, an adjunct professor at Seattle School of Law and founder of Hub Seattle , which rents space to social entrepreneurs. Libes of Reason TV and Howe discussed the idea of the “social enterprise,” which involves using for-profit enterprise to solve social problems.
“Business men and women think about, ‘How am I going to take this small thing and create leverage? How is this going to scale?’” said Howe.
