Outstanding Social Entrepreneurs 2012

Outstanding Social Entrepreneurs 2012
Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship
Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship Route de la Capite 91-93 1223 Cologny/Geneva Switzerland Phone +41 22 8691212, Fax +41 227862744 Email: info@schwabfound.org www.schwabfound.org 2012 Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship All rights reserved
Purpose
Many of the most promising, innovative solutions to the worlds problems are spearheaded by little-known entrepreneurial organizations. While their impact is significant, it is still far from what is needed to solve the major challenges affecting our world. In 1998 we set up the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship as a not-for-profit organization to find the most advanced social entrepreneurs and provide them - in close cooperation with the World Economic Forum - with a platform to collaborate with top leaders from the public and private sectors to accelerate their social impact. Today, social entrepreneurs have become an integral part of the Annual and Regional Meetings of the World Economic Forum. They participate in initiatives and task forces alongside major corporations, policy-makers and academics to shape the agenda in their respective fields, including renewable energy, water, education, healthcare delivery and agriculture. The Foundation and its Partners identify 20-25 social entrepreneurs annually who become members of its community of Social Entrepreneurs. Today this community comprises 200 outstanding social innovators with a proven record of global impact. Together with this community, the Schwab Foundation has contributed in many ways to promote social entrepreneurship locally, nationally and globally as a required societal force. This directory gives you an overview of the sectors and countries in which they are active. The Foundation is proud to engage the Social Entrepreneurs featured in this directory in shaping global, regional and industry agendas that improve the state of the world together with other stakeholders of the World Economic Forum.
Klaus Schwab Co-Founder, Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship; Executive Chairman, World Economic Forum
Hilde Schwab Chairperson and Co-Founder, Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship
The Foundation
The Foundation Board
The Team
Hilde Schwab Chairperson and Co-Founder, Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship
Klaus Schwab Founder and Executive Chairman, World Economic Forum
Stephen Brenninkmeijer Private Investor, Anthos Ltd, United Kingdom
Mirjam Schning Head and Senior Director
Vivian Gee
Paulo Coelho Author, Brazil
David R. Gergen Director, Center for Public Leadership Harvard Kennedy School, USA
Martin C. Halusa Chief Executive Officer, Apax Partners LLP, United Kingdom
Katherine Milligan
Sndor Nagy
Zanele Mbeki Chairperson, IsiGodlo Trust, South Africa
H.R.H. Princess Mathilde of Belgium Honorary Board Member
Muhammad Yunus Chairman, Yunus Centre, Bangladesh
Abigail Noble
Index
Index by Field of Activity

Organizations may be active in several fields
Education Health Enterprise Development Children and Youth Rural Development Environment Financial Inclusion Labor Conditions and Unemployment Technology Women Homelessness & Housing Communication / Media Civic Participation Disabilities Energy Agriculture Culture/ Handicrafts Water Trade Waste Management AIDS / HIV Consumer Awareness Human Rights Migration Biodiversity
56 46 37 35 35 33 24 21 18 17 15 13 10 10 10 09 09 08 07 06 04 04 04 04 03
Agriculture
59 94 153 157 72 37 129 185 45 Bina Swadaya / Bambang Ismawan Cambia / Richard Jefferson Fundacin Origen / Mary Anne Mller Prieto Grupo para Promover la Educacin y el Desarollo Sustentable (GRUPEDSAC) / Margarita Barney IDEI - International Development Enterprises (India) / Amitabha Sadangi KickStart International / Martin J. Fisher and Nick Moon Regionalwert AG / Christian Hiss Sekem Group / Ibrahim and Helmy Abouleish Service d'Appui aux Initiatives Locales de Dveloppement (SAILD) / Bernard Njonga
AIDS / HIV
33 42 80 132 Heartlines / Garth C. Japhet mothers2mothers / Mitchell J. Besser and Gene Falk Population and Community Development Association (PDA) / Mechai Viravaidya Way Home / Sergey Kostin
Biodiversity
155 156 158 Gaia Amazonas / Martin von Hildebrand Grupo Ecolgico Sierra Gorda IAP / Martha (Pati) Ruz Corzo Instituto de Pesquisas Ecolgicas (IPE) / Suzana and Claudio Padua
Children and Youth

135 140 30 142 61 104 62 147 199 67 152 153 70 114 180 159 116 202 118 182 42 123 125 abcdespaol / Javier Gonzalez Associao Sade Criana / Vera R. G. Cordeiro Camfed International / Ann Cotton Center for Digital Inclusion (CDI) / Rodrigo Baggio Centre for Mass Education in Science (CMES) / Muhammad Ibrahim ChildFinance International / Jeroo Billimoria City College & O School / Kenny Low CREN Centro de Recuperao e Educao Nutricional / Gidela Solymos First Book / Kyle Zimmer Friends-International / Sbastien Marot Fundacin Escuela Nueva Volvamos a la Gente / Vicky Colbert Fundacin Origen / Mary Anne Mller Prieto Hagar International / Pierre Tami Infoklick.ch / Markus Gander INJAZ Al Arab - JA Worldwide / Soraya Salti International Center for Education and Human Development (CINDE) / Marta Arango Nimnicht Job Factory / Robert Roth KaBOOM! / Darell Hammond Kinderzentren Kunterbunt e.V. / Bjrn Czinczoll Mifalot Education and Society / Mordechai Orenstein, Sami Sagol and Moshe Theumim mothers2mothers / Mitchell J. Besser and Gene Falk Mozaik Foundation / Zoran Puljic Off Road Kids Foundation / Markus H. Seidel
Children and Youth

127 163 183 46 131 169 188 172 133 48 Optimomes / Anne-Karine Stocchetti Pr-Cerrado Foundation / Adair Meira Questscope / Curt N. Rhodes Shonaquip / Shona McDonald streetfootballworld / Juergen Griesbeck TdB (Turma do Bem) / Fbio Bibancos THE 99 / Naif Al Mutawa Un Kilo de Ayuda / Jos Ignacio Avalos Hernndez wellcome / Rose Volz-Schmidt Wilderness Foundation / Andrew Muir
Civic Participation
57 144 152 154 33 123 162 45 169 171 Beijing Cultural Development Center for Rural Women / Wu Qing Cinepop / Ariel Zylbersztejn Fundacin Escuela Nueva Volvamos a la Gente / Vicky Colbert Fundacin Paraguaya / Martin Burt Heartlines / Garth C. Japhet Mozaik Foundation / Zoran Puljic Parceiros Voluntrios / Maria E. Johannpeter Service d'Appui aux Initiatives Locales de Dveloppement (SAILD) / Bernard Njonga TdB (Turma do Bem) / Fbio Bibancos Terra Nova Regularizaes Fundirias / Andr L. Cavalcanti de Albuquerque
Communication / Media
136 105 110 33 113 74 122 79 84 45 89 188 47 Agape Association / Flavian Mucci Gaglili Dialogue Social Enterprise GmbH / Andreas Heinecke foodwatch / Thilo Bode Heartlines / Garth C. Japhet Homeless World Cup / Mel Young Kantor Berita Radio KBR68H / Tosca Santoso LifeGate Group / Marco Roveda PlanetRead / Brij Kothari Self-Employed Women's Association (SEWA) / Ela Bhatt and Mirai Chatterjee Service d'Appui aux Initiatives Locales de Dveloppement (SAILD) / Bernard Njonga Telapak / Ambrosius Ruwindrijarto and Silverius Unggul THE 99 / Naif Al Mutawa Ushahidi Inc. / Juliana Rotich
Consumer Awareness
137 110 122 45 Akatu Institute for Conscious Consumption / Helio Mattar foodwatch / Thilo Bode LifeGate Group / Marco Roveda Service dAppui aux Initiatives Locales de Dveloppement (SAILD) / Bernard Njonga
Culture / Handicrafts
102 60 143 157 73 206 84 Bosnian Handicrafts / Lejla Radoncic BRAC (Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee) / Fazle H. Abed Centro Popular de Cultura e Desenvolvimento (CPCD) / Tio Rocha Grupo para Promover la Educacin y el Desarollo Sustentable (GRUPEDSAC) / Margarita Barney Industree Crafts Foundation (ICF) / Neelam Chhiber Novica / Armenia Nercessian De Oliveira and Roberto Milk Self-Employed Women's Association (SEWA) / Ela Bhatt and Mirai Chatterjee
Disabilities
175 97 98 193 105 106 121 85 186 46 Access Israel / Yuval Wagner Agentura ProVs s.r.o. / Vojtech Sedlcek Alliance for Rehabilitation / Erzsbet Szekeres Benetech Initiative / James R. Fruchterman Dialogue Social Enterprise GmbH / Andreas Heinecke Distribution Services Industriels (DSI) / Jean-Louis Ribes Letohrdek Vendula / Dja Kabtov Senior Citizen Home Safety Association / Timothy Ma Kam Wah Shekulo Tov / Offer Cohen and Irad Eichler Shonaquip / Shona McDonald
Education
135 175 52 136 53 176 98 139 57 60 30 103 142 61 143 104 178 144 62 195 147 64 105 65 66 149
10
abcdespaol / Javier Gonzalez Access Israel / Yuval Wagner Afghan Institute of Learning / Sakena Yacoobi Agape Association / Flavian Mucci Gaglili aidha / Sarah Mavrinac Al Jisr / Mhammed Abbad Andaloussi Alliance for Rehabilitation / Erzsbet Szekeres Associao dos Pequenos Agricultores do Municipio de Valente (APAEB) / Ismael Oliveira Ferreira Beijing Cultural Development Center for Rural Women / Wu Qing BRAC (Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee) / Fazle H. Abed Camfed International / Ann Cotton Center for Citizenship Education (Centrum Edukacji Obywatelskiej) / Jacek Strzemieczny Center for Digital Inclusion (CDI) / Rodrigo Baggio Centre for Mass Education in Science (CMES) / Muhammad Ibrahim Centro Popular de Cultura e Desenvolvimento (CPCD) / Tio Rocha ChildFinance International / Jeroo Billimoria CID Consulting / Laila Iskandar Cinepop / Ariel Zylbersztejn City College & O School / Kenny Low College Summit / J. B. Schramm CREN Centro de Recuperao e Educao Nutricional / Gidela Solymos Development Alternatives / Ashok Khosla Dialogue Social Enterprise GmbH / Andreas Heinecke Doi Tung Development Project / Disnadda Diskul Empower Pragati / Rajendra Joshi Ensea Chile / Toms Recart
Education
199 150 67 151 152 153 154 69 33 180 159 117 181 121 40 160 182 41 124 125 79 128 183 81 167 185 168 88 207 90 First Book / Kyle Zimmer Fonkoze Financial Services / Anne Hastings and Joseph Philippe Friends-International / Sbastien Marot Fundacin Educacional y Cultural La Fuente / Vernica Abud Cabrera Fundacin Escuela Nueva Volvamos a la Gente / Vicky Colbert Fundacin Origen / Mary Anne Mller Prieto Fundacin Paraguaya / Martin Burt Gram Vikas / Joseph Madiath Heartlines / Garth C. Japhet INJAZ Al Arab - JA Worldwide / Soraya Salti International Center for Education and Human Development (CINDE) / Marta Arango Nimnicht Kamer / Nebahat Akkoc Kav-Or / Bilha Piamenta Letohrdek Vendula / Dja Kabtov Lifeline Energy / Kristine Pearson Lumni / Felipe Vergara Mifalot Education and Society / Mordechai Orenstein, Sami Sagol and Moshe Theumim Mobility Aid and Appliances Research and Development Centre (MAARDEC) / Cosmas I. B. Okoli Network of Mother Centers / Rut Kolnsk Off Road Kids Foundation / Markus H. Seidel PlanetRead / Brij Kothari Pod Krdly / Emilie Smrckov Questscope / Curt N. Rhodes Rishi Valley Institute for Educational Resources (RIVER) / Rama and Padmanabha Rao Sade e Alegra / Eugenio Scannavino Sekem Group / Ibrahim and Helmy Abouleish Social and Economic Recovery of National Rural Villages at Risk of Disappearing (RESPONDE) / Marcela Benitez Table for Two International / Masa Kogure Teach For All / Wendy Kopp Unlad Kabayan Migrant Services Foundation / Maria A. Villalba
Energy
101 145 64 111 122 40 83 87 170 91 BioRegional Development Group / Sue Riddlestone and Pooran Desai Ciudad Saludable / Albina Ruiz Development Alternatives / Ashok Khosla Groupe La Varappe / Laurent Lak LifeGate Group / Marco Roveda Lifeline Energy / Kristine Pearson SELCO Solar Light (P) Limited / Harish Hande Sunlabob Renewable Energy Ltd / Andy Schroeter Tecnosolucion / Vladimir Delagneau Barquero Waste Concern / Iftekhar Enayetullah and A. H. Md. Maqsood Sinha
11
Enterprise Development
97 53 56 29 60 178 145 31 107 65 148 179 196 67 68 70 71 33 34 73 115 117 37 119 121 205 78 206 184 185 84 44 45 87 187 208 89 90 Agentura ProVs s.r.o. / Vojtech Sedlcek aidha / Sarah Mavrinac Association for Craft Producers (ACP) / Meera Bhattarai Association pour le Soutien et l'Appui la Femme Entrepreneur (ASAFE) / Gisele Yitamben BRAC (Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee) / Fazle H. Abed CID Consulting / Laila Iskandar Ciudad Saludable / Albina Ruiz DMT Mobile Toilets Nigeria Ltd / Isaac Durojaiye Doga Gzcleri Dernegi (Nature Observers' Society) / Mustafa Sari Doi Tung Development Project / Disnadda Diskul Echale a tu casa / Francesco Piazzesi enda inter-arabe / Essma Ben Hamida Endeavor / Linda Rottenberg Friends-International / Sbastien Marot Gawad Kalinga (GK) / Tony Meloto Hagar International / Pierre Tami Hapinoy / Paolo Benigno Aquino IV and Mark Ruiz Heartlines / Garth C. Japhet Indalo Project / Patrick Schofield Industree Crafts Foundation (ICF) / Neelam Chhiber iq consult / Norbert Kunz Kamer / Nebahat Akkoc KickStart International / Martin J. Fisher and Nick Moon La Fageda / Cristbal Coln Letohrdek Vendula / Dja Kabtov New Foundry Ventures / Rick Aubry Nidan / Arbind Singh Novica / Armenia Nercessian De Oliveira and Roberto Milk Sakhrah Women's Society Cooperative / Zeinab Al Momany Sekem Group / Ibrahim and Helmy Abouleish Self-Employed Women's Association (SEWA) / Ela Bhatt and Mirai Chatterjee Sero Lease and Finance (Selfina) / Victoria Kisyombe Service d'Appui aux Initiatives Locales de Dveloppement (SAILD) / Bernard Njonga Sunlabob Renewable Energy Ltd / Andy Schroeter Tamweelcom / Ziad Al Refai TechnoServe / Bruce McNamer Telapak / Ambrosius Ruwindrijarto and Silverius Unggul Unlad Kabayan Migrant Services Foundation / Maria A. Villalba
Environment
136 139 177 101 178 145 Agape Association / Flavian Mucci Gaglili Associao dos Pequenos Agricultores do Municipio de Valente (APAEB) / Ismael Oliveira Ferreira Basata / Sherif El Ghamrawy BioRegional Development Group / Sue Riddlestone and Pooran Desai CID Consulting / Laila Iskandar Ciudad Saludable / Albina Ruiz
12
Environment
64 31 107 65 32 197 154 155 68 111 156 157 158 120 122 126 80 163 165 167 185 83 130 87 170 89 91 48 Development Alternatives / Ashok Khosla DMT Mobile Toilets Nigeria Ltd / Isaac Durojaiye Doga Gzcleri Dernegi (Nature Observers' Society) / Mustafa Sari Doi Tung Development Project / Disnadda Diskul Ecotact / David Kuria Evergreen Foundation / Geoffrey Cape Fundacin Paraguaya / Martin Burt Gaia Amazonas / Martin von Hildebrand Gawad Kalinga (GK) / Tony Meloto Groupe La Varappe / Laurent Lak Grupo Ecolgico Sierra Gorda IAP / Martha (Pati) Ruz Corzo Grupo para Promover la Educacin y el Desarollo Sustentable (GRUPEDSAC) / Margarita Barney Instituto de Pesquisas Ecolgicas (IPE) / Suzana and Claudio Padua Le Relais / Pierre Duponchel LifeGate Group / Marco Roveda One Earth Innovation, Reed Paget Population and Community Development Association (PDA) / Mechai Viravaidya Pr-Cerrado Foundation / Adair Meira RECYCLA Chile SA / Fernando Nilo Sade e Alegra / Eugenio Scannavino Sekem Group / Ibrahim and Helmy Abouleish SELCO Solar Light (P) Limited / Harish Hande South Pole Carbon Asset Management Ltd / Renat Heuberger and Christoph Sutter Sunlabob Renewable Energy Ltd / Andy Schroeter Tecnosolucion / Vladimir Delagneau Barquero Telapak / Ambrosius Ruwindrijarto and Silverius Unggul Waste Concern / Iftekhar Enayetullah and A. H. Md. Maqsood Sinha Wilderness Foundation / Andrew Muir
Financial Inclusion
54 139 141 58 59 60 104 179 150 151 154 115 36 75 38 Akula Vikram / Vikram K. Akula Associao dos Pequenos Agricultores do Municipio de Valente (APAEB) / Ismael Oliveira Ferreira Banca Comunitaria Banesco / Claudia Valladares Bhartiya Samruddhi Investments & Consulting Services Ltd (BASIX) / Vijay Mahajan Bina Swadaya / Bambang Ismawan BRAC (Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee) / Fazle H. Abed ChildFinance International / Jeroo Billimoria enda inter-arabe / Essma Ben Hamida Fonkoze Financial Services / Anne Hastings and Joseph Philippe Fundacin Educacional y Cultural La Fuente / Vernica Abud Cabrera Fundacin Paraguaya / Martin Burt iq consult / Norbert Kunz Juhudi Kilimo / Aleke Dondo Kashf Foundation / Roshaneh Zafar Kuyasa Fund / Olivia van Rooyen
13
Financial Inclusion
39 160 76 80 184 84 187 90 Lapo / Godwin Ehigiamusoe Lumni / Felipe Vergara Microfinance International Corporation (MFIC) / Atsumasa Tochisako Population and Community Development Association (PDA) / Mechai Viravaidya Sakhrah Women's Society Cooperative / Zeinab Al Momany Self-Employed Women's Association (SEWA) / Ela Bhatt and Mirai Chatterjee Tamweelcom / Ziad Al Refai Unlad Kabayan Migrant Services Foundation / Maria A. Villalba
Health
175 52 136 98 138 28 55 140 60 94 63 147 31 65 32 108 109 110 67 68 69 199 33 201 35 202 181 119 121 161 204 41 42 77 124 Access Israel / Yuval Wagner Afghan Institute of Learning / Sakena Yacoobi Agape Association / Flavian Mucci Gaglili Alliance for Rehabilitation / Erzsbet Szekeres Andean Health and Development / David Gaus APOPO - HeroRAT / Bart Weetjens Aravind Eye Care System (AECS) / Thulasiraj Ravilla Associao Sade Criana / Vera R. G. Cordeiro BRAC (Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee) / Fazle H. Abed Cambia / Richard Jefferson Comprehensive Rural Health Project (CRHP) / Shobha Arole CREN Centro de Recuperao e Educao Nutricional / Gidela Solymos DMT Mobile Toilets Nigeria Ltd / Isaac Durojaiye Doi Tung Development Project / Disnadda Diskul Ecotact / David Kuria Ethno-Medizinisches Zentrum / Ramazan Salman Flton Alaptvny / Csaba Kovcs foodwatch / Thilo Bode Friends-International / Sbastien Marot Gawad Kalinga (GK) / Tony Meloto Gram Vikas / Joseph Madiath Green David / David Green Heartlines / Garth C. Japhet Independence Care System (ICS) / Rick Surpin International Centre for Eyecare Education (ICEE) / Brien Holden and Kovin Naidoo KaBOOM! / Darell Hammond Kav-Or / Bilha Piamenta La Fageda / Cristbal Coln Letohrdek Vendula / Dja Kabtov Maniapure / Tomas Sanabria Medicines360 / Victoria G. Hale Mobility Aid and Appliances Research and Development Centre (MAARDEC) / Cosmas I. B. Okoli mothers2mothers / Mitchell J. Besser and Gene Falk Naya Jeevan / Asher Hasan Network of Mother Centers / Rut Kolnsk
14
Health
80 164 43 167 185 85 46 88 169 172 190 92 Population and Community Development Association (PDA) / Mechai Viravaidya Projeto Cies / Roberto Kikawa Riders for Health / Andrea and Barry Coleman Sade e Alegra / Eugenio Scannavino Sekem Group / Ibrahim and Helmy Abouleish Senior Citizen Home Safety Association / Timothy Ma Kam Wah Shonaquip / Shona McDonald Table for Two International / Masa Kogure TdB (Turma do Bem) / Fbio Bibancos Un Kilo de Ayuda / Jos Ignacio Avalos Hernndez United Hatzalah of Israel / Eliezer Yehuda Beer World Toilet Organization Ltd / Jack Sim
Homelessness & Housing

99 194 148 67 68 157 113 38 128 166 82 96 171 132 191 Barka Foundation for Mutual Help / Barbara Sadowska and Tomasz Sadowski Build Change / Elizabeth Hausler Echale a tu casa / Francesco Piazzesi Friends-International / Sbastien Marot Gawad Kalinga (GK) / Tony Meloto Grupo para Promover la Educacin y el Desarollo Sustentable (GRUPEDSAC) / Margarita Barney Homeless World Cup / Mel Young Kuyasa Fund / Olivia van Rooyen Pod Krdly / Emilie Smrckov Rodelillo Foundation / Macarena Currin Saiban - Action Research for Shelter / Tasneem A. Siddiqui Society for the Promotion of Area Resource Centres (SPARC) / Sheela Patel and Jockin Arputham Terra Nova Regularizaes Fundirias / Andr L. Cavalcanti de Albuquerque Way Home / Sergey Kostin YEDID - The Association for Community Empowerment / Sari Revkin
Human Rights
193 100 117 209 Benetech Initiative / James R. Fruchterman Bily Kruh Bezpeci o.s. / Petra Vitousova Kamer / Nebahat Akkoc Verit / Daniel Viederman
Labor Conditions and Unemployment

51 96 97 98 146 66 111 112 201 115 116 Aajeevika Bureau / Rajiv Khandelwal and Krishnavatar Sharma Acta Vista / Arnaud Castagnde Agentura ProVs s.r.o. / Vojtech Sedlcek Alliance for Rehabilitation / Erzsbet Szekeres Coronilla SA / Martha E. Wille Empower Pragati / Rajendra Joshi Groupe La Varappe / Laurent Lak Gump- & Drahtesel, Velos fr Afrika / Paolo Richter Independence Care System (ICS) / Rick Surpin iq consult / Norbert Kunz Job Factory / Robert Roth
Outstanding Social Entrepreneurs 2012 15
Labor Conditions and Unemployment

120 121 123 205 78 183 84 209 191 90 Le Relais / Pierre Duponchel Letohrdek Vendula / Dja Kabtov Mozaik Foundation / Zoran Puljic New Foundry Ventures / Rick Aubry Nidan / Arbind Singh Questscope / Curt N. Rhodes Self-Employed Women's Association (SEWA) / Ela Bhatt and Mirai Chatterjee Verit / Daniel Viederman YEDID - The Association for Community Empowerment / Sari Revkin Unlad Kabayan Migrant Services Foundation / Maria A. Villalba
Migration
51 53 108 90 Aajeevika Bureau / Rajiv Khandelwal and Krishnavatar Sharma aidha / Sarah Mavrinac Ethno-Medizinisches Zentrum / Ramazan Salman Unlad Kabayan Migrant Services Foundation / Maria A. Villalba
Rural Development
139 58 59 60 63 64 65 179 151 153 154 69 157 72 73 36 203 161 80 163 129 184 167 185 83 84 45 Associao dos Pequenos Agricultores do Municipio de Valente (APAEB) / Ismael Oliveira Ferreira Bhartiya Samruddhi Investments & Consulting Services Ltd (BASIX) / Vijay Mahajan Bina Swadaya / Bambang Ismawan BRAC (Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee) / Fazle H. Abed Comprehensive Rural Health Project (CRHP) / Shobha Arole Development Alternatives / Ashok Khosla Doi Tung Development Project / Disnadda Diskul enda inter-arabe / Essma Ben Hamida Fundacin Educacional y Cultural La Fuente / Vernica Abud Cabrera Fundacin Origen / Mary Anne Mller Prieto Fundacin Paraguaya / Martin Burt Gram Vikas / Joseph Madiath Grupo para Promover la Educacin y el Desarollo Sustentable (GRUPEDSAC) / Margarita Barney IDEI - International Development Enterprises (India) / Amitabha Sadangi Industree Crafts Foundation (ICF) / Neelam Chhiber Juhudi Kilimo / Aleke Dondo Landesa / Roy L. Prosterman and Tim Hanstad Maniapure / Tomas Sanabria Population and Community Development Association (PDA) / Mechai Viravaidya Pr-Cerrado Foundation / Adair Meira Regionalwert AG / Christian Hiss Sakhrah Women's Society Cooperative / Zeinab Al Momany Sade e Alegra / Eugenio Scannavino Sekem Group / Ibrahim and Helmy Abouleish SELCO Solar Light (P) Limited / Harish Hande Self-Employed Women's Association (SEWA) / Ela Bhatt and Mirai Chatterjee Service d'Appui aux Initiatives Locales de Dveloppement (SAILD) / Bernard Njonga
16
Rural Development
168 87 187 208 170 189 173 90 Social and Economic Recovery of National Rural Villages at Risk of Disappearing (RESPONDE) / Marcela Benitez Sunlabob Renewable Energy Ltd / Andy Schroeter Tamweelcom / Ziad Al Refai TechnoServe / Bruce McNamer Tecnosolucion / Vladimir Delagneau Barquero Together Association for Development and Environment / Sameh Seif Ghali Unin de Ejidos de La Selva / Jos E. Jurez Unlad Kabayan Migrant Services Foundation / Maria A. Villalba
Technology
175 54 29 193 101 94 142 144 64 199 157 37 40 161 41 85 87 91 Access Israel / Yuval Wagner Akula Vikram / Vikram K. Akula Association pour le Soutien et l'Appui la Femme Entrepreneur (ASAFE) / Gisele Yitamben Benetech Initiative / James R. Fruchterman BioRegional Development Group / Sue Riddlestone and Pooran Desai Cambia / Richard Jefferson Center for Digital Inclusion (CDI) / Rodrigo Baggio Cinepop / Ariel Zylbersztejn Development Alternatives / Ashok Khosla Green David / David Green Grupo para Promover la Educacin y el Desarollo Sustentable (GRUPEDSAC) / Margarita Barney KickStart International / Martin J. Fisher and Nick Moon Lifeline Energy / Kristine Pearson Maniapure / Tomas Sanabria Mobility Aid and Appliances Research and Development Centre (MAARDEC) / Cosmas I. B. Okoli Senior Citizen Home Safety Association / Timothy Ma Kam Wah Sunlabob Renewable Energy Ltd / Andy Schroeter Waste Concern / Iftekhar Enayetullah and A. H. Md. Maqsood Sinha
Trade
139 56 146 198 34 122 173 Associao dos Pequenos Agricultores do Municipio de Valente (APAEB) / Ismael Oliveira Ferreira Association for Craft Producers (ACP) / Meera Bhattarai Coronilla SA / Martha E. Wille Fair Trade USA / Paul Rice Indalo Project / Patrick Schofield LifeGate Group / Marco Roveda Unin de Ejidos de La Selva / Jos E. Jurez
Waste Management
177 178 145 78 165 91 Basata / Sherif El Ghamrawy CID Consulting / Laila Iskandar Ciudad Saludable / Albina Ruiz Nidan / Arbind Singh RECYCLA Chile SA / Fernando Nilo Waste Concern / Iftekhar Enayetullah and A. H. Md. Maqsood Sinha
17
Water
50 64 32 69 72 167 87 189 1001 fontaines pour demain / Lo Chay and Franois Jaquenoud Development Alternatives / Ashok Khosla Ecotact / David Kuria Gram Vikas / Joseph Madiath IDEI - International Development Enterprises (India) / Amitabha Sadangi Sade e Alegra / Eugenio Scannavino Sunlabob Renewable Energy Ltd / Andy Schroeter Together Association for Development and Environment / Sameh Seif Ghali
Women
52 53 29 27 102 60 30 63 179 70 71 117 75 124 184 84 133 Afghan Institute of Learning / Sakena Yacoobi aidha / Sarah Mavrinac Association pour le Soutien et l'Appui la Femme Entrepreneur (ASAFE) / Gisele Yitamben Beijing Cultural Development Center for Rural Women / Wu Qing Bosnian Handicrafts / Lejla Radoncic BRAC (Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee) / Fazle H. Abed Camfed International / Ann Cotton Comprehensive Rural Health Project (CRHP) / Shobha Arole enda inter-arabe / Essma Ben Hamida Hagar International / Pierre Tami Hapinoy / Paolo Benigno Aquino IV and Mark Ruiz Kamer / Nebahat Akkoc Kashf Foundation / Roshaneh Zafar Network of Mother Centers / Rut Kolnsk Sakhrah Women's Society Cooperative / Zeinab Al Momany Self-Employed Women's Association (SEWA) / Ela Bhatt and Mirai Chatterjee wellcome / Rose Volz-Schmidt
18
Index by Financial Model

Leveraged non-profit ventures
The entrepreneur sets up a non-profit organization to drive the adoption of an innovation that addresses a market or government failure. In doing so, the entrepreneur engages a cross section of society, including private and public organizations, to drive forward the innovation through a multiplier effect. Leveraged non-profit ventures continuously depend on outside philanthropic funding, but their longer term sustainability is often enhanced given that the partners have a vested interest in the continuation of the venture.
Hybrid non-profit ventures

The entrepreneur sets up a non-profit organization but the model includes some degree of cost-recovery through the sale of goods and services to a cross section of institutions, public and private, as well as to target population groups. Often, the entrepreneur sets up several legal entities to accommodate the earning of an income and the charitable expenditures in an optimal structure. To be able to sustain the transformation activities in full and address the needs of clients, who are often poor or marginalized from society, the entrepreneur must mobilize other sources of funding from the public and/or philanthropic sectors. Such funds can be in the form of grants or loans, and even quasi-equity.
Social business ventures

The entrepreneur sets up a for-profit entity or business to provide a social or ecological product or service. While profits are ideally generated, the main aim is not to maximize financial returns for shareholders but to grow the social venture and reach more people in need. Wealth accumulation is not a priority and profits are reinvested in the enterprise to fund expansion. The entrepreneur of a social business venture seeks investors who are interested in combining financial and social returns on their investments.
84
51
39
19
Leveraged Non-Profit
51 135 52 28 137 140 57 100 30 61 104 63 147 107 196 155 68 156 33 180 181 203 41 42 124 125 79 164 81 167 168 86 169 190 47 132 133 92 191 Aajeevika Bureau / Rajiv Khandelwal and Krishnavatar Sharma abcdespaol / Javier Gonzalez Afghan Institute of Learning / Sakena Yacoobi APOPO - HeroRAT / Bart Weetjens Akatu Institute for Conscious Consumption / Helio Mattar Associao Sade Criana / Vera R. G. Cordeiro Beijing Cultural Development Center for Rural Women / Wu Qing Bily Kruh Bezpeci o.s. / Petra Vitousova Camfed International / Ann Cotton Centre for Mass Education in Science (CMES) / Muhammad Ibrahim ChildFinance International / Jeroo Billimoria Comprehensive Rural Health Project (CRHP) / Shobha Arole CREN Centro de Recuperao e Educao Nutricional / Gidela Solymos Doga Gzcleri Dernegi (Nature Observers' Society) / Mustafa Sari Endeavor / Linda Rottenberg Gaia Amazonas / Martin von Hildebrand Gawad Kalinga (GK) / Tony Meloto Grupo Ecolgico Sierra Gorda IAP / Martha (Pati) Ruz Corzo Heartlines / Garth C. Japhet INJAZ Al Arab - JA Worldwide / Soraya Salti Kav-Or / Bilha Piamenta Landesa / Roy L. Prosterman and Tim Hanstad Mobility Aid and Appliances Research and Development Centre (MAARDEC) / Cosmas I. B. Okoli mothers2mothers / Mitchell J. Besser and Gene Falk Network of Mother Centers / Rut Kolnsk Off Road Kids Foundation / Markus H. Seidel PlanetRead / Brij Kothari Projeto Cies / Roberto Kikawa Rishi Valley Institute for Educational Resources (RIVER) / Rama and Padmanabha Rao Sade e Alegra / Eugenio Scannavino Social and Economic Recovery of National Rural Villages at Risk of Disappearing (RESPONDE) / Marcela Benitez Society for the Promotion of Area Resource Centres (SPARC) / Sheela Patel and Jockin Arputham TdB (Turma do Bem) / Fbio Bibancos United Hatzalah of Israel / Eliezer Yehuda Beer Ushahidi Inc. / Juliana Rotich Way Home / Sergey Kostin wellcome / Rose Volz-Schmidt World Toilet Organization Ltd / Jack Sim YEDID - The Association for Community Empowerment / Sari Revkin
Hybrid Non-Profit
50 175 96 136 53 176
20
1001 fontaines pour demain / Lo Chay and Franois Jaquenoud Access Israel / Yuval Wagner Acta Vista / Arnaud Castagnde Agape Association / Flavian Mucci Gaglili aidha / Sarah Mavrinac Al Jisr / Mhammed Abbad Andaloussi
Hybrid Non-Profit
98 138 29 99 177 193 102 60 194 94 103 142 143 62 145 195 64 65 149 108 197 198 109 199 150 110 67 151 152 153 154 69 157 71 113 72 73 114 158 159 35 202 117 37 118 38 Alliance for Rehabilitation / Erzsbet Szekeres Andean Health and Development / David Gaus Association pour le Soutien et lAppui la Femme Entrepreneur (ASAFE) / Gisele Yitamben Barka Foundation for Mutual Help / Barbara Sadowska and Tomasz Sadowski Basata / Sherif El Ghamrawy Benetech Initiative / James R. Fruchterman Bosnian Handicrafts / Lejla Radoncic BRAC (Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee) / Fazle H. Abed Build Change / Elizabeth Hausler Cambia / Richard Jefferson Center for Citizenship Education (Centrum Edukacji Obywatelskiej) / Jacek Strzemieczny Center for Digital Inclusion (CDI) / Rodrigo Baggio Centro Popular de Cultura e Desenvolvimento (CPCD) / Tio Rocha City College & O School / Kenny Low Ciudad Saludable / Albina Ruiz College Summit / J. B. Schramm Development Alternatives / Ashok Khosla Doi Tung Development Project / Disnadda Diskul Ensea Chile / Toms Recart Ethno-Medizinisches Zentrum / Ramazan Salman Evergreen Foundation / Geoffrey Cape Fair Trade USA / Paul Rice Flton Alaptvny / Csaba Kovcs First Book / Kyle Zimmer Fonkoze Financial Services / Anne Hastings and Joseph Philippe foodwatch / Thilo Bode Friends-International / Sbastien Marot Fundacin Educacional y Cultural La Fuente / Vernica Abud Cabrera Fundacin Escuela Nueva Volvamos a la Gente / Vicky Colbert Fundacin Origen / Mary Anne Mller Prieto Fundacin Paraguaya / Martin Burt Gram Vikas / Joseph Madiath Grupo para Promover la Educacin y el Desarollo Sustentable (GRUPEDSAC) / Margarita Barney Hapinoy / Paolo Benigno Aquino IV and Mark Ruiz Homeless World Cup / Mel Young IDEI - International Development Enterprises (India) / Amitabha Sadangi Industree Crafts Foundation (ICF) / Neelam Chhiber Infoklick.ch / Markus Gander Instituto de Pesquisas Ecolgicas (IPE) / Suzana and Claudio Padua International Center for Education and Human Development (CINDE) / Marta Arango Nimnicht International Centre for Eyecare Education (ICEE) / Brien Holden and Kovin Naidoo KaBOOM! / Darell Hammond Kamer / Nebahat Akkoc KickStart International / Martin J. Fisher and Nick Moon Kinderzentren Kunterbunt e.V. / Bjrn Czinczoll Kuyasa Fund / Olivia van Rooyen
Hybrid Non-Profit
121 40 161 204 182 123 205 78 127 162 128 80 163 183 43 166 82 84 85 45 186 131 88 207 208 89 189 172 90 209 91 48 Letohrdek Vendula / Dja Kabtov Lifeline Energy / Kristine Pearson Maniapure / Tomas Sanabria Medicines360 / Victoria G. Hale Mifalot Education and Society / Mordechai Orenstein, Sami Sagol and Moshe Theumim Mozaik Foundation / Zoran Puljic New Foundry Ventures / Rick Aubry Nidan / Arbind Singh Optimomes / Anne-Karine Stocchetti Parceiros Voluntrios / Maria E. Johannpeter Pod Krdly / Emilie Smrckov Population and Community Development Association (PDA) / Mechai Viravaidya Pr-Cerrado Foundation / Adair Meira Questscope / Curt N. Rhodes Riders for Health / Andrea and Barry Coleman Rodelillo Foundation / Macarena Currin Saiban - Action Research for Shelter / Tasneem A. Siddiqui Self-Employed Women's Association (SEWA) / Ela Bhatt and Mirai Chatterjee Senior Citizen Home Safety Association / Timothy Ma Kam Wah Service d'Appui aux Initiatives Locales de Dveloppement (SAILD) / Bernard Njonga Shekulo Tov / Offer Cohen and Irad Eichler streetfootballworld / Juergen Griesbeck Table for Two International / Masa Kogure Teach For All / Wendy Kopp TechnoServe / Bruce McNamer Telapak / Ambrosius Ruwindrijarto and Silverius Unggul Together Association for Development and Environment / Sameh Seif Ghali Un Kilo de Ayuda / Jos Ignacio Avalos Hernndez Unlad Kabayan Migrant Services Foundation / Maria A. Villalba Verit / Daniel Viederman Waste Concern / Iftekhar Enayetullah and A. H. Md. Maqsood Sinha Wilderness Foundation / Andrew Muir
Social Business
97 55 139 56 141 58 59 101 178 144 146 Agentura ProVs s.r.o. / Vojtech Sedlcek Aravind Eye Care System (AECS) / Thulasiraj Ravilla Associao dos Pequenos Agricultores do Municipio de Valente (APAEB) / Ismael Oliveira Ferreira Association for Craft Producers (ACP) / Meera Bhattarai Banca Comunitaria Banesco / Claudia Valladares Bhartiya Samruddhi Investments & Consulting Services Ltd (BASIX) / Vijay Mahajan Bina Swadaya / Bambang Ismawan BioRegional Development Group / Sue Riddlestone and Pooran Desai CID Consulting / Laila Iskandar Cinepop / Ariel Zylbersztejn Coronilla SA / Martha E. Wille
22
Social Business
105 106 31 148 32 66 179 111 112 70 34 201 115 116 36 74 75 119 39 120 122 160 76 77 206 126 165 129 184 185 83 44 46 130 87 187 170 171 188 173 Dialogue Social Enterprise GmbH / Andreas Heinecke Distribution Services Industriels (DSI) / Jean-Louis Ribes DMT Mobile Toilets Nigeria Ltd / Isaac Durojaiye Echale a tu casa / Francesco Piazzesi Ecotact / David Kuria Empower Pragati / Rajendra Joshi enda inter-arabe / Essma Ben Hamida Groupe La Varappe / Laurent Lak Gump- & Drahtesel, Velos fr Afrika / Paolo Richter Hagar International / Pierre Tami Indalo Project / Patrick Schofield Independence Care System (ICS) / Rick Surpin iq consult / Norbert Kunz Job Factory / Robert Roth Juhudi Kilimo / Aleke Dondo Kantor Berita Radio KBR68H / Tosca Santoso Kashf Foundation / Roshaneh Zafar La Fageda / Cristbal Coln Lapo / Godwin Ehigiamusoe Le Relais / Pierre Duponchel LifeGate Group / Marco Roveda Lumni / Felipe Vergara Microfinance International Corporation (MFIC) / Atsumasa Tochisako Naya Jeevan / Asher Hasan Novica / Armenia Nercessian De Oliveira and Roberto Milk One Earth Innovation / Reed Paget RECYCLA Chile SA / Fernando Nilo Regionalwert AG / Christian Hiss Sakhrah Women's Society Cooperative / Zeinab Al Momany Sekem Group / Ibrahim and Helmy Abouleish SELCO Solar Light (P) Limited / Harish Hande Sero Lease and Finance (Selfina) / Victoria Kisyombe Shonaquip / Shona McDonald South Pole Carbon Asset Management Ltd / Renat Heuberger and Christoph Sutter Sunlabob Renewable Energy Ltd / Andy Schroeter Tamweelcom / Ziad Al Refai Tecnosolucion / Vladimir Delagneau Barquero Terra Nova Regularizaes Fundirias / Andr L. Cavalcanti de Albuquerque THE 99 / Naif Al Mutawa Unin de Ejidos de La Selva / Jos E. Jurez
23
Index of Schwab Social Entrepreneurs

176 60 185 185 151 117 54 184 188 187 71 159 63 86 205 172 142 157 190 179 168 42 84 56 169 104 110 154 197 96 171 84 50 73 186 152 43 43 119 140 30 166 118 170 101 Abbad Andaloussi, Mhammed Abed, Fazle H. Abouleish, Helmy Abouleish, Ibrahim Abud Cabrera, Vernica Akkoc, Nebahat Akula, Vikram K. Al Momany, Zeinab Al Mutawa, Naif Al Refai, Ziad Aquino IV, Paolo Benigno Arango Nimnicht, Marta Arole, Shobha Arputham, Jockin Aubry, Rick Avalos Hernndez, Jos Ignacio Baggio, Rodrigo Barney, Margarita Beer, Eliezer Yehuda Ben Hamida, Essma Benitez, Marcela Besser, Mitchell J. Bhatt, Ela Bhattarai, Meera Bibancos, Fbio Billimoria, Jeroo Bode, Thilo Burt, Martin Cape, Geoffrey Castagnde, Arnaud Cavalcanti de Albuquerque, Andr L. Chatterjee, Mirai Chay, Lo Chhiber, Neelam Cohen, Offer Colbert, Vicky Coleman, Andrea Coleman, Barry Coln, Cristbal Cordeiro, Vera R. G. Cotton, Ann Currin, Macarena Czinczoll, Bjrn Delagneau Barquero, Vladimir Desai, Pooran 65 36 120 31 39 186 177 91 42 37 193 114 138 135 200 131 204 202 83 203 77 150 194 105 130 129 35 61 178 59 33 50 94 162 66 173 121 51 64 164 44 88 124 207 132 Diskul, Disnadda Dondo, Aleke Duponchel, Pierre Durojaiye, Isaac Ehigiamusoe, Godwin Eichler, Irad El Ghamrawy, Sherif Enayetullah, Iftekhar Falk, Gene Fisher, Martin J. Fruchterman, James R. Gander, Markus Gaus, David Gonzalez, Javier Green, David Griesbeck, Juergen Hale, Victoria G. Hammond, Darell Hande, Harish Hanstad, Tim Hasan, Asher Hastings, Anne Hausler, Elizabeth Heinecke, Andreas Heuberger, Renat Hiss, Christian Holden, Brien Ibrahim, Muhammad Iskandar, Laila Ismawan, Bambang Japhet, Garth C. Jaquenoud, Franois Jefferson, Richard Johannpeter, Maria E. Joshi, Rajendra Jurez, Jos E. Kabtov, Dja Khandelwal, Rajiv Khosla, Ashok Kikawa, Roberto Kisyombe, Victoria Kogure, Masa Kolnsk, Rut Kopp, Wendy Kostin, Sergey 79 109 115 32 111 62 85 69 58 67 137 53 46 208 163 68 206 37 136 48 153 35 206 165 45 41 139 182 158 158 126 86 40 150 181 148 203 123 102 81 81 55 149 191 183 Kothari, Brij Kovcs, Csaba Kunz, Norbert Kuria, David Lak, Laurent Low, Kenny Ma Kam Wah, Timothy Madiath, Joseph Mahajan, Vijay Marot, Sbastien Mattar, Helio Mavrinac, Sarah McDonald, Shona McNamer, Bruce Meira, Adair Meloto, Tony Milk, Roberto Moon, Nick Mucci Gaglili, Flavian Muir, Andrew Mller Prieto, Mary Anne Naidoo, Kovin Nercessian De Oliveira, Armenia Nilo, Fernando Njonga, Bernard Okoli, Cosmas I. B. Oliveira Ferreira, Ismael Orenstein, Mordechai Padua, Claudio B. Padua, Suzana Paget, Reed Patel, Sheela Pearson, Kristine Philippe, Joseph Piamenta, Bilha Piazzesi, Francesco Prosterman, Roy L. Puljic, Zoran Radoncic, Lejla Rama, Anumula Rao Yerravalli, Padmanabha Ravilla, Thulasiraj Recart, Toms Revkin, Sari Rhodes, Curt N.
24
Index of Schwab Social Entrepreneurs
106 198 112 101 143 116 47 196 122 156 145 71 89 72 99 99 182 108 180 161 74 107 167 34 195 87 97 125 189 51 82 92 78 91 128 147 127 103 201 130 98 70 182 76
Ribes, Jean-Louis Rice, Paul Richter, Paolo Riddlestone, Sue Rocha, Tio Roth, Robert Rotich, Juliana Rottenberg, Linda Roveda, Marco Ruiz, Albina Ruiz, Mark Ruz Corzo, Martha (Pati) Ruwindrijarto, Ambrosius Sadangi, Amitabha Sadowska, Barbara Sadowski, Tomasz Sagol, Sami Salman, Ramazan Salti, Soraya Sanabria, Tomas Santoso, Tosca Sari, Mustafa Scannavino, Eugenio Schofield, Patrick Schramm, J. B. Schroeter, Andy Sedlcek, Vojtech Seidel, Markus H. Seif Ghali, Sameh Sharma, Krishnavatar Siddiqui, Tasneem A. Sim, Jack Singh, Arbind Sinha, A. H. Md. Maqsood Smrckov, Emilie Solymos, Gidela Stocchetti, Anne-Karine Strzemieczny, Jacek Surpin, Rick Sutter, Christoph Szekeres, Erzsbet Tami, Pierre Theumim, Moshe Tochisako, Atsumasa
89 141 38 160 209 90 80 100 133 155 175 28 146 57 52 29 113 75 199 144
Unggul, Silverius O. Valladares, Claudia van Rooyen, Olivia Vergara, Felipe Viederman, Daniel Villalba, Maria A. Viravaidya, Mechai Vitousova, Petra Volz-Schmidt, Rose von Hildebrand, Martin Wagner, Yuval Weetjens, Bart Wille, Martha E. Wu Qing Yacoobi, Sakena Yitamben, Gisele Young, Mel Zafar, Roshaneh Zimmer, Kyle Zylbersztejn, Ariel
25
The Foundation now represents 199 social entrepreneurs from 174 organizations
16
38 17 39 21
42
01
26
Africa
27
Background
The lack of appropriate detection technologies poses a great humanitarian challenge in developing countries. For example, the continuing presence landmines and the lack of reliable diagnostic tools to detect tuberculosis (TB) are structural barriers to development for millions of people. Mine action is a highly specialized and donor-driven industry, requiring foreign expertise and substantial investment to operate in post-conflict countries. TB claims almost two million people lives per year, and the pandemic is fuelled by HIV co-infection, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. In resourcelimited settings, there is an urgent need for innovative approaches to achieve early detection and rapid treatment.
Africa
Bart Weetjens
APOPO and HeroRAT
Founded in 1998, Belgium www.apopo.org
Innovation and Activities

APOPO is a social enterprise that researches, develops and deploys detection technology using rats for de-mining and detecting TB. This technology comes in the unusual form of the African giant pouched rat, a species prevalent throughout sub-Saharan Africa. APOPO trains rats to detect landmines based on vapours emitted by the buried explosives. Since APOPOs rats are saving human lives, they are called HeroRATs. HeroRATs indicate the location of a mine or unexploded ordinance by scratching the soil surface on top of the mine, since the rats are too light to set off landmines. After two animals have screened a stretch of suspected area, manual de-miners take over to uncover and neutralize the mines. Two trainers with their rats can cover 400 sq. km in 1.5 hours, whereas manual de-miners take two days to search the same area. Rats are tested and accredited according to International Mine Action Standards before they enter into a suspected area, just like mine detection dogs. Mine clearance in developing countries is expensive and largely based on foreign expertise and equipment. By employing locally available resources and people, the APOPO model allows for price reduction of 50-75% of the currently accepted US$ 2 per square kilometre. APOPO has been endorsed by 11 governments in the African Great Lakes region, and tasked by the Mozambican government to clear the countrys Gaza province of landmines by 2014. APOPO is also applying its Detection Rats Technology to the rapid detection of pulmonary TB, another humanitarian challenge where much can be gained from a quick, cheap and effective screening tool. Operational research in Tanzania showed that HeroRATs enhanced case detection rates in eight clinics in Dar es Salaam in 2009 and 2010 consecutively by over 43%. Apart from its humanitarian applications, APOPO is pursuing Detection Rats Technology for more commercially oriented applications, like security and customs screening.
APOPO trains HeroRATs to save lives by detecting landmines and TB.
Focus: Detection Rats Technology, Mine Action, Health Geographic Area of Impact: Mozambique, Tanzania, Thailand Model: Hybrid Non-Profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 67,000 (2010) Annual Budget: US$ 3.45 million (2010) Percentage Earned Revenue: 54% Recognition: Schwab Fellow of the World Economic Forum
The Entrepreneur
Bart Weetjens, who initiated the idea to train rats as an appropriate technology to detect landmines and TB, was educated as a product design engineer. Weetjens founded APOPO with support from Antwerp University.
28
Background
In 1986 Gisle Yitamben completed a study for the African Development Bank, revealing that women in Africa were systematically deprived of credit because their businesses were too small and they could not provide collateral. Convinced that many of these women could develop into successful entrepreneurs, Yitamben convinced a group of professionals and businesswomen from Douala, Cameroons largest city, to support womens entrepreneurship. While fighting for permission to establish Association pour le Soutien et lAppui la Femme Entrepreneur (ASAFE), the group began providing business services to micro-enterprises and small businesses in regions throughout Cameroon. ASAFE seeks to shift the focus from poverty reduction to wealth creation in Africa, from depending on international aid to stimulating national development by cultivating local entrepreneurship.
Gisle Yitamben
Association pour le Soutien et lAppui la Femme Entrepreneur (ASAFE)
Founded in 1987, Cameroon www.asafe.org

ASAFE provides business training and development services, alternative financing and access to e-commerce to support thousands of women entrepreneurs in Cameroon as well as in Guinea, Benin, Chad and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Today the organization is actively engaged with technology companies and business incubators to help African entrepreneurs overcome the digital divide. ASAFEs strategy includes building competency in adaptive management, bookkeeping and marketing to help members expand their knowledge; many of the 5,000 members have created flourishing micro-enterprises. Using information and communication technologies, ASAFE has brought its entrepreneurs closer together and connected them to larger markets. Its strategy also includes the promotion of sports for social inclusion, energy for micro-industries and cooperatives for organic farming and integrated agriculture in rural areas. In 1992 ASAFE launched the Femme Credit Epargne, a credit and savings service designed specifically for low-income women. Since then over 15,000 women have benefited from the service. In 2000 ASAFE launched a Cisco Gender Networking Academy to help women move into added-value careers. Since then, 550 computer science and networking engineers have been trained and found jobs or created their own businesses. In 2004 ASAFE included sports in its activities as a means of social inclusion and community collaboration. Regular competitions are organized, bringing together communities and involving 25,000 men and women. In 2006 ASAFE launched a solar energy project in two villages to improve the quality of life for people living in remote areas. Within these communities, villagers have also formed cooperatives for organic farming and integrated agriculture.
ASAFE promotes the development of women entrepreneurship in urban and rural Africa.
Focus: Enterprise Development, Technology, Women Geographic Area of Impact: Cameroon, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Guinea Model: Hybrid Non-Profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 123,200 (2010) Annual Budget: US$ 725,000 Percentage Earned Revenue: 45% Recognition: Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Cameroon, 2001
The Entrepreneur
After graduating from high school in Yaound in 1976, Gisle Yitamben studied economics in France and earned an MBA in the US. On her return to Cameroon in 1982, she became a lecturer at the Pan-African Institute for Development in Douala. When she lost her teaching job she decided to become a consultant and, through the projects that she dealt with, developed expertise in a wide range of womens business activities in Cameroon. The combination of traditional laws that were discriminatory towards women and the lack of government support led Yitamben to set up ASAFE in June 1987.
29
Africa
Background
In sub-Saharan Africa, only 64% of children complete primary school and even less complete secondary school; the percentage in general is significantly less for girls. In 2007 for example, only 55% of girls completed primary school in Malawi. These national figures mask the reality in rural areas where access to education is lowest. Faced with few resources, many families choose to educate only their sons due to the perception that it represents a better investment; daughters are sent instead to work in cities or marry early. The effects of these trends are devastating for individuals and for society at large, particularly for rural girls who have even less access to educational resources than their urban peers. Education is a vital lifeline, exemplified by the fact that girls under 20 are experiencing rates of HIV infection five times that of boys, while research shows girls with a secondary education are three times less likely to become HIV positive than those who receive no education.
Africa
Ann Cotton
Camfed International
Founded in 1993, United Kingdom www.camfed.org

Camfed International, the Campaign for Female Education, is at the vanguard of activism and innovation in the fields of girls education and young womens leadership. Since Ann Cotton founded Camfed 17 years ago, the international charity has refined a model of investment in girls and young women across sub-Saharan Africa that achieves substantial economic and social returns, both at an individual and wider societal level. Camfed started out by supporting 32 girls through school in Zimbabwe in 1993. Since then it has expanded its success across 2,295 communities in five sub-Saharan countries. Over the past 17 years, 1,065,710 young people directly benefited from Camfeds programmes in Ghana, Malawi, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The results of Camfeds approach are evident in improved school enrolment, retention and passing rates for girls, a delayed average age of marriage and motherhood among young women, and their increased control over resources. The young women Camfed supported through school are continuing to become lawyers, teachers, nurses and businesswomen; many are among the first to reach this level within their communities. It is these same women who are likely to take up leadership positions in the future on the national and international stage, and work to help lead their communities out of poverty. Those who graduate from school go on to join the Camfed alumnae network, known as Cama, and are supporting the education of an average of 2.5 children in addition to family members. By early 2010 Cama members had galvanised community action to help 118,384 vulnerable children to attend school.
Camfed is dedicated to eradicating poverty in Africa through the education of girls and the empowerment of young women.
Focus: Children and Youth, Education, Women Geographic Area of Impact: Ghana, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi Model: Leveraged Non-Profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 1,065,710 (1993-2010) Annual Budget: US$ 10 million (2010) Percentage Earned Revenue: 0.2% Recognition: Schwab Fellow of the World Economic Forum
The Entrepreneur
Ann Cotton was first inspired to change the future of girls in rural Africa during a research trip in a remote village in Zimbabwe in 1991. What she discovered there that girls exclusion from education was culturally based profoundly changed her view. She met many parents who wanted to keep their daughters in school but were unable to do so due to poverty. Moved by this experience, she founded Camfed and has worked ever since to ensure that poor girls are given the chance and resources to go to school.
30
Background
Nigeria has a population of about 150 million people, making it the most populous country in Africa. Moreover, the city of Lagos, with roughly 10 million people (2010) has one of the highest population densities and lowest levels of access to sanitation services in the world. In 1999, before DMT Mobile Toilets started, there were fewer than 500 functional public toilets in Nigeria, most of which were inadequate and poorly maintained. DMT was set up to offer a better alternative to public hygiene and sanitation, while also addressing the issue of unemployment, particularly among youth. More than half of the population of Nigeria is under 35 years of age, and many are unskilled and unemployed.
Isaac Durojaiye
DMT Mobile Toilets
Founded in 1999, Nigeria www.dmttoilet.com

Isaac Durojaiye conceived of Dignified Mobile Toilets (DMT) as a commercial enterprise that produces, rents and maintains safe, sanitary portable toilets. It is the first manufacturer of mobile toilets in the West African sub-region. The goal of the business model is to improve public health and sanitation, while encouraging social transformation through job opportunities. DMT devised a system whereby idle youth, popularly known in Nigeria as area boys (gang leaders), and poor women, especially widows, find gainful employment by maintaining and managing mobile public toilets. DMT manufactures the toilets and provides them free of charge to area boys and women who wish to franchise them and oversee the maintenance of the facilities. Each toilet often placed in busy areas such as bus stations and markets can be used by 100 people per day at a cost of US$ 0.25; 60% of the profits go to franchisees and 40% to DMT for evacuation services. As a result, local area boys and widows earn about US$ 160 per month, far more than the national monthly average of under US$ 30. DMT transports the waste to government-approved recycling plants for disposal. In the future, it plans to set up its own plant where waste will be reprocessed into biogas. About 60% of all DMT revenue comes from the franchise system, and additional revenue comes from companies that buy advertisement space on the toilets. With a lifespan of 15 years per toilet, the advertising capacity of one toilet pays for the production of four extra toilets. DMT also generates additional income by providing toilets for parties and outdoor activities. The Lagos state government signed an agreement with DMT to set up 3,000 public toilets within Lagos to use its social franchise model. The company has also been contracted by the World Bank to produce and install over 500 public toilets in slum areas around Lagos. DMT works with regional schools that lack proper sanitation facilities, donating both toilets and evacuation services as well as providing mobile toilets for some universities, and for the police and army. Recently DMT established a bio-gas plant designed to process and convert sanitation waste into cooking gas and electricity. DMTs services are being sought throughout other Nigerian states and elsewhere in Africa.
DMT manufactures, installs and maintains thousands of public toilets in Nigeria through a franchise system that provides job opportunities to gang members.
Focus: Enterprise Development, Environment, Health Geographic Area of Impact: Nigeria Model: Social Business Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 580 (2009) Annual Budget: US$ 1.45 million (2008) Percentage Earned Revenue: 100% Recognition: Schwab Fellow of the World Economic Forum; SEOY, Nigeria, 2005
The Entrepreneur
Isaac Durojaiye graduated as a graphic artist from a technical college in the UK and received a diploma in business administration from Lagos State Polytechnic. A man with a huge vision, an enormous heart, incredible optimism and a passion to bring about change in his country, Durojaiye was inspired by Dr Bindeshwar Pathak of Sulabh International in India, who set up many toilets across the Indian sub-continent. He hopes to expand his business model across Nigeria and the African continent.
31
Africa
Background
In the urban slums of Kenya, open defecation and flying toilet remain the prime methods of human waste disposal, posing a challenge to planners, health and social services providers and development partners. To combat this problem, Ecotact launched the Ikotoilet initiative two years ago, constructing 40 facilities in 20 Kenyan municipalities. Today it serves approximately 300,000 people daily with safe water and sanitation, and has created a pool of 100 workers, with plans for up to 1000 employees in total.
Africa
David Kuria
Ecotact
Founded in 2006, Kenya www.ecotact.org
The Ikotoilet project, based on ecological sanitation, ensures optimized utility and design value in urban sanitation. To strengthen sustainability, the Ikotoilet model created a toilet mall concept, a private/public partnership between Ecotact (private) and local authorities including water and sewerage utilities (public), all directed toward the provision of hygienic public utilities. The Ikotoilet toilet mini-mall, located in cities, parks, markets and informal settlements, has exceptionally clean sanitation facilities, including waterless urinals, bio-digesters and dry toilets. It also incorporates a snack shop, shoeshine service, indoor lounge area and outdoor recreational use area. The goals of Ecotact focus upon various transformations, including Urban Space, Sanitation Services, Social Behaviour, Conservation, Corporate Responsibility and the 21st Century Learning Environment. It strives to develop innovative answers to the growing environmental sanitation crisis in Africa and globally, and concentrates on innovations that drive sustainable social interventions. Such innovations include Technology Adaptation, Institutionalization and Partnerships, Hygiene Promotion in Schools and Communities, and Strategic Youth Employment. Through high-profile social marketing campaigns with celebrities, including the Vice-President of Kenya, a bishop and Miss Kenya, as well as weekly tournaments and a reality TV show, Ecotact seeks to reduce the stigma and taboos associated with toilets and hygiene, making sanitation fashionable even for the urban poor. In addition to the sanitation services offered, each Ikotoilet mini-mall provides 10-15 jobs to young people through its snack shop and shoeshine enterprise franchises and cleaning services. By charging a nominal service fee for the sanitation facilities, and with additional revenue from the mall activities, each mini-mall is sustainable.
Ecotact improves the urban landscape for low-income communities in Kenya through environmentally responsible projects in sanitation like the Ikotoilet project, a sustainable sanitation service in urban centres where local municipalities cannot manage the rapid pace of urbanization. Focus: Sanitation, Water, Urban Environment, Employment Geographic Area of Impact: Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda Model: Social Business Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 15 Million (2010) Annual Budget: US$ 1.5 million (2009) Percentage Earned Revenue: 40% Recognition: Regional Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Africa, 2009
The Entrepreneur
David Kuria is a Kenyan national who trained as an architect. While working for Nairobis City Planning Authority he was confronted with the fact that more than 65% of the population live without basic services like water, sanitation and solid waste collection in the citys informal settlements. After years of serving as a city planner and with non-profit organizations delivering basic services to the people of Kibera, the largest informal settlement in Africa, he created Ecotact as a social enterprise to spearhead community service and environmental interventions with a business perspective.
32
Background
As a physician working in Soweto in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Garth Japhet became increasingly frustrated that his medical skills were doing little to improve the health and quality of life of his patients in poverty stricken townships. Lack of information on issues surrounding health and poverty was the main disease. Existing educational programmes had little effect because they did not reach enough people, and the information was delivered in a manner not conducive to learning; so Japhet turned to the media. In South Africa radio reaches 98% of the population, television 76% and print media 46%. By making education entertaining, he believed knowledge would be retained and debate stimulated.
Garth C. Japhet
Heartlines
Founded in 2002, South Africa www.heartlines.co.za

Heartlines uses multimedia venues to enhance debate, discussion and action on shared core values, including responsibility, forgiveness, perseverance, self-control, honesty and compassion. Through these values, Heartlines helps to impact core societal issues such as HIV/AIDS, youth sexuality and violence against women, as well as complex developmental issues like land rights and access to banking services. Recognizing that television, radio, music, theatre and print reach different audiences and can serve to reinforce messages, Japhet first opted for a multimedia approach. The second focus was quality; programming had to attract large audiences with compelling plots and characters. Third, rather than a documentary or talk show, he chose to create a drama, which is the most popular form of television in Africa and one of the best ways to deal with social issues. Finally, he decided to create a popular social brand that would provide credibility to all initiatives with which it was associated. Heartlines has produced eight international award-winning films for prime time television, which spearheaded a national conversation on the countrys major social issues. Each film focused on a different value and was introduced by Nelson Mandela. The organization has currently embarked on a new strategy of web and cell phone-based social networking called forgood, that enables people to connect with each other based on location and interests, in an effort to make a difference in their communities. It is supported by content and location data, and includes the use of mass media and the mobilization of faith-based organizations and schools.
Heartlines seeks to use the power of mass media and new technologies to bring about positive social change on a mass scale.
Focus: HIV/AIDS, Civic Participation, Communications/Media, Education, Enterprise Development, Health Geographic Area of Impact: South Africa Model: Leveraged Non-Profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 11 million (2010) Annual Budget: US$ 4 million (2010) Percentage Earned Revenue: 10% Recognition: Schwab Fellow of the World Economic Forum
The Entrepreneur
Garth Japhet was brought up in South Africa during apartheid. Committed to making a difference in the development of better health facilities for his fellow citizens, he pursued a career in medicine. He realized, however, that to change the environment in South Africa he would have to create an interesting access to knowledge in this particular field. This idea crystallized into Soul City, a multimedia edutainment NGO he founded in 1992, which examines health and development issues through prime time drama. This now reaches 45 million people across 12 countries and has 110,000 children in childrens clubs. Soul City is considered to be one of the worlds leading examples of social change communication. Japhet modelled Heartlines on the success of Soul City.
33
Africa
Background
Presently 42% of young people between the ages of 19 and 24 are unemployed in South Africa. This is often due to numerous social issues, including crime and poverty, that severely hamper the growth and development of communities.
Africa

The Indalo Project was created from an ambition to grow start-up and small handmade producer groups into successful, sustainable enterprises that would employ and provide opportunities for people at the base of the pyramid. Indalo was born from the success of Streetwires, one of South Africas foremost craft organizations. The Indalo Project took lessons learned in building Streetwires and, through developing a market driven network model, applied them on a national level. With Development through design as the ethos, the results are enterprise development, job creation and sustainable business practises. Building on the power of community, The Indalo Project uses a network core of design and marketing excellence to have an impact on an industrywide scale. It contracts with local designers versed in the challenges of working with small-scale handmade producer groups, and in consultation with internationally recognized designers, The Indalo Project designs new unique marketable ranges. This brings designers together from diverse fields to work directly with craft producers in various disciplines. By coupling this with a professional marketing agency to sell the ranges, it ensures the best return in both opportunities and income for the craft producer. Based on a hub and spoke model, placing skills where they are most needed, the social and economic impact of the project are maximized. The Indalo Project closes the circle of development. To design is great, but the ultimate proof of development success is to make a sale. The sales create the opportunities for growth, re-investment and sustainability, representing social enterprise in its pure form.
Patrick Schofield
The Indalo Project
Founded in 2000, South Africa www.indaloproject.com
The Indalo Project fosters development through design. It is a development and marketing organization with a national impact footprint, investing in handmade producer groups to achieve growth and sustainability through market-lead development. Focus: Social Enterprise Development, Fair trade Geographic area of impact: South Africa Model: Social Business Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 920 (2010) Annual Budget: US$ 1,150,000 (2010) Percentage Earned Revenue: 80% Recognition: Regional Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Africa, 2009; SEOY, South Africa, 2008
The Entrepreneur
Inspired by creative thought and action, Patrick Schofield gained business understanding through a formal education at the University of Cape Town, where he graduated with honours in business science. A strong believer in social entrepreneurship, and particularly the teachings of E.F. Schumacker and the philosophies of King Jigme Singye Wangchuck, he has worked hard to ensure that Indalo is a true hybrid social/business enterprise. In 2009, he co-founded Kwalapa, an organic whole foods centre that supports the growth of smallholder urban agriculture.
34
Background
At least 670 million people, mostly in the developing world, are blind or vision impaired simply because they do not have access to a basic eye examination and a pair of glasses. Of those, at least 153 million suffer from treatable blindness or distance vision impairment, and a further 517 million due to near-sightedness, all caused by uncorrected refractive error. The link between poverty and avoidable blindness is indisputable. Uncorrected vision impairment causes profound economic disadvantages to individuals, their families and societies. People living with uncorrected vision impairment are most likely to be excluded from basic education, suffer from isolation and have fewer employment opportunities.
Brien Holden and Kovin Naidoo

International Centre for Eyecare Education (ICEE)
Founded in 1998, Australia and South Africa www.icee.org

The mission of the International Centre for Eyecare Education (ICEE) is to eliminate avoidable blindness and visual impairment due to uncorrected refractive error by developing sustainable solutions for communities in need. ICEE uses a four-pronged strategy that focuses on: human resource development (supporting the development of optometry schools, training eye care personnel and local individuals as educators); service development (establishment of vision centres and other sites for eye care); research (keeping programmes relevant and effective); and social enterprise (helping with job creation and local ownership of vision centres). ICEE works in 11 countries in Africa, 14 in the Asia-Pacific region, three in the Middle East and four in Latin America. Through its Vision Centres, the organization provides direct screening services and prescribes glasses. It also focuses on public sector capacity building to deliver eye care services, and has developed its own global supply chain and resource centre to significantly reduce the cost of glasses and equipment for its own use, other NGOs and public providers.
ICEE believes that fair access to basic eye care services can provide individuals with the chance for improved quality of life and the development of healthy and prosperous communities.
The Entrepreneurs Focus: Health, Eye care Geographic Area of Impact: Eritrea, Gambia, Ghana, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria, South Africa, Zambia, Uganda, Tanzania, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mongolia, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam, Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Argentina, Guyana, Jamaica, Nicaragua Model: Hybrid Non-Profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 550,385 (2011) Annual Budget: US$ 12 million Percentage Earned Revenue: 20% Recognition: Regional Social Entrepreneurs of the Year, Africa, 2010
Professors Brien Holden and Kovin Naidoo are both internationally recognized public health leaders in eye care. After meeting at a conference in South Korea in 1997, where they discovered their shared vision for addressing preventable blindness, they established ICEE in Australia and South Africa. Holden has had a distinguished career in optometry and vision science and holds leadership positions in academia as well as the non-profit sector. Naidoo began as a political activist in South Africa, and after the countrys democratic elections in 1994 he decided to use his profession as a vehicle to address social injustices. He remains passionate concerning the socio-economic impact preventable blindness has on people, and developing global delivery systems to make basic eye care accessible to all.
35
Africa
Background
In sub-Saharan Africa, 60 to 75% of people are employed in agriculture, mostly as subsistence small-scale farmers. In Kenya 63% of those smallscale farmers live below the poverty line, and many of them have little or no access to financing to invest in their businesses. In Kenya microfinance reaches only 18% of the population and most of the micro-loans are for working capital, such as seeds or fertilizer. Micro-loans for working capital, in contrast to loans that allow borrowers to acquire assets such as farm machinery or cows, have a lower multiplier effect on income generation.
Africa
Aleke Dondo
Juhudi Kilimo
Founded in 2004, Kenya www.juhudikilimo.com
Juhudi Kilimo begins working with prospective borrowers nearly six months in advance to provide financial literacy training and animal husbandry assistance. This serves the dual purposes of facilitating the borrowers future success, and screening and selecting borrowers with the perseverance and commitment to be reliable clients. In addition to offering loans for rural farmers to invest in productive assets such as cows, agricultural equipment and transport, Juhudi Kilimo offers compulsory asset insurance and life insurance to the borrower at a small cost (approximately 5% of the loan). These two insurance products ensure that the borrower and his/her family cannot become further indebted by the loan, mitigating the risks the rural poor often face when becoming clients of many micro-lending institutions. Juhudi Kilimo has provided asset financing to over 7,500 small-holder farmers, roughly half of which are women. In 2010 it financed the purchase of 1,834 cows that produced on average 20 litres per day. At an average price of Ksh 20/litre, farmers earn Ksh 22 million (US$ 275) more per month, doubling or tripling their income. With the increased income of small-scale farmers comes improved health, education and other indicators, representing a positive social impact. Investing in agricultural assets through Juhudi Kilimo provides a double bottom line for private sector investors.
Juhudi Kilimo provides micro-loans and micro-insurance for productive, income generating assets for small-scale farmers in Kenya.
Focus: Rural Development, Financial Inclusion Geographic Area of Impact: East Africa Model: Social Business Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 7,500 (2011) Recognition: Regional Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Africa, 2011
The Entrepreneur
Aleke Dondo, considered the Grandfather of Microfinance in East Africa, built Juhudi Kilimo from two of his strongest passions: microfinance and rural development. He holds a Masters degree in Economics from York University in Toronto. Dondo has carried out more than 30 major studies in the field of small enterprise and microfinance development, and has published 10 research papers on these subjects.
36
Background
In the industrialized world governments subsidize research and development of new technologies, as well as market development to promote their adoption. In developing countries governments have other priorities and invest very little in this front. Because it is not profitable private sector companies rarely develop new products and technologies for the poor, who have minimal purchasing power and are very hard to reach. This market failure can be addressed by designing useful, innovative and affordable technologies and equipment that can be sold to the poor; however, it can only succeed if subsidies are available for building a private sector supply chain and establishing strong market demand.
Martin Fisher and Nick Moon

KickStart International
Founded in 1991, Kenya www.kickstart.org

KickStarts mission is to help millions of people out of poverty through developing and bringing to market new low-cost technologies and services that local, dynamic entrepreneurs can use to establish and run profitable small scale enterprises and that offer waged jobs. KickStart trains private sector manufacturers to mass-produce the tools, and uses innovative marketing techniques to sell them to entrepreneurs in poor communities through a network of local retail shops. Because 80% of the poor in Africa are rural farmers, KickStarts best-selling devices are MoneyMaker micro-irrigation pumps. These simple, humanpowered pumps enable farmers to start small businesses that grow and sell high-value fruits and vegetables throughout the year. They can recover their investment in three months, make on average US$ 1,100 in profits per year, and increase their net farm incomes by up to 1,000%. KickStarts micro-irrigation pumps have been identified as one of Newsweeks Ten Inventions That Will Change Your World. As of September 2011, 188,000 micro-irrigation pumps have been sold, 125,000 enterprises have been created and 625,000 people have been lifted out of poverty. Every month more than 1,600 new businesses are created, which generate new revenue equivalent to more than 0.6% of Kenyas GDP and 0.25% of Tanzanias GDP. With a 15:1 return on investment, every US$ 1 donated results in US$ 15 in new profits and wages for the small businesses. KickStart seeks to develop a significant middle class in Africa by stimulating the growth of a thriving entrepreneurial sector. Beginning with Kenya and Tanzania, then in Mali and Burkina Faso, and now in Malawi and Zambia it seems well on its way to attaining that goal.
KickStart develops and promotes technologies that can be used by entrepreneurs in Africa to establish and run profitable small-scale enterprises.
Focus: Agriculture, Enterprise Development, Technology, Climate Change Geographic Area of Impact: Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Mali, Burkina Faso Model: Hybrid Non-Profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 83,000 (2010) Annual Budget: US$ 10.2 million (2010) Percentage Earned Revenue: 24% Recognition: Schwab Fellows of the World Economic Forum
The Entrepreneurs
Nick Moon grew up in India and south-east Asia. He learned woodworking and construction skills and started a building renovation business in London. In 1982 he sold his share of the company and left for Kenya as a VSO volunteer. He later joined ActionAid where he met Martin Fisher. In 2002 Nick received an MBA from the University of Durham. Martin Fisher received an MSc and PhD at Stanford University in Mechanical Engineering. It was not until he spent a summer in Peru that he considered applying his knowledge to help people in the developing world. He went to Kenya on a Fulbright scholarship in 1985 and never looked back. Nick and Martin co-founded KickStart in 1991.
37
Africa
Background
Addressing the inequalities of housing ownership, as well as the growth of cities and population in South Africa, remains a key focus of government initiatives. In South Africa the demand for housing far outweighs supply, especially in urban areas where there is an ongoing increase in population due to economic migration. With millions of people needing housing, the government faces a huge backlog in meeting housing needs. Though the government has provided 2.4 million housing units for the poor through its housing subsidy system, only 100,000 are linked to credit in the formal financial sector. Although the South African banking system is advanced in its products and delivery, it has not extended its ability to cater to members of society who fall below a certain income threshold, and no assistance exists for members of society who work in the informal sector. These are the people for whom the housing subsidy was created, yet they are unable to access the subsidy and the opportunities it brings because they are unable to access adequate sources of funding.
Africa
Olivia van Rooyen

Kuyasa Fund
Founded in 1999, South Africa www.thekuyasafund.co.za

According to Kuyasas research, 68% of South Africas people fall into the low-income portion of the population that remains unbanked and therefore unable to access credit. The Kuyasa Fund has been able to bridge this gap, providing demand-led, short-term loans to finance incremental building, and supplying a suitable mechanism that allows the poor to build financial and social capital through investment in housing. Kuyasas clients receive 3,500 rand (US$ 500) per household each month, mostly through informal employment or welfare; 76% of its clients are women. These clients are eligible for up to 10,000 rand (US$ 1,500) in loans for home improvement, and in many cases this enables them to add rooms or complete buildings that expand their state-delivered housing, thereby increasing its underlying asset value and adding capital wealth to its owners in the long term. A government subsidy home with no improvements is valued at 50,000 rand (US$ 7,000); after two or three loans the home of a Kuyasa client, which combines savings and about 20,000 rand (US$ 2,800) in loans, is valued at between 150,000 rand (US$ 21,000) and 320,000 rand (US$ 45,000). The underlying belief behind the Kuyasa Fund is that by improving the quality of housing, people improve the education, health and social status of the household. It enhances pride and the process of improving a home builds the self-esteem of the borrower, mostly women, and creates empowerment in other aspects of their lives.
The Kuyasa Fund is a non-profit social development organization that provides microfinance as a tool to improve the housing conditions of South Africas poorer communities.
Focus: Homelessness, Housing, Microcredit and Microfinance Geographic Area of Impact: South Africa Model: Hybrid Non-Profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 3,732 (2009) Annual Budget: US$ 2,944,750 (2010) Percentage Earned Revenue: 62% Recognition: Social Entrepreneur of the Year, South Africa, 2010
The Entrepreneur
Olivia van Rooyen holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of South Africa, and a Bachelor in Business Administration (Honours) and an MBA from Stellenbosch University. Prior to the establishment of Kuyasa in 1999 she held positions with the Development Action Group as a project manager with a specific focus on end-user finance projects. She has held training positions with the Community Bank Foundation and the Savings and Credit Co-Operative League, and was a trade unionist, unionizing rural workers in the retail and hospitality industry.
38
Background
In the 1980s, Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa, experienced a sharp increase in the spread and intensity of poverty as a result of structural adjustments. The devaluation in currency, removal of subsidies and concurrent drop in oil prices compromised the governments ability to deliver services and meet its citizens expectations. Despite enormous resources and potential, basic poverty indicators place Nigeria among the 20 poorest countries with 70% of the population living in poverty. Today over 50 million people in Nigeria live below the poverty line, and access to finance through formal banks is difficult or impossible for the majority of them.
Godwin Ehigiamusoe
Lift Above Poverty Organization (LAPO)
Founded in 1987, Nigeria www.lapo-nigeria.org

The Lift Above Poverty Organization is a community development microfinance institution focused on the empowerment of Nigerias poor and vulnerable people. It is a non-profit group with several for-profit subsidiaries that deliver social services and provide revenue streams to the parent group. As part of its non-profit microfinance institution, LAPO offers loans and savings products and investment innovations such as credit for shares, to meet the financial needs of low-income people of Nigeria. LAPOs clients are engaged in micro- and medium-scale enterprises such as craftwork, food processing, merchandising, fabrication and farming. The LAPO Development Foundation provides social and health empowerment programmes addressing issues related to low self-esteem, poor nutrition, discrimination, injustice and gender inequality. The LAPO Agricultural and Rural Development Initiative specifically addresses challenges that affect the rural economy, including gender issues, political empowerment, sustainable farming methods and market access. LAPOs subsidiaries also include LAPO Development Services, which provides training, technical assistance and human resource development to other microfinance institutions, NGOs and banks. The investment bank of LAPO Capital makes investments on behalf of its more successful clients. Striving for sustainability, LAPO reached sufficient capacity in 2010 to receive a license of registration as a Nigerian microfinance bank. LAPO Microfinance Bank partners with GoldLink Insurance Company to provide micro-insurance to low-income women, and currently 377 children of clients enjoy scholarship awards for secondary education.
LAPO serves over 486,760 microfinance clients in Nigeria, delivering financial, business support and social services to alleviate poverty and empower the disadvantaged.
Focus: Microfinance Geographic Area of Impact: Nigeria Model: Social Business Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 486,760 (September 2011) Annual Budget: US$ 285 million (2011) Percentage Earned Revenue: 100% Recognition: Regional Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Africa, 2010
The Entrepreneur
As a university graduate from one of Nigerias minority tribes, Godwin Ehigiamusoe was part of a rural cooperative movement before setting up LAPO in OgwashiUku, in the Delta State of Nigeria. He is the author of Understanding NGOs (1998); Poverty and Microfinance in Nigeria (2000) and Issues in Microfinance: Enhancing Financial Inclusion (2011).
39
Africa
Background
Energy for lighting and communications is a basic need, but it is out of reach for millions in developing countries. For those living in poverty, the lack of access to clean, modern energy is not only a symptom of poverty, but also an obstacle to rising from it. The lack of access to clean energy leads to dependence upon the dangerous, inefficient and polluting use of kerosene, or toxic and costly disposable batteries. The people who need clean energy technologies are most often those who can least afford them - rural women, children, refugees and other vulnerable groups. Lifeline Energy aims to change that.
Africa
Kristine Pearson
Lifeline Energy
Founded in 1999, United Kingdom www.lifelineenergy.org

Lifeline Energy conducts extensive end-user research and then develops, manufactures and distributes appropriate, clean energy products. This includes radios, a range of lights, solar panels, and MP3-enabled Lifeplayers that come pre-loaded with up to 64GB of educational content that can be updated via cell phones or the Internet. It also records radio broadcasts and live voice and can be heard by 60 listeners simultaneously. Robustly engineered, the products are powered by solar and human energy. The solar and wind-up Prime 5-band radio with a digital screen is easy to use, receives excellent AM/FM/ SW frequencies, plays for many hours and has an integrated LED light. Millions of children are receiving high quality, basic education via Lifeline Energy radios in sub-Saharan Africa. To help meet the need and demand for portable clean energy sources, Lifeline Energy expanded into the renewable lighting sector. After conducting lighting needs assessments of vulnerable households in rural and outlying urban areas in several African countries, a range of fit-forpurpose clean energy lights called Lifelights is being created to improve the quality of life and reduce reliance on firewood, kerosene, candles and dry cell batteries. More than 500,000 radios and lights, impacting over 20 million lives, have been distributed so far, contributing to a significant reduction in the use of batteries and fuelled lighting sources. Focused on improving access to education and lighting by providing appropriately designed and powered products, Lifeline Energy has secured the support of many leading institutions and individuals, including Academy Award-winning actor Tom Hanks, who serves as an ambassador and champion for the organization. To ensure its own sustainability, Lifeline Technologies Trading, a for-profit company, was established in 2009 to develop, manufacture and market appropriate energy products to the humanitarian sector. All profits will further advance Lifeline Energys mission and operations.
Lifeline Energys mission is to transform lives through dependable, self-sufficient and environmentally friendly technologies.
Focus: Education, Energy, Environment, Technology, Communications Geographic Area of Impact: Sub-Saharan Africa Model: Hybrid Non-Profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 200,000 (2011) Annual Budget: US$ 2 million (2010) Percentage Earned Revenue: 10% Recognition: Schwab Fellow of the World Economic Forum
The Entrepreneur
Lifelines founding CEO Kristine Pearson believes that access to energy is a key lever for social and economic development, particularly for women and children, who suffer the brunt of energy poverty. Pearson is an American who immigrated to South Africa in 1988. She built a successful consultancy specializing in the development of women in business, which led to an executive position at a South African banking group. Pearson serves on the Womens Leadership Board of Harvards Kennedy School of Government, the World Economic Forums Global Agenda Council New Energy Architecture, and the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves.
40
Background
There are an estimated 24 million disabled people in Nigeria. Like many other developing and emerging economies, Nigeria sees investment in services for the disabled as a luxury. As a result a great many people with disabilities are dependent on their families. Where no family is available to help, the disabled often are forced to become street beggars. In Nigeria there are almost no facilities for the disabled, no wheelchair access for street crossings or public buildings, and no special provisions for public transportation. Affordable and practical mobility aids are rare. Though some government rehabilitation centres do exist, they are limited in number and their training programmes have little relevance in helping disabled people with opportunities for personal and social growth.
Cosmas I. Okoli
Mobility Aid and Appliances Research and Development Centre (MAARDEC)
Founded in 1991, Nigeria www.maardec.net

The Mobility Aid and Appliances Research and Development Centre (MAARDEC) was born out of Cosmas Okolis quest to find solutions to the challenges faced by millions of people with disabilities in Nigeria, himself included. It seeks to address the lack of adequate mobility aids and appliances, and help eliminate social, cultural and environmental barriers and prejudices against people with disabilities in Nigeria. MAARDECs vision is to ensure that 20,000 Nigerians with disabilities acquire efficient and sustainable mobility aids and appliances by 2015, with 4,000 of them gainfully employed and another 200 in elected or appointed positions within the public sector. About 50% of the MAARDEC staff has disabilities. In pursuit of its goals the centre offers counselling and guidance for the disabled and promotes public education around the capacities of disabled persons. MAARDEC founded the Association for Comprehensive Empowerment of Nigerians with Disabilities (ASCEND), which is at the forefront of advocacy for persons with disabilities. Okoli also founded the Nigerian chapter of the Achilles Track Club, which encourages persons with disabilities to run for recreation alongside the non-disabled and volunteers. MAARDEC initiated the first ever Ms. Wheelchair Nigeria pageant in 2010, providing a platform to celebrate accomplished women with disabilities and equip them to serve as advocates for all Nigerians with disabilities. MAARDEC has partnered with the MTN Foundation to provide over 15,000 mobility aids to persons with disabilities in Nigeria since 2009. MAARDEC is also in partnership with Contact Solutions Limited to provide qualified persons with disabilities employment as customer service representatives. It also forged a partnership with Conversion Sound to assemble and market digital hearing aids in Nigeria, making them affordable and providing employment for persons with disabilities. Other aids being developed by MAARDEC include a more effective leg brace and speciallydesigned hand controls that allow those who have lost the use of their legs to drive.
MAARDEC helps eliminate social, cultural and environmental barriers and prejudices against people with disabilities in Nigeria.
Focus: Advocacy, Education, Health, Technology Geographic Area of Impact: Nigeria Model: Leveraged Non-Profit Recognition: Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Nigeria, 2006
The Entrepreneur
Cosmas Okoli is a role model for people with disabilities. Disabled by polio at the age of four, he could not walk until he was 10 because rehabilitation and prostheses were unavailable during the civil war that ravaged eastern parts of Nigeria. Although his father had plans to have him trained as a cobbler, Okoli had ideas of his own and insisted that he be enrolled in school. Siblings and other students carried him to and from school. Against all obstacles he excelled in his studies and graduated from the University of Lagos as a medical physiologist. He went on to head the Special Sports Federation of Nigeria and National Paralympics Committee. He took Nigeria to the Atlanta and Sydney Paralympics where Nigeria won a number of medals.
41
Africa
Background
In the past two and a half decades, 25 million people died from HIV/AIDS. Currently, 33 million people live with HIV and +2 million people are newly infected each year. Of these, 1.5 million pregnant women with HIV give birth annually, 90% of which live in sub-Saharan Africa. Statistically 40% are at risk of transmitting the infection to their babies, whereas in Europe and resource-rich countries, only 1% of mothers with HIV infect their babies. In a single year in just one South African clinic more babies are born with HIV than in the United States, Canada and Europe combined. Campaigns to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV are the only primary prevention efforts proven effective in the fight against HIV. Antenatal care is a unique opportunity for women to access HIV care and an array of services that contribute to the well-being of a mother, her baby and family.
Africa
Mitchell J. Besser and Gene Falk

mothers2mothers
Founded in 2001, South Africa www.m2m.org

Mothers2mothers was created to meet the needs of HIV-positive pregnant women seeking aid from healthcare facilities that provide prenatal care and prevention services to mothers and their children. The organization trains and employs new mothers with HIV to provide education and support to their peers, empowering them to access lifesaving treatment for their babies and themselves. Mothers2mothers identifies new HIV-positive mothers, engages them in a rigorous formal training programme, and returns them to clinics and maternity wards as paid Mentor Mothers. As mentors, they educate new mothers, supporting them daily as they confront decisions that mean the difference between illness and health. They also work alongside doctors and nurses, filling in service gaps by addressing the special needs of their HIV-positive clients. In just nine years, mothers2mothers has grown from a small grassroots organization to a multinational operation in eight countries throughout sub-Saharan Africa. It operates in nearly 700 locations, and employs over 1,700 HIV-positive mothers who annually serve more than 300,000 HIV-positive pregnant women, new mothers and their children.
Mothers2mothers offers an innovative and scalable solution to the challenge of preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV, keeping HIV-positive mothers alive and healthy to care for their children, and promoting HIV-free survival of their infants.
Focus: Health, AIDS/HIV, Children and Youth, Maternal and Infant Health Geographic Area of Impact: Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Rwanda, South Africa, Swaziland, Uganda, Zambia, Mozambique, Namibia, Tanzania Model: Leveraged Non-Profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 300,000 (2010) Annual budget: US$ 19.1 million (2010) Percentage Earned Revenue: 0% Recognition: Regional Social Entrepreneurs of the Year, Africa, 2009
The Entrepreneurs
Dr Mitch Besser trained as a physician at Harvard Medical School, and specialized in obstetrics and gynaecology in California. He moved to South Africa to work on the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV, and started the mothers2mothers programme in 2001. Gene Falk has 20 years of experience as an executive in the US media industry, and served as Senior Vice-President at Showtime Networks. He is a long-standing activist for HIV/AIDS and gay and lesbian issues, and is a founding member of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD). He holds a BA in English from Williams College and an MBA from the University of Pennsylvanias Wharton School.
42
Background
Currently, 22,000 children under the age of five die each day across the developing world from preventable or treatable diseases, including measles, diarrhoea and malaria. Every day during 2008, a thousand women died due to complications in pregnancy and child birth, over half in sub-Saharan Africa. Access to skilled healthcare personnel could reduce these deaths, but more than half of women in sub-Saharan Africa give birth alone or with untrained assistance. Often, the one factor preventing the delivery of healthcare is the lack of managed transportation. In many parts of Africa, there is limited motor vehicle maintenance that could ensure lasting and cost-efficient transportation of much needed supplies and aid. It only takes a few hours to reach any capital in the world by plane, but it can entail days and much difficulty to reach the more rural areas in developing countries. Many development efforts often fail because distribution proves to be a neglected component. Food supplies, new drugs, vaccines and other critical health products are useless if they cannot reach their destination. Riders for Health addresses these delivery obstacles by managing vehicles to support organizations whose goal is to reach the rural poor in sub-Saharan Africa with healthcare and vital services.
Andrea and Barry Coleman

Riders for Health
Founded in 1988, United Kingdom www.riders.org
Innovation and Activities Riders for Health works to ensure that health workers in Africa have access to reliable transportation so that regular healthcare services can reach the most isolated people.
Riders for Health manages +1,000 vehicles involved in direct healthcare delivery. Its innovative transport systems incorporate driver training, daily maintenance, fuelling supply-chain logistics for replacement parts, and regular preventative maintenance. Outreach health workers mobilized by Riders for Health see three times the number of people they could without a Riders motorcycle, and can visit five times as many villages. This increased productivity represents better healthcare service delivery through increased frequency of interaction between health workers, communities and people needing healthcare. As a result, outreach health workers travelled more than 3.2 million kilometres in 2010 alone. A conservative estimate shows that 11 million people are better able to access healthcare thanks to Riders programmes. The organization places great emphasis on building local capacity to manage and maintain its vehicles. This enables Riders to operate fleets of vehicles in the harshest conditions with a 0% breakdown rate for five years or longer. The system demonstrates that a properly managed vehicle will save more than 50% of costs over a six-year period, compared to an unmanaged vehicle. Riders for Health currently operates on a national scale in Zimbabwe, Lesotho and Gambia in full contractual partnership with their health ministries. It works on a sub-national scale with partner agencies (NGOs, UN agencies or community-based organizations) in Lesotho, Zambia, Kenya, Tanzania and Nigeria.
Focus: Health Geographic Area of Impact: Gambia, Kenya, Lesotho, Nigeria, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Zambia Model: Hybrid Non-Profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 10.8 million (2010) Annual Budget: US$ 8,160,000 (2010) Percentage Earned Revenue: 41.3% (2010) Recognition: Schwab Fellows of the World Economic Forum
The Entrepreneurs
Andrea and Barry Coleman met through a common interest in motorcycles. During several trips to Africa in the late 1980s, they encountered vehicles intended for healthcare delivery that were out of service due to a lack of preventive maintenance. They realized that the development community needed a special focus on vehicle management if any progress was to be made in the vital area of disease prevention and eradication in Africa. Andrea Coleman serves as Riders CEO and guides the financial and advocacy development, including innovative fundraising initiatives that enable organizational growth. Barry Coleman serves as Executive Director, and designs the groundbreaking Transport Resource Management and Transport Asset Management systems, as well as the Riders cost-perkilometre calculator.
Africa
Background
While Tanzanias legal environment provides equal rights to women, local customs and traditions normally make it difficult for women to own land and assets. Many women are therefore considered not creditworthy by financial institutions because they lack tangible collateral assets. This leads to poor financial support and poor access to basic goods and services for women with low incomes. The problem is even more acute for widows, who must single-handedly care for their families and are marginalized in decision-making at the family and community level.
Africa
Victoria Kisyombe
Sero Lease and Finance (SELFINA)
Founded in 2002, Tanzania www.serolease.com
While microfinance provides credit for small business owners to make short-term purchases for things such as sales inventory or raw materials, many do not have access to larger capital purchases such as equipment, at rates or on timelines that are affordable. Micro-leasing serves to bridge this gap, thereby allowing small business owners to invest in the productivity of their businesses.

SELFINA addressed this challenge by pioneering micro-leasing as an effective and practical way to provide credit exclusively to women entrepreneurs in Tanzania, thereby facilitating the growth of their businesses and bringing social change to their communities. This creation of wealth-producing economic activity among poor, rural populations is especially important in a country where 75% of the population is rural and over 60% earn less than US$ 1 per day. Through the organizations micro-leasing programme, the lessee does not have to use scarce working capital to buy equipment upfront. Rather, women become owners of leased equipment and can use it as collateral for further borrowing, freeing themselves from the poverty trap. Today SELFINA leases equipment such as small tractors, water pumps, irrigation equipment, sewing machines, milling machines, oil extraction machines, bicycles, motorcycles, computers and photocopiers as well as livestock, including dairy cows, goats and poultry. Cumulatively, SELFINA has issued credit worth US$ 22 million to women in Tanzania. It has trained more than 46,000 women in business management skills, HIV/AIDS awareness and legal rights. Its activities have helped over 200,000 Tanzanians out of poverty. SELFINA expects to make a positive impact on the lives of 440,000 additional individuals by 2014.
SELFINA increases the incomes of selfemployed women in Tanzania through micro-leasing arrangements, resulting in economic and social independence of the borrowers and broader economic opportunities for others within their communities. Focus: Micro-leasing, Entrepreneurship, HIV/AIDS Geographic Area of Impact: Tanzania Model: Social Business Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 23,310 (2010) Annual Budget: US$ 1 million (2010) Percentage Earned Revenue: 100% Recognition: Regional Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Africa, 2010
The Entrepreneur
Victoria Kisyombe worked as a veterinary doctor in the Mbeya region of Tanzania on the borders of Zambia and Malawi. Her life changed drastically in 1991 when she tragically lost her husband and, under customary law, his family reclaimed all their marital possessions except a single cow, named Sero. Kisyombe relied on the cow to support her young family and subsidize her salary. This period of her life opened her eyes to the plight of many women struggling to provide for their families. She realized that just as their cow helped her generate income, it could be possible for other women to earn money if they could acquire productive assets. In 1992 she started the Sero Womens Business Association with five other widows. The organization grew to serve thousands of clients and was formally registered as SELFINA 10 years later.
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Background
Today, 60-70% of Cameroons population relies on agriculture as their main source of income; about 90% depend on domestic crops to meet their nutritional needs. In 1984, an initiative was taken by the agricultural sector to organize meetings for farmers in the countrys four main regions. The intention was to take inventory of the problems constraining agricultural development and to propose grassroots solutions. The problems were identified as: lack of investment, information, technical guidance and know-how, as well as social problems, including jealousy and witchcraft. A pilot project coordinated by SAILD was undertaken from 1985-87 by a small group of farmers to implement solutions to the issues identified. The success of the pilot project demonstrated that farmers organization were key to rural development. Since then, SAILD has become an important channel for reaching farmers and affecting positive development.
Bernard Njonga
Service dAppui aux Initiatives Locales de Dveloppement (SAILD) Association Citoyenne de Dfence des Intrts Collectifs (ACDIC)
Founded in 1988 and 2003, Cameroon www.saild.org www.acdic.net SAILD works with farmers in Cameroon to help them develop a strong, independent movement and to help them build capacities for sustainable, competitive agriculture.

Before SAILD began operating in Cameroon, farmer organizations, including cooperatives, were non-existent. In part this was due to the countrys lack of legislation regarding civil society organizations. SAILD initiated a new model of practice for Cameroon, supporting the creation of organizations allowing farmers to express themselves, exchange information, help each other, take responsibility and negotiate. As a result of SAILDS work, strong, well-structured farmers cooperatives exist today at both the regional and national levels, positively transforming the lives of thousands of farmers. SAILD introduced and popularized various agricultural products in Cameroon, including papaya, watermelon and soybeans, and helped build a market for these products throughout the country. In various regions of Cameroon, SAILD introduced maize, coffee and cocoa, enabling farmers to diversify their crop choices. Additionally, SAILD developed seedbeds from which 10,000 plants are grafted annually. As a result of these initiatives, thousands of farmers have created viable rural enterprises. SAILD builds the economic and organizational capacity of farmer associations through several strategies: it helps farmers conduct their own analysis of available resources, supports them in identifying challenges, and guides them in addressing these challenges. SAILD Support, which is active in Cameroon, Chad, Gabon and the Democratic Republic of Congo, helps farmer organizations innovate and assign appropriate prices to their products, while also providing training and microfinance programmes. One of SAILDs initiatives, ACDIC (Association Citoyenne de Dfence des Intrts Collectifs), is a non-profit, apolitical and non-tribal organization whose mission is to improve citizen awareness and participation in public affairs.
Focus: Agriculture, Civic Participation, Communications/Media, Consumer Awareness, Education, Enterprise Development, Rural Development, Civil Society Geographic Area of Impact: Cameroon, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon Model: Hybrid Non-Profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 7 million (2009) Annual Budget: US$ 1 million (2009) (SAILD/ACDIC) Percentage Earned Revenue: 40% (SAILD/ACDIC) Recognition: Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Cameroon, 2005
The Entrepreneur
Bernard Njonga is convinced that Africa does not need external help to develop. He firmly believes that Africas needs can be met by its own people. An agronomist, he left his job at Cameroons Institute for Agricultural Research to dedicate himself to facilitating the capacity of his countrymen and women to improve their future. Njongas most recent creation is Eclat dAfrique, a magazine for rural people which aims to break the negative image of Africa by highlighting the beauty of life in rural communities.
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Africa
Background
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that globally +65 million people need a wheelchair that meets their individual physical/postural requirements, as well as the environmental conditions in which they live. Research has determined +80% of all wheelchairs manufactured worldwide are designed to the developed world and European standards, thus suiting the needs of only 20% of potential users. The requirements of people living with mobility disabilities in rural and under-developed regions have never been considered a viable market factor, so the anything is better than nothing philosophy of international funders has resulted in a serious neglect of this sector. Additionally, 75% of all wheelchair users need personally adapted or modified equipment to improve functionality and prevent or delay life-threatening health complications such as pressure sores and spinal deformities. Shonaquip works to improve this imbalance and ensure young children and people living in more remote and rural areas are no longer neglected in terms of appropriate wheelchairs and support services.
Africa
Shona McDonald
Shonaquip
Founded in 1992, South Africa www.Shonaquip.co.za

Shonaquip offers an innovative approach in addressing the unique mobility needs of wheelchair users. It not only offers devices that fit the unique needs of the individuals but also provides support services and training for wheelchair users and their caregivers, family members and healthcare workers. Shonaquip provides community-based clinical services and training workshops on proper wheelchair fitting and the importance of postural support, to therapists and associated professionals across South Africas nine provinces, Zimbabwe and Namibia. Through partnerships with governments, civil society, universities and the private sector, Shonaquip plays a leading role in improving the quality of life for people with mobility disabilities, in particular children, through enhanced services and the provision of customized, environmentally-appropriate equipment. One example, the Madiba Buggy (in honour of Nelson Mandelas traditional name) was the first South African posture support wheelchair for children afflicted with cerebral palsy. It can be used on uneven terrain such as sand, rocks and hilly areas, and is now being redesigned to be more cost efficient and exportable. Half of Shonaquips income is generated from government business, with 30% coming from private clients and medical insurers, and 20% from humanitarian agencies and NGOs.
Shonaquip builds innovative, sustainable service delivery systems and mobility devices to improve physical access and quality of life for people living with disabilities in under-resourced and rural regions in Africa.
Focus: Disability, Health, Children and Youth Geographic Area of Impact: South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe Model: Hybrid Social Enterprise Number of Direct Beneficiaries: +64,500 (2011) Annual Budget: US$ 3 Million (2010) Percentage Earned Revenue: 100% Recognition: Regional Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Africa, 2010; SEOY, South Africa, 2009
The Entrepreneur
Shona McDonald was an artist until the birth of her quadriplegic daughter, which inspired her to seek a more effective solution for her daughters future mobility. As a self-taught entrepreneur, she started two non-profit organizations that continue to play an important role advocating for rights of people with disabilities. She then created the Shonaquip business, due to frustrating experiences trying to address the needs of the broader community in a sustainable and scalable way. She is an Endeavor Entrepreneur and a contributor and peer reviewer of the WHO guidelines on the provision of manual wheelchairs in less-resourced settings.
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Background
In disaster or crisis situations, access to information is crucial in order to distribute relief and to best design and deliver effective solutions. Traditional communications are unidirectional and static, yet effective responses require timely and synthesized data. Today, mobile platforms and web technologies allow individuals to serve both as information sources and recipients, and to alter information transfer.

Ushahidi (testimony in Swahili) builds technology required to collect and synthesize data received from mobile phones, emails and web-based applications, and develops tools that democratize information, increases transparency and lowers the barriers so individuals can share their stories. Within inefficient markets the Ushahidi platform crowdsources information, to enable actionable insight into disaster relief, humanitarian assistance, election monitoring and pricing/localizing. Ushahidi uses algorithms and servers to compile dynamic data in real time, synthesize this into insightful information, while using the immediate input from crowds to improve accuracy in nuanced situations or where data is silo-ed. The software that enables this data aggregation is free, installs/ deploys quickly on user devices and provides information through dynamic maps and graphics that enable efficient and effective action. The software platforms have been used by Ushahidi and its numerous NGO partners around the world to monitor post-election violence, assure election transparency in Kenya and Brazil, measure and report on teacher absenteeism in Uganda, provide portable water in post-earthquake Haiti, and for community and government organizing after the Japanese earthquake and tsunami. To date, Ushahidi has received 1.8 million unique visitors (almost 600,000 for Chile and Haiti deployments), and their CrowdMap software has more than 17,000,000 unique visitors and is used by organizations globally.
Juliana Rotich
Ushahidi
Founded in 2008, Kenya www.ushahidi.com
Ushahidi build tools for democratizing information, increasing transparency and lowering the barriers for individuals to share their stories.
Focus: Communication/Media, Crisis Mapping Geographic Area of Impact: Global Model: Leveraged non-profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: +1,000,000 Recognition: Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Africa, 2011
The Entrepreneur
Born and raised in Kenya, Juliana Rotich studied information technology and computer science at the University of Missouri. While on holiday in Western Kenya in 2007, Rotich witnessed the intense clashes and violence that followed the countrys presidential elections. She began to collaborate and brainstorm on the ways she could use her technology training, to better understand, display and counteract such violence. From this collaboration the Ushahidi idea was born.
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Africa
Background
South Africas unique wilderness areas and natural heritage are dependent on socio-political and economic conditions. The Wilderness Foundation integrates conservation programmes with social and educational programmes. It believes in sustainable social intervention projects, and the power of the wilderness to dissolve ethnic and economic inequalities and forge one path toward social and environmental sustainability. Due to the HIV/AIDS pandemic throughout the continent of Africa, millions of youth are left orphaned and vulnerable, stuck in a cycle of poverty with little hope of a brighter future. Through the Wilderness Foundations social intervention projects, young people are empowered to become financially independent entrepreneurs and breadwinners for their families.
Africa
Andrew Muir
Wilderness Foundation
Founded in 1972, South Africa www.wildernessfoundation.co.za

Currently, the Wilderness Foundation focuses on four key programme areas. Its Innovative Conservation and Development programme continues to actively expand the foundations existing conservation networks, ensuring that protected areas and reserves are well managed and provide benefits for their surrounding communities. The Social Intervention and Job Creation programme focuses on projects for orphaned and vulnerable youth. These include Personal & Professional Vocational Skills Development (Umzi Wethu Training Academies & The Umzi Wethu Livelihoods Programme), Income Generating projects (The Umzi Wethu catering unit, Donkin Coffee Shop) and SMME Development and Support. The Advocacy and Awareness programme develops environmental standards and information used to brief and motivate individuals, governments and society at large towards a higher ideal of conservation and its role in the 21st century. The Wilderness Foundation pioneered the Green Leaf Environmental Accreditation Standard, which certifies and monitors the environmental sustainability business practices of companies across sub-Saharan Africa. Experiential Education and Leadership Training uses wilderness trail pioneers to support and manage leadership and experiential education projects to develop ecological leadership in the countrys youth and decision-makers. South Africas history has confined most people to townships or degraded rural areas, and has fractured traditional cultures.
The Wilderness Foundation empowers leaders to envisage a world with protected wilderness areas for the benefit of all species and inspires future leaders to embody an environmental ethos.
Focus: Environment, Youth Geographic Area of Impact: South Africa Model: Hybrid Non-Profit Annual Budget: US$ 3.5 Million (2011) Percentage Earned Revenue: 35% Recognition: Social Entrepreneur of the Year, South Africa, 2011
The Entrepreneur
Described as an environmental activist, conservationist and community leader, Andrew Muir has dedicated his life to conservation and social development. He was mentored by conservation icon Dr Ian Player for 13 years, and took over his legacy in the management of the various organizations that Player had founded, including the world famous Wilderness Leadership School and Wilderness Foundation. Muir has a Masters degree in Environment and Development from the University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, and serves on a number of non-profit and conservation boards.
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Asia
Asia
Background
Around the world each year, 1.6 million children under the age of five die because of water and sanitation problems. Rural villages of Cambodia experience up to 20% infant mortality rate, in large part due to the consumption of unsafe drinking water. Major water distribution systems across the developing world require immense infrastructural investment and support and still leave millions of rural people excluded. 1001 fontaines provides a solar-powered alternative that provides safe and affordable drinking water.
Asia
Lo Chay and Francois Jaquenoud

1001 fontaines
Founded in 2005, Cambodia www.1001fontaines.com
Using solar-powered ultraviolet (UV) technologies, 1001 fontaines establishes water purification and distribution networks in Cambodias rural villages, allowing people to meet a basic need for a minimal investment. Unlike conventional potable water delivery, 1001 fontaines model incurs no distribution costs and offers the amount of drinking water necessary to match village needs, and thus offers clean, purified water at just US$ .01 per litre, which is affordable for rural Cambodian villagers. At each site, 1001 fontaines provides the initial capital investment and subsequently trains one to two village operators in purification technologies and distribution methods, thus creating micro-franchises across the region. All operational expenses after the initial investment are covered by sales at the point of distribution. Thus far 1001 fontaines has generated more than 100 jobs in rural villages and actively leverages community networks to spread awareness about the necessity of clean drinking water and the health risks associated with swamp water. 1001 fontaines has established 58 production sites in Cambodia and 11 in Madagascar, providing 70,000 customers with affordable potable water and ensuring better health for villages.
1001 fontaines implements low-cost, solar-powered drinking water solutions for rural villages.
The Entrepreneur Focus: Water Geographic Area of Impact: Cambodia, Madagascar Model: Hybrid Non-Profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 70,000 (2011) Annual Budget: US$ 700,000 (2011) Percentage Earned Revenue: 12% Recognition: Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Asia, 2011
Lo Chay was born in a small village in northwestern Cambodia and attended school in Phnom Penh through the aid of a French scholarship program, Enfants du Mekong. He graduated from the Cambodian Institute of Technology and went on to study in France, receiving his Masters as an Engineer of Water Management from lEcole Nationale du Gnie Rural des Eaux et des Forts (ENGREF). During his time at ENGREF, Chay was trained on many small-scale drinking water network projects, which led to his design of a pilot project in Cambodia and subsequently to the creation of 1001 fontaines. Franois Jaquenoud is a former Accenture partner who, at the age of 52, decided to use his experience and skills for the service of rural villagers.
50
Background
The rural, seasonal migrant workers are a massive workforce with numbers that reach nearly 100 million across India. These workers drift through the economy, often at its very bottom end, remaining largely outside the reach of state services and devoid of opportunities offered by growing markets. Despite the major contributions migrant workers make to Indias prosperity, they suffer neglect from employers, the government and society at large. As a large and vulnerable section of Indias disorganized labour force, migrant workers have poor social security, little protection from malpractices and hazards, and dim prospects of growth and advancement.
Aajeevika Bureau
Founded in 2005, India www.aajeevika.org
Aajeevika Bureau provides services to seasonal migrants who leave their villages to find work in cities, factories and farms across India.
Aajeevika Bureau works in the registration and issuance of identity cards for migrant labourers, allowing them to access banking, mobile telephone service, as well as government and citizenship entitlements. The organization offers skills training and job placements for rural youth. Through trade-based collectivization of migrant workers from the disorganized sector, Aajeevika Bureau is able to lend greater voice to this often neglected group. Aajeevika Bureau also enrols migrant workers in legal services, insurance and pension plans. It facilitates links with government programmes, food security, health services, and counselling for women and children who experience the long-term absence of male family members. Additionally, Aajeevika Bureau manages migration resource centres that provide knowledge, capacity building and management support to migration initiatives in other NGOs and projects. Aajeevika Bureau is a non-profit, charitable trust registered in Udaipur, Rajasthan, which has helped over 50,000 migrants since its founding in 2005.
Focus: Migration, Labour, Employment Geographic Area of Impact: India Model: Leveraged Non-Profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 14,400 (2010) Annual Budget: US$ 350,000 (2010) Percentage Earned Revenues: 14% Recognition: Social Entrepreneur of the Year, India, 2010
The Entrepreneurs
Rajiv Khandelwal has worked in a wide range of rural development, employment and entitlement programmes and projects in Rajasthan. He has served as a consultant to NGOs and donors while advising a number of international and government agencies. After spending two years in East Africa in early 2000, he returned to Udaipur to establish Aajeevika Bureau in 2005. Krishnavatar Sharma is a senior social worker in Udaipur, India. He has coordinated self-help programmes, natural resources work, employment and legal aid programmes, and has overseen capacity-building programmes of development workers before joining Rajiv Khandelwal to establish Aajeevika Bureau as a specialized migration organization.
51
Asia
Rajiv Khandelwal and Krishnavatar Sharma

Aajeevika Bureau is a specialized institutional initiative for providing services, support and security to rural seasonal migrant workers. Its focus is based on the belief that rural-to-urban migration is an inevitable socioeconomic reality, especially for those unable to generate a meaningful livelihood from rural resources. Despite their major contribution to the economy, rural migrant workers remain excluded from opportunities, services and protection. The work of Aajeevika Bureau is therefore aimed at improving social and livelihood opportunities for migrants while developing services and policies for their advancement.
Background
During more than three decades of war and civil strife, Afghans have experienced constant disruptions in their daily lives. Two basic human rights education and health are necessary building blocks to restoring a stable society. However only 28% of the population over the age of 15 can read and write, and the expected rate of school attendance is only eight years. Average life expectancy is 44 years, and the infant mortality rate is the second highest in the world, at 153 deaths per 1,000 live births. How does one bring democracy and sustainability to a country where its people cannot read or write, and are dying too early?
Sakena Yacoobi
Afghan Institute of Learning (AIL)
Founded in 1995, Afghanistan www.afghaninstituteoflearning.org
Asia

AIL provides health and education services to Afghani women and children, providing primary and secondary schooling and university classes, as well as health services and education. It also offers teacher training and workshops in leadership, human rights, health and capacity-building. AIL helps students by promoting critical thinking, problem solving and the value of human rights. Its education learning centres are established in partnership with local communities, which contribute facilities and human resources, while AIL provides teachers salaries, ongoing training and school curricula. Its education curricula is self-developed with vocational training components, and requires active community participation and ownership so that communities become self-sufficient in providing for their own longterm educational and health needs. AIL also operates rural clinics that provide primary care services and health education in coordination with volunteer community health workers. In response to community needs, AIL developed a course for nurses, midwives and health educators that graduates highly sought-after healthcare providers. To date, AIL has benefited more than 8.8 million people through its education and health services.
AIL provides health and education services to Afghan women and children so that they can rebuild their lives, society and ultimately their country, after decades of war and civil strife.
Focus: Education, Health, Women Geographic: Area of Impact: Afghanistan, Pakistan Model: Leveraged Non-Profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 970,500 (2010) Percentage Earned Revenue: 6% (2009) Recognition: Regional Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Asia, 2010
The Entrepreneur
Sakena Yacoobi, AILs founding Executive Director, was born in Herat, Afghanistan. She went to the United States in the 1970s, and earned a Bachelors in Biological Sciences and a Masters in Public Health. She worked as a teacher and a health consultant before returning in 1990 to work with Afghan refugees in Pakistan. During this time she observed that Afghanis had lost their identities as a result of loss of family in war, death from preventable illness or displacement to another country. She founded AIL so that Afghans could rebuild their lives, society, and ultimately their country.
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Background
Migration is one of the oldest responses to poverty, and currently nearly 200 million impoverished individuals live outside their countries, working to help feed their families back home. Rarely, however, does such migration do more than sustain simple consumption, and for many families only ensures that poverty is temporarily put on hold. Launched in September 2006, aidha is dedicated to helping the worlds hopeful poor, especially migrant women, find a sustainable solution to poverty by supporting savings programmes, productive investment, and nurturing entrepreneurial ventures.
Sarah Mavrinac
aidha
Founded in 2006, Singapore www.aidha.org

Aidha offers various money management, confidence-building, computing and entrepreneurship courses, specifically designed for low-income workers in the developing world. Its teaching methodologies are based upon small group interaction, peer support and practical training. All courses are supported by supplemental coaching and business practicum experiences, allowing students to apply their nascent business and financial skills in an actual business setting. Currently, aidhas student enrolment exceeds 1,000 annually, while the number of indirect beneficiaries of its work total more than 5,000 each year. Additionally, over 500 community and student volunteers provide invaluable support in the delivery of aidhas innovative club and workshop programmes. An important aspect of aidhas action-oriented approach is scalability. Its programmes can be implemented at minimal incremental cost to lowincome people throughout Asia and the world. At the core of aidhas growth strategy is the delivery of their programmes through multinational employers. These collectively employ millions of lower skilled migrant men and women, who provide essential construction, manufacturing, logistics, housekeeping, food and entertainment services. In aidha-supported employment assistance programmes, employers discover their workers to be more committed and productive.
Aspiring to be the worlds micro-business school, aidha empowers entrepreneurs at the bottom of the pyramid.
Focus: Education, Enterprise Development, Migration, Women Geographic Area of Impact: Asia, Middle East Model: Hybrid Non-Profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: +2,000 (2011) Annual Budget: US$ 200,000 (2011) Percentage Earned Revenue: 80% Recognition: Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Singapore, 2008
The Entrepreneur
Sarah Mavrinac, aidhas Founder and current President, is a Harvardtrained academic and committed advocate of financial education. Prior to the end of 2006, she was a management professor, heading courses and conducting research at leading global business schools like the Ivey Business School in Canada, and INSEAD in France and Singapore. During her work with INSEAD Singapore, Mavrinac joined the Executive Committee of UNIFEM Singapore in 2005, and was inspired by the concept of financial education for the socio-economic empowerment of women. In December 2006, she left academia to commit full-time to the strategic development and rapid expansion of aidha.
53
Asia
Background
Vikram Akula has been at the forefront of creating market-based solutions for financial inclusion for more than two decades. While mobile banking has been successful in countries like Kenya and the Philippines, it is not yet widespread in India. This is partly due to regulatory constraints and a lack of investments in creating cashless ecosystems in rural India. His new venture in India is focused on setting up such an ecosystem.

Born in Hyderabad, India and raised in the US, Akula started his career in 1990 as a community organizer of womens self-help groups for the Deccan Development Society in rural Andhra Pradesh, India. He then joined the World Watch Institute in Washington, DC as a researcher. As a Fulbright Scholar he led an action-research project in India that provided micro-credit to poor farmers for food security. After extensive research in the field and graduate study, he founded SKS as a non-profit in late 1997. He led the organization until 2004, when he joined McKinsey & Company in Chicago as a management consultant. In 2005, he returned to SKS Microfinance to lead its conversion to a for-profit finance company named SKS Microfinance. In doing so, he pioneered a commercial model of microfinance to attract mainstream capital and create a vehicle for unprecedented scaling of microfinance. This model garnered investments from premier venture capitalists, such as Vinod Khosla, Sequoia Capital, George Soros Quantum Fund and the Narayan Murthys Catamaran Fund. He also created SKS Trusts for borrowers, which became the second largest investor group in SKS Microfinance, enabling borrowers to not only access finance but to benefit from wealth creation as company owners. He led the company to a successful IPO in 2010, which was oversubscribed 14 times. Under his leadership SKS grew to 7.3 million active borrowers in 2010-11, disbursing +US$ 5 billion in loans, while providing a range of micro-insurance products. He resigned in November 2011. Akulas current social venture, mobile banking in India, is launching an initiative to create a mobile banking ecosystem centred around small village grocery (kirana) stores. He intends to work with existing technology providers, mobile phone companies, banks and microfinance clients to open bank accounts for clients, train them in mobile banking and use incentive systems to encourage the use of mobile banking. The goal is to increase the use and demand for mobile banking so that supply-side players will make investments to adapt their systems for mobile banking.
Vikram Akula
India
Asia
Vikram Akula works toward achieving financial inclusion through promoting mobile banking in India.
Focus: Technology, Financial Inclusion Geographic Area of Impact: India Recognition: Social Entrepreneur of the Year, India, 2006
The Entrepreneur
Vikram Akula has a BA in Philosophy and English from Tufts, an MA in International Relations from Yale, and a PhD in Political Science from the University of Chicago. His dissertation focused on the socio-economic impact of microfinance and he is the author of A Fistful of Rice; My Unexpected Quest to End Poverty Through Profitability.
54
Background
There are an estimated 45 million blind people in the world, an additional 269 million who are visually impaired, about 90% of which live in developing countries where they face poverty, illiteracy and diseases of epidemic proportions. In India alone there are 12 million blind people, more than in any other country. Most of this blindness is easily treatable by simple cataract surgery or a pair of glasses. The challenge, however, is to address affordability and access issues so those who can have their sight restored can re-enter the workforce and support themselves and their families.
Thulasiraj Ravilla
Aravind Eye Care System (AECS)
Founded in 1976, India www.aravind.org
Founded in 1976 by Dr G. Venkataswamy with the mission to eliminate needless blindness, Aravind Eye Care System is the largest and most productive eye care facility in the world. It encompasses five hospitals, two surgical centres, seven community eye clinics, 39 primary eye centres, two managed eye hospitals, a manufacturing centre for ophthalmic products, an international research foundation, and a resource and training centre that is revolutionizing hundreds of eye care programmes across the developing world. Aravind created a sustainable service delivery model, currently providing 55% of its services free or significantly subsidized for low-income families. Some of the activities and innovations, carried out through cost-effective and efficient processes, are: producing available, high-quality, low-cost intraocular lenses and other ophthalmic supplies; extensive use of telemedicine and other technologies to improve rural access; annually recruiting and training hundreds of young rural women as eye care technicians, thereby giving them a career opportunity and significantly reducing the cost of eye care; and establishing a network of Vision Centres with low-cost telemedicine technology providing primary eye care to rural areas and thus enhancing access. Aravinds success in eliminating needless blindness is based on engaging in direct action and creating competition. Real competition is encouraged through a proactive capacity-building process that shares lessons learned, detailed procedures, systems, forms and software. For example, in 1993 the Lions Aravind Institute of Community Ophthalmology was established to help Aravind transfer its expertise and experience to other eye care institutes in India and elsewhere. It has helped replicate best practices in over 270 eye hospitals worldwide.
Specializing in state-of-the-art comprehensive eye care, Aravind treats over 2.5 million patients a year, with an emphasis on providing services to the rural poor and capacity-building services to other eye care providers and programmes.
Focus: Health Geographic Area of Impact: Global Model: Social Business Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 2.65 million exams; 315,483 interventions (20102011) Annual Budget: US$ 19 million (2011) Percentage Earned Revenue: 100% Recognition: Schwab Fellow of the World Economic Forum
The Entrepreneur
Thulasiraj Ravilla was born in a small village in southern India, received his MBA from the Indian Institute of Management in Calcutta, and remained in the city working for a multinational company. In 1981, he joined Aravind and spent a year at the University of Michigan studying hospital and health management. Since then he has been part of the leadership team that has built Aravind into the worlds largest eye care provider. In 1992, he was instrumental in establishing the Lions Aravind Institute of Community Ophthalmology. Ravilla served five years as the Southeast Asia Regional Chair of the International Agency for Prevention of Blindness, and in 2003 founded VISION 2020: The Right to Sight - India, a consortium of voluntary eye care institutions, heading it until 2008.
55
Asia
Background
Nepal is among the poorest and least developed countries in the world, with half of its population of 29 million living below the poverty line and 80% living in rural areas where agriculture is the primary source of income. Only 45% of those over 15 years of age read and write. The main contributing factors to these statistics are the socio-economic and political turmoil that has characterized the countrys last 50 years. In this context, Meera Bhattarai set up the Association for Craft Producers as a non-profit social venture to improve the development of low-income women artisans in Nepal.
Meera Bhattarai
Association for Craft Producers (ACP)
Founded in 1984, Nepal www.acp.org.np
Asia

ACP is not just a cooperative, but a catalyst for womens empowerment by offering female craft workers fair income earning opportunities. While there is nothing new about traditional handicraft as a source of income, ACPs engagement with local producers acts as a cornerstone of its model and the reason for its success. Drawing on long of experience of working with women, ACP promotes handicraft production backed by a support programme that assures the supply of raw material, design ideas, management skills and organized market outlets. ACP also provides producers with salaries and social benefits, such as health and housing subsidies, an emergency fund and aid for education (two children per family, at least one being female). ACP started with 38 craft producers, and today has more than 1,100 (90% women) from 15 districts in Nepal. Their work covers 21 product areas including ceramics, basket weaving, toy making, tableware, wool products and carpentry. ACP has 60 full-time staff and continues to grow, and has remained fully self-sustaining since 1987 (three years after it initiated operations). It serves as an example of what a carefully planned, socially conscious business investment can achieve. The success of the cooperative scheme lies in the reinvestment of profits to benefit the producers. Womens earnings from the sales of crafts are an important part of their household economy. Such income has brought increased support and respect from their husbands and fathers, given them a greater voice in household decisions and an increased determination to educate their children, especially their daughters.
One of the oldest and largest non-profit handicraft organizations in Nepal, the Association for Craft Producers is dedicated to providing design, marketing, management and technical services to low-income and predominantly female craft producers. Focus: Women Empowerment, Fair trade Geographic Area of Impact: Nepal Model: Social Business Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 1,100 (2010) Annual Budget: US$ 1,585,899 Percentage Earned Revenue: 99% Recognition: Schwab Fellow of the World Economic Forum
The Entrepreneur
Meera Bhattarai started her career at the Nepal Womens Organization. After 10 years she had become increasingly frustrated with the bureaucracy, corruption and mistreatment by government staff towards the poor, particularly women. She resigned her position to set up ACP, to improve the situation of the Nepalese poor. Since then, Bhattarai has focused on three major systemic changes needed to improve how handicraft businesses are run: ensure product portfolios meet international quality and design standards; reintroduce ancient crafts; and organize women with families and farming responsibilities into a reliable workforce.
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Background
As Chinese society modernizes and globalizes, womens roles and rights continue to be dominated by tradition, especially in rural areas. Women comprise the majority of the inhabitants in rural areas, and changing their mindsets will substantially change the country. The Beijing Cultural Development Center for Rural Women (BCDCRW) has been a strong advocate for the rights of women in China for decades, helping many confront problems of family and marriage, divorce, sexual harassment, domestic violence, property and land rights.
Wu Qing
Beijing Cultural Development Center for Rural Women
Founded in 1993, Peoples Republic of China www.nongjianv.org
The BCDCRW focuses on grassroots training projects on citizenship, gender, social responsibility, legal and political participation, economic independence and practical skills. As part of its activities, the Practical Skills Training Center for Rural Women was set up in 1998 to provide training for women and girls of poor families from 16 to 20 learn practical skills to improve their social and economic development. Since April 1999, over 11,753 women and girls from 22 different ethnic groups have participated in a number of the training programs, including Start Your Business (SYB) projects, enabling rural women to take advantage of Chinas fast-growing economy. Other activities for rural women run by the BCDCRW include classes on literacy, suicide prevention, political participation, a domestic workers support network and a migrant womens club. Both the cultural development and practical skills training centres responded to the needs of female victims after a major earthquake in Sichuan Province in May 2008. This included training village heads assistants on dealing with risks and village medical workers on first aid and psychological help for mothers who lost family members. Other projects focused on rebuilding the economy after the disaster, including establishing mutual help groups and animal husbandry training for women and men alike.
Asia
The Center supports the social development of rural Chinese girls and women through practical skills training and civic participation, which improves their economic independence and political empowerment.
Focus: Women, Education, Civic Participation Geographic Area of Impact: China Model: Leveraged Non-Profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 274,959 (2011) Annual Budget: US$ 1.05 million (2011) Recognition: Schwab Fellow of the World Economic Forum
The Entrepreneur
Wu Qing is a role model for many Chinese women and politicians. To fulfil her vision of improving women empowerment and rule of law, she has had to consistently think outside of the box while being within the box. Wu was a legislator from 1984 to 2011, being democratically elected seven terms as a deputy to the Haidian District Peoples Congress. She also served four terms at the Beijing Municipal Peoples Congress, the citys parliament, from 1988-2007, supported by her pier deputies at the district level. As a deputy, she worked tirelessly for 27 years to fight for the rights of people in general, and women in particular, based upon the Chinese Constitution. She was the first deputy to study and implement the writings of the Constitution, setting aside a weekly time to listen to the problems and complaints faced by her constituents and provide feedback. She was the first to use her right as a deputy to demand an explanation from the chairman of the Standing Committee of the Beijing Peoples Congress, thus becoming known as the Deputy with the Constitution. These actions had a ripple effect upon Chinese society, especially in helping to build womens entrepreneurial spirit at the grassroots level. Wu also played a seminal role in ensuring that Chinese women participated in the 1995 UN Conference on Women in Beijing.
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Background
While the concept of microfinance institutions (MFIs) spread rapidly in neighbouring countries such as Bangladesh and Indonesia, India had a slower start. Until the early 1990s banks were nationalized and mandated to reach the poor with subsidized loans. While the intention was laudable, in practice loans to the rural poor by the banking sector were riddled with corruption and red tape, limiting what could have been a powerful economic intervention for social change. In 1992 India started to reform its banking system to restore financial health, and as a result the number of small loans going to rural areas decreased rapidly, since they were less profitable. BASIX was established in 1996 with the ambitious target of disbursing microcredit to one million of Indias rural poor.
Vijay Mahajan
Bhartiya Samruddhi Investments & Consulting Services (BASIX)
Founded in 1996, India www.basixindia.com
Asia

BASIX is the first MFI in India and among the first in the world to attract commercial equity investments internationally and within India. By successfully lobbying for changes in the Indian regulatory policy framework, BASIX helped create a viable institutional space for MFIs in India. The mission of BASIX is to promote a critical mass of opportunities for the rural poor and to attract commercial funding by proving that lending to the poor can be a viable business. BASIX tailors its lending techniques and distribution channels to different customer groups and arranges technical assistance and support services for its clients. It aggressively uses IT applications to process large numbers of transactions and support innovative delivery channels, such as franchise agents using hand-held devices to serve poor borrowers. BASIX does not confine its loans to the landless poor and self-employed as do most other MFIs, but rather argues that most of the poorer population groups prefer to be employed. Thus, providing credit to the micro-enterprises that can employ them is as important as providing credit to the poor themselves. Studies show that on average, the income of BASIX borrowers increases 20-30% in 2-3 years, and that they also generate substantial wage employment for others. Based in Hyderabad, in the state of Andhra Pradesh, BASIX has approximately 250 full-time employees, mostly in rural districts, and over 400 village-based customer service agents reaching +7,500 villages in more than 40 districts in nine Indian states. BASIX works with nearly 95,000 borrowers, including women in self-help groups (SHGs) and federations. It has cumulatively disbursed over 137,000 loans worth +US$ 33 million, 41% of which are loans to SHGs. BASIXs pioneering work with SHGs and its advocacy for microcredit have been two of the factors that led Indian banks to extend over US$ 44 million worth of microcredit to more than 12 million rural poor women since 1998.
BASIX promotes sustainable livelihoods for the rural poor and women through the provision of financial services and technical assistance.
Focus: Microfinance, Rural Development Geographic Area of Impact: India Model: Social Business Recognition: Schwab Fellow of the World Economic Forum
The Entrepreneur
Vijay Mahajan was educated at Indias Institute of Technology in Delhi, the Institute of Management in Ahmedabad, and is a Fellow at Princetons Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. He could have chosen many different life paths and lucrative careers, but instead chose to channel his talents and education to improve rural Indian society. In 1983 he co-founded PRADAN, one of Indias most respected rural development NGOs, and in 1998 co-founded Sa-Dhan, the association of Indian MFIs. In 2001 he helped found the Andhra Pradesh Mahila Abhivruddhi Society (APMAS), a capacity-building institution for the +500,000 womens SHGs in the state. Mahajan has published a book on the rural non-farming sector in India and more than 50 articles on rural development and microfinance.
58
Background
Comprised of about 18,100 islands in the south-east Asia archipelago, Indonesia has a population of nearly 237.6 million people. With the bulk of the economic activity concentrated in the capital of Jakarta, many rural communities struggle to keep up economically as the country progresses. Approximately 40% of Indonesias labour force is still engaged in agriculture, so introducing more effective agricultural production practices is one way to immediately impact the income and livelihood of rural communities. As Indonesia has changed over the past 50 years through various social movements, the need for a multifaceted solution to foster socio-economic development became apparent. Thus began the Pancasila Social Movement in the 1950s, which formed the basis for much of Bina Swadayas operations. For decades Bina Swadaya has focused on the socio-economic development of Indonesias rural poor and their communities, by directly empowering them through education and training. To address the strong demand for agricultural education and knowledge dissemination, Bina Swadaya formed a publishing business and started Trubus, an agricultural magazine that is currently a market leader on the subject. Building on the success of this publication, Bina Swadaya then leveraged its printing infrastructure to enter into other diverse publication segments like gardening, health issues, language, education, lifestyle, children, religion, and vocational and small business skills. To date it has published approximately 1,500 agricultural book titles and 2,300 titles in other areas. Besides generating profits from the sale of its own publications, Bina Swadaya has developed significant expertise in the field of publishing, while at the same time offering leading consulting services. In 2001 the organization started a franchise operation for agricultural shops, providing market access for the Bina Swadaya groups products. It also offers microfinancing through four rural banks and cooperatives. Bina Swadaya literally translates into the self-reliance development foundation. To fulfil its mission, Bina Swadaya focuses activities on the following areas: community empowerment; microfinance development; agribusiness development; magazine and book publishing; printing services; alternative tourism development; and meeting and workshop facilities for self-help groups. Each of the Bina Swadaya business operations is profitable. Overall, 25% of the profits generated from these operations are re-invested back into the Civil Society Empowerment operation, which funds the expansion of Bina Swadayas work throughout Indonesia.
Asia
Bambang Ismawan
Bina Swadaya
Founded in 1967, Indonesia www.binaswadaya.org
Bina Swadaya focuses on the socioeconomic development of Indonesias rural communities through educational publications, training, consulting and microfinance.
Focus: Agriculture, Microfinance, Rural Development, Education Geographic Area of Impact: Indonesia Model: Social Business Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 46,179 (2010); 33,000 training graduates Annual Budget: US$ 2.3 million (2010) Percentage Earned Revenue: 100% Recognition: Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Indonesia, 2006
The Entrepreneur
While pursuing an economics degree at Gadjah Mada University, Bambang Ismawan found that he was interested in neither business nor politics, and wanted to identify with something more meaningful. He has been involved in Bina Swadayas formation and growth for the past 40 years, and has developed a proven track record of successful partnerships with government, NGOs and businesses. His philosophy of promoting selfreliance within Bina Swadayas self-help groups drives the strategic development of the organization. He invests a large portion of his time on developing the leadership capabilities of the organization. The fact that several employees have grown with Bina Swadaya for more than 30 years is a strong testimony to his ability to empower and cultivate leaders within the organization.
59
Background
In 1970 Bangladesh was hit by a cyclone that killed 225,000 people. The following year the country fought a war of liberation, in which more than one million Bangladeshis were killed. These events devastated the country leaving millions, especially those in remote areas bordering India, without any means of survival. When Fazle Abed, then an executive in a multinational corporation, returned to Bangladesh he encountered widespread poverty and disease, and an inefficient government wholly unequipped to respond to the countrys problems. He resolved to apply his knowledge of management techniques and accountability mechanisms to the task of rebuilding his country from the grassroots level up.
Fazle H. Abed
Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC)
Founded in 1971, Bangladesh www.brac.net
Asia

For four decades BRAC has been fighting poverty, illiteracy and child mortality, while supporting womens health and development on a large scale in rural Bangladesh. BRAC mobilizes the capacity of the poor to improve their own lives through self-organization. BRACs programmes address problems such as unemployment, environmental hazards, gender inequality, education and health. In the 1980s for example, its campaign to disseminate oral rehydration therapy for diarrhoeal disease played a major role in halving Bangladeshs infant mortality rate. BRACs clients monitor and evaluate programmes themselves, as well as conduct systematic research and development. As a result BRAC has identified backward and forward market links needed to boost economic opportunities for the poor. When BRAC found that poor women were not profiting from rearing milking cows, it improved the breed of cow (a backward link) and set up a modern dairy (a forward link). Above all, it helped shift the global development paradigm from that of helping needy beneficiaries to encouraging the self-development of villagers, particularly women. BRACs full-time staff of 28,000 has helped 3.8 million poor women establish 100,000 village organizations. Its health programmes reach 10 million people, its non-formal schools cater to 1.2 million children (of which 70% are girls), and its microcredit programme has disbursed US$ 1.8 billion in loans with a reported 98% repayment rate. BRAC is now working in Afghanistan to support reconstruction efforts.
Reaching an estimated 110 million people in Bangladesh with its health, education and microcredit programmes, BRAC improves the quality of life for the poor.
Focus: Education, Enterprise Development, Financial Inclusion, Health, Rural Development, Women Geographic Area of Impact: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda Model: Hybrid Non-Profit Recognition: Schwab Fellow of the World Economic Forum
The Entrepreneur
When war broke out with Pakistan, Fazle Hasan Abed was living in Bangladesh. The war had a profound impact on him, causing him to leave his job as a corporate executive at Shell Oil and go to London, where he devoted himself to supporting the war of independence. In 1972 he moved to a remote area in north-eastern Bangladesh to focus on relief and rehabilitation efforts, thereby establishing the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee.
60
Background
A major limitation in Bangladeshs education sector is the large disconnect with millions of disadvantaged people in the country. The result is nonenrolment in primary education and a dropout rate of nearly 40% within the first few years. Without education and skills, children face a bleak future of unemployment and poverty, and girls are particularly vulnerable. The Centre for Mass Education in Science (CMES) addresses this issue through its innovative basic school system and adolescent girls programme.
Muhammad Ibrahim
Centre for Mass Education in Science (CMES)
Founded in 1978, Bangladesh www.cmesbd.org
Through a network of schools, CMES promotes a curriculum offering practical vocational skills and appropriate technologies in rural areas.
CMES combines a basic curriculum with an emphasis on economically relevant life skills including soap and candle making, computer skills, mechanics, garment making, carpentry, poultry farming, pottery, apiculture, vermi-composting, solar electricity, and electronics. Goods produced in the school are marketed to provide both a revenue source and an economic incentive for students to stay in school. Through its groundbreaking adolescent girls programme, females whose education is often neglected in Bangladesh can gain economic skills traditionally limited to boys. They receive loans from the CMES microcredit programme for young people and learn about their personal rights, including reproductive health. Advanced basic schools and Rural Technology Centres are available to students interested in pursuing a higher level of education. At CMESs Rural Centre for Joyful Science Activities, researchers are developing applicable technological solutions for village life, such as low-cost, solar electric micro-utilities to provide electricity to bazaars and village huts. CMES has already applied this technology in an affordable, commercial manner.
Focus: Youth, Education Geographic Area of Impact: Bangladesh Model: Leveraged Non-Profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 156,000 (2011) Annual Budget: US$ 3,611,640 (2011) Percentage Earned Revenue: 20.65% Recognition: Social Entrepreneur of the Year, 2001
The Entrepreneur
Muhammad Ibrahims education instilled the belief that all people should share in the knowledge of science and technology. After publishing the first science magazine in the country, he decided to establish CMES as the next step in achieving effective mass science education. Ibrahim viewed this as the best method of unleashing the power of the adolescent mind and providing equity for girls, especially in areas related to technology. His stated belief is that to successfully escape poverty, it is necessary for individual boys and girls to undergo a change in mindset. His dream is to expand the principle of linking education-work-empowerment and bring global technology and business to the grassroots level.
61
Asia
CMES is replacing traditional rote learning, a widespread practice in rural Bangladesh, with life-oriented technological skills, thus integrating the two worlds of learning and work. The centre reaches out to 20,000 students each year, 66% being adolescent girls, through a network of 500 basic schools, advanced basic schools and Rural Technology Centres (RTCs) that influence educational practices throughout Bangladesh.
Background
National statistics in Singapore indicate that from the approximately 3,500 O-level private candidates each year, only about 70% receive certificates. In a country where education is everything, the students that fail will have to grapple with a system where mainstream schools will no longer accept them. They will likely enter a rehabilitation programme but still not see a path towards educational advancement. At the same time, there is a trend of private schools that charge high fees to neither actively monitor student attendance nor track the academic performance of these students. This perpetuates the cycle of examination failure and the erosion of self-worth for school dropouts.
Kenny Low
Asia

City College was founded in 2002 to provide an alternative path for high school education in Singapore. The target group is primarily school dropouts from public schools. The strategy is two-pronged. First, City College seeks to influence other commercial schools to have better service deliveries by exerting market pressure on them. By delivering an innovative and effective curriculum at affordable prices, City College secured about 8% of the market share in a short span of four years. As a result, competitors started to adopt similar practices, which in turn have seen the performance of private schools in Singapore improve by 10%. Second, City Colleges strategy is to accelerate change in traditional practices and policies in government schools. It has managed to attract attention from public school leaders who have visited the college to learn and study its unique student-centred culture and pedagogical approaches. To finance lower income youths for the programme, another enterprise, O School, was set up in 2006. O School is a performing arts school that offers street dance training to the public, primarily youths aged from 16 to 25. The school is able to offer employment for youths and also generate profits that are channelled into City Colleges bursary fund. Hence, a by-youths-for-youths financing model is created. To date, City College had enrolled more than 1,200 students; 60% of these students have moved on to tertiary education, while 95% of them have attained a basic high school education certification. O School is currently the leading street dance school in Singapore with a membership base of close to 5,000. It has also created events like The Big Groove, which gained regional recognition as well as choreographed for major events like the inaugural Youth Olympic Games. It is also a centre for advocacy, raising awareness of notable causes through performing arts.
City College & O School

Founded in 2002, Singapore www.citycollege.edu.sg
Targeting dropouts, City College uses innovative teaching methods to help students complete tertiary education, while leveraging performing arts through O School to create a for-youths-by-youths funding model to sustain its operations.
Focus: Education, Youth Geographic Area of Impact: Singapore Model: Hybrid Non-Profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 250 (2009) Annual Budget: US$ 2.14 million (2009) Percentage Earned Revenue: 85% Recognition: Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Singapore, 2007
The Entrepreneur
Kenny Low spent six years in youth services, four of them volunteering at a local community services agency and another two years coordinating their tuition services arm before setting up City College. He was motivated by a need for transformation and change in education for O-level private candidates, believing that they should not be limited in their educational options and purpose because of missed opportunities in mainstream schools. At the same time, Low was involved in dance since his school days and experienced how dance can develop confidence. This was what motivated him to set up a social enterprise to promote dance as an outlet of expression while creating jobs for talented dancers.
62
Background
In 1970 malnutrition and infant mortality were pervasive problems in Indias state of Maharashtra. Less than 1% of the population had systems for the disposal of solid waste, modern health services were non-existent and cholera, typhoid and malaria were highly prevalent. Having grown up in rural India, Raj Arole (1934-2011) understood that any healthcare delivery system would have to confront cultural superstitions about the causes of illness as well as caste, religious, gender and political divisions. After finishing medical school, Arole and his late wife, Mabelle, began engaging villagers in the creation of modern healthcare services for the rural poor.
Shobha Arole
Comprehensive Rural Health Project (CRHP)
Founded in 1970, India www.jamkhed.org

The Comprehensive Rural Health Project, a community-based healthcare programme for the rural poor, has brought about extraordinary health and social improvements in hundreds of villages in Maharashtra. Despite the regions extreme poverty, severe gender and caste inequality and minimal public health services, CRHP has achieved exceptional results by training local village healthcare workers and helping villagers address economic, social, agricultural and health needs through self-organization. In the early days of CRHP, the Aroles earned the trust of communities by inviting all groups to volleyball games, which then became meeting places for discussions about village development. These discussions led to the formation of farmers clubs to address such issues as inadequate drinking water and poor sanitation. The clubs eventually conducted health surveys as a crucial step towards overcoming traditional beliefs about the causes of disease, and identified simple ways to improve health, like draining puddles that attracted mosquitoes. The clubs encouraged women to become village health workers. With coaching and guidance from the Aroles, these women provided prenatal care, monitored child immunizations and coordinated village waste management. The village health workers in turn organized womens development associations, which initiated credit circles to fund cooperative business enterprises. Between 1971 and 1993 infant mortality rates in areas where CRHP worked plunged by 84%, while maternal mortality dropped by 75%. CRHP has been increasingly involved in public policy advocacy, while establishing a primary healthcare model for relevant, appropriate and cost-effective community-based hospital care. Their training programmes in community-based health and development, leadership, management, and personal development have been replicated worldwide, impacting communities in +100 countries. The knowledge and skills have been shared with +20,000 participants nationally and internationally for more than a decade.
By partnering with village communities in India, CRHP brings modern healthcare services and training programmes to the rural poor.
Focus: Health, Rural Development, Women Geographic Area of Impact: India Model: Leveraged Non-Profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 500,000 (2011) Annual Budget: US$ 750,000 (2009) Percentage Earned Revenue: 30% Recognition: Schwab Fellow of the World Economic Forum
The Entrepreneurs
Raj Arole was born in Jamkhed, India, and in spite of the difficult circumstances of his upbringing, he studied at one of the most prestigious medical colleges in India, the Christian Medical College at Vellore. There he met his future wife Mabelle and, on their wedding day, they vowed to work together and devote their lives to the marginalized and disenfranchised people living in Indian villages. Today, their daughter Shobha, a medical doctor and holistic family practice specialist, is the Director of the CRHP, and her brother Ravi is Director of Operations. She also dedicates time teaching and promoting comprehensive healthcare in the national and international arenas and is significantly involved in national policy discussions.
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Asia
Background
Half of Indias rural population is unemployed, underemployed or informally employed. This population needs income-generating jobs that provide economic security and the products and services required to satisfy their basic needs. At the same time, industries that create these jobs must reduce their waste of natural resources. New technologies and institutional systems are needed to achieve equitable and environmentally sound development.
Ashok Khosla
Asia
Development Alternatives
Founded in 1983, India www.devalt.org
Development Alternatives seeks to implement good science for social benefit, utilizing low environmental impact. DA initiatives include Shubh Kal, which brings the risks of climate change to the immediate attention of communities in central Indias semi-arid regions. The concept implies a better tomorrow by exercising an ability to handle climate risks through adaptation and mitigation practices at the grassroots level. Other projects, such as the Community-led Assessment, Awareness, Advocacy and Action Programme (CLAP) for Environment Protection and Carbon Neutrality, and CLEAN-India, work toward mobilizing community responsibility for environmental assessment and protection, as well as carbon neutrality. In line with the organizations strategy, DA produces standardized and affordable products for rural markets, such as roofing systems, compressed earth blocks, fired bricks, recycled paper, handloom textiles, cooking stoves, briquette presses and biomass-based electricity. The simple but highly effective TARA micro-concrete roof tile kit, for example, provides employment for five people, while the TARA vertical shaft brick kiln reduces energy use by 55% and emissions by 50%. DAs paper production units employ 40 workers producing high-quality paper from rags and recycled paper. DESI Power, DAs electric utility, installs mini power stations in villages, fuelled by weeds and agricultural wastes. TARAhaat, the ICT affiliate of Development Alternatives, brings information technology to villages through its portal (www.TARAhaat.com) and its rapidly growing network of +200 franchised local telecentres, which provide information services, educational courses, e-governance services and Internet connectivity to local people on a commercial basis. The Lifelines Project in rural India uses mobile telephone technology to connect poor farmers in 1,500 villages to critical agricultural information through volunteers. Its functional Hindi literacy programme has helped educate +60,000 rural women, and local groups and official agencies use DAs portable pollution monitoring kits to test water quality in cities and towns.
Development Alternatives innovative technologies and methodologies combine the dual goals of creating income for the poor and regenerating the environment.
Focus: Climate Change, Energy, Environment, Literacy, Rural Development, Technology, Water, Youth Geographic Area of Impact: India Model: Hybrid Non-Profit Annual Budget: US$ 2,972,120 (2009-10) Recognition: Schwab Fellow of the World Economic Forum
The Entrepreneur
Ashok Khosla holds a PhD in Experimental Physics from Harvard University. He abandoned a scientific career to focus on issues of environment and development. After helping design and teach Harvards first course on the environment, he set up and directed the environmental policy unit for the government of India. Subsequently, he worked for the UN Environmental Programme (UNEP) in Kenya before starting Development Alternatives in 1983. He has been a board member of many global environmental institutions, including the Club of Rome, IUCN, WWF, IISD, SEI and the Alliance for a New Humanity. He is also an advisor to UNEP, UNDP and the World Bank.
64
Background
For decades, traditional slash and burn agriculture, exacerbated by commercial opium cultivation, were common practices in the Doi Tung area on the border between Thailand and Myanmar. Although trade in narcotics is extremely lucrative, farmers who grow the crop in Doi Tung received meagre shares. Compounding the situation, armed groups controlled drug trafficking routes, making it difficult for the government to support local communities. People relied on rain fed crops, which failed to meet annual food requirements. The economic situation was so dire that many become dependent on opium cultivation for survival and young girls were often driven into prostitution.
Disnadda Diskul
Doi Tung Development Project
Founded in 1988, Thailand www.doitung.org, www.maefahluang.org

The Mae Fah Luang Foundation (MFLF), under royal patronage, created the Doi Tung Development Project in 1988 to eradicate the illicit economy by providing alternative methods of livelihood through agriculture, handicrafts, tourism and foods. The project reinvests profits into the communitys social development. MFLF has implemented similar projects in Myanmar, Afghanistan and Indonesia, and focuses on three pillars of health, livelihood development and education. Progressing through the 30-year plan at Doi Tung, impoverished communities have initially been provided with health services, followed by the development of sustainable and environmentally friendly economic opportunities. As a result, the communitys quality of life can be progressively improved as capacities develop. The Sustainable Alternative Livelihood Development (SALD) approach ensures access to appropriate education and training for new job opportunities, while allowing for full economic and social integration. It considers community ownership as an integral part, and ultimately hands businesses back to communities when they demonstrate economic viability and the local population can manage them on their own.
Asia
The Doi Tung Development Project transforms poor and vulnerable communities in Thailand by promoting healthcare, education, training and jobs.
The Entrepreneur Focus: Education, Enterprise Development, Environment, Health, Rural Development Geographic Area of Impact: Thailand, Afghanistan, Indonesia, Myanmar Model: Hybrid Non-Profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 2,500 (2010) Annual Budget: US$ 15.23 million (2010) Percentage Earned Revenue: 93.49% (2010) Recognition: Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Asia Region, 2009
Mom Rajawongse Disnadda Diskul, known as Khunchai, graduated from Indiana University with a degree in Business Administration, and received honorary PhDs in Agricultural Science from Mahidol University and Social Science from Mae Fah Luang University, both in Thailand. He served as the private secretary to the mother of His Majesty the King of Thailand for +28 years, and continues her humanitarian legacy as the Secretary-General of the Mae Fah Luang Foundation Under Royal Patronage. Since its inception he has served as CEO of the Doi Tung Development Project, a Royal Initiative project of HRH the Princess Mother, and is the current Chairman of the Royal Initiatives Discovery Institute and of the Students in Free Enterprise Thailand. He also sits on the boards of the Volunteer Doctors Foundation, the Prostheses Foundation, the Breast Foundation, the Rakkaew Foundation and Siam Commercial Bank.
65
Background
Indias vibrant, rapidly growing economy and large youth population are two of its greatest strengths, but the countrys significant shortage of skilled labour is a major challenge. The result is an increasing disparity between the rich and poor, which prevents a large number of poor and vulnerable people from benefiting from economic growth. In the next 20 years India will add 250 million people to its working age population, compared to 18 million in Brazil and 10 million in China during the same period. If this potential of Indian youth remains untapped, it will not only slow growth, but a cycle of poverty and illiteracy will persist that drains the society economically and socially.
Rajendra Joshi
Asia

Empower Pragati Vocational & Staffing (EPVS) is an India-based private sector social enterprise specializing in livelihood skill development to empower Indias disadvantaged youth. EPVS is keenly aware of the shortage of service sector employment in India, as well as the demand for high quality/reliable employees. To address these issues EPVS is developing three livelihood programmes to provide enduring opportunities for youth and fill the labour void in the private sector. EPVS is a portfolio company of the National Skills Development Corporation of India (NSDC), which partnered with Empower Pragati in 2010 to support its employability system on a national scale. The EPVS Home Manager programme provides high quality and reliable home management services to urban households. The central aims are to empower slum residents with increased income by building on existing livelihoods, and provide urban households with reliable, efficient and professional domestic help. Home Managers undergo rigorous training, obtain police clearances and health checks and receive continued on-thejob training. They specialize in regular household work, babysitting, office care, old age and patient care. EPVS is also in the process of transforming the driving profession by training thousands of men as skilled chauffeurs. The Vocational Training for Youth programme provides training and livelihood opportunities to disadvantaged youth residing in urban and rural areas. Many rural youth migrate to urban areas to seek job opportunities, but they rarely have access to the information, knowledge or training required to adjust to urban life and take advantage of opportunities. The EPVS programme prepares such youth with vocational and life-skill sets, while identifying and securing urban-based employment positions. Presently EPVS has training facilities in Delhi, Gurgaon, Ahmedabad, Kolkatta, Hyderabad and Bangalore, which have trained nearly 2,800 young people in 22 training centres.
Empower Pragati
Founded in 2010, India www.empowerpragati.in
Empower Pragati is a for-profit social enterprise focusing on vocational training and employment for Indias base of the pyramid population.
Focus: Education, Labour and Unemployment Geographic Area of Impact: India Model: Social Business Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 2,500 (2011) Annual Budget: US$ 750,000 (2011) Percentage Earned Revenue: 100% Recognition: Social Entrepreneur of the Year, India, 2009
The Entrepreneur
Rajendra Joshi was born and raised in Tanzania before returning to India for post-secondary education. During this time he was impressed by the inequality among different castes and communities, and was introduced to Friar Emiro Reviti, a Jesuit priest working in Ahmedabads slums. He gained further knowledge and experience through stories told by slum residents, of their anguish and hope amid difficult living conditions. As an educator, he developed a curriculum to attract and retain students in schools.
66
Background
There are over 500 million marginalized children and youth in urban areas worldwide, as a result of migration, unemployment, domestic abuse, substance abuse, detention, exploitation and/or deceased parents. Unless effective intervention and social services are put into place, marginalized youth will continue to weigh negatively on development, security and public health issues.

Established in 1994, Friends-International takes a comprehensive approach in helping 50,000 marginalized children and youth every year become functional and productive citizens of society. The organization is built around four interlinked initiatives: The Friends Programs provide best practice psycho-social and educational services that support marginalized urban children and youth, their families and communities, and function as practical training resources for other organizations. Currently, Friends-International runs Friends Programs in Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia and Thailand. The CYTI Alliance builds cooperation in the field, replicating good practices, sharing training and working together to influence policies that can increase social and economic opportunities for marginalized children and youth. It ensures that members services are based on the Convention of the Rights of the Child. CYTI Alliance has members in Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Indonesia, Mexico, Honduras, Egypt and Myanmar. The ChildSafe Network is an international community-based network that works to protect children from all forms of abuse. This is achieved by establishing local child protection networks, coordinating local and international awareness campaigns, and using social marketing strategies and methodologies to increase child protection by ensuring behaviour change at a global level. The Friends Social Businesses provide vocational training and / or access to employment to its target groups while at the same time creating financial resources supporting the overall sustainability of the organization and its partners. This includes the franchising of specific social business to support replication, sustainability and support to partner organizations.
Asia
Sebastien Marot
Friends-International
Founded in 1994, Cambodia www.friends-international.org
Friends-International works to protect and integrate marginalized children and youth into society, giving them opportunities to build their futures and support the development of their country.
Focus: Youth, Education, Health, Homelessness and Housing, Enterprise Development Geographic Area of Impact: Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Thailand, Honduras, Mexico, Egypt, Myanmar Model: Hybrid Non-Profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 50,000 (2010) Annual Budget: US$ 5.5 million (2010) Percentage Earned Revenue: 31% Recognition: Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Asia Region, 2009
The Entrepreneur
Sebastien Marot, a French national, visited Cambodia on holiday in 1994. The country was still recovering from the devastating effects of the Khmer Rouge; poverty was widespread, electricity rare, infrastructure poor and landmines everywhere. One evening, he came across 20 children sleeping on cardboard boxes on the sidewalk as a luxury car drove by. Marot wondered how it was possible, in a country with so many organizations and so much donor money, children could be so easily ignored. He decided to stay in Cambodia to do something constructive for local youth. With financial support from two friends and the operational help of three Cambodians, he established Friends-International.
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Background
Following World War II the Philippines was regarded as the second wealthiest nation in Asia after Japan. Today, political instability, rampant systemic corruption and ineffective governance have resulted in a growing gap between rich and poor, and stifled the countrys economic growth. At least 4.5 million Filipinos are homeless, 75% of which are informal settlers in main urban centres. About 4 million Filipino households experience hunger and 50% of the population does not have access to healthcare.
Tony Meloto
Asia
Gawad Kalinga (GK)

Founded in 2003, Philippines www.gk1world.com
Gawad Kalinga tackles poverty by combining multiple solutions through its GK villages. With sponsorships from various sectors, GK works with impoverished communities to build homes, schools, clinics, community centres and businesses. Services include educational programmes for youth, formation programmes for GK village residents, trained community health workers and capacity building for solid waste management programmes. GK is multifaceted in its approach to poverty alleviation and development. It seeks to restore dignity by providing shelter and community infrastructure, and ensures that families have security of tenure in the areas in which GK builds. While building materials are provided through corporate donations, GK residents provide sweat equity by helping construct their homes. Additionally, GK promotes environmentally friendly projects, such as solid waste management and partnership with environment advocacy groups and government agencies. Through its Child and Youth Development programme, GK provides school supplies, academic tutorials and mentorships, sports and creative workshops, and educational sponsorships. To combat hunger, it sets up family-based farms aided by training centres and agricultural technology transfer. In the area of health, there are 1,000 residents in over 384 GK villages trained to promote basic health concepts, first-aid, and disseminate donated supplies and medicines. GKs vision of a slum-free, squatter-free Philippines is matched by a campaign to end poverty for 5 million of the poorest families by 2024.
To eliminate poverty, Gawad Kalinga focuses on sustainable community building through the creation of GK villages to address housing, education, environment and health issues.
Focus: Health, Housing, Environment, Enterprise Development Geographic Area of Impact: Cambodia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Philippines Model: Leveraged Non-Profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 1,000,000 (2003-2010) Recognition: Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Philippines, 2010
The Entrepreneur
Tony Meloto was born to a lower middle class family in Bacolod City, Negros Occidental. At a young age he was exposed to the squalid living conditions of the poor, as his home was near a shoreline squatter community where poverty was very pronounced. He qualified as a full academic scholar at the Ateneo de Manila University, and after graduating in 1971 with a degree in economics, took a position as a purchasing manager with Procter & Gamble. As a Christian, Meloto was involved in working with the poor in Bagong Silang, Caloocan City, through a programme started by the Couples for Christ Ministry. The programme began in 1995 and evolved into Gawad Kalinga, a movement that builds integrated and sustainable communities in slum areas. Meloto has been at the forefront of this work ever since.
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Background
Joe Madiath became acquainted with the rural poor in the Indian state of Orissa when he led a group of student volunteers from Madras University to provide relief, following cyclone devastation in 1971. Struck by the terrible poverty, particularly among Adivasis (indigenous people) and Dalits (untouchables), Madiath remained to provide further assistance at a time when Orissas villages lacked the most basic infrastructure. He realized that limited economic options were driving villagers to urban slums in a futile search for prosperity. Hoping to reverse this trend, he and a few friends started Gram Vikas with the goal of improving living conditions in villages, increasing local economic options and restoring dignity to marginalized populations.
Joseph Madiath
Gram Vikas
Founded in 1979, India www.gramvikas.org

Working in extremely impoverished areas of Orissa, Gram Vikas (GV) helps tens of thousands of villagers organize themselves to solve a wide range of social and health problems. GV requires participation by each and every adult in its programmes and provides incentives to encourage villagers to pool their resources to improve village infrastructure and sanitation. This process has led to increased awareness of civic rights and duties and more effective political mobilization. The core methodology of GV is to harness, through full community mobilization, all physical and human capital in a village. The organization works with the villagers to create and manage a village corpus, a fund that draws cash and in-kind contributions from all families based upon their ability to pay. Once the fund is established, it contributes supplementary resources and soft loans for specific projects. Under a state project, Gram Vikas set up 55,000 biogas systems in Orissa to provide inexpensive fuel for villagers. Through its Movement and Action Network for Transformation in Rural Areas (MANTRA), GV has helped more than 55,422 families in 943 villages build low-cost facilities for safe drinking water and proper sanitation. As a result of every family in the village having a toilet, bathing room and protected piped water supply, water-related diseases have been drastically reduced. All construction makes use of the villagers own resources, materials and labour, demystifying construction techniques and enhancing their skills. The same approach has been used to build roads, drainage systems, community halls and schools. MANTRA has won numerous international awards, including the UN Habitat Award (2003), World Bank Development Market Place Award (2003), Kyoto World Water Grand Prize (2006) and Skoll Award (2006).
Asia
Helping villagers pool resources to establish water and sanitation infrastructure, Gram Vikas improves the quality of life of poor rural communities in India.
Focus: Education, Health, Rural Development, Water and Sanitation Geographic Area of Impact: India Model: Hybrid Non-Profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 352,453 (2011) Percentage Earned Revenue: 15% Recognition: Schwab Fellow of the World Economic Forum
The Entrepreneur
Recognizing the poor conditions workers faced on his family farms, Joe Madiath at the age of 12 led a movement to organize them to lobby for better treatment. His confrontational role was met with hostility as his family banished him to a boarding school 2,500 km away. When he returned at age 16, Madiath embarked on a bicycle tour across his country and worked with tribal people along the way to improve their conditions. After the successful launch of Gram Vikas, his family finally accepted his views, and his father became fully supportive of his sons activities as a social entrepreneur.
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Background
Nearly three decades after Cambodia emerged from the reign of the Khmer Rouge, it remains one of the 50 poorest countries in the world. A majority of the population still lives in desperate poverty and struggles to meet the most basic needs of food and clean water. Cambodia is also a source, transit and destination country for human trafficking. Many children are trafficked to neighbouring Thailand and Vietnam, while within Cambodia children are forced into both prostitution and labour. Tricked by promises of well-paid work, many find themselves sold into Phnom Penhs brothels or reduced to begging or working in slave-like conditions.
Pierre Tami
Asia

Hagar initially began as a shelter for women but then evolved into an organization offering a range of social and market-oriented initiatives to break the cycle of poverty among vulnerable mothers and children. An increasing number of women and children are moving from Cambodias rural areas to the city in search of a better life. In doing so, they exchange their rural lifestyle, often characterized by poverty and domestic violence, for the hand-to-mouth existence of the urban poor. Due to a lack of economic opportunities, many become beggars, prostitutes or waste collectors. It is these women and children that Hagar targets by offering prevention, rehabilitation and re-integration possibilities. Reintegration work is primarily focused on providing economic opportunities through Hagars commercial enterprises and social enterprise partners. The synergistic relationship between non-profit and for-profit activities is essential to the rehabilitation and reintegration process, enabling women to develop and maintain independent and productive lives in their communities. Acknowledging that long-term social impact is best achieved through preventative measures, Hagar has initiated a number of projects, including a successful programme to provide water filters and expand educational opportunities in extremely vulnerable communities.
Hagar International
Founded in 1994, Cambodia www.hagarinternational.org
Hagar works to help abused, exploited and abandoned women and children through community reintegration and social entrepreneurship.
Focus: Enterprise Development, Youth, Women Geographic Area of Impact: Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Afghanistan Model: Social Business Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 12,120 (2010) Annual Budget: US$ 3,246,546 (2010) Percentage Earned Revenue: 45% Recognition: Schwab Fellow of the World Economic Forum
The Entrepreneur
Pierre Tami, a Swiss national, first visited Cambodia in 1990. He had been working in Asia since 1983, but his initial trip to Cambodia changed his life. Deeply moved by the needs of women and children and realizing the potential for making a difference, Tami and his family moved to Phnom Penh and founded Hagar in 1994. Tami has made his dream of providing hope, recovery, restoration and sustainable income for these women a reality. Through his work with Hagar, he has had the opportunity to launch a number of social enterprises as well as the social business incubator, Shift360.
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Background
More than 30 million Filipinos remain poor and isolated from the formal economy and society, and this isolation has led to a growing economic chasm in which a sizeable population lacks market access, basic services, efficient product distribution channels, and business development opportunities. The informal economy flourishes with thousands of smallowner sari-sari stores, which represent an untapped potential to integrate millions into the formal sector. These mom and pop stores usually operate from the homes of women micro-entrepreneurs who are trying to augment their family income through micro-enterprise.
Hapinoy
Founded in 2007, Philippines www.hapinoy.com
Hapinoy creates sustainable distribution channels and business development strategies to empower formerly isolated and informal sectors of the Filipino economy.
Focus: Enterprise Development, Women Geographic Area of Impact: Philippines Model: Hybrid Non-profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 10,000 Annual Budget: US$ 340,900 (2011) Percentage Earned Revenue: 66% Recognition: Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Asia, 2011
Serving as business partners to the poor on many levels, Hapinoy provides personal development and business training, capacity-building and community leadership programmes for storeowners, most of whom are mothers with little access to such programmes. In 2011, Hapinoy operated in 12 provinces in the Philippines, reaching 160 communities; its 10,000 stores served hundreds of thousands of customers, many living in isolated areas in South Luzon. By tapping into communities and new distribution channels, Hapinoy hopes to expand by providing not only common products, but other necessary rural community services, such as mobile money, healthcare, and technology solutions in partnership with local/ national NGOs and companies. Additionally, the network created will eventually serve as a platform for reverse integration into the value chain for goods produced at the community level by micro-producers.
The Entrepreneurs
Bam Aquino has an extensive background in media, youth activism, and entrepreneurship, and served as Chairman and CEO of the National Youth Commission in the Philippines government. He graduated from Ateneo de Manila University, and attended Harvard Kennedy Schools Executive Education Program on Public Policy and Leadership, as a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum. He currently serves as a board member for several international and local organizations. Mark Ruiz is a graduate of Ateneo de Manila University, and was formerly an executive at a consumer goods company. In the mid-2000s, Ruiz began to work with Aquino on social enterprises, their third effort resulting in Hapinoy. He deepened his knowledge of social enterprise practice through the INSEAD Social Enterprise Program (ISEP), and as a fellow of Santa Clara Universitys Global Social Benefit Incubator, 2011. Both Aquino and Ruiz are also Founding Partners of Rags2Riches, a social enterprise that recycles waste materials into high-end fashion accessories.
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Asia
Bam Aquino and Mark Ruiz

Hapinoy aggregates and organizes the Philippines massive network of informal sari-sari stores into a network, creating new efficient distribution channels for essential products, and linking isolated communities with a variety of service providers and large businesses. Hapinoys bulk-sourcing approach has resulted in up to 15% discount on certain products for small-owner stores and the distribution of quality-of-life goods such as medicine and solar products to communities. Hapinoys value chain development has allowed thousands to increase in their income.
Background
Small farms comprise 70% of Indias total agricultural map, and about 60% of Indias cultivable land is rain fed and remains critically dependent on dry land farming. Most farmers lack any insurance against risks caused by monsoons and falling groundwater levels, as well as fluctuations in the international farm commodity markets. Despite 80-90% subsidies for irrigation and farm technologies, they remain out of reach for small farmers. These factors, coupled with severe water crises, often contribute to poverty and large-scale migration.
Innovations and Activities
Amitabha Sadangi
International Development Enterprises (IDEI)
Founded in 1991, India www.ide-india.org
Asia
Recognizing the high correlation between rural poverty and lack of access to water, IDEI designs, develops and delivers small plot irrigation technologies that are commercially viable, environment friendly, scaled down to fit one-tenth of a hectare plots, and cost 20% of competitive models. The technologies are sold through village supply chains to smallholder farmers at an unsubsidized market price. IDEI also provides technical, financial, consulting and business development services to its customers, enabling them to enter high-value commercial agriculture. As a result, smallholder farmers have been able to earn an additional average net income of US$ 400 annually, thus emerging from the poverty trap. Over one million smallholder farmer families have been reached through IDEI low-cost irrigation technologies, such as the treadle pump and drip irrigation. A foot-operated treadle pump can irrigate small plots of land in regions with water tables higher than 8 metres; 58% of treadle pumps have been sold to farmers who had previously not been able to afford any irrigation technology and 42% have replaced diesel pumps, which require farmers to pay annual rentals of more than US$ 70. The drip irrigation system is promoted for farm families living in arid, water scarce regions. The technology saves 50-70% in water usage and increases crop yields by 30-40%. Seventy local manufacturers produce irrigation products sold under the KB brand by a network of nearly 5,100 retailers and village mechanics in 226 Indian districts. Customer satisfaction is tracked through a management information system and feedback is incorporated to further refine the products. The treadle pump for example, has been customized and is available in several variations to meet regional farming requirements. IDEI also builds the supply chains and credit mechanisms necessary for farmers to succeed. An independent assessment conducted by IDEI in 2006 revealed a notable shift in India from subsistence to profitable small-scale commercial farming. Farmers now cultivate throughout the year, which contributes to increased food security and a decline in migration; 20% reported investing income in their childrens education and 15% have increased spending on family health. IDEI is now exporting its technologies to countries in Africa and Southeast Asia.
IDEI designs and develops micro-irrigation technology that saves 50-70% of water use and increases crop yields by 30-40% in 226 districts of India and other parts of the world.
Focus: Agriculture, Rural Development, Water Geographic Area of Impact: India, Africa, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Thailand, Pakistan, Solomon Islands, Bangladesh, Kazakhstan, Nicaragua, Azerbaijan Model: Hybrid Non-Profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 103, 688 (2010-11) Annual Budget: US$ 6 Million (2011) Recognition: Schwab Fellow of the World Economic Forum
The Entrepreneur
Amitabha Sadangi was born in a village in the state of Orissa, India. He holds a law degree and a post-graduate degree in Labour and Social Welfare. While working for Oxfam, he focused many of his ideas around market-based programmes for poverty alleviation. He is co-Founder of a for-profit company, Global Easy Water Products, which allows private investment in the spread and replication of its irrigation technologies.
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Background
India, a country with a 5,000 year legacy, has about 40 million people working in its vibrant creative sector. However most of these people live in absolute poverty due to a lack of working capital, market access and design and/or production knowledge. Most are still searching for the enabling mechanisms to transform artisanship into sustainable development and livelihood. At the same time India has seen mass urban migration, bulging cities, environmental degradation and continuing poverty. Industree aims to change the way the Indian creative sector operates, freeing people from poverty while celebrating the art, legacy and culture of Indias villages.
Neelam Chhiber
Industree Crafts Foundation (Mother Earth brand)
Founded in 1994, India www.industree.org.in; www.motherearth.co.in

Asia
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Industree focuses on building an eco-system for Indias underserved and fragmented artisanal base, which is in serious need of equitable market access, design and updated technical training, and working capital. On the market end, the multi-retail brand Mother Earth was created in 2008 through investment from Future Ventures of the Future Group, one of Indias largest retailers. Eight Mother Earth stores are now operating in various cities across India. In 2011, Industree received additional funding from the Grassroots Business Fund, set up by the International Finance Corporation to increase efficiencies in its supply chain. By scaling up, Mother Earth has helped offer producers a direct market platform to the Indian retail market, ensuring steady business, consistent volume and smooth cash flow from year to year. Industree works with the Indian government Ministry of Textiles through its various schemes, dovetailing trained artisans into market linkages. Industree incubates community enterprises and common production entities that are jointly owned by artisans and local entrepreneurs, typically unemployed or underemployed men and women. Industree leverages the Self-Help Group (SHG) model, wherein production is 100% owned by a group of producers. For every 100 Indian rupees of revenue for Industree, producer incomes increase by 58 Indian rupees. As a result, community enterprises incubated by Industree and owned by artisanal communities often break even during their first year of operation. These artisan groups invest their working capital into the enterprises so that there is an increased sense of ownership in the operations. In fact, 13% of the shares in Mother Earth are reserved in a mutual benefit trust for producers to purchase at par. Moreover, community enterprises are encouraged to seek retail platforms in addition to Mother Earth, so they can gain more self-sustainability and independent in the long term. As of August 2011, Industree has incubated 13 community SHGs and community-owned enterprises in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Industree also sources products from 600 crafts-based collectives and SHGs in ten Indian states, opening up the Mother Earth brand and market platform for them as well. Industree impacts 10,000 artisans currently, with 150 million Indian rupees of sales in 2011. In five years Neelam Chhiber and her team aim to directly impact more than 50,000 individual artisans by incubating their enterprises and facilitating product diversification, introducing new brands and markets.
Industree prepares low-income artisans to become owners and entrepreneurs in grassroots community enterprises, linking them with market access to Indias booming retail sector.
Focus: Rural Development, Enterprise Development, Culture, Handicrafts Geographic Area of Impact: India Model: Hybrid Non-Profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 10,000 (2011) Percentage Earned Revenue: 35% Recognition: Social Entrepreneur of the Year, India, 2011
The Entrepreneur
Neelam Chhiber, co-founder of Industree, is an industrial designer from the National Institute of Design, India. She is an alumnus of Social impact International, the Global Social Benefit Incubator, Santa Clara University, US, and of the Harvard Executive Programme.
Background
Indonesia emerged from the grip of authoritarian rule more than a decade ago, and the demand for independent, unbiased information has greatly increased in recent years. Previously, Indonesian radio was tightly restricted in terms of content, and even small rural stations were confined to broadcasting censored government news bulletins. As the country transitioned to democracy, independent news radio was yet unheard of, as many citizens had never imagined that radio could deliver practical information. There was neither broadcast journalism equipment nor journalists trained to design and deliver such content. Since its establishment in 2000, KBR68H has been revolutionizing Indonesias news and radio industry, allowing greater access to news and practical information for millions of rural and urban Indonesians and Southeast Asians.
Tosca Santoso
Asia
KBR68H
Founded in 2000, Indonesia www.kbr68h.com

KBR68H works with a network of 650 radio stations across the archipelago, as well as in 9 countries in Asia and Australia. It produces high-quality, independent content disseminated by these affiliate stations, penetrating Indonesias previously unreachable areas and other parts of Asia where free, independent information is rare. In total, KBR68H broadcasts reach +22 million people, addressing practical and relevant topics such as legal issues, health, environmental preservation, economic policy, education and politics. KBR68H is committed to raising standards in the radio industry and giving greater access to information to the entire region. It currently has 50 journalists in Jakarta, 100 correspondents across Indonesia, and 30 contributors in Asia. A new initiative of KBR68H, Asia Calling, delivers in-depth reporting on major regional issues, utilizing the knowledge of local correspondents across the continent, sharing insights on major regional and local challenges, and inspirational stories of successful men and women who positively impact their communities. Green Radio, a recently launched KBR68H subsidiary, highlights environmental issues relevant to Indonesians and encourages citizens to take action to protect their local environment. Recently, Green Radio organized a reforestation project in partnership with local communities and set up a small ecotourism programme in Gede Pangrango National Park. KBR68H joins more than 40 local television stations, with a total audience of +40 million, through Tempo TV, aiming to raise the standard of television content in the country. It produces public service oriented programmes concerned with under-served subjects and the educational needs of viewers. In addition to these specific projects, KBR68H is bridging the information gap in Indonesia by empowering small, rural radio stations through training programmes in radio journalism, technical matters and marketing.
KBR68H is Indonesias only independent radio news agency, providing greater access to information for more than 22 million listeners across Indonesia, Asia, and Australia.
Focus: Communications, Media Geographic Area of Impact: Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Thailand Model: Social Business Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 22 million Recognition: Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Indonesia, 2010
The Entrepreneur
A graduate of the Bogor Agriculture Institute, Santoso founded Kantor Berita Radio (KBR68H) in 2000, establishing the first independent news radio in Indonesia. Prior to Indonesias transition to democracy, he was involved with print media. As radio restrictions diminished in the 1990s, Santoso was compelled to move into radio news and contribute to the development and expansion of this industry that had remained repressed in Indonesia.
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Background
Poverty is an endemic issue in Pakistan, with an average per capita income below US$ 1,000 and 34% of the population living in poverty. Inspired by the success of the Grameen Bank, the Kashf Foundation (miracle or revelation in Urdu) works to alleviate poverty in Pakistan by providing quality, cost-effective microfinance services to low-income households, especially women. This enhances their economic role and decision-making capacity. Kashf Foundation began its operations in 1996, and during the past 17 years successfully demonstrated its business case for investing in lowincome women in Pakistan, through 1.8 million cumulative loans. Today, as a result of its success almost 50% of the clientele in the microfinance sector is female, while in terms of access Kashf Foundation is the third largest MFI with a fully female client base.
Roshaneh Zafar
Kashf Foundation
Founded in 1996, Pakistan www.kashf.org

Since 2008 Pakistans economy has been shadowing the global economic meltdown, and populations at the bottom of the pyramid face many challenges, including increasing inflation, rising energy and commodity prices and general economic retardation. To help clients deal with this, Kashf Foundation ensures that clients have continued access to financial services despite the instability in the macro and micro economy. This has been done through focusing credit for productive purposes, reducing loan overlap, assessing debt capacity of clients prior to disbursements, and adjusting credit methodology to increase loan productivity. Kashf Foundation follows a micro-finance plus approach, i.e. offering a suite of complementary financial and non-financial services to its client base. Upon the application for a loan with Kashf, its business development officers undertake a mandatory one-on-one Basic Financial Literacy session with all applicants. Next, the client undergoes a loan screening process strongly focused upon ensuring the loans are used for productive purposes, including an appraisal of the clients business. The major loan product is the productive loan (up to US$ 570) for expanding and building economic opportunities. Additionally, Kashf Foundation provides its clients with the following services: Systemized Financial Education training, Gender Training, Social Sensitization through community theatre performances, and Business Incubation services. These services are free and clients can opt into any of these programmes.
The Kashf Foundation is Pakistans first specialized microfinance institution, pioneering new products and providing door-to-door microfinance services to the urban poor, especially women.
Focus: Financial Inclusion, Microfinance, Women Geographic Area of Impact: Pakistan Model: Social Business Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 293,622 (2011) Annual Budget: US$ 15,282,757 (2011) Percentage Earned Revenue: 89% Recognition: Schwab Fellow of the World Economic Forum
The Entrepreneur
Roshaneh Zafar comes from an established Lahore family of intellectuals. She received her BS in Finance and BA in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania, and an MA in International Development Economics from Yale University. She worked as a WID/Community Participation Specialist at UNDP and the World Bank before founding the Kashf Foundation in 1996. She is a founding member of the Pakistan Microfinance Network, a member of several NGOs including Womens World Banking and the UN Advisory Group on Inclusive Financial Services, and the World Economic Forums Global Agenda Council on Gender Gap.
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Asia
Background
Despite the robust growth of microfinance, affordable financial services remain out of reach for many of the worlds poor. In 2004, the World Bank reported that one-third of urban Latino families in the US did not have bank accounts, while another third had no access to credit services. Creditscoring mechanisms often preclude immigrants because they lack credit histories, and lacking other options they often turn to high-priced checkcashing services and money transfer companies. On the receiving end, immigrant families often do not have bank accounts, while local microfinance institutions have limited access to capital for lending. Billions of dollars in remittance each year are neither integrated into, nor leveraged by the global financial system, while the financial needs of migrant families remain unmet.
Atsumasa Tochisako
Microfinance International Corporation (MFIC)
Founded in 2003, US www.mfi-corp.com
Asia

While there are private companies and non-profit organizations that handle remittance, microfinance and immigrants issues, MFIC is the only organization that combines these matters into one business model with international coverage. Its three key areas of activity collectively address the needs of migrant families: the Alante retail banking branches in the US; the ARIAS remittance settlement platform; and the Ascella Compliance consulting service. Alante functions as a microfinance institution, offering low remittance rates as its key initial service for immigrants. Regular remittances build migrants credit records that subsequently grant them access to a full range of value-added services, such as consumer loans and mortgages. On the receiving side, MFIC has partnered with home country-based banks and microfinance institutions (MFIs) to transfer money to local communities directly. In addition, Alante offers transnational loan products that allow immigrants in the developed world to pay for large purchases in their home communities, while its credit facilities and smaller-scale microfinance institutions increase their loan-making capacities. From here, MFICs ARIAS software gives small-scale, non-bank financial institutions and large banks alike access to its global remittance network with required levels of security and efficiency. Ascella makes it easier for financial institutions to offer remittance services under the tight post-9/11 regulatory regime. Collectively, this business model demonstrates an effective way to integrate remittance flows into the global financial system and increases financial access for migrant families around the world. MFIC operates six Alante branches in three states, and reaches 21,000 financial institutions through the US Federal Reserve Banks international payment service. Globally, remittances have been channelled to 95 countries worldwide, creating a network of banks, MFIs, mobile network operators and retailers to reach the underserved market.
MFIC applies information technology and a commercial banking approach to underserved communities, thereby offering professional financial services to migrant families globally.
Focus: Financial Inclusion Geographic Area of Impact: Global Model: Social Business Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 120,000 (2010) Annual Budget: US$ 15.0 million (2010) Percentage Earned Revenue: 100% Recognition: Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Japan, 2009
The Entrepreneur
Atsumasa Tochisako grew up in poverty in post-World War II Japan. After graduating from university, he embarked on a 27-year career with the Bank of Tokyo, serving half of this time in Latin America. While there, he saw that individuals only needed small opportunities to live up to their full potential. Tochisako knew that financial institutions had the operational capacity and social responsibility to serve these needs, but failed to do so because of a lack of interest and innovation. He then took a step towards reforming the financial sector for the poor when he was assigned as the Bank of Tokyos Chief Representative in Washington, DC. He also founded MicroManos, a company designed to create meaningful work opportunities for Latino immigrants unable to find employment in the city. Ultimately, frustration with the inaction in political circles motivated him to create MFIC, with the aim of revolutionizing the global remittance industry.
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Background
In 2007, southern Asian governments spent less than 3% of their annual GDP on public health, and in this region of more than one billion lowincome people, access to quality affordable healthcare is prohibitively expensive. Lack of access to proper care has hindered millions from escaping cycles of poverty. Moreover, operational healthcare facilities suffer from overcrowding, underfunding, corruption and misallocation of resources. These problems have left much of south Asia, particularly Pakistan, with a critical public health problem for which few viable, effective solutions have been proposed.
Asher Hasan
Naya Jeevan
Founded in 2007, Pakistan www.njfk.org

Naya Jeevan (meaning new life in Hindi/Urdu) is dedicated to the procurement, provision, and quality control of co-financed catastrophic health insurance for low-income workers, like janitors, drivers, waiters, security guards and domestic helpers. Unlike other micro-health insurance models, Naya Jeevans approach allows for the distribution of the financial burden of high-quality healthcare coverage among employers, sponsors, government or multilateral agencies who pay the majority of the premium. The low-income employees only pay a minor cost and are covered in all major private hospitals in Pakistan, with an annual limit of PKR 150,000 (US$ 1,800), the approximate cost of cardiac bypass surgery. Designed to leverage the ideals of corporate social responsibility with academic, corporate, and NGO distribution channels, Naya Jeevan is able to purchase large group health insurance plans from underwriters at highly discounted rates. It can therefore offer quality coverage to an underserved, critical market of more than 20 million Pakistanis whose income otherwise precludes them from receiving crucial medical and emergency health services. In addition to procuring and providing healthcare plans, Naya Jeevan advocates on behalf of its clients and their sponsors and works to ensure that legitimate claims are not denied. Naya Jeevan also coordinates workshops, delivered by its corporate and NGO partners, on vocational training, primary and preventive health, and environmental hygiene, and helps beneficiaries negotiate through Pakistans healthcare system. Naya Jeevan currently offers its health plan in 40 cities through a network of more than 100 accredited hospitals.
Naya Jeevan offers affordable, highquality catastrophic health insurance and value-added services to Pakistans population of low-income workers.
Focus: Health Geographic Area of Impact: Pakistan Model: Social Business Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 10,000 (2011) Annual Budget: US$ 470,000 (2009) Recognition: Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Asia, 2011
The Entrepreneur
Asher Hasan was born in the UK and spent many formative years in Pakistan. Commuting from the UK to south Asia, he grew acutely aware of how Pakistans low-income population lacked access to healthcare and education opportunities, and the inequalities in south Asias healthcare paradigm. After studying medicine in the US and receiving his MBA from NYU, Hasan became emerged in the biotech industry, but felt compelled to develop a transformative, replicable model that would address the entrenched problems in Pakistan.
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Asia
Background
There are over 340 million workers, or roughly 92% of the countrys working population, in Indias informal sector. They contribute to about 60% of the national economic output. Despite their vast numbers and substantial contribution to the economy, they represent the poorest segments of the population. On average, these workers do not earn much more than US$ 1 per day and work is often seasonal. They do not belong to unions and are regularly exploited for their labour.
Arbind Singh
Asia
Nidan
Founded in 1995, India www.nidan.in
Nidan builds profitable businesses and organizations led by workers from the informal sector, including waste workers, rag pickers, vegetable vendors, construction labourers, domestic helpers, farmers and street traders. It does this by tapping into the wealth of the poor, primarily their numerical strength, and then aggregates them into economies of scale. This process of collectivizing generates social capital, representation and a voice for the poor, which they then leverage to launch their own businesses. Businesses launched by Nidan have brought together 400,000 workers from the informal sector and positioned them as legitimate competitors in markets opening up throughout the country. As an entry point, Nidan moves into neighbourhoods to train and align individuals into profession-based groups. These groups quickly generate connections between individuals as they learn to link their personal struggles to the challenges of their occupational sectors. Once fragmented, traders and service providers now organize into broad-based occupational pressure groups; each group is a nascent enterprise to be mentored until it emerges as an independent identity and registers profit curves. Every enterprise is decentralized and independent, with growth and operations left entirely to shareholders. Most are large enough to affect significant policy shift. As an example, the Nidan-initiated National Association of Street Vendors of India (NASVI), with its 300,000 members across 20 states, has successfully lobbied for the passage of the Act for Urban Vendors, a first for the country. As entrepreneurs these informal workers are reporting income growths of 100% or more. Waste collectors, for example, have realized a 200% increase in their annual incomes. Secure and regular income growth has led to improved access to social security, education, childcare and legal aid. Some 100,000 children of Nidan members, who previously could not access education, now go to formal and community schools launched by Nidan in urban Patna and Samastipur districts in the India state of Bihar. Most significantly, Nidan is returning a culture of accountability and honest enterprise to underdeveloped states and organizations of informal workers. Its contracts are secured without bribes and at competitive market rates. This has solidified the confidence of the poorest in transparency and collective action. Nidan has also made forays into skill development and solar light production accessible to workers
Nidan creates institutions and programmes aimed at economic and social development of Indias poorest and marginalized workers.
Focus: Labour and Employment, Enterprise Development, Waste Management Geographic Area of Impact: India Model: Hybrid Non-Profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 460,000 (2011) Annual Budget: US$ 2,974,053 (2011) Percentage Earned Revenue: 47.4% Recognition: Social Entrepreneur of the Year, India, 2008
The Entrepreneur
Arbind Singh spent his early years in Katihar, a district in Indias northeast state of Bihar, which is a hub of first-generation migrants who came to the area in search of work. As a child, he was perplexed by the routine eviction of neighbourhood vendors. After studying sociology and law in New Delhi, he returned to Bihar in the early 1990s to work with vendors and has been active in the development sector for 17 years. He started Nidan to support poor men, women and their children involved in the informal economy.
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Background
According to UNESCO, Indias literacy rate ranks it 147 out of 177 countries surveyed. India is home to hundreds of millions of illiterate people and many more who are neo-literates individuals who only have rudimentary literacy skills despite having attended several years of primary school. Neo-literacy exists because many primary school students have neither home nor school environments that are conducive to increasing their literacy. Every year approximately 27 million Indian children complete primary school as non-functional readers.
Brij Kothari
PlanetRead
Founded in 2004, India www.planetread.org
PlanetRead operates on the tenet that literacy skills must be constantly reinforced to avoid a regression toward illiteracy. The organizations key innovation, Same Language Subtitling (SLS), is simple and effective. By using subtitles in popular programming on Indias national broadcasting agency, Doordarshan, it exposes viewers to written text, providing them with an opportunity to practice reading in an unobtrusive manner. Subtitles in the same language appear in perfect synchronization with audio tracks so viewers automatically read the exact text they are hearing. SLS is grounded in rigorous research, is culturally appropriate and costeffective. The Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Ahmedabad and the Nielsen-ORG Center for Social Research have studied the effects of SLS in 3,179 households since 2003, and the results demonstrated: when exposed to 30 minutes of SLS per week, the functional literacy rate among students who had at least five years of Hindi schooling grew from 25% to 56%. Leveraging Doordarshans media presence across India and the large number of film viewers in major Indian languages, PlanetRead estimates that every US$ 1 spent on SLS generates about 30 minutes of reading practice for approximately 1,000 people for a year. Compared to Indias national literacy mission efforts to distribute reading material and build libraries for neo-literates, SLS is an extremely affordable and innovative way of raising literacy levels. Currently PlanetRead applies SLS to eight programmes, each in a major Indian language. Programmes have a weekly airtime of 30 minutes, reaching 200 million neo-literate viewers. Having made important inroads in convincing Indian policy-makers of the value of SLS, PlanetRead aims to consolidate SLS adoption within India and then expand its efforts internationally. PlanetRead also runs a for-profit venture, BookBox, which produces animated books with SLS in multiple languages. SLS won the World Bank Development Marketplace Award in 2002, and was honoured at the 2009 Clinton Global Initiative meeting.
PlanetRead is dedicated to literacy development in India, working to ensure that people have access to interesting and affordable reading opportunities in their native or other languages.
Focus: Communication/Media, Education Geographic Area of Impact: India Model: Leveraged Non-Profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 200 million Annual Budget: US$ 94,000 Recognition: Social Entrepreneur of the Year, India, 2009
The Entrepreneur
Brij Kothari came upon the idea of SLS in 1996 when he was watching a Spanish film with his friends. As a student of Spanish, he desired that the subtitles could be in that language so he could read along and understand the dialogue. Kothari has an MA in Physics from the Indian Institute of Technology (Kanpur) and a Masters and PhD from Cornell University in Communications and Education, respectively. After completing his dissertation, he returned to India and joined the faculty at IIM Ahmedabad. Combating illiteracy through SLS has since become his personal and professional passion.
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Background
In the mid-1970s, when rural women in Thailand were having approximately 7 children per family, PDA was launched to promote family planning and help eradicate poverty in rural parts of the country.

PDA is one of Thailands largest, most diverse non-governmental organizations. It began by providing access to contraception to rural women, and was the first organization to use non-medical personnel to distribute oral contraceptives and condoms in villages and urban neighbourhoods. Thailand has now achieved one of the fastest declines in fertility in the modern era, from an annual population growth of 3.3% in 1974 to 0.6% in 2005. The average number of children per family has fallen from seven to less than two. When the HIV/AIDS epidemic hit Thailand in the late 1980s, PDA used similar ground-breaking principles to promote awareness and condom use, an initiative still regarded as one of the most significant national efforts by any country combating HIV/AIDS. By 2004 Thailand had experienced a 90% reduction in new potential infections compared with infection rates in the early 1990s. PDAs Thailand Business Initiative in Rural Development (TBIRD) was launched in the 1980s to fight poverty using business skills and financial assistance from the business sector to support development in poorer areas. Over the past 25 years the programme has evolved into the Village Development Partnership (VDP), working in +400 villages throughout Thailand and Cambodia. It engages in rural development in five key areas: community empowerment, income generation, health, environment and education. These principles were used in emergency relief efforts to restore community prosperity after the devastating 2004 tsunami. In 2009, the Mechai Pattana School (known as the Bamboo School) opened to provide children in Thailands rural Buriram Province with free private education. The school has been praised as a revolutionary model of education for effectively harnessing childrens creative abilities to solve problems. The Bamboo School also launched an integrated rural development initiative, to assist government primary schools in poor areas become lifelong learning centres and hubs of social and economic progress, a project known as the School-BIRD (School-Based Integrated Rural Development) programme. To sustain PDA financially, 18 for-profit companies were established to help provide funding to operate PDAs extensive non-profit, rural development activities like the Mechai Pattana School. These for-profit businesses include the Cabbages and Condoms Restaurant chain, the Birds & Bees Resort in Pattaya, and the Business for Rural Education and Development, which sells rural goods and handicrafts.
Mechai Viravaidya
Population and Community Development Association (PDA)
Founded in 1974, Thailand www.pda.or.th
Asia
Through 18 for-profit companies, PDA focuses on community-based approaches to rural development, education, philanthropy, HIV/AIDS prevention and healthcare.
Focus: HIV/AIDS, Environment, Health, Microfinance, Rural Development, Education, Philanthropy Geographic Area of Impact: Thailand, Cambodia Model: Hybrid Non-Profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 30,000 (2011) Annual Budget: US$ 5,170,446 (2010) Percentage Earned Revenue: 65% Recognition: Schwab Fellow of the World Economic Forum
The Entrepreneur
Mechai Viravaidya studied commerce at the University of Melbourne in Australia before returning to Thailand and working with a governmental development agency as an economist. He founded PDA in 1974 and, with encouragement and financial support from the private sector, made contraception available to Thai women, resulting in 70% of couples now practising family planning. His latest social enterprise innovation is BREAD (Business for Rural Education and Development), which aims to achieve profitability and then assist PDA attain more financial sustainability through business activities like rural tours, handicrafts and e-commerce. He believes this business model will foster long-term sustainability among non-governmental organizations rather than heavily depending on thirdparty donations.
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Background
Primary education in India suffers from many problems, including a lack of teachers, disengaged students, irrelevant textbook content and chaotic classrooms incorporating multiple grade students under one or two instructors. Although the government has invested heavily in universal primary education, in less developed areas school dropout rates remain as high as 40%, and 70% of students in Class 1 fail to reach Class 5. Overburdened teachers have little creative control of classroom content and teaching methodologies. Left with little external support, teacher absenteeism can be as high as 50%. Collectively, this is leading to dire educational outcomes for students in rural India.
Rishi Valley Institute for Educational Resources (RIVER)

Founded in 1987, India www.river-rv.org; www.rishivalley.org RIVER has developed a learner-guided method to teaching that not only increases learning but also re-engages teachers in their responsibility as educators.
RIVER gives teachers extensive support through training, information exchanges and distance learning tools in their network. It also engages parents and local communities in the education accountability chain, creating feedback loops for quality control wherever its model is replicated. RIVER is financed largely by state and national governments. Key players in public education, including education secretaries, district administrators, principals and teachers, train in RIVER methodologies for two to four weeks at the Rishi Valley Institute in Andhra Pradesh. RIVER then closely mentors the teams over a period of two years to ensure proper implementation of the model. As a result of implementing the RIVER methods, attendance in their schools is above 80%, dropout rates are 30% lower, and student learning levels are 40% higher than those of public schools. UNESCO reports confirm the improved math and verbal scores of RIVER students and the enthusiastic learning environment generated by the programme. Internationally, RIVER is replicating its work in Ethiopia, Nepal, Bangladesh, Germany and Sri Lanka, and partnerships are being formalized in nine other countries. RIVER has launched research partnerships with Harvard University (US), the University of Metz (France) and the University of Regensburg (Germany). RIVER was awarded the Global Development Network Award for being The 2004 Most Innovative Development Project.
Focus: Education, Youth Geographic Area of Impact: India, Nepal, Ethiopia, Bangladesh, Germany Model: Leveraged Non-Profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 12.8 million Annual Budget: US$ 300,000 (2011) Percentage Earned Revenue: 30% Recognition: Social Entrepreneurs of the Year, India, 2009
The Entrepreneurs
The husband and wife team of Padmanabha and Rama Rao joined the Rishi Valley education outreach programme in 1987 with post-graduate degrees in education. From 1987 to 1993 they developed the Ladder of Learning and tested it in 16 satellite schools in marginalized rural areas. Today, they serve as co-Directors of RIVER, travelling widely across India and abroad to promote their model. The Raos are actively involved with Indias key curriculum platform, the National Centre for Education Resource and Training, and have been involved with numerous education appraisal and evaluation missions.
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Asia
Rama and Padmanabha Rao

RIVERs key innovation is School-in-a-Box, an activity-based learning programme, where government curricula are adapted for local context and organized into smaller modules that align with each students ability. Children from different levels learn together in a self-directed fashion, enabling teachers to spend more time with weaker students. Local teachers gain ownership over their learning materials by developing School-in-a-Box sets, consisting of cards, charts and songs customized for their students. RIVERs School-in-a-Box learning materials are cheaper and more durable than textbooks, and its work has already created a critical mass of 500,000 teachers who are replicating the model in 200,000 schools in 15 languages.
Background
In Pakistan, as elsewhere in the developing world, the proportion of the urban population living below the poverty line is rising at an alarming rate; its urban population is growing at 3.5% per year. Over 30% of the countrys urban population lives in squatter settlements on public lands, of which nearly 50% are located in the city of Karachi. The unchecked growth of these temporary settlements continues as a result of shortcomings in the housing delivery system and lack of access to affordable land tenure by the poor.
Tasneem A. Siddiqui
Saiban - Action Research for Shelter
Founded in 1991, Pakistan web-saiban.blogspot.com
Asia
In 1987, Siddiqui conceived the Khuda-ki-Basti approach, helping the urban poor acquire legal titles to residential lots with a minimum affordable down payment. This represented a dramatic departure from the public sector development model, where state-owned land is first serviced with essential infrastructure and then plots are made available for purchase, usually to middle-class residents or real estate speculators. The Khuda-kiBasti model is more of an informal sector approach, designed to provide greater access and affordability to the poor. The allocation process is problem-free, and plot acquisition is made when payment is received. Siddiqui founded Saiban to continue the work of scaling and perfecting the Khuda-ki-Basti methodology. At the same time he reactivated the Sindh Katchi Abadis Authority (SKAA), a quasi-governmental agency that regularizes and upgrades squatter settlements. SKAA serves as the link between Saiban and governmental authorities to make the approach sustainable. Saiban provides poor squatters with access to affordable plots of developed land in several settlements, thus providing secure residential tenure and public utilities in areas where the poor would normally have no access to such property or services. Saiban ensures housing is affordable with flexible payment schedules, and together with other non-profit organizations facilitates key social and economic services to the residents of developed housing communities, including education, healthcare and credit activities. To date, Saiban has provided housing to over 8,000 families, benefiting about 60,000 people. Upcoming projects will provide housing for another 6,500 families, benefiting an additional 42,000 individuals.
Saiban provides creative housing solutions to low-income and marginalized populations in Pakistan.
Focus: Homelessness, Housing Geographic Area of Impact: Pakistan Model: Hybrid Non-Profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 60,000 (2011) Annual Budget: US$ 165,440 (2008-2011) Percentage Earned Revenue: 100% Recognition: Schwab Fellow of the World Economic Forum
The Entrepreneur
Tasneem Siddiqui obtained his MA in Political Science from the University of Sindh in 1964, and joined Pakistans civil service a year later. During his career he served as Deputy Commissioner of Sukkur, Chief Secretary in the Sindh government and Director-General of the Hyderabad Development Authority. He has worked for the last 23 years testing, improving and replicating models to help the urban poor buy land. He is currently launching the Social Housing Company, a for-profit hybrid, which will enable Saiban to purchase land, either from the government or on the open market, and pass on the benefits to the poor.
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Background
About 57% of Indias population does not have electricity and for many more the supply is unreliable. SELCOs approach to the lack of working electricity through much of rural India relies on three principles: the poor can afford sustainable technologies; the poor can maintain sustainable technologies; and it is commercially viable to operate a venture serving the needs of the poor.

SELCO has pioneered energy access to families living below the poverty line through a combination of customized energy service systems, innovative financing and an understanding of market needs of different user groups. Rather than focus on a saturated solar technology production field, SELCO brings the sustainable technology to the base of the pyramid using financing mechanisms that render it affordable and productive for the end user. To do this SELCO pioneers links between technology, financing, energy services, income generation and quality of life. The organization runs its grassroots operations through 28 Energy Service Centres (ESCs). The centres market, sell, install and service SELCOs products. The companys core business is the sale of energy systems that provide electricity for lighting, water pumping, clean cooking, communications, computing, entertainment and small business appliances. The company works with banks to structure innovative financing for customers. A standard SELCO four-light system, for example, costs users approximately US$ 380. A user will usually pay a small down payment and then monthly instalments of US$ 6-8 over five years. The user can also pay by generating extra income resulting from additional work made possible with the light and savings from eliminating costly fossil fuels with customized payment schedules. SELCO further spreads the sustainable technology through business associates. These entrepreneurs lease solar-powered lights to street vendors in the evening. SELCO has reached 130,000 clients across the Indian states of Karnataka, Kerala and Gujarat. Energy services have led to improvements in the quality of life for thousands of people, including better education outcomes for children who can now study at night.
Harish Hande
SELCO Solar Light
Founded in 1995, India www.selco-india.com
SELCO Solar Light provides sustainable energy solutions and services to underserved households and businesses in India.
Focus: Energy, Environment, Rural Development Geographic Area of Impact: India Model: Social Business Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 500,000 (2011) Annual Budget: US$ 575,000 (2011) Percentage Earned Revenue: 100% Recognition: Social Entrepreneur of the Year, India, 2007
The Entrepreneur
Harish Hande is an engineering graduate of the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur. He earned his doctorate in energy engineering at the University of Massachusetts, specializing in solar energy. Hande originally started his PhD thesis in heat transfer, but changed his academic focus after visiting the Dominican Republic and observing areas with poverty worse than India using solar energy. Upon returning to Massachusetts, he abandoned his heat transfer thesis and started anew on solar electrification in rural areas, conducting much of his research in India, Sri Lanka and the Dominican Republic. He is recognized as an international expert in the field of renewable energy.
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Asia
Background
While 94% of working women in India are self-employed, they have historically enjoyed fewer legal protections or workers rights. Most are illiterate and subject to exploitation and harassment by moneylenders, employers and officials. In 1972, Ela Bhatt, a lawyer and head of the womens section of the Textile Labour Association in Ahmedabad, observed the horrendous conditions faced by women working as headloaders, weavers, needlecraft workers, cigarette rollers and waste collectors. As a result, she became committed to helping women organize themselves.
Asia
Ela Bhatt and Mirai Chatterjee

Self-Employed Womens Association (SEWA)
Founded in 1972, India www.sewa.org

SEWA provides comprehensive support to poor, self-employed women. Its efforts over four decades to increase the bargaining power, economic opportunities, health security, legal representation and organizational abilities of Indian women have brought dramatic improvements to thousands and influenced similar initiatives around the globe. Based in the Indian state of Gujarat, SEWAs 1.3 million members include 700,000 women within the state, representing +100 informal trades, and an additional 600,000 members in eight other states. It is the largest womens union in India, offering its members an array of financial, health, childcare, insurance, legal, vocational and education services. Its members have created 103 cooperatives, over 3,000 producers groups, forged market links and enhanced bargaining positions. These successful efforts increased members employment income by 600% from 1994 to 1998. SEWA Bank, with 400,000 savers, has issued loans to thousands of members. To provide for members healthcare, it helped start a health cooperative and developed an insurance programme that provides coverage for hospitalization, accidents and loss of life. A SEWA-affiliated team of 500 midwives and health workers serves the healthcare needs of 300,000 individuals, and the insurance programme has developed into the VimoSEWA cooperative, Indias first such national-level organization. SEWA also uses video, telephone, computer and satellite communications to provide information technology to the working class. To address legal issues such as housing, wage disputes and other exploitative issues, it offers its members legal aid services. Currently, SEWA leaders dedicate their time to influence national and international policies that offer support to informal and self-employed workers globally.
SEWA provides support to poor, selfemployed women in countries with large informal economies.
Focus: Enterprise Development, Financial Inclusion, Labour Conditions and Unemployment, Rural Development, Women, Communications/ Media, Culture and Handicrafts Geographic Area of Impact: India Model: Hybrid Non-Profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 1.3 million (2010) Annual Budget: US$ 1.38 million (2010) Recognition: Schwab Fellows of the World Economic Forum
The Entrepreneurs
Ela Bhatt graduated with a law degree in 1954, and joined the Textile Labour Association, a union founded by Mahatma Gandhi in 1917. There she observed the conditions of the non-organized sector, primarily comprised of women, and decided to help organize them into unions. Mirai Chatterjee has a BA in History and Science from Harvard University, and a Masters in Hygiene and Public Health from Johns Hopkins University. She is SEWAs Director for Social Security, responsible for healthcare, childcare and insurance programmes. Chatterjee is on the board of several organizations in India, including the Friends of Womens World Banking and the Public Health Foundation of India. She is a member of the National Advisory Council, appointed by the Prime Minister of India and chaired by Mrs Sonia Gandhi, Chairperson of the United Progressive Alliance. She is also a member of the Committee to Develop Universal Health Coverage in India.
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Background
In early 1996, a prolonged cold spell in Hong Kong led to the death of more than 150 unattended senior citizens, a tragedy that raised public concern for the safety of elderly people. Due to medical advances today, people are living longer and the ageing population is increasing. The number of older people living alone in Asia is also rising due to a shift in social and family values, indicating an increasing need for total care services among those aged 65 and over.
Timothy Ma Kam Wah

Senior Citizen Home Safety Association (SCHSA)
Founded in 1996, Hong Kong SAR www.schsa.org.hk
The SCHSA 24-hour Personal Emergency Link system caters to the elderly living alone in Hong Kong. Subscribers simply press a remote trigger on their alarm system to contact an operator, who identifies and assesses their needs. In case of an emergency, staff will notify ambulance services, the appropriate hospital and family members to ensure prompt assistance. The Elder Ring Hotline is attended by professional social workers and trained volunteers, and provides telephone contact, emotional support, short-term counselling and referral services free-of-charge. To date, SCHSA has trained and mobilized +1,200 volunteers, who help with the Elder Ring Hotline, home and hospital visitations, and blanket deliveries. Public services also include the distribution of Golden Age magazine, a monthly publication for senior citizens containing information on daily living in Hong Kong. Charity Case Management, the fundraising arm of SCHSA, targets needs-based individuals, and 20% of SCHSA customers receive a lifetime Personal Emergency Link subscription at no charge. In responding to the emerging demand for home support and care service, the association has started Easy Home Service, another Social Enterprise Project, to render on-demand home support and care service to hundreds of the needy elderly and families. More than 1,000 middle-aged Easy Home Service Teammates have been trained to address the required services of those subscribers.
SCHSA provides care and services for the elderly and needy population in Hong Kong, including a 24-hour emergency service.
Focus: Disabilities, Health, Technology, Home Care Support Service Geographic Area of Impact: Peoples Republic of China (Hong Kong, Macau and China) Australia, Singapore Model: Hybrid Non-Profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 173,500 (2010) Annual Budget: US$ 12.4 million (2011) Percentage Earned Revenue: 80% Recognition: Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Asia, 2009
The Entrepreneur
Timothy Ma Kam Wah was appointed Executive Director of SCHSA upon its inception in 1996. Since then he has been implementing the organizations vision, developing current and future services, and expanding its model in partnership with local governments in Chinese cities, including Shanghai, Guangzhou, Macau and Shenzhen. He has been appointed by the government to serve on these public committees concerned with elderly and social welfare issues: Elderly Commission, Social Welfare Advisory Committee, Guardianship Board, Town Planning Board, e-Health Partnership Task Force, and the Users and Customer Advisory Committee on Telecommunications. He was recently appointed as the only overseas board member of the Centre for Enabled Living, a functioning arm of Singapore MCYS, to render elderly related services.
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Asia
Through information technology and communication systems, SCHSA provides senior citizens and those in need with 24-hour lifeline assistance. In addition to emergency and notification services, it also includes social services, social support networks and consulting services for people with elderly family members requiring special arrangements.
Background
India has one of the worlds largest urban populations, with about 350 million people living in cities. The percentage of people living under the poverty line in urban areas is higher than in rural areas, and these numbers are rising. Because cities are poorly planned, most poor people live as squatters on private or public lands and have inadequate access to basic services. This has a significant impact on their health, education and income. Slum dwellers are constantly threatened by eviction and treated as non-citizens who have encroached on cities that need their labour, but are unwilling to accommodate their housing needs.
Asia
Sheela Patel and Jockin Arputham

Society for the Promotion of Area Resource Centers (SPARC)
Founded in 1984, India www.sparcindia.org SPARC works to empower the urban poor in India to gain access to the resources they need to upgrade and formalize their settlements.

SPARC forged a three-way alliance with the National Slum Dwellers Federation (NSDF) and Mahila Milan to tackle housing and infrastructure issues for the urban poor. NSDF organizes and mobilizes the urban poor to articulate their concerns and find solutions to the problems they face, while Mahila Milan supports and trains womens collectives to administer and manage their communitys resources and participate in NSDF activities. SPARC provides the administrative, financial, policy, documentation and other support necessary for these processes to be successful on the ground. For 20 years this alliance has developed a strategy to achieve its goal of ensuring secure housing and infrastructure for the urban poor. This involves setting up community area resource centres, encouraging communities to join a savings and credit programme that builds trust within a settlement and strengthens the financial assets of participating families, and demonstrating through pilot projects the housing and infrastructure models that work for the poor as well as the city. These initiatives and strategies are geared towards strengthening bonds between poor communities and building their financial, managerial and organizational capacities so that they can take on not only housing and infrastructure projects, but also participate in larger issues of city redevelopment and management. SPARC has challenged existing practices of service deliveries by the government and has engaged agencies in relating directly to communities. With state support SPARC seeks to create institutional arrangements where communities own and control organizations and institutions that provide services to the poor. It has demonstrated that partnerships between NGOs, communities and government can and do bring change. Today the alliance works in about 70 cities in India and has networks in about 20 countries.
Focus: Land Security, Housing, Infrastructure Geographic Area of Impact: India Model: Leveraged Non-Profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 750,000 (2008-2009) Annual Budget: US$ 1.2 million (2008-2009) Percentage Earned Revenue: 5% Recognition: Schwab Fellows of the World Economic Forum
The Entrepreneurs
Born in Mumbai, Sheela Patel has worked since 1974 with urban poor communities, focusing on women and children. She realized that even efficiently delivered welfare does not produce real change for the poor, and organizations working on poverty issues required new ways to address these problems; thus, with other like-minded peers she founded SPARC. She is the Board Chair of Shack Dwellers International. Jockin Arputham is from the southern Indian state of Karnataka. He ran away from home as an adolescent and lived in the streets and slums of Mumbai. He has worked for more than 40 years in Indias slums and shanty towns, building representative organizations to partner with governments and international agencies for the betterment of urban living. He is president of NSDF, which he founded in the 1970s, and of Slum Dwellers International, which networks slum dwellers from over 20 countries.
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Background
For remote villages unconnected to the countrys electricity grid, there is both a high potential demand for electric lighting and a chance for business opportunities in renewable energy technologies. Today in Laos alone, 40% of the households do not have access to electricity. Small industries with growing energy needs are also forming as the state transitions into a nascent market economy.

Through public-private partnerships, Sunlabob offers renewable energy technologies to off-grid areas, with solar home system installations, solar lanterns, village hybrid grids and solar water purification systems. To encourage local business development and ownership, Sunlabob trains village technicians to maintain, recharge and rent solar lanterns, thus replacing kerosene lamps and their negative effects. Lighting is made affordable because families are buying a service rather than hardware. They are paying for hours of lighting as they would utilities in a developed economy, rather than buying the lantern and charging station, which otherwise would be cost-prohibitive. Through a resourceful combination of private investment, grant funding and government agency financing, Sunlabob installs solar energy systems that primarily provide electrification and some water purification, particularly in rural areas. Village technicians and committees help service the solar charging stations, which encourages the creation of microenterprises. In providing consultancy and capacity-building services, Sunlabob has been expanding to different countries through franchise agreements.
Andy Schroeter
Sunlabob Renewable Energy
Founded in 2000, Laos www.sunlabob.com
Through public-private partnerships, Sunlabob offers renewable energy technologies to off-grid areas, with solar home system installations, solar lanterns, village hybrid grids and solar water purification systems.
The Entrepreneur
Andy Schroeter has been in Laos since 1996, living and working in very remote villages in the northern part of the country on rural development projects for GTZ. Fascinated by the countrys transition to a marketoriented economy, he decided to stay to support the renewable energy sector and growing needs of business infrastructure. He is a consultant for USAID, the Asian Development Bank and other development agencies.
Focus: Energy, Enterprise Development, Rural Development, Environment, Technology, Water Geographic Area of Impact: Laos, Uganda, Cambodia, Afghanistan, Tanzania Model: Hybrid non-profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 17,000 Percentage Earned Revenue: 87% Recognition: Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Asia, 2010
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Asia
Background
There are +925 million undernourished people in the world. At the same time, more than 1.6 billion are considered overweight or obese, many of whom suffer from conditions like diabetes and chronic heart disease. World food production could adequately feed all its inhabitants, yet there remains tremendous inequality in food access and distribution, a dichotomy between undernutrition and overnutrition. TFT addresses this global nutrition imbalance to benefit those suffering on both ends of the nutrition spectrum.
Masa Kogure
Asia
TABLE FOR TWO (TFT)

Founded in 2007, Japan www.tablefor2.org
TFT works with its partners to serve healthy, balanced meals to those in the developed world and transfer the excess calories to impoverished, undernourished children in the developing world, primarily in sub-Saharan Africa. Unlike other programmes that combat child under-nutrition, TFT does not just transfer donations from the developed world, but actively promotes and works towards better health and nutrition for those on both sides of the table. TFT works with 500 partners in the developed world in Japan, US, UK, Switzerland, India, Taiwan, Korea, and Hong Kong, including corporate cafeterias, university dining halls, governments, and public restaurants. Partners serve balanced meals to their clients and transfer US$ 0.25 per meal (the value of the excess calories) to TFT and its Millennium Village Project, which currently serves nearly 19,000 school children in Malawi, Ethiopia, Uganda, and Rwanda. TFT options are also sold in more than 400 convenience stores in Japan. The low-cost model designed by TFT has allowed for easier, widespread participation among those in the developed world, while TFT partners have found that raising meal prices for such a social cause has garnered positive employee and student interest. As a result, young students across SubSaharan Africa who have received free lunches have displayed higher enrolment and retention rates in school.
TFT aims to shift the global food imbalance by transferring excess calories from the developed to the developing world, working to confront obesity and malnutrition.
Focus: Health, Food, Nutrition, Education Geographic Area of Impact: Global Model: Hybrid non-profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 19,300 Annual Budget: US$ 1,009,000 Percentage Earned Revenue: 84% Recognition: Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Asia, 2011
The Entrepreneur
First inspired by the suffering of a relative with heart disease, Masa Kogure worked in the artificial heart pump industry, using his training in biomechanical engineering on a series of cutting-edge technology projects in Japan. With a growing desire to understand the commercial mechanisms and markets that affect the technology he developed, Kogure joined McKinsey & Company as a consultant specializing in healthcare, medical devices and pharmaceuticals. Experience gained as a consultant provided the valuable project management experience that allowed him to pursue the concept and establishment of TFT.
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Background
The rate of unsustainable environmental practices is one of the highest in Indonesia. Telapak came into existence in response to the rise of illegal logging activities and the depletion of marine life. The lack of education and awareness of environmental issues have been draining the country of its natural resources since its colonial days. Concessions exploit the land and some businesses use bribery and other illicit means to gain permits. When Telapak first started, there was no effective monitoring mechanism to oversee the quota system for the harvesting of timber, coral and fishing. Indigenous people living near these natural resources were also under conflict with large companies over land and resource rights. In response to these issues, Ambrosius Ruwindrijarto, Silverius Oscar Unggul and four other friends started Telapak. Telapak is an association of NGO activists, business practitioners, academics, media affiliates and leaders of indigenous groups working together to promote ecological justice, cultural integrity and economic empowerment. Telapak sustains its activities through cooperatives and community enterprises. Current initiatives include printing, mass media, local politics, fisheries and forestry. These interrelated business units support each other in raising public awareness. In clarifying its positioning, Telapak is not anti-development. The organization, however, does promote sustainable logging and sustainable marine coral farming. In fact, Telapak is the first successful producer and exporter of exclusively non-cyanide ornamental fish and coral. Telapaks work is carried out by its business units, social enterprises whose profits are reinvested back into Telapak and the communities it seeks to help. The business units include three independent TV channels, Gekko video productions, Kippy printing, the Kedai Caf, a scientific research group, as well as the production of eco-friendly food products from the villages. Telapak also runs a cooperative programme that reaches out to and oversees the welfare of indigenous people living near natural resources. The cooperative has introduced insurance schemes, credit and savings programmes, as well as resource management education and a Forest Watch initiative. Telapak business units and the cooperative all work together to achieve the mission of the organization. For example, the printing business will publish the scientific research units work, and the TV and radio stations will broadcast illegal logging activity discovered by the communities. In addition, Kedai Caf is a sales channel for many of the products produced by the villagers. To date, Telapaks activities impacts 16 out of the 33 provinces in Indonesia.
Asia
Ambrosius Ruwindrijarto and Silverius Unggul

Telapak
Founded in 2002, Indonesia www.telapak.org
Telapak promotes ecological justice, cultural integrity and economic empowerment through its cooperatives and community enterprises, while supporting sustainable logging and marine farming practices.
Focus: Communications/Media, Environment, Rural Development, Enterprise Development Geographic Area of Impact: Indonesia Model: Hybrid Non-Profit Recognition: Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Indonesia, 2008
The Entrepreneur
Ambrosius Ruwindrijarto is the president of Telapak. He specializes in working with NGOs to provide a framework for people-to-people cooperation and trade initiatives for natural resource management. He has also produced several video documentaries and co-authored publications on coral reef, coastal and marine issues. Silverius Oscar Unggul is the vice-president of Telapak. He is an expert on forestry and timber issues.
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Background
More than 8 million Filipinos, about 10% of the population, are working overseas. The Philippines thus ranks as the third largest exporter of workers, whose incomes play a central role in the countrys economy. A recent Asian Development Bank report stated the real figure was between US$ 15-21 billion, dwarfing the US$ 2 billion the country received in 2006 in foreign direct investment. Attracted by higher wages, the exodus is fast draining the Philippines of its skilled professional workforce such as teachers and nurses. Political and economic volatility in many migrant destination countries in the MENA region, Europe, US and Japan has increased the demand for effective reintegration strategies by local governments.
Maria A. Villalba
Unlad Kabayan Migrant Services Foundation
Founded in 1996, Philippines www.unladkabayan.org
Asia

The Unlad Kabayan Migrant Services Foundation links the savings of migrant workers to community development. It pioneered and promoted the Migrant Savings and Alternative Investment for Community Development and Reintegration (MSAI-CDR) programme in the Philippines, and provides a variety of services to migrant workers by working through overseas migrant centres. Unlad Kabayans first service offering includes entrepreneurial literacy education, and savings and insurance packages negotiated with Filipino banks to meet migrant workers needs. It helps them form savings groups, pooling funds for investments in small businesses in their hometowns. It has successfully channelled these savings pools to enterprises and community development efforts in poverty-stricken regions around the Philippines. Unlad Kabayan also operates the Social Entrepreneurship and Enterprise Development Services (SEEDS) and Business Incubation (BI) programmes, providing business management and social responsibility courses, and serving as a resource for fledgling entrepreneurs starting their enterprises. Beyond educating beneficiaries, creating space for workers to participate in people-centred development can enable them to become active agents in social change. The MSAI model has resulted in successful community enterprises, including coconut fibre processing plants in San Isidro and Kolambugan. These enterprises provide direct employment, improve the profitability of farmers and workers in the areas, enhance their position in the value chain and provide a good return on the investment of the overseas Filipino workers. As the SEEDS and BI programmes mature, future funding will be derived from services rendered to the start-up businesses, and potentially from profitable equity stakes in those enterprises. A modified MSAI model is being replicated in other migrantexporting countries, and Unlad Kabayan is developing models of resilient livelihood and social enterprises in disaster affected communities.
Unlad Kabayan works closely with migrants working overseas and the entrepreneurial poor living in the Philippines, providing education in economic issues and training in business skills.
Focus: Education, Enterprise Development, FinancialEntrepreneurial Literacy, Job Creation, Migration-Reintegration, Rural Development, Disaster Resiliency Geographic Area of Impact: Philippines, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Netherlands, Greece, US Model: Hybrid Non-Profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 8,900 (2011) Recognition: Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Philippines, 2007
The Entrepreneur
Maria Angela Villalba grew up in Butuan City, the Philippines, and attended the University of the Philippines-Diliman, majoring in social work. After college she worked as a teacher, then with the government, before deciding to work with NGOs. After living in Hong Kong for 10 years and travelling to various parts of the world, she was impressed by the Philippines post-independence inability to develop like other countries. She started Unlad Kabayan with a long-term goal for Filipinos to find decent jobs in their own country, with overseas employment as a matter of choice, not a lack of feasible options at home. Villalba is a former board member of the Global Fund for Women in San Francisco, Founder of the Migrant Forum in Asia and a Founding Member of Migrant Rights International in Geneva. She is a visiting lecturer on entrepreneurship and social entrepreneurship at the College of Business Administration of Silliman University in Dumaguete City, Philippines.
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Background
Over seven million people live in Dhaka, producing +4,000 tons of waste daily. The city collects less than half of this amount, leaving the remainder on roadsides, in open drains and in low-lying areas, resulting in a negative impact on the city environment. It is estimated that the population of Dhaka will be 19.5 million by 2015, and as the population increases it will become very difficult to find landfill sites for the waste. Moreover, as the city expands, the cost of transporting waste will increase dramatically.
Waste Concern
Founded in 1995, Bangladesh www.wasteconcern.org
Waste Concern improves waste recycling in Asia through composting and Integrated Resource Recovery Centres (IRRCs) that provide organic fertilizer, green energy, and jobs, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Since early 2004, Waste Concern has been purchasing land to establish compost plants instead of depending upon public agencies. It has attracted foreign direct investment through carbon trading using the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of the Kyoto Protocol, leading to an agreement with a Dutch company to develop two CDM-based projects: a 700 ton per-day composting project in three phases, and a landfill gas extraction/utilization project in Dhaka. The worlds first CDM-based composting project, which has a capacity to recycle 100 tons of waste per day, is already in operation. WC is assisting cities in Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Nepal and Vietnam in replicating their model. A regional recycling training centre was opened in Dhaka in 2010 for the benefit of local and international participants. With support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and UNESCAP, the WC model is being implemented in 10 Asian and 10 African cities, and a revolving fund has been created to assist cities establishing IRRCs to address solid waste management problems by harnessing carbon financing. The fund is expected to be operational by early 2012.
Focus: Environment, Waste Management, Renewable Energy, Climate Change Geographic Area of Impact: Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Cambodia, Nepal Model: Hybrid Non-Profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 684,890 (2010) Annual Budget: US$ 345,000 (2010) Percentage Earned Revenue: 45% Recognition: Schwab Fellows of the World Economic Forum
The Entrepreneurs
Born and raised in Dhaka, Maqsood Sinha is an urban planner and architect. Iftekhar Enayetullah, also from Bangladesh, is an urban planner and civil engineer. The two met while doing graduate research on urban waste management and decided to work together to develop programmes in this area. Initially, the two young entrepreneurs sought to convince government agencies to develop community-based composting plants, even promising free consulting services to support governmental efforts, but they were turned down. A government official suggested they create their own community-managed compost plants, so they founded Waste Concern.
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Asia
Iftekhar Enayetullah and Maqsood Sinha
Waste Concern (WC) collects household waste and takes it to communityrun composting plants and IRRCs to be turned into organic fertilizer and biogas. WC then arranges for fertilizer companies to purchase and market the compost-based bio-fertilizers nationally. Each year, WC produces 7,500 of compost in Dhaka and 8,087 tons in other parts of Bangladesh, while fertilizer companies estimate that per annum farming demand has risen to 50,000 tons. Annually, the technology used for composting can treat up to 35,000 tons of waste while also reducing emissions by 20,000 tons of carbon dioxide.
Background
The average person uses a toilet 2,200 times per year, approximately six times daily. In fact, three years of an individuals life are spent in the toilet. Toilet infrastructure accounts for about 7% of total construction costs and the maintenance market is even larger. The other side of this industry is that 2.6 billion people have no access to basic sanitation and 1.5 million children die from diarrhoea each year unnecessarily.

Jack Sim created the World Toilet Organization (WTO) to promote sound sanitation and public health policies. The organization envisions itself as a de facto global body that champions better toilet environments. It is one of the few organizations to focus on toilets instead of water issues, which often receives more attention on the international development agenda. WTO was created as a global network and service platform to address the world sanitation crisis. WTO currently has 235 member organizations in 58 countries, working to eliminate the toilet taboo and deliver sustainable sanitation. WTOs SaniShop franchise trains the poor to become entrepreneurs and sales agents, creating sustainable and scalable solutions to distribute proper sanitation. WTO is the organizer of the World Toilet Summits and World Toilet Expo and Forums. Each summit addresses critical issues of toilet and sanitation, including technologies, development, funding, maintenance, social entrepreneurship, capacity building and research. WTO declared 19 November as World Toilet Day, now being celebrated all over the world, thus increasing awareness and generating local action for better sanitation.
Jack Sim
Asia
World Toilet Organization

Founded in 2001, Singapore www.worldtoilet.org
Through a global network and service platform, the World Toilet Organization is committed to improving toilet and sanitation conditions worldwide.
The Entrepreneur
Jack Sim grew up in a slum in Singapore in the 1950s. Not having a university degree did not stop him from starting a series of 16 profitable businesses between the ages of 24 and 40. After seeing the futility of focusing only on financial gain, he left business and ventured into non-profit work, dedicating his time to humanitarian causes. As a result he established the Restroom Association of Singapore (RAS) in 1998. With a dream to unite various toilet associations, he founded the World Toilet Organization in 2001 and the World Toilet College in 2005.
Focus: Health, Sanitation Geographic Area of Impact: Global Model: Leveraged Non-Profit Annual Budget: US$ 550,000 (2011) Percentage Earned Revenue: 30% Recognition: Schwab Fellow of the World Economic Forum
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Australia
93
Australia
Background
Science coupled with human creativity and generosity is potentially the greatest tool for social enterprise. However, the use of science to inform and guide equitable and inclusive problem solving in food and agriculture, health, ecology and environmental management depends on empowering and engaging more problem solvers. The use of processes to improve our crops, livestock, environment and health is increasingly problematic, legally cumbersome and risky. Innovation based on new life sciences is becoming grossly inefficient, driving up costs, raising uncertainty and excluding small enterprise.
Richard Jefferson
Cambia
Founded in 1992, Australia www.cambia.org

Cambia is the founder of the biological open source movement, a creative force exploring new science-enabled innovation ecologies, and the pioneer of innovation cartography to create global clarity and transparency in patent and innovation systems. CambiaLabs was the first public-good, biotechnological enterprise to successfully focus on creating new technologies for open and collaborative research-based innovation. It developed the Patent Lens as a platform to forge and share these activities, which for a decade has been the leading independent, non-profit global, open-access patent searching facility. Through its Biological Open Source (BiOS) initiative, Cambia catalyses innovators worldwide to better address local or global challenges by sharing science as a key part of the innovation process. BiOS explores, applies and extends these lessons and concepts to: problems affecting the worlds disadvantaged; neglected priorities; market failures; or new opportunities amenable to science-enabled innovation, such as climate change. By focusing on the platforms and tools of biological innovation, and the norms and legal instruments that govern their use, BiOS creates new innovation models and efficiencies. Cambia enables decentralized, cooperative innovation by merging intellectual property informatics and analysis, innovation system structural reform, new legal and business instruments, and open access technology development. For the last 15 years it has invented and distributed enabling biotechnologies, and created the first open patent licensing communities around them. Cambia believes these opportunities transcend sectoral boundaries, and will impact business and innovation on all scales. Opening the innovation ecology will build confidence, increase transparency and inclusiveness and generate new efficiencies in all fields of science and technology-enabled innovation. In an economic crisis, public and private investments require a firm foundation, and routes to market delivery must be transparent and affordable. To enable this, Cambia founded the Initiative for Open Innovation (IOI) to increase the efficiency, effectiveness and equity of science enabled innovation for the public good. Based on this foundation and using Web 2.0 technology, the IOI will make patents and innovation information more transparent, create a sound evidence basis for policy and practice, and provide free navigation and decision support for enterprises in all sectors to more effectively see their efforts impact society and public good.
Australia
Cambias mission is to democratize innovation, creating a more equitable and inclusive capability to solve problems using science and technology.
Focus: Innovation, Agriculture, Health, Technology, Intellectual Property, Science Geographic Area of Impact: Global Model: Leveraged Non-Profit Annual Budget: US$ 2.8 million (2010) Recognition: Schwab Fellow of the World Economic Forum
The Entrepreneur
Richard Jefferson is a prominent molecular biologist and plant scientist. He is changing traditional ideas about genetics and intellectual property, and revolutionizing the way in which molecular biologists are seen, as agents of social change. He is among the most cited authors in plant science, who once faced the tough decision of becoming a professional musician or scientist. He ultimately chose science but constantly questions his sanity in doing so instead of juggling, playing the guitar and mandolin, or performing comedy.
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Europe
95
Europe
Background
France possesses a heritage of buildings and natural sites requiring a considerable amount of maintenance and restoration. France also faces a high unemployment level of approximately 9%, meaning under-qualified people often live on government support, in difficult economic situations. Acta Vista (AV) addresses both unemployment and building restoration by employing people between the ages of 18 and 65, using a work contract with a maximum duration of 12 months. This enables these people to qualify for work in the building trade, and to potentially find long-term employment with another company,
Arnaud Castagnde
Acta Vista
Founded in 2002, France www.actavista.fr

Acta Vista founded a professional training company in order to provide training for all its employees, in the areas of carpentry, stone cutting and bricklaying for old buildings. It specializes in professional insertion and the restoration of heritage sites, in order to provide services of high quality, on-site work and the successful and lasting inclusion of its employees. A work contract with a maximum duration of 12 months enables such people to obtain status in society, rediscover the dynamism of teamwork, obtain a salary and restore their dignity. It also provides the opportunity to work with them towards a return to long-term employment with another company. Throughout the duration of the contract, salaried workers financial, health, housing and professional situation are analysed with the help of worksite managers, psychologists and local social service representatives, enabling the full potential of each person to be evaluated. In 2007, AV became the Acta Vista Group and brought together its six subsidiaries from France and across Europe. During the same period it established A&V, which recruits and provides professional training for unqualified individuals seeking employment in the building, logistics and environment sectors, as well as in part-time recruitment agencies.
Acta Vista specializes in the restoration and enhancement of heritage sites through the training and professional inclusion of people otherwise excluded from society.
The Entrepreneur Focus: Heritage and Environment, Social Inclusion, Unemployment Geographic Area of Impact: Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, Malta Model: Hybrid Non-Profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 3,500 Annual Budget: US$ 8,000,000 (2010) Percentage Earned Revenue: 30% Recognition: Social Entrepreneur of the Year, France, 2005
Arnaud Castagnde is an engineer and cartographer by training. His life changed while in French Guyana in 1987, where he worked with Native Americans living on the Brazilian border. In South America his unusual career path led him to pilot experimental training and environmental restoration programmes for gold mining companies. His focus on enterprise and community development led to a firm belief in the power of work as an enabler of individuals to change their circumstances and future. Castagnde returned to France 10 years later and sought to exploit these development capacities there, but found it challenging given government predominance in all facets of employment. After several years of trial and error establishing a diverse array of enterprises, he succeeded in founding Acta Vista. Through AV he acts as an intermediary between the public and private sectors, facilitating re-entry of the unemployed into positions where they profitably regain their dignity and independence through full-time work.
Europe
96
Background
During the communist era, the disabled were viewed as imperfect and often kept out of sight. Unfortunately, this stigma and attitude has lingered in the post-communist era as the public and policymakers continue to push such issues aside. The desire to subsidize the disabled and hide them in institutions has created an unhealthy dependency within the disabled community.

Vojtech Sedlcek created a venture to incubate projects and businesses that employ disabled individuals. It focuses on employing a percentage of these disabled in positions in highly public areas, such as the cloakroom in the Czech Senate or at the astronomical clock in the Old Town City Hall. This makes the public and policymakers aware of the need to address such issues and demonstrates how handicapped people can be productive members of society. Not wanting to be dependent upon government grants or government contracts that require compromises in integrity, he ensures that all Agentura ProVs businesses are self-sustainable and profitable. For example, one employee founded his own company that specializes in supplying physical aids and equipment (like wheelchairs, crutches, special shoes and artificial limbs) for handicapped, disabled people and senior citizens. Today this company, Setrans, is one of the largest suppliers in Prague and employs more than 100 handicapped workers. Agentura ProVs focuses on providing employment opportunities to the disabled while engaging the public in understanding the issues of the disabled community. Currently, the organization employs disabled individuals full-time in projects in Prague. In the museum of the city of Roztoky, future projects include a caf, and plans are underway to open a honey and beekeeping shop in the Moravian town of Prerov. The goal of Agentura ProVs is to provide employment and business opportunities for approximately 1,400 disabled people by 2015. The other goal is to shift the policy debate to be more considerate of the needs of the disabled throughout Czech society.
Europe
Vojtech Sedlcek
Agentura ProVs
Founded in 1996, Czech Republic www.agenturaprovas.cz
The mission of Agentura ProVs is to create job and business opportunities in the Czech Republic for citizens with physical and mental disabilities.
Focus: Disabilities, Enterprise Development, Labour Conditions, Unemployment Geographic Area of Impact: Czech Republic Model: Social Business Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 100 (2010) Recognition: Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Czech Republic, 2007
The Entrepreneur
Vojtech Sedlcek was inspired to create Agentura ProVs while working as an instructor at an institution for the disabled during the communist era in the Czech Republic. He would often engage his students in creative activities rather than the standard curriculum. He realized the empowering effect it had on the community, and became a dedicated, ethical crusader for the cause of the disabled.
97
Background
Disabled people in Hungary are often marginalized from society and not supported even in the most basic areas, such as public transportation and access to schools and office buildings. When Erzsbet Szekeres son was born disabled 35 years ago, the doctor said he would never be able to do anything in this world. She thought otherwise and looked for families in similar situations to form a community. Until 1994, they lived illegally in a group home producing ceramics. This community eventually became an official cooperative, which grew and diversified. Today, 620 disabled individuals, including 300 who are severely handicapped, are employed in various fields throughout the country.
Erzsbet Szekeres
Alliance for Rehabilitation
Founded in 1986, Hungary ww.osszefogas-eea.hu

The Alliance for Rehabilitation (formerly Alliance Industrial Cooperative) developed a model to tackle the complex problem of integrating disabled adults into society. It first created a community where members felt loved, could interact and work. Later it offered members vocational training to prepare them for real life. Today, the organization runs 22 different businesses, including farming, manufacturing, construction and packaging. Those with vocational skills leave the organization, find employment and start self-supported, independent lives. The Alliance for Rehabilitation has numerous business relations, serves business clients and accepts jobs from distant locations like Holland and Italy. It generates about US$ 157,000 in revenue, more than half of which is distributed among the workers as salaries comparable to the pay of people in similar jobs in more accepted parts of society. In addition, the organization provides workers with housing to rent and is constructing new building blocks to keep up with increasing demand. The apartments have one nurse for every three units, and are affordably priced. Parents or older relatives may move into larger affordable apartments together with one of the workers to offer them more support. Despite its revenues, the Alliance for Rehabilitation is 50% financed by the government under a law supporting disabled employment. In the event of grant failure, an emergency strategy has been developed to guarantee the organization remains sustainable and self-sufficient, although salary payments would go to providing free accommodation and food for all members.
By providing medical care and training, the Alliance for Rehabilitation works to integrate disabled adults into Hungarian society.
Europe
Focus: Education, Disabilities, Health, Labour Conditions, Unemployment Geographic Area of Impact: Hungary Model: Hybrid non-Profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 702 (2011) Annual Budget: US$ 5,100,000 (2011) Percentage Earned Revenue: 3% Recognition: Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Hungary, 2006
The Entrepreneur
Erzsbet Szekeres, a ceramist by profession, acquired all the knowledge needed to help her son and other disabled people through trial and error. She later received a diploma in social assistance and worked for the European Union for three years on an initiative to address the segregation and struggle of the disabled. As head of the Alliance for Rehabilitation, she knows every employee, their names, life stories, disabilities and problems, and often refers them as my children. She is planning to remain the head of the organization as long as she can before retiring to the home she has created for the members.
98
Background
With the breakdown of the communist system in the late 1980s, many individuals were unable to cope with their newly found independence. This led to alcoholism, extreme poverty and acute social vulnerability, with many finding themselves homeless. At the same time, the collapse of the collective farming system saw large-scale dereliction in Polands rural areas, with many thousands of hectares of land and farm buildings abandoned and neglected. Homelessness and a desperate shortage of dwellings are the main housing problems facing Poland today.
Barbara Sadowska and Tomasz Sadowski

Barka Foundation for Mutual Help
Founded in 1989, Poland www.barka.org.pl
The Barka Foundation for Mutual Help works to help the many destitute and homeless people in Poland meet their housing and employment needs after the collapse of the communist system. It also helps the migrant workers who returned to Poland after many years abroad and seek a place to live. Barkas work has developed along two parallel lines: the rehabilitation of those rejected by society; and building local partnerships with the public, private and NGO sectors to create local jobs and markets. Using its philosophy of encouraging mutual self-help, Barka currently provides accommodation to 750 people in a variety of community homes, hostels, private flats and single-family houses, all of which are run as extended family homes rather than institutions. Some of the residents spend only a year or so with Barka to get back on their feet, typically while they are being treated for alcohol addiction. Others prefer to continue living and working in the community for longer periods of time. There are 30 Barka communities established throughout southwest Poland, and 14 vocational workshops that provide education and training programmes. It has also established 25 income-generating enterprises, restored two large state farms and pioneered organic agriculture. Partnerships with local municipalities and businesses have created sustainable employment opportunities. Through mutual self-reliance and self-sufficiency, physical and mental health have improved for those living in Barka Foundation homes. The combination of hard work and human interaction has enabled many individuals to experience a miraculous recovery from addictions. Many residents go on to marry, raise children and lead productive lives, while those who are too old and frail to work are supported by the communities. All residents are involved with the decision-making within their communities, and each community is economically self-sufficient through the various activities carried out by the residents. The activities undertaken by Barka over the last 20 years have had a major influence in facilitating the emergence of civil society and social enterprise in post-communist Poland. Barka is increasingly being asked to work in large European cities, helping destitute East European migrant workers either to return home or settle into their new society.
Europe
Since the collapse of the communist system the Barka Foundation has helped many destitute and homeless people in Poland meet their housing and employment needs.
Focus: Homelessness, Housing Geographic Area of Impact: Poland Model: Hybrid Non-Profit Annual Budget: US$ 1,161,911 (2008) Percentage Earned Revenue: 31% Recognition: Schwab Fellows of the World Economic Forum
The Entrepreneurs
Both being psychologists, Barbara Sadowska and Tomasz Sadowski realized that the tools provided by their profession could not address the needs of socially disadvantaged groups in Poland. They established the Barka Foundation for Mutual Help to not just provide food or shelter for these people, but a path to self-reliance.
99
Background
Violent crime has increased dramatically in the Czech Republic over the past few decades, with no response mechanisms in place to address the multiple and complex psychological, legal and economic needs of victims. Vitousova mobilized a group of lawyers, psychologists, social workers and other professionals to donate their time and expertise to help victims free of charge, and this volunteer-based support network became Bl Kruh Bezpec (BKB).
Petra Vitousova
Bl Kruh Bezpec
Founded in 1991, Czech Republic www.bkb.cz
BKB is the first organization of its kind in the Czech Republic, providing individuals with the necessary services to make well-informed decisions concerning their legal and personal options as victims of criminal behaviour. Through advice centres located in several locations in the country, victims are offered emotional support, free counselling, legal aid and practical advice about the prosecutorial process. BKB consists of some 260 professionals, including lawyers, psychologists, psychiatrists, judges, police officers and social workers, who volunteer at one of nine advice centres. The organization runs a 24-hour helpline for crime victims, and an intervention centre and 24-hour helpline for victims of domestic violence, known as DONA. Since being established in 2001, the DONA helpline has received more than 37,000 calls. One of the BKB goals is to improve the legal status of victims in criminal proceedings. It therefore offers training programmes for police officers, judges, medical staff, social workers, university students and staff members at shelters, designed to raise awareness and sensitivity to the rights and needs of victims. In September 2011 BKB celebrated its twentieth anniversary, during which time it has supported Czech Republic crime victims through 126,538 contacts, including phone calls and face-to-face counselling. In 2012 BKB will open a new advice centre in Jihlava, its twelfth working establishment.
Bl Kruh Bezpecs mission is to help victims of crime by providing advice centres and 24-hour hotlines throughout the Czech Republic.
Europe
Focus: Human Rights Geographic Area of Impact: Czech Republic Model: Leveraged Non-Profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 12,040 (2010) Annual Budget: US$ 491,205 (2010) Recognition: Social Entrepreneur of the Year, 2001
BKBs work is recognized throughout Central and Eastern Europe, with many of its projects being replicated in Slovakia, Georgia, Poland, Ukraine, Armenia, Kazakhstan and elsewhere.
The Entrepreneur
As a journalist covering the rise in criminal activity, Petra Vitousova became aware of the lack of victim-related services, and in 1991 created Bl Kruh Bezpec to address these needs. In 2002, along with the Minister of the Czech Republic Home Office and other public figures, she co-founded the Alliance Against Domestic Violence. This alliance led to the acceptance of a 21-step programme that marked a crucial turning point for domestic violence victims rights in the Czech criminal code. Vitousova sat on the Executive Committee of the European Forum for Victim Services in 20012003, and BKB has been a member organization since 1996.
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Background
BioRegional was created to respond to two environmental concerns of its founders, who observed widespread unsustainable use of the worlds resources, and moreover, that resources are distributed unfairly between the developed and developing world. Policy discussions about sustainability are common, but policymakers lack practical examples that allow them to visualize the ideals discussed. BioRegionals response is to initiate practical sustainability solutions and deliver them by setting up new enterprises, projects and partnerships around the world, using the concepts of bioregionalism and One Planet Living. They assist and encourage others to achieve sustainability through co-invention, design, consultancy, education and informing policy.
Pooran Desai and Sue Riddlestone

BioRegional
Founded in 1992, United Kingdom www.bioregional.com

BioRegionals real life solutions for sustainability, which include communities, businesses and other initiatives, can be replicated around the world, as demonstrated by the creation of a portfolio of enterprises that illustrate the potential of sustainability design and appropriate resource allocation. BioRegionals BedZED eco-village in London boasts 100 homes for 220 people, community facilities powered by renewable energy, and six businesses which include green property development, recycling, clean tech for the paper industry and local charcoal supplies to national retailers. BioRegionals One Planet Living framework is based on 10 guiding principles used in all of their projects: Zero Carbon, Zero Waste, Sustainable Transport, Sustainable Materials, Local and Sustainable Food, Sustainable Water, Land Use and Wildlife, Culture and Heritage, Equity and Local Economy and Health and Happiness. Their One Planet Communities programme is creating a network of earths greenest neighbourhoods, where it is easy, attractive and affordable for people to live a healthy, happy lifestyle within a fair share of the planets resources. Working with developers around the world, the programme currently has projects in the US, UK and Portugal, with others planned in South Africa, China, Australia and Canada. In addition to the design and construction of these communities with its partners, BioRegional also provides significant consulting and training services in sustainability design and practice to various actors in industry, commerce and government.
BioRegional designs and provides practical examples of sustainable living and business, working throughout the world to implement its One Planet Living sustainability framework.
Focus: Energy, Environment, Technology Geographic Area of Impact: United Kingdom, China, North America, South Africa Model: Social Business Annual Budget: US $3,455,383 (2011) Percentage Earned Revenue: 58% Recognition: Regional Social Entrepreneurs of the Year, Europe, 2011
The Entrepreneurs
Sue Riddlestone trained as a nurse before establishing BioRegional with Pooran Desai in 1992, where she developed innovative approaches to sustainable paper production and use, establishing two companies. She is a member of the Mayors London Sustainable Development Commission, and used the One Planet Principles to write the sustainability strategy for Londons bid for the 2012 Olympics. Pooran Desai, married to Sue Riddlestone, initially worked in the sustainable forestry industry after his studies at Oxford and Cambridge Universities. His work there led to the development of the BioRegional Charcoal Company, one of the first sustainability companies the couple founded. In 1997 they initiated the BedZED project, where they currently reside.
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Europe
Background
When the war in Bosnia began in 1992, Lejla Radoncic worked for a travel agency in Sarajevo and her husband worked in Tuzla, a town two hours away by car. Finding herself in Tuzla the day the war began, she remained there for four years and needed an income. In 1994, she joined Norwegian Peoples Aid to help manage one of the first refugee settlements in the region. She worked with thousands of traumatized and displaced women, many from Srebrenica, where in 1995 thousands of Muslims were massacred or expelled by Bosnian Serbs. Most of the women refugees were illiterate, but all knew how to knit, so a project she initiated as group therapy turned into a business when a church ordered 1,500 sweaters. The women filled the order in six weeks, and Bosnian Handicrafts was born.
Lejla Radoncic
Bosnian Handicrafts (BHcrafts)
Founded in 1995, Bosnia and Herzegovina www.bhcrafts.org

Bosnian Handicrafts is a modern production and retail business that trains and employs female refugees displaced by the Bosnian war. Founded in 1995 amid social and economic devastation, BHcrafts provides a sustainable means of income generation for women who suffered the loss of their families and homes during the war. The companys handmade products include clothing, fashion accessories, home furnishings and traditional Bosnian crafts, and are marketed globally to top international designers and retailers. BHcrafts currently employs 500 women from different religious and ethnic groups, including Croats, Muslims, Serbs and Kosovars. BHcrafts provides women who have experienced extreme trauma and hardship with an opportunity to support themselves financially, while nurturing their cultural traditions. The women apply their knitting, crocheting and embroidery skills to create products that appeal to international and domestic markets. Bosnian Handicrafts currently sells its high-quality wares in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the US, France, Spain, Italy, Japan and Kuwait. Each year, it introduces new product lines at international trade shows and reaches customers worldwide via its e-commerce website. Clients include famous French designers Agnes B and Sophie Digard, as well as world-renowned American retailer Neiman Marcus and the Sundance film festival. While Radoncic initially received start-up subsidies, 89% of BHcrafts operations are currently financed by its product sales. The company was certified as the only fair trade producer in the region in 2009 at WFTO, and has begun the process of quality system certification for NGOs.
Bosnian Handicrafts is a modern production and retail business training and employing female refugees displaced by the Bosnian war.
Europe
Focus: Culture, Handicrafts, Rural Development, Women Geographic Area of Impact: Bosnia, Herzegovina Model: Hybrid Non-Profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 500-700 (2008) Annual Budget: US$ 279,341 (2010) Percentage Earned Revenue: 89.17% Recognition: Social Entrepreneur of the Year, 2001
The Entrepreneur
Lejla Radoncic dreams that Bosnian Handicrafts becomes an internationally recognized fair trade organization with durable markets for products made by Bosnian women, and continues to provide them with a fair and vital income. The women have regained their dignity and selfconfidence, she says. They are very proud of the salaries that give them a chance to support themselves and have a better life.
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Background
After the collapse of communism in 1989, Poland underwent a political and economic transformation. Unfortunately, this process did not include education as a tool of change, and today most schools function as they did 20 years ago. There remains a lack of expertise and institutions capable of supporting improvement in the teaching practices and educational quality in Poland, and thus preparing students for the challenges of personal and professional life. Public education needs to teach students social entrepreneurship, provide them with a good understanding of the world, encourage critical thinking and self-confidence, while instilling the abilities required to become leaders and active citizens.
Jacek Strzemieczny
Center for Citizenship Education (Centrum Edukacji Obywatelskiej)
Founded in 1994, Poland www.ceo.org.pl

Centrum Edukacji Obywatelskiej (Centre for Citizenship Education) was created to encourage change in educational practices in Poland. In 15 years the centre has grown into a respected non-governmental organization capable of implementing projects on a national scale. CEO cooperates with Polands Ministry of Education in the application of educational reforms, including the development of better school curricula and new teaching and assessment methods, particularly the wider use of project-based learning and formative assessment. While developing innovative school curricula in the field of civic engagement, CEO also engages in a variety of activities targeting teachers, students and local authorities. It has helped more than 1000 schools become learning organizations that involve the entire school community, students and parents. Teachers are encouraged in peer-to-peer collaboration to effectively improve teaching and assessment methods; school leaders are coached in new skills needed for improving the functionality of their schools. Due to CEOs involvement, Polands new national education policy now requires teachers and schools to transform traditional teaching methods. Assessing students through effective feedback, not just grades, is encouraged to help students learn and build understanding and confidence. A number of CEO programmes involve student projects focused on inquiry, experiential-based learning and peer teaching, which leads students to a better understanding of key academic concepts. Other projects focus on social skills, active citizen participation and developing creativity and artistic skills. In 2010, the Polish Ministry of Education, assisted by CEO, introduced a new law requiring Polish middle schools to involve all students in projectbased learning. It offered CEO the possibility of helping schools use Project Based Learning in their daily work, while engaging students in resolving local community problems.
Reaching out to schools throughout Poland, Centrum Edukacji Obywatelskiej (CEO) promotes civic knowledge and the practical skills necessary for building a democratic state.
Focus: Education Geographic Area of Impact: Poland Model: Hybrid Non-Profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 500,000 (2011) Annual Budget: US$ 4,100,000 (2010) Percentage Earned Revenue: 29% Recognition: Social Entrepreneur of the Year, 2001
The Entrepreneur
During the communist era in Poland, Jacek Strzemieczny was involved in a number of underground activities, including the creation of several independent educational institutions. In 1987 he became an Ashoka Innovator for the Public Fellow. With the collapse of communism in 1989 he took a leadership position at the Ministry of Education, before becoming co-Founder and Executive Director of Centrum Edukacji Obywatelskiej in 1994. Since 2000 he has served as Director of the Szkoa Uczca Si (Learning Schools Project), an initiative run by the Polish-American Freedom Foundation and the Center for Citizenship Education.
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Europe
Background
Jeroo Billimoria began working with street children in India, many of whom had run away from home and were dependent upon themselves. Answering their calls through the helplines she established, she realized many of these children demonstrated attributes of good entrepreneurs: they were brave, smart, innovative and creative. However, they were not integrated into the normal financial system, and therefore exposed to a high level of financial vulnerability. Billimoria decided to tackle the root of this issue through her vision of children having and managing their own savings accounts.
Jeroo Billimoria
ChildFinance International
Founded in 2011, Netherlands http://childfinanceinternational.org

In 2011, Billimoria founded Child and Youth Finance International, which spearheads a global ChildFinance Movement uniting policy-makers and experts from private, public and civil society sectors. The movement is dedicated to facilitating the creation of a safe and inclusive financial environment for children, while giving the financial rights of children a higher priority on national and international agendas. Activities within the ChildFinance Movement promote the provision and certification of ChildFriendly banking products for children and youth. These activities include ChildFinance Education within the national curricula and the recognition and creation of an international ChildFinance Day.
The mission of ChildFinance International is to provide financial inclusion and education to 100 million children and youth in 100 countries by 2015.
The Entrepreneur
Jeroo Billimoria was born in 1965 in Mumbai, India, to a family of professionals, and has dedicated much of her life in support of the economic rights of children. Her mother instilled strong social values in her at a young age, and as a passionate advocate of childrens rights and empowerment she founded a number of successful organizations relevant to these issues. She is the Founder and current Head of Child and Youth Finance International, and Founder and the board Chair of the organizations Aflatoun and Child Helpline International. In India, she founded the Childline India Foundation, and the Indian non-profit organization MelJol, which she formerly directed; she now serves on its board.
Europe
Focus: Children and Youth, Education, Financial Inclusion Geographic Area of Impact: Global Model: Leveraged Non-Profit Annual Budget: US$ 675,000 Recognition: Schwab Fellow of the World Economic Forum
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Background
Societys perception of handicapped people is very different from their self-perception. Only half of the population perceived as disabled would also describe themselves as such. This discrepancy reveals that most people primarily focus on the deficits of the handicapped instead of their abilities. A shift in perception on both sides is an important step towards accepting the important contributions handicapped people can offer society.
Andreas Heinecke
Dialogue Social Enterprise (DSE)
Founded in 1988, Germany www.dialogue-se.com
The main business branches of DSE are the Dialogue in the Dark and Dialogue in Silence exhibitions. In the first exhibition, blind guides lead visitors through a completely dark environment where one learns to interact by relying on other senses. The blind and partially-sighted guides open the visitors eyes in the dark to show them that their world is not poorer but simply different. Since 1988 Dialogue in the Dark has been presented in more than 31 countries and 127 cities throughout Europe, Asia and America. More than six million visitors worldwide have experienced the exhibition so far, while it has employed thousands of blind individuals. Dialogue in Silence is an exhibition that invites the visitor into a world of silence. Here, deaf guides lead small groups of visitors, creating a reversal of roles: hearing people discover their repertoire of non-verbal expressions used to communicate creatively via mime, gesture and body language. Deaf people, already competent in these skills, support the process and become ambassadors of a fascinating universe without sound. First presented in Paris in 2003, Dialogue in Silence has since opened in 10 countries, with more than 210,000 people having visited the exhibition. In addition to these two exhibitions, DSE also creates business workshops to improve the quality of human interactions. The underlying paradigm is derived from the German-Jewish philosopher Martin Bubers work, The Principles of Dialogue, which states that the only way to learn is through encounter. The workshops provide an innovative and powerful tool for human resource development, leadership training and team building.
The mission of DSE is to facilitate social inclusion of marginalized people on a global basis, to redefine disability as ability and otherness as likeness. This happens foremost through exhibitions, corporate workshops and events. Focus: Disabilities, Communication, Education Geographic Area of Impact: Asia, Europe, Latin America, North America Model: Social Business Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 6,140 Annual Budget: US$ 5.5 million (2010) Recognition: Schwab Fellow of the World Economic Forum
The Entrepreneur
Andreas Heinecke, Founder and CEO of Dialogue Social Enterprise, developed the Dialogue in the Dark concept and put it into action almost 20 years ago. He has won several awards, and been named the first Ashoka Fellow in Western Europe. He was nominated as Outstanding Social Entrepreneur by the Schwab Foundation in 2007, and in 2008, appointed a member of the World Economic Forums Global Agenda Council on Social Entrepreneurship.
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Europe
Background
In 1994, Jean-Louis Ribes realized his dream of starting his own consulting business. Many clients shared with him their difficulty in applying laws regarding employment of disabled people. While making inquiries, he realized nothing was being done to employ disabled people and that nobody really cared. DSIs mission is to improve perceptions of the work value of disabled people. He refuses to confine the company and its employees to low value-added tasks.
Jean-Louis Ribes
Distribution Services Industriels (DSI)
Founded in 1996, France www.dsi-ap.com
DSI employs disabled people to perform industrial and tertiary services, such as data capture and photocopying. However, these jobs can evolve quickly to higher value-added activities. For example, DSI employees work in industrial logistics and R&D, which includes a contract with Frances Ministry of Defense to ramp up signal processing for its radar systems. Other areas where DSI works include providing aeronautical parts for Airbus and transportation logistics for Air France in Toulouse. At DSI, individual development is extremely important; each disabled employee is trained and coached. For example, an employee hired by DSI with a third-year level from a junior technical high school is now an IT manager in charge of the companys entire IT network. This person is permanently equipped with a voice recognition application since his disability does not allow him to write. About 80% of those employed by DSI are disabled. The company benefits from additional turnover from the state to pay for the service of employing and training them, yet about a dozen people are employed without this aid. Of the disabled people hired by DSI, 80% have never had an employer before, nor had a specialized background. DSI presents its initiative as an advantage rather than a constraint to corporate clients. They can also reduce the AGEFIPH (fund for the professional inclusion of disabled people) tax, and can benefit from a reduction proportional to the turnover realized with DSI.
DSI improves the perception of disabled people in France by employing them in industrial service jobs.
Europe
Focus: Disabilities Geographic Area of Impact: France Model: Social Business Recognition: Social Entrepreneur of the Year, France, 2008
The Entrepreneur
Jean-Louis Ribes is from a humble background. His parents were sharecroppers and he started working when he was 11 years old. After high school, he attended a school for technical training, which led him to work with two engineering offices.
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Background
Mustafa Saris work began in 1993, as a doctoral student studying the depletion of pearl mullet stock in Lake Van, Turkeys largest lake. He was the first to study the lakes fish population, what was taken during fishing and how existing fishing practices impacted the lake population. It has been a great challenge to apply academic models to the complex realities of the lakes fishing community that depends upon its stock, while encouraging the application of sustainable practices to safeguard the fish supply for future generations.
Mustafa Sari
Doga Gzcleri Dernegi (Nature Observers Society)
Founded in 2003, Turkey www.dogagozculeri.org
Few scientific studies had been conducted on Lake Van fish prior to Saris work, which determined the levels of fishing that could be sustainably harvested. In 1997, he estimated the lake contained approximately 43,000 tons of fish, of which no more than 8,500 tons could be annually fished to maintain sustainability. However, since 1987 over 10,000 tons a year were harvested, about 90% of which occurred during the spawning period. Despite the statistics and warnings about stock depletion, local fishermen were not willing to change their practices and governmental regulators were indifferent. Using scientific data, Sari tried to convince the government to take action by implementing fishing bans and a management programme, but after several years of bureaucratic wrangling, he realized a different approach was needed. Together with two environmental experts, Sari framed a strategy for engaging a wider group of stakeholders, including fishermen and wholesalers. They began a national campaign to raise awareness of the depletion of Lake Van fish, and through Doga Gzcleri Dernegi the campaign attempts to inform rather than blame those involved. It helps villagers recognize the problems they face and the solutions that can help them all save money and time. For example, in coordination with the University of Van, Sari set up a facility for satellite imagery, providing aerial photographs to offer fishermen new perspectives on issues like factory emissions that pollute the lake, significantly diminishing fish populations over a 10-year period. Sari succeeded in applying scientific research tools to fishery management, while bringing together potentially conflicting views and interests of fishermen, local government and environmental NGOs. Since 1996, as a result of these efforts including establishing the Fisheries Faculty for education in Van, fish in Lake Van are larger in size than several years ago, and fishermen have experienced a three-fold increase in revenues since adopting sustainable practices.
Through scientific research and awareness campaigns, Doga Gzcleri Dernegi has helped reverse depleted fish stocks in Turkeys Lake Van.
Focus: Enterprise Development, Environment Geographic Area of Impact: Turkey Model: Leveraged Non-Profit Recognition: Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Turkey, 2006
The Entrepreneur
Mustafa Sari was born to illiterate farmers who raised their six children near the Black Sea. As a child he excelled in his studies, and an interest in science earned him entrance into Ankara University. There he was influenced by the emerging field of sustainable fishery management. The model he developed for Lake Van was accepted as a blueprint by the Ministry of Food Agriculture and Livestock for the management of all freshwater fisheries in Turkey.
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Europe
Background
About 16 million (19% of Germanys population) and over 500 million people in the world have an immigrant background. Between 2001 and 2010, 5.5 million people, mainly former third-country nationals, acquired citizenship of an EU member state. Compared to host populations, immigrants have higher rates of poverty and ill health, and are disproportionately affected by accidents and disease such as obesity, diabetes, hepatitis and HIV/AIDS. Additionally, migrants and refugees are less informed about health systems, healthy lifestyles, therapies and prevention.
Ramazan Salman
Ethno-Medical Centre (EMC) Ethno-Medizinisches Zentrum e.V.
Founded in 1989, Germany www.ethno-medizinisches-zentrum.de
Health and education are essential for integration and social inclusion of migrants in societies, yet healthcare services and education are not always accessible to everyone. This is due not only to language, information or cultural barriers, but also to a lack of professionals trained to deal with the special needs of individual migrant groups. EMC was founded to address these problems by developing MiMi (With Migrants For MigrantsHealth and Education for All) as a key technology to rectify these issues.

The Ethno-Medical Centre (Ethno-Medizinisches Zentrum) makes healthcare and education systems more accessible to migrants and refugees, increasing health literacy and engaging them in a participatory process of capacity building. It assists migrants and refugees in navigating the national health system, promotes education for healthy lifestyles and connects migrants with statutory healthcare and education systems. The core of EMC is the MiMi Programme for health education and campaigning, conducted in +15 languages, and adopted in 57 German cities as well as Copenhagen, Tallinn, London, Rome, Istanbul and Brussels. Around 1,800 migrants from 85 countries have been trained as transcultural mediators, who then support those less well-integrated, in areas like medication use, alcohol consumption, childrens health, pregnancy, family planning, AIDS/HIV prevention, mental health and vaccination. MiMis Health Guide publications orient migrants by providing information on health systems, diseases and healthy lifestyles. All MiMi activities are evaluated by scientific studies, conducted in cooperation with universities and the WHO. EMC offers migrants a MiMi financial literacy programme, and MiMi technology has been adapted for the corporate sector as a model of Health at the Workplace. MiMi results in positive/sustainable effects on groups and institutions involved in its inter-sectoral approach, migrants are motivated/empowered, and the native population sees migrants as active members of society.
As a centre of excellence for health and social integration, EMC helps migrants navigate the German and international health and education systems. Based on MiMi, a key technology for social integration, EMC promotes health literacy and capacity building through health education, mediator training, campaigning and research.
Europe
Focus: Health, Education, Migration, Capacity Building Geographic Area of Impact: Germany, Europe Model: Hybrid Non-Profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 44,600 (2010) Annual Budget: US$ 1.6 million (2010) Percentage Earned Revenue: 8.27% (2010) Recognition: Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Germany, 2008
The Entrepreneur
Born in Turkey in 1960, Ramazan Salman grew up in Hanover after his family emigrated to Germany. He studied sociology and psychology and worked as an interpreter for his migrant community. Impressed by the lack of information on healthcare, disease, therapies and civil rights, he became dedicated to eliminating language and cultural barriers. Since 1992 he has served as co-Founder and Executive MD of EMC in Germany. He is a member of the Integration Summit at the Federal Chancellery of Germany, the European Councils Committee of Experts on Mobility, Migration and Access to Health Care, and has served as a programme director of AIDS and Mobility Europe since 2008.
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Background
Alcoholism in Hungary is considered a serious problem, with 10% of the population diagnosed and 2% in need of urgent help. During the countrys socialistic era, alcoholism did not officially exist, and after the fall of communism, neither prevention, treatment nor laws were developed to solve the emerging issue. Today, treatment in Hungary is not effective. Addiction problems are ignored or regarded as problems of those on the edge of society, and lack of prevention has led to the consumption of alcohol at younger ages.
Csaba Kovcs
Flton Alaptvny
Founded in 1994, Hungary www.feluton.hu
Flton Alaptvny (Halfway Foundation) helps people suffering from alcohol and gambling addictions and those in need of psychiatric treatment. It also educates young people about alcohol and addiction, and works to change legislation. Flton Alaptvny regards the problem of addiction as a complex health issue. The responsibility for recovery is given to the patient to ensure sustainability of results; those willing to recover get the information and support they need. Families are also educated about the disease and advised on how they should treat sick family members. Flton Alaptvny goes one step further by helping to integrate rehabilitated patients back into the professional labour market. Flton Alaptvnys approach is based on an adaptation of the Minnesota Rehabilitation model, and focuses on integrating its services into Hungarys healthcare system. Its operations are primarily financed through government aid based on long-term contracts with state and local authorities. A smaller part of the expenditures is covered by charges paid by clients and by service fees from contracts concluded with local municipalities. Services are provided in Budapest and in several other cities across Hungary. There are plans to expand elsewhere in the region. Csaba Kovcs started Flton Alaptvny in 1993 shortly after recovering from his own addiction. Many of the foundations activities are based on his recovery process experience. Kovcs considers the government and the municipalities as business partners and its patients as clients. His business-oriented approach strongly contributed to Flton Alaptvnys success and sustainability.
Europe
Flton Alaptvny helps people suffering from alcohol and gambling addictions and those in need of psychiatric treatment, and plays an active role in educating youth about the diseases.
The Entrepreneur Focus: Health Geographic Area of Impact: Hungary Model: Hybrid Non-Profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 2,138 (2009) Annual Budget: US$ 1.3 million (2009) Percentage Earned Revenues: 12-15% Recognition: Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Hungary, 2008
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Background
The food market in Europe is one-sided, focused on the interests of producers not consumers, and frequently marked by price competition rather than quality competition. The stated objectives of European food laws are to protect consumers health and prevent deceptive and misleading advertising, yet these are often not fulfilled in practice. Poor enforcement is also a problem, demonstrated not only by the food scandals that often arise, but also by statistics of official food controls. Politicians have addressed this topic only marginally, and due to a lack of chartered rights of information and action, it is virtually impossible for individual consumers to improve the situation.
Thilo Bode
foodwatch
Founded in 2002, Germany www.foodwatch.de

Foodwatch works to strengthen consumers rights in the food market through various activities and services. Through independent research and analysis it informs the public about lack of safety and transparency of food products and names the parties responsible. It also mobilizes consumers through petitions, protests and lobbying efforts to encourage political decision-makers to take action. Foodwatch takes offenders to court on behalf of consumers, proposes changes in the law in areas often ignored, and exerts pressure to influence policy changes. In 2007 foodwatch campaigned to stop the illegal trade of meat and bone meal, and called for applying the principles of EU waste legislation to animal by-products. In 2008 foodwatch commissioned the Institute for Ecological Economy Research to examine the respective contribution of conventional and organic agriculture in Germany to the greenhouse effect. The results demonstrated that considerable amounts of greenhouse gases can be eliminated in the agricultural sector. Consequently, foodwatch is calling on the agriculture sector to become part of climate change policy in Germany and at the EU level. In 2011 foodwatch published the report The Hungermakers to show the negative impact of capital investments in food raw commodities on food prices and the nutritional situation of people. To guarantee absolute independence, foodwatch declines government funding and is financed solely by contributions and donations. Funding from corporations is also refused, to avoid any conflict of interest that may arise or prevent its work from being influenced. Each year, foodwatch awards the Golden Windbag Prize for the most audacious advertising lie in the food industry. The winner is chosen by visitors to its website.
Foodwatch is an independent non-profit organization fighting to strengthen consumers rights in Germany.
Europe
Focus: Food Industry, Food Law, Consumer Awareness Geographic Area of Impact: Europe Model: Hybrid Non-Profit Annual Budget: US$ 2.0 million (2011) Percentage Earned Revenues: 100% Recognition: Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Germany, 2009
The Entrepreneur
Thilo Bode studied sociology and economics, and wrote his PhD dissertation on direct investments in developing countries. He subsequently supervised water and energy supply projects in a number of developing countries, worked for the reconstruction credit institute KfW, and advised companies on their involvement in developing countries. In the mid-1980s he switched from development aid to business. He served as a management assistant in a medium-sized metals group, responsible for strategy, control and the supervision of subsidiaries. Bode is known for his work for Greenpeace and their campaigns in the 1990s. From 1989 to 1995 he was head of Greenpeace Germany, and then Greenpeace International from 1995 to 2001.
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Background
Finding a job is a challenge, particularly when one has little or no professional qualifications. The increasing rate of unemployment and its consequences are a huge social and economic challenge for any country, and in France the unemployment rate is between 9 and 10%. Being an unqualified person does not necessarily equate to an inability to work; once employed, unqualified people regain self-esteem and can be productive workers.
Laurent Lak
Groupe La Varappe
Founded in 1992, France www.groupelavarappe.fr
When Laurent Lak took over La Varappe in 1997, the association focused on construction services and developing green spaces. He widened the range of services by creating several companies and investing in areas with a future, such as renewable energies. Today, 85% of Groupe La Varappes income comes from the sales of its services, and in 2010 the group paid more than 700 salaries. In 2009 the turnover increased from 25% and the number of integrated employees increased by 19%. More than 65% of the employees who left La Varappe found a steady job with another employer. Groupe La Varappe is composed of two main organizations. One uses its six agencies based in the south of France to focus on finding temporary employment for people with minimal qualifications. Many succeed in getting short-term contracts as painters, drivers, masons and in other professions.
Groupe La Varappe creates jobs in the south of France for people who have been excluded from society.
The other organization focuses on three environmental areas: construction and green spaces, waste, and renewable energies. In renewable energies, the group intends to double its current activity through its work on a new large construction site. It is also developing an environmental self-service for companies and individuals. This activity proposes painting or plumbing services for the home, gardening and installing different types of renewable energy systems. Since 2010, Groupe La Varappe has created a think tank charged with mapping out projects for the future development of the group, as well as new social programmes at the national level. One project currently under discussion concerns the transformation of shipping containers into lowcost houses for students and poor people. Groupe La Varappe also manages a camp of Romani people in the city of Aubagne.
Europe
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Focus: Professional Integration, Building, Environment, Renewable Energies Geographic Area of Impact: France Model: Social Business Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 1,000 (2011) Annual Budget: US$ 13 million (2011) Percentage Earned Revenue: 85% Recognition: Social Entrepreneur of the Year, France, 2010
The Entrepreneur
Trained as an engineer, Laurent Lak worked for Cuisines Schmidt, a French company that creates kitchens, as a project manager from 1995 to 1997. To start a new career he left this job and discovered the concept of companies providing employment to promote social integration, which he felt offered freedom and possibilities to innovate with people often excluded from society. For this reason he took over La Varappe in the late 1990s. In 2000 he became president of the French national committee of the companies that help with the integration of people excluded from society.
Background
As in most industrialized countries, unemployment is a major concern in Switzerland, with long-term unemployment often resulting in social exclusion and stigmatization. In Africa unemployment rates are even higher. Through better mobility services people in rural regions can gain better access to jobs and the supply system. Sustainable, low-cost and CO2-free mobility is a key driver of development.

Paolo Richter turned his hobby of collecting and restoring old bicycles into one of the most respected work integration programmes in the Swiss canton of Bern. Currently, 850 unemployed people are working in his bicycle and wood workshops, receiving professional training to reintegrate into the labour market. Many people working with Gump- & Drahtesel have gone through various employment reintegration programmes, but failed all too often. However, Richters company gives them time and support to develop, offering a range of job opportunities, from bicycle mechanics to retail shop assistants, all of which allow for personal training and professional development. People stay from six weeks to six months within the firm. As part of Gump- & Drahtesels Velos fr Afrika (Bicycles for Africa), old or unused bicycles are collected throughout Switzerland and transported to Bern to be restored. Around 10,000 bikes per year are then shipped to Africa to be sold by local partners at affordable prices, while a few bikes are sold in Switzerland to generate funds for the project. Gump- & Drahtesel has developed networks in Switzerland and Africa to collect and distribute the bikes. The bicycles guarantee low-cost and CO2-free mobility, enabling people in Africa to get to work and earn a living. The exported bikes also help people in rural areas to reach schools, health centres, water supplies and fields, and result in a contribution toward poverty reduction. Gump- & Drahtesel is also developing tricycles, a three-wheel vehicle that can be operated by hand, to enable transport for handicapped people. These are very stable and suited to the needs and conditions in Africa. In addition to shipping restored bicycles to Africa, Gump- & Drahtesel manufactures unique products made from bicycle spare parts for the Swiss market. These objects, such as lamps, paper clips, decoration and jewellery, are sold in the Pico Bollo shop in Bern to support the African business and offer work experience for unemployed people in Switzerland.
Paolo Richter
Gump- & Drahtesel, Velos fr Afrika (Bicycles for Africa)
Founded in 1993, Switzerland www.velosfuerafrika.ch
Gump- & Drahtesel helps unemployed people reintegrate into the labour market in Switzerland by recycling old bicycles for Africa.
Europe
Focus: Unemployment, Rural Development, Environmental Sustainability Geographic area of impact: Switzerland, Africa Model: Hybrid Non-Profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 1,141 Switzerland; 9,721 Africa (2010) Annual Budget: US$ 4.8 million (2010) Percentage Earned Revenue: 85.5% Recognition: Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Switzerland, 2009
The Entrepreneur
During his studies Paolo Richter worked as an intern on a social living project. It was here that he came up with the idea to apply his private passion for restoring old bicycles into a project for unemployed people. Within months the project was up and running. By chance a friend from Ghana stopped by and saw the pile of bicycles, and thus began the partnership with Africa.
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Background
An estimated +1 billion people worldwide are homeless, 40% of which are under age 25, representing a costly social challenge. In New York, each homeless person costs the city about US$ 40,000 annually. The idea for the Homeless World Cup was inspired during the 2001 International Network of Street Papers Conference in Cape Town, South Africa. Mel Young and Harald Schmied recognized football as the international language capable of uniting homeless people around the world, and the HWC was born. Eighteen months later the Graz 2003 Homeless World Cup took place, uniting 18 nations.
Mel Young
Homeless World Cup
Founded in 2002, United Kingdom www.homelessworldcup.org

The Homeless World Cup has proven that sport is a tremendously powerful tool to create positive change in individuals, communities and countries on a global scale. It puts homeless people at the centre of the solution, empowering them to improve their situation and transform their lives. The feeling of belonging, the challenge of working as a team, regaining a healthy attitude towards physical and mental well-being, the recognition of selfesteem and enjoyment of fun engenders significant, lasting change in individual players. The HWC uses football to energize homeless people to change their own lives. This is achieved with a world-class annual international football tournament uniting national teams of people without homes, and by initiating and supporting grassroots football programmes of homeless people throughout the year. Since its phenomenal success in Graz, Austria in 2003, the global tournament has expanded. The Paris 2011 Homeless World Cup included 64 nations and the addition of the Womens Homeless World Cup. This has now fostered grassroots football projects in over 80 nations, benefiting 50,000 players all year-round. In 2012 Mexico City will host the HWC before it travels to Poznan in 2013. Follow-up research has consistently demonstrated unprecedented levels of impact, exemplified by the finding that two-thirds of players make significant changes in their lives. They give up drugs and alcohol, find jobs, finish their education, locate a home, pursue training and education, reunite with their families and become players, coaches and leaders in their communities. Supporters include UEFA, the United Nations, Nike, Telmex Foundation and global ambassadors Eric Cantona, Didier Drogba and Rio Ferdinand.
Europe
The Homeless World Cup (HWC) is a world-class, international football tournament that uses football to end homelessness. Homeless players represent their country and change their lives forever. 80 nations, 50,000 players, 1 goal. Focus: Sport, Homelessness, Housing, Communications/Media Geographic Area of Impact: Global Model: Hybrid Non-Profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 50,000 (2011) Annual Budget: US$ 3 million (2011) Percentage Earned Revenue: 90% Recognition: Schwab Fellow of the World Economic Forum
The Entrepreneur
Mel Young is co-Founder of The Big Issue Scotland, a weekly street paper sold by homeless people in Scotland, and the International Network of Street Papers. He also co-founded SENSCOT (Social Entrepreneurs Network Scotland) and other publishing ventures. Youngs entrepreneurial initiatives have ranged from leveraged non-profits to social businesses. All exemplify how the successful implementation of a simple idea can prove that homeless people are able to transform their lives through their own efforts. He passionately believes that by putting people at the centre of solutions, issues like homelessness and social exclusion can be resolved.
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Background
In most societies, particularly in Switzerland, young people only receive attention if they are in trouble, have committed a crime, are involved with drugs or unemployed. The majority of programmes are directed at these offending groups, however many young people have immense creativity and resources that are under-utilized. Infoklick offers support to children and youth that have an initiative or idea that might contribute positively to society. Often a simple impulse, mentor, meeting room or small start-up financial contribution is all that is required to help an initiative blossom and succeed.
Markus Gander
Infoklick.ch
Founded in 1998, Switzerland www.infoklick.ch

Infoklick is the largest online portal for information concerning youth in Switzerland, answering more than 40,000 questions submitted by young people using its website. It links youth with similar ideas or issues and creates a network of engaged groups. Currently, more than 20,000 young people are actively involved in projects at Infoklick.ch, receiving financial resources and support they need to convert their ideas into reality. Their projects focus on youth participation, respect and tolerance, youth and media, intergenerational issues and the integration of immigrants. One project entitled buntkicktgut, is a street soccer league that integrates young immigrants. Another, Tink.ch is a magazine created by young people for young people, covering topics that are under-represented in the general media. The Jugend mit Wirkung project encourages active participation by youth in communal political matters, and is represented in all districts of Switzerland. Infoklick is mainly financed through projects administered for public entities, foundations or other donors, with membership fees and private donations covering a small part of the budget. The portal has introduced Club Ramoneur, allowing companies to be featured on the website and act as sponsors of particular projects. Infoklick offers a youth card through local communities that offers access to various events and activities; the communities and institutions providing the offers pay a fee for this service. Infoklick has also created a centre for children and youth activities in Moosseedorf, close to Bern, where it offers meeting space and rooms for seminars. In 2009, it established new branches in Lucerne, St Gall, Lausanne, Bellinzona and Basel in Switzerland, and in Munich, Germany.
Infoklick is Switzerlands largest online information portal for young people, helping them solve the problems of their generation.
Europe
Focus: Children and Youth Geographic Area of Impact: Switzerland Model: Hybrid Non-Profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 200,000 (2010) Annual Budget: US$ 2.8 million (2010) Percentage Earned Revenue: 89% Recognition: Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Switzerland, 2006
The Entrepreneur
Markus Gander studied music and sociology in Bern, Switzerland. Working with troubled teenagers as a youth worker in Moosseedorf, he and two colleagues started Infoklick to help young people engage in society by providing them with information and support. Gander also co-founded a Swiss network for youth development, conceptualized the Moosseedorf centre to host a range of youth organizations throughout Switzerland, and is actively engaged in a range of spin-off projects that originated with Infoklick.
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Background
Many young people, migrants, those with disabilities and individuals over the age of 50 are struggling with long-term unemployment or underemployment in Germany. As a result, these groups are often socially segregated. While many of these people can imagine starting their own business, training and start-up funding is usually only provided to those with solid business plans and a good credit history.

Iq consult seeks to lower unemployment, especially in the eastern areas of Germany, by training, mentoring and funding unemployed and disadvantaged people who seek to become self-employed. Iq consult generates new methods and improves the quality of consulting services, microfinancing methods and public fundraising, while seeking to sensitize both private and public decision-makers on these issues. Iq consult began operations in 1994 by modularizing job training for long-term unemployed people and youth who lacked training. This service prepared 150 people for their qualified job diplomas. In 1998, the company started its most successful programme, preparing unemployed young people for self-employment. To date, over 10,000 people have been consulted, trained and mentored, leading to the creation of 1,500 new companies, with more than 1.5 jobs generated for each newly formed company. More than 70% of these companies survived their first three years, a figure well above the average for newly created companies in Germany. To guarantee them access to credit, iq consult initiated a risk fund together with Deutsche Bank Trust and GLS Bank, which provided security for small loans to these companies. This model was used as the basis for the government-backed German microfinance system, which received +100 million euros this year in guarantees, and serves over 35 microfinance institutions. Based on iq consults programme with unemployed young people, the organization adapted the model to address several other target groups, such as the disabled and migrants. In parts of eastern Germany, the services were integrated into the core services of the public sector, such as the integration office in Berlin. The success of these programmes depends upon local and regional networks of politicians and decision-makers. To encourage the spread of the programmes, iq consult acts as a policy consultant to several other regions in Europe, including Andalusia and Extremadura in Spain and Portugals Azores Islands. Norbert Kunz wishes to focus next on the development of an ecology of social innovation. He therefore founded the Social Impact Lab, where performance elements and products for the development of social innovations are defined and supported. The Social Impact Lab of 600 square metres is located in Berlin Kreuzberg, and serves as a spatial reference for other labs projected in Germany. It provides an on-site integral support and qualification offer for Social Entrepreneurs and innovative social ideas, while proven methods of support for entrepreneurs are transferred to Social Entrepreneurs in Brandenburg through the project entersocial.
Europe
Norbert Kunz
iq consult
Founded in 1994, Germany www.iq-consult.com
As a social business, iq consult seeks to increase employment of disadvantaged people through training, coaching, microfinancing and mentoring.
Focus: Enterprise Development, Microfinance, Labour Conditions Geographic Area of Impact: Germany, Europe Model: Social Business Number of Direct Beneficiaries: +10,000 (2010) Annual Budget: US$ 2,400,000 (2010) Percentage Earned Revenue: 100% Recognition: Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Germany, 2010
The Entrepreneur
Norbert Kunz, inspired by the support he received as a child to work his way up through different school systems, believes that the lives of many unemployed or disadvantaged people can be improved through empowerment and trust. Along with his work for iq consult, he serves on the board of the Verband Deutscher Grndungsinitiativen (Association of German Venture Initiatives), and is a founding member of the Deutsche Mikrofinanzinstitut (German Microfunding Trust).
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Background
The official unemployment rate among 15 to 24 year-olds in Switzerland is 3.2%, while the estimated number of unregistered, unemployed youth is around 20,000. In consideration of this fact, the youth unemployment rate is actually around 9%. Youth unemployment is particularly tragic since young people have a diminished chance of gaining employment later on if they are unable to acquire the necessary qualifications early in life; most end up receiving social welfare benefits. Job Factory determined that each unemployed youth costs the government around US$ 47,000 per year. For the city of Basel alone, this totals US$ 94 million per year for 2,000 unemployed youth.
Robert Roth
Job Factory
Founded in 2000, Switzerland www.jobfactory.ch

Job Factory offers a second chance in the job market for teenagers and young adults who have experienced a rough start. The goal is to avoid the stigmatization of young people due to involvement in welfare programmes, which typically ends their professional careers before they can even start. Each year Job Factory offers 300 unemployed young people a six-month internship in the following areas: printing, information technology, kitchen furniture manufacturing, retail and sales, industrial assembly, guitar repairing, cooking and food service, hairdressing, facility management, packaging, recycling, candle making and handicrafts. Each division is organized as a profit centre. As a private company, Job Factory must survive in the marketplace while offering an authentic, performance-oriented environment. It offers professional coaching through its Job Training Foundation, focusing on the strengths and weaknesses of each intern, representing a more costeffective programme than traditional training for the unemployed. The unique combination of market-oriented work and specialized coaching enables the youth to obtain a successful start in professional life. The economic and social departments of the Basel cantonal government work in cooperation with Job Factory, sending unemployed youth to Job Factory when alternative solutions cannot be found. To date, over 2,500 people have undergone a Job Factory internship. Eighty percent of the trainees who successfully complete the internship find an apprenticeship, employment or continue to pursue further education.
Job Factory provides internships and training programmes for unemployed youth who have lost hope and are seeking a second chance in the job market.
Europe
Focus: Children and Youth, Labour Conditions, Unemployment Geographic Area of Impact: Switzerland Model: Social Business Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 300 (2011) Annual Budget: US$ 15 million (2011) Percentage Earned Revenue: 97% Recognition: Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Switzerland, 2005
The Entrepreneur
By age 23, Robert Roth was managing a retail store. In 1976 he founded Weizenkorn, which is now the largest employer in Switzerland of young people suffering from psychological problems. Over the years he realized that many young people, not just those with physical or psychological handicaps, who could not find jobs were losing hope. He therefore conceived the Job Factory in 1999, actively launching it the following year, and today serves as its President and a member of the board.
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Background
Gender discrimination is one of Turkeys most serious problems, with a KAMER survey revealing that 90% of women accepted violence as a natural result of being a woman. The countrys two regions suffering from the highest rates of violence directed towards women, as well as children, are eastern and south-eastern Anatolia. These are regions characterized by a traditional, sexist, tribal social structure and violent civil conflict. Having experienced violence firsthand as a woman, a political detainee and a widow whose husband was murdered in the midst of a civil conflict, Nebahat Akkoc founded KAMER to share her experiences and awareness with other women.
Nebahat Akkoc
KAMER
Founded in 1997, Turkey www.kamer.org.tr

KAMER started its operations in the Anatolian city of Diyarbakir through awareness-raising workshops on human rights for women, and the provision of any support requested by women to end violence in their lives. Today KAMER womens centres are present in 23 provinces in eastern and south-eastern Anatolia, providing psychological, employment and legal counselling to those facing domestic violence. It has also formed emergency intervention teams that include representatives of relevant local government agencies. Since its inception, KAMER has reached about 300,000 women through awareness-raising activities, and provided psychological, economic and legal support for 20,000 women facing domestic violence. It has offered support to about 750 women facing threats of honour killings since 2003. To provide job opportunities for women in the region where the unemployment rate is particularly high, and to contribute to its own economic sustainability, KAMER launched an entrepreneurship programme. This includes a caf in Diyarbakir, a restaurant in Mardin and a guesthouse in Tunceli run by women. KAMER continues to contribute to improving the status of women in Turkey by helping women at the local level, while lobbying and advocating at the state level for better policies and enforcement of legal reforms.
Working throughout Anatolia, KAMER provides social support for women facing domestic violence.
Focus: Womens Human Rights, Domestic Violence, Honour Killing, Forced Marriage, Education, Enterprise Development, Children Geographic Area of Impact: Turkey Model: Leveraged Non-Profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 4,124 (2010) Annual Budget: US$ 552,648 (2010) Percentage Earned Revenue: 10.96% Recognition: Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Turkey, 2008
The Entrepreneur
Nebahat Akkoc was a primary school teacher for 22 years. She served on the executive committee of the Human Rights Association of Turkey from 1994 to 1996, and as the head of the Diyarbakirs Branch of Education and Science Labourers Union from 1991 to 1993. She founded KAMER in 1997 and has been leading the organization ever since.
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Europe
Background
The number of children born in Germany has consistently dropped over recent years. Particularly alarming is the fact that 40% of women with an academic degree remain childless, as they often do not see a way to combine children and a career. Until the end of 2004 there was no legal obligation for the German government to provide kindergarten places for children younger than three years of age. A new law adopted in 2005 guaranteed the building of a nationwide network of childcare facilities. However a current survey shows only 14% of the demand for day care places is met. To date, the market is dominated by state-run and religious organizations, which usually offer limited opening hours. Surveys reveal that more than 60% of parents using day care programmes wish to have more flexible hours.
Bjrn Czinczoll
Kinderzentren Kunterbunt
Founded in 1998, Germany www.kinderzentren.de

Kinderzentren Kunterbunt provides a new approach to meet the demand of parents for childcare facilities in Germany. In contrast to most of the state-run kindergartens, it is designed to meet the needs of working parents. Specifically, Kunterbunt provides a new service because the childcare centres have extraordinarily long operating hours (from 06h00 to 20h00), including weekends and school vacations, enabling mothers and fathers to combine family and career better. In contrast to traditional childcare facilities, which are normally situated in residential zones, the day care centres are located close to big companies, hospitals and industrial zones, significantly shortening travel time between home, kindergarten and the workplace. This gives parents the invaluable flexibility to fulfil todays job requirements, such as unpredictable overtime, with the confidence that their children are receiving proper care. Kinderzentren Kunterbunt considers itself a service provider and partner for families, offering additional services like excursions and seminars about nutrition and health. Currently, Kinderzentren Kunterbunt runs 26 childcare centres in southern Germany, providing services to over 2,000 children, and seeks to expand at the rate of one new centre each month. Given that it typically takes two years to open a childcare facility, this represents rapid expansion. Kinderzentren Kunterbunt is primarily a publicly funded institution, receiving government support provided to all state-approved facilities. Fees are within the same range as state-run or religious kindergartens, dependent upon the total amount of hours booked and the age of the child.
Kinderzentren Kunterbunt provides childcare centres tailored to the needs of working parents so that they can better combine family and career.
Europe
Focus: Children and Youth Geographic Area of Impact: Germany Model: Hybrid Non-Profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 10,000 (2010) Annual Budget: US$ 10 million (2010) Percentage Earned Revenue: 7.6% (2010) Recognition: Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Germany, 2006
The Entrepreneur
Bjrn Czinczoll first encountered the problem of childcare in Germany while doing community service. It was during this time that he developed the idea for Kinderzentren Kunterbunt. He believes entrepreneurship blends well with social endeavours, and that there is room for business models even in traditionally public sector project areas. His studies in law at the University of Regensburg prepared him well for his career.
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Background
In Spain during the 1960s the majority of psychiatric hospitals rarely provided health services. Instead, they were places of confinement, where work therapy treatment programmes for the mentally ill or handicapped were aimed at keeping them busy. In 1982 psychologist Cristbal Coln came to the conclusion that these people needed to be given real work, paid jobs that were meaningful and involved making products recognized by the market. He began La Fageda as an independent organization located in a rural area in Catalua, Spain, founded at a time when Spanish legislation did not consider that people with disabilities could work. Things have changed since then, but the labour market continues to regard people with mental disabilities with suspicion and fear.
Cristbal Coln
La Fageda
Founded in 1982, Spain www.fageda.com

Cristbal Coln created La Fageda to provide dignity and meaning to individuals suffering from mental illness, using an unconventional mechanism given the target population group. He created a social enterprise that is now known for its excellent dairy products, particularly yoghurt and flan. Its annual turnover was 10.8 million in 2010, competing for market share with Danone and Nestl. Each month La Fageda sells 3.5 million multi-flavoured yoghurts, all made with natural ingredients. La Fageda differs from its competitors because the former wards of mental institutions run its dairy production. La Fageda is a cooperative of 280 workers, of which 160 suffer some form of mental illness or handicap. The dairy production centre is owned by the workers, who become shareholders by paying 60 upon entry. La Fageda also has a support programme comprised of a group of psychologists who follow each workers personal and professional rehabilitation. This support group oversees the residential halls where workers without families stay, as well as the occupational centre for those with the greatest level of incapacity. In addition to dairy production, La Fageda manages three other areas: vegetable gardens for jam production; a landscaping service that maintains gardens and parks; and a cattle care facility that feeds and cultivates hay for almost 500 cattle. La Fageda has been certified according to ISO 9001:2008 (quality) and ISO 14001 (environment), and is categorized by the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture as a Priority Agricultural Enterprise.
Europe
Competing with some of the worlds largest food producers, La Fageda offers high-quality dairy products while ensuring social and labour integration for people with mental disabilities.
Focus: Enterprise Development, Health Geographic Area of Impact: Spain Model: Social Business Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 280 (2010) Annual Budget: US$ 14,127,000 (2010) Percentage Earned Revenue: 100% Recognition: Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Spain, 2005
The Entrepreneur
After finishing his military service, Cristbal Coln joined the staff of a mental hospital, seeking a job where he could be useful to others. He worked for 10 years in several institutions initiating work therapy programmes. In 1981 he came to the conclusion that real jobs for mental patients can only be created in a real enterprise and decided to put into practice what had long been his dream. When Coln spoke to the mayor and authorities in the region about starting La Fageda, they thought that he too, was crazy. As Coln points out: Imagine someone wanting to set up a business, except it will be employing crazy people and is run by a psychiatrist whose name is Christopher Columbus!.
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Background
Finding a stable job has become a real challenge, particularly in former industrial regions of France. The increasing rate of unemployment and its social consequences are also a big social and economic challenge for the country. Increasingly, many youth and those excluded from society have little to no chance of finding a job. For more than 25 years Pierre Duponchel, through his social enterprise, has been creating jobs for the disenfranchised in France and Africa.
Pierre Duponchel
Le Relais
Founded in 1984, France www.lerelais.org
Le Relais collects, sorts, resells or recycles second-hand textiles, employing socially excluded people. The company has created 1,500 jobs in France and Africa. Facing the difficulties met by employees in finding a new job, Le Relais has been developing activities that provide training and sustainable employment since 1993. Pierre Duponchel is focused on making Le Relais become a company with a socio-economic objective. Starting as a small door-to-door collection activity in the north of France, Le Relais has become a major industry, treating more than 60,000 tons of textiles each year. The textiles collected are used for different purposes: top quality material is resold in Ding-Bring boutiques, an integrated network of second-hand shops; approximately 40% are exported to Africa where they are sorted again and resold in local markets; and textiles that cannot be resold are recycled into industrial rags. Le Relais is also committed to recycling textile and paper waste, reusing more than 85% of the 60,000 tons of textiles collected every year. To remain viable and create value from the collected textiles, Le Relais has developed innovative products from this raw material. For example, the company has developed Metisse, a heat and sound isolating material based on recycled textile fibres from jeans and cotton. This licensed eco-material has had great success in environmentally-friendly construction projects. After a television programme dedicated time to Le Relais initiatives, the company received multiple requests to duplicate the model throughout France. It has more recently developed activities in Africa.
Through the collection of second-hand textiles, Le Relais creates jobs in France and Africa for people that have been excluded from society.
Europe
Focus: Unemployment, Professional Integration, Environment Geographic Area of Impact: France, Burkina Faso, Senegal, Madagascar Model: Social Business Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 1,500 (2009) Annual Budget: US$ 52 million (2008) Percentage Earned Revenue: 95% Recognition: Social Entrepreneur of the Year, France, 2009
The Entrepreneur
Before he began a career as a manufacturing engineer in the food processing industry, Pierre Duponchel got involved during his studies in helping socially excluded people in social projects dedicated to underclass youth. He is involved in Frances Emmaus community, which enables people to escape homelessness, providing work and a home in a supportive family.
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Background
Most social services for handicapped people in the Czech Republic consist of life-long placement in state institutions, which often lack support programmes that integrate people into society. One alternative is homecare, requiring a family member to remain at home to care for their handicapped relative. Finding support services when a person can no longer be cared for is very challenging. Letohrdek Vendula was created to offer additional and alternative services that address the needs of handicapped people and their families in the Czech Republic.
Dja Kabtov
Letohrdek Vendula
Founded in 1990, Czech Republic www.letohradekvendula.cz
Letohrdek Vendula is a non-governmental, not-for profit organization, which operates a crisis centre providing care, accommodation and workshop employment to individuals with severe handicaps. Its crafts manufacturing workshop employs people with mental, physical or combined handicaps, who engage in traditional craftwork such as weaving, candle making and handmade paper production. The products are then sold through a wide network of merchants, including Baumax home improvement stores. Other services provided by Letohrdek Vendula include a daily and weekly assisted living facility, legal consulting services and a crisis centre offering accommodation and physiotherapy. The crisis centre provides temporary accommodations, consultation and personal assistance to handicapped people in need, particularly in the event of their primary caregivers death. Letohrdek Vendula accepts all people regardless of their diagnosis, which represents an entirely different approach from state-run institutions that sort people according to their disabilities. It also provides training for government professionals in an effort to change the state institutional approach from simply passive caretaking of people with disabilities, to the active participation by those needy individuals. Letohrdek Vendula represents a unique community of people who are capable of working well together. For example, a physically healthy yet mentally handicapped person might be able to work in collaboration with another wheelchair-bound but mentally healthy individual, resulting in the cooperative production of a sellable product.
Europe
Letohrdek Vendula serves the needs of handicapped people in the Czech Republic by providing social services and work opportunities.
Focus: Disabilities, Education, Enterprise Development, Health, Labour Conditions, Unemployment Model: Hybrid Non-Profit Geographic Area of Impact: Czech Republic Current Number of Beneficiaries: 50 (2010) Annual Budget: US$ 526,000 (2010) Percentage of Earned Revenue: 30% Recognition: Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Czech Republic, 2008
The Entrepreneur
Drahoslava (Dja) Kabtov graduated from Charles University in Prague with a degree in Special Education. Until 1994 she spent 10 years working as a nurse at the Jedlicka Institute in Prague, managing a crafts workshop. Kabtov is an Ashoka Fellow, and has served on several evaluation boards for social projects sponsored by the Czech Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs. She has also developed many projects with grants from the Czech government and the European Union.
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Background
Excessive materialism during the past 30 years has undermined basic human values, even though profit does not necessarily equal happiness. LifeGate is the first business of its kind in Italy that breaks with the past by proposing a new way to work and live. It offers a unique model for a new economy, where business has a conscience and people are aware of their actions and the effect these have upon others and the environment.

LifeGate aims to contribute to a new way of doing business that places the environment at the centre, based on the three interrelated concepts of people, planet and profits. LifeGate operates a number of activities that seek to change peoples mindsets and society as a whole. Impatto Zero is a project to reduce carbon emissions and offset them by creating and protecting forests. To date, the project has involved over 700 companies and resulted in the creation of 28 million square metres of new forests. Other activities include LifeGate Ecopartners, a consulting enterprise offering market analysis, brand positioning and eco-marketing strategies. LifeGate Engineering is a specialized consulting service in renewable energy systems for homes, private enterprises and public services. LifeGate Renewable Energy is the first Italian distributor of 100% clean energy to businesses and the public. LifeGate Portal, a website of over 10,000 articles on health, environment, organic food, FairTrade, psychology and other topics, promotes social and environmental awareness and receives 400,000 visitors each month. LifeGate Radio, with more than 400,000 listeners per week, offers highquality music complemented by ethical messages and advice. LifeGate iMagazine, originally in print, is now a digital version for iPads covering topics presented in the LifeGate Portal. As part of LifeGate Planet, which has major NGO representatives on its board, Marco Roveda is writing a free e-book translated into five languages. It includes input from Ervin Laszlo, world leaders and Nobel Prize winners, including Mikhail Gorbachev, Wangari Maathai, Adolfo Perez Esquivel, Shirin Ebadi, Deepak Chopra, Fritjof Capra, Lester Brown and Vandana Shiva.
Marco Roveda
LifeGate Group
Founded in 2000, Italy www.lifegate.it
LifeGate aims to contribute to a new way of doing business that places the environment at the centre.
Europe
Focus: Communications/Media, Consumer Awareness, Energy, Environment, Trade Geographic Area of Impact: Italy Model: Social Business Annual Budget: US$ 16 million (2010) Percentage Earned Revenue: 100% Recognition: Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Italy, 2007
The Entrepreneur
Born in Milan in 1951, Marco Roveda describes himself as an entrepreneur, philosopher and visionary. In 1978 he embraced biodynamic agriculture, and in 1981 established the Scaldasole farm as the first organic food company in Italy. Inspired by this, +60,000 companies followed suit and transformed the organic production market in Italy, making it the top producer of organic goods in Europe. In 2000, Roveda founded LifeGate, which became a meeting point for people and companies to focus their ethical and sustainability principles. In 2004 he published Perch ce la faremo (Thats Why We Can Make It), and in 2008 promoted the series I Sostenibili for Salerno Publishing with Lecobusiness ci salver (Will Ecobusiness Save Us?), an interview-biography by Enzo Argante. In 2010 he became the only Italian member taking part in the Worldshift Council of the G20. The mission of this council is to bring attention to the new emerging world by providing guidance for an informed/determined movement towards a peaceful, just and sustainable world civilization. Roveda lives in the Italian province of Como in the original headquarters of the Scaldasole farm, which is now Italys first solar tracker photovoltaic park.
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Background
Bosnia-Herzegovina is a country still undergoing post-war development. Its population is ethically divided and its citizens and politicians contend with the wars legacy of mistrust. Most local civil society organizations still rely on foreign donors and adapt their work to outside demands, thus becoming increasingly disconnected from their beneficiaries, members and communities. Attitudes inherited from a pre-war system, in which people expected the state to resolve all their problems, contribute to the inactivity and lack of initiatives within local communities. Since Foreign Direct Investment does not reach all parts of the country, poverty is increasing in rural areas.
Zoran Pulji
Mozaik Foundation
Founded in 2001, Bosnia and Herzegovina www.mozaik.ba

The Mozaik Foundation is a social enterprise directed towards the social and economic development of Bosnia and Herzegovina through the provision of financial and advisory support to community action. It focuses on local resource mobilization and the sustainability of social and economic development by implementing a range of programmes that support initiatives in rural communities. Mozaik motivates community members to identify and mobilize their local human, financial and material resources to take control of their lives. The foundation does not prescribe the types of projects communities should engage in, but instead works with local representatives to help define priorities, devise and support solutions to local problems and then implement beneficial community projects. Grants provided by Mozaik aim to achieve concrete, tangible results within communities, while developing processes that will improve relations among community members-at-large. In 2009 Mozaik established two for-profit companies whose revenues would fully support the foundation, while also providing jobs for 100 women of different ethnic backgrounds from the most rural areas of the country. EkoMozaik produces high-quality honey from 1,000 beehives, starting with the integral production of herbs, flowers and vegetables in a modern 5,000m2 greenhouse. The second company, the MaSta Agency, promotes corporate social responsibility and organises large corporate events.
Mozaik helps citizens in Bosnia and Herzegovina organize and advance their communities by providing financial and advisory assistance.
Focus: Community Development, Unemployment, Civic Participation Geographic Area of Impact: Bosnia-Herzegovina Model: Hybrid Non-Profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 484,100 (2010) Annual Budget: US$ 1,225,000 (2010) Percentage Earned Revenue: 3% Recognition: Regional Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Central and Eastern Europe, 2010
The Entrepreneur
A pioneer of post-war reconciliation in the late 1990s, Zoran Pulji emerged from the last decade with an innovative approach to community development. A visionary integration of entrepreneurship, reconciliation, economic and social development led the Mozaik Foundation to become a leading hybrid organization in central and eastern Europe. Pulji has served as a member and chairperson of numerous domestic and international boards, including the German Marhall Fund (Balkan Trust for Democracy), European Foundation Centre (Grantmakers East Forum), the Resource Alliance and others. He founded the first Bosnian think-tank, Populari, and currently serves on two for-profit management boards in Bosnia and Herzegovina. He was a Duke University Fellow in Civil Society, INSEAD Fellow in Social Entrepreneurship and BoardSource Fellow in non-profit governance. He holds an MBA and an MA degree in Development, and is also fluent in English, German and Spanish.
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Europe
Background
Women with small children in the Czech Republic are often discriminated against in the labour market. Maternity leave allowances are very low and often put mothers in an uncertain financial situation. A strong network of centres for mothers prevents women from stagnating professionally and socially when they are on maternity leave. As a member of the Czech governments Council for Women and Mens Equal Opportunities, Rut Kolnsk lobbies for the benefit of mothers. Her goal is not only to establish equal opportunities for men and women in the workplace, but also to make on-site childcare possible at work.
Rut Kolnsk
Network of Mother Centers
Founded in 2001, Czech Republic www.materska-centra.cz

The Network of Mother Centers (St Materskch Center) is a non-profit organization in the Czech Republic that seeks to help women with small children maintain their professional skills and develop self-confidence. The network consists of 335 centres throughout the country. They are spaces where mothers and children can meet other mothers and children to learn how to use their free time effectively. The centres also offer a meeting ground and support services to more than 67,000 families. Numerous activities include crafts, sports, and educational and requalification programmes. The centres are open to all, including minorities, refugees and the disabled; the open atmosphere teaches respect and tolerance, and addresses xenophobia or racism. The benefits for women include escaping isolation, keeping or upgrading professional standards, exchanging information and experience, developing new friendships, building self-confidence and getting involved in public issues. It also helps to prevent criminality and boosts the maternity rate. Establishing a Mothers Center requires close cooperation with local authorities, fundraising and understanding of laws. This process is a great teaching tool for women on maternity leave. The experience has lead many women to become active in local politics.
Through a network of centres, mothers with small children in the Czech Republic work together to maintain their professional skills and develop self-confidence.
Europe
Focus: Family, Health, Women Geographic Area of Impact: Czech Republic Model: Leveraged Non-Profit Recognition: Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Czech Republic, 2005
The Entrepreneur
Rut Kolnsk is the daughter of a protestant pastor. The mother of five children, she spent 18 years on maternity leave. She has a university degree in Ethnography. Her interest in family issues originated in 1988 when she co-founded the environmental group, Prague Mothers. She founded the Network of Mother Centers as a professional civic association in 2001. However, the first centre was opened as early as 1992, shortly after Kolnsk got the inspiration from the model of Mother Centers in Germany.
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Background
About 2,000 children run away from home each year in Germany, with +300 becoming street children. Unlike in developing countries, the phenomenon of German street children is not a symptom of poverty but the result of social dysfunction. Most runaways are fleeing mistreatment, abandonment and abuse, and many come from rural areas seeking new lives in larger towns and cities.

Working to ensure that runaways never become street kids, the Off Road Kids Foundations Countrywide Street Social Work programme has branches in Germanys largest cities (Berlin, Dortmund, Hamburg and Cologne) where many children end up. Due to its extensive network within Germany, young people can more easily be reunited with their families, reach a youth welfare office or therapy centre regardless of the distance. This is a fundamental difference between Off Road Kids and local assistance organizations. Off Road Kids finances its Countrywide Street Social Work mainly through sponsorship; its main supporters include Vodafone Foundation Germany, Deutsche Bahn, Bausparkasse Schwaebisch Hall, Alcatel Lucent and Permira. Other supporters are the Franz Beckenbauer Foundation, Red Nose Day (ProSieben TV-channel), and numerous Lions and Leo Clubs. Recently, Off Road Kids Foundation began dealing in art as an additional financial resource. Off Road Kids offers a free 24-hour emergency hotline for young people in need of help, and a hotline for parents with children threatening to run away or who have already. The foundations social workers investigate the best possible prospects for each child, and young people who cannot get help from their families or in their hometown can find accommodation in one of two childrens homes. Since 1994, Off Road Kids has helped +2,000 young people improve their future prospects. The key to integrating young, underprivileged people into the workforce and society is through help from qualified educational professionals. To this end the Off Road Kids Foundation established the Institute for Pedagogic Management, an undergraduate programme offering students a BA in Business Administration.
Europe
Markus Seidel
Off Road Kids Foundation
Founded in 1993, Germany www.offroadkids.de
The Off Road Kids Foundation is a countrywide system in Germany benefiting street children, providing emergency hotlines for young people and parents, including two childrens homes and a university programme.
Focus: Children, Youth, Education Geographic Area of Impact: Germany Model: Leveraged Non-Profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 2,000 (2011) Annual Budget: US$ 2 million (2011) Percentage Earned Revenue: 25% Recognition: Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Germany, 2005
The Entrepreneur
Markus Seidel was a journalist before starting Off Road Kids. In 1992, a documentary on street children led him to write the book Street Children in Germany: Destinies that Should Not Exist. The contacts Seidel established with street children while doing research for the book developed into the Countrywide Street Social Work system and the establishment of the childrens homes. At the same time, he expanded his knowledge and experience with Off Road Kids and implemented management knowledge into social work. Off Road Kids now plans additional pedagogic management institutes throughout Germany.
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Background
As a result of global population growth and rising standards of living, unprecedented levels of human consumption are depleting scarce environmental resources and putting civilization at risk. To help address this growing problem, One Earth Innovation was established to create a new generation of sustainable products that balance the needs of people with the planets natural resources.

One Earth Innovation focuses on leveraging the power of business to address the most ecologically challenged areas of the economy.
Reed Paget
One Earth Innovation
Founded in 2010, United Kingdom www.one-earth.net
It is currently developing a low-energy kettle and washing machine, a low-water shower, a food preservation container, a home composting unit and a recyclable bottle cap. To encourage individuals to adopt greener lifestyles, One Earth Innovation uses various marketing tools to influence a sustainable change in consumer behaviour.
The Entrepreneur
Reed Paget is an eco-entrepreneur who successfully develops and markets green consumer goods. He founded Ecocap, which patented a more recyclable bottle cap design, and founded Belu Water, the UKs most eco-friendly bottled water brand. Belu is the worlds first carbon-neutral bottled water, the first in Europe to use compostable bottles made from corn, the first to promote PVC-free bottle caps and the first to commit 100% of profits to clean water projects. Paget completed university education in communications, then spent more than a decade working as a journalist. Along with producing television news in New York, he directed the award-winning documentary Amerikan Passport, which was filmed in 11 war zones and included the military crackdown in Tiananmen Square and SCUD missiles landing in Tel Aviv. From 2007 to 2010, the UK Cabinet Office appointed Paget a Social Enterprise Ambassador.
One Earth Innovation develops a new generation of sustainable products that balance the needs of people with the natural resources of the planet.
Europe
Focus: Environmental Sustainability Geographic Area of Impact: Global Model: Social Business Percentage Earned Revenue: 100% Recognition: Schwab Fellow of the World Economic Forum; SEOY, United Kingdom, 2007
126
Background
Today, parents whose work requires them to be on the job during hours when traditional childcare is unavailable are forced to fend for themselves, relying on family and friends. Often children are left on their own or in the care of an elder sibling who is sometimes as young as five years of age. About 835,000 children in France under age three have parents working odd hours, but this number increases three-fold to 2.4 million when considering similar childcare needs up to age 13. Single-parent families also represent a rising social trend, accounting for 17% of French households; as this percentage increases so do the costs associated with childcare. Optimmes is working to bridge the gap in French childcare service provision.
Anne-Karine Stocchetti
Optimmes
Founded in 1996, France www.optimomes.org

Anne Karine created OPTIMOMES to address these conflicts between professional and family life of parents who work, particularly those working complicated schedules who have young children. The economic model of this enterprise is based on this problem recognition, which is a precondition to all the contracts signed with private or public companies and public institutions. OPTIMOMES helps parents care for their children during non-traditional working hours. Its success has been the result of placing families and their needs at the centre of its model. After a four-year pilot stage Stocchetti successfully applied for the European Union programme Equal, to replicate the OPTIMOMES model on a greater scale. To do so she created Optimmes Development and launched the GEPETTO network of childcare centres in the Brittany and Rhne areas of France. These centres operate according to following principles: services are provided in the childs home and as a complement to other existing services during regular hours; all children should have access to quality childcare at home also. Both services employ professionals only, are opened seven days a week, 24 hours a day. Families are invoiced based upon their incomes. Since its launch in 2003, GEPETTO has benefited over 1,200 families and 1,800 children. Of those families, 60% are single-parent households, the majority headed by women, and 65% earn less than 1,000 euros per month. GEPETTOs impact has been assessed by external evaluators, and indicates significant stability for children and better performances in school. Parents enjoy greater peace of mind, dramatic reductions in absenteeism and higher work productivity, which benefits their employers as well. Today, GEPETTO has developed a new concept called la crche solidaire. During the day children are welcomed in small nurseries located in apartments specially designed for their needs. During early morning, late nights, week-ends or holidays GEPPETTO intervenes directly at the childrens homes. Special personnel are employed and all activities coordinated to assure the biological rhythms of children are reserved.
Optimmes provides childcare services for parents with non-traditional work hours in France.
Focus: Children and Youth Geographic Area of Impact: France Model: Hybrid Non-Profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 200 families in 2010 Annual Budget: US$ 1.8 Million Percentage Earned Revenue: 100% Recognition: Social Entrepreneur of the Year, France, 2007
The Entrepreneur
Anne-Karine Stocchetti was born and raised in Paris and has three children. She first studied film, worked in film production companies and wrote scripts. She dreamed of becoming a film director but kept running into fundraising problems. She later became a stock trader but grew increasingly uneasy trying to balance work and family life. In 1991 she left her job and moved out of Paris to a small town where she created a childcare agency, quickly discovering the difficulties faced by parents working non-traditional hours. Their needs neither corresponded to the hours offered by childcare services nor the prices they could afford. Bolstered by this realization, she created OPTIMOMES in 1996.
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Europe
Background
In the Czech Republic, the states institutional and foster care systems officially cease to care for children once they become 18 years-old, the age they are considered adults and required to care for themselves. In contrast to children who have a family, these individuals lack not only a support network but, in most cases, the knowledge of basic social customs and skills that can ease their transition to an independent life. Many are unable to cope and end up on the street, becoming trapped by debt or living a life of crime. Pod Krdly provides halfway houses that offer living conditions as supportive and secure as possible. The organization helps young adults become socially integrated into society, minimizing their chance of engaging in a life of crime or becoming a burden on the states social assistance network.
Emilie Smrckov
Pod Krdly
Founded in 2000, Czech Republic www.podkridly.cz

Pod Krdly operates halfway houses for young adults leaving institutional or foster care by offering a three-year residency period. During this time they have to work in order to pay rent, and the use of alcohol and narcotics is prohibited in the homes. The organization helps these young adults clear their debts and learn to manage their money. If they are unable to succeed on their own, they are given a budget by a staff member. These young adults receive job search assistance, help in re-qualifying for studies, and they visit specialists outside the home, including psychologists, psychiatrists and therapists. Social work is individualized and staff members prepare and execute personal development plans to enable successful social integration. After the three-year residency period most of the young adults find a rented apartment, employment and have established some savings. This reduces the potential for criminal activity in this high-risk group; feedback has shown that 90% have integrated into society and are living trouble-free lives. From the very beginning Pod Krdly has cooperated closely with the cities in which it operates, and in some cases the cities donate houses, land and financial aid. It also collaborates with childrens homes, child welfare authorities and other organizations operating halfway houses. Additionally, the organization strives to forge close ties with the private sector and foundations.
Pod Krdly provides homes for young people who grew up in childrens home and foster care, offering assistance with their integration into society.
Europe
Focus: Education, Labour Conditions, Unemployment Model: Hybrid Non-Profit Geographic Area of Impact: Czech Republic Annual Budget: US$ 593,158 (2009) Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 43 (2009) Recognition: Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Czech Republic, 2009
The Entrepreneur
Emilie Smrckov worked as a railway dispatcher, raised four sons, and over the course of 20 years served as a foster parent for another 20 kids from childrens homes. Pod Krdly was founded with the help of members of her own family. She closely cooperates with local governmental authorities and is an active participant in the national discussion on institutional and foster care programmes.
128
Background
One of the biggest hurdles for organic farmers is that the main profit pool for their products is retail sales, whereas much less is earned in production and handling. This makes it difficult to finance the purchase or establishment of an organic farm since no one is willing to lend the required funds. With new equity rules for banks the situation is becoming even more difficult as securities are hard to find for potential founders. The result is an increased risk of small farms failing and large agribusinesses taking over, with consequences for food production and regional development.
Christan Hi
Regionalwert
Founded in 2006, Germany www.regionalwert-ag.de
Regionalwert responded by collecting two million euros in equity capital from nearly 500 residents of the Freiburg region, who do not seek shortterm financial returns, and invested the capital in 16 projects throughout the agriculture value chain. Profits made with retailing, for example, are used as a form of cross-subsidization to provide a capital basis for farm purchase or establishment at better than market terms. Regionalwert also provides advice for the establishment of operations and know-how on legal issues and business management. To assess the social impact of Regionalwerts and the portfolio companies activities, an evaluation system of 64 ecological and social criteria was developed and implemented. Of the 16 investments made so far, 12 are start-ups that otherwise would not have been able to secure alternative sources of financing. Nearly 50 jobs have been created across the Regionalwert portfolio in the Freiburg region. For the first half of 2012 an additional capital increase has been prepared as the company continues its growth. To enable the implementation of the concept in other regions, a holding was founded. Committed people elsewhere can thus use the Freiburg model to found a Regionalwert using the expertise and brand of the original. It is not a franchise system, since the holding belongs jointly to all Regionalwerts. The Isar/Inn region founded a Regionalwert in 2011, and talks with other regions are under way.
Regionalwert fosters organic farming, food production and regional development through the use of its joint stock company. It invests in companies in the organic farming and food production value chain, and provides capital for start-ups and successions dedicated to socially and ecologically sustainable farming. Focus: Eco-social Farming, Regional Development Geographic Area of Impact: Germany Model: Social Business Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 52 (2011) Annual Budget: US$ 325,000 (2011) Percentage Earned Revenue: 86% (2010) Recognition: Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Germany, 2011
The Entrepreneur
Christian Hi has a background in farming, as his father pioneered organic farming by starting a farm in Eichstetten near Freiburg in the 1950s. Christian Hi did an apprenticeship to become a gardener and later started his own organic market garden. When trying to enlarge the business he was unable to secure bank financing and considered alternative options. In 2006, with the family farm he inherited and his market garden as capital stock, he started Regionalwert as a joint stock company. He persuaded an increasing number of people to invest in the company, while lobbying politicians and decision-makers to foster a paradigm change in farming and regional development policies. In 2007 he began a Masters in Social Banking and Social Finance at the University of Plymouth (UK) and graduated in 2011.
129
Europe
Background
Climate change is among the biggest challenges the world faces today, and the poorest people suffer most from it. Under the Kyoto Protocol various states committed to a reduction of greenhouse gases. Since the cost to reduce one ton of CO2 is considerably higher in a developed country than an emerging and developing one, states are allowed to invest in CO2 reduction projects to achieve their commitments. In addition, individuals and companies can buy certificates in order to offset their emissions.
Christoph Sutter and Renat Heuberger

South Pole Carbon Asset Management
Founded in 2006, Switzerland www.southpolecarbon.com
People around the world wanting to implement projects financed through the global emission market face a number of problems. The registration process for entering the emission market is long, bureaucratic and costly and only around 20% of the projects are successfully registered. South Pole Carbon (SPC) actively guides a project initiator in this process and can combine several small projects under an approved umbrella allowing initiators to share the costs and risks. At the same time South Pole Carbon uses its extensive network of clients to finance these projects. SPC applies even stricter criteria than the ones necessary for entering the global emission market. More than 50% of its projects meet the Gold Standard created by the WWF, which is internationally recognized for its focus on social impact. Additionally, SPC plays a leading role in the export of various standards into different regions of the world, such as the Social Carbon Standard that originated in Brazil and is now applied to projects in Asia. South Pole Carbon has a large client base in Europe consisting of states and large companies. They buy their certificates from SPC because it guarantees the certificates originate from projects that not only save CO2 but also have a positive impact on the community. SPC sells about half of its certificates to governments who are obliged by the Kyoto Protocol to reduce emissions; the other half goes to companies who finance such projects voluntarily. Another innovative idea of SPC is the Climate Credit Card, which accounts for emissions linked to its credit card purchases and offsets them with investments in emissions-reduction projects.
South Pole combines local commitment for sustainable development in emerging and developing countries with solutions for global climate change.
Europe
Focus: Environment, Technology Geographic Area of Impact: Global Model: Social Business Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 100 employees; 10,000 locals Annual Budget: US$ 28.6 million (2011) Percentage Earned Revenue: 100% Recognition: Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Switzerland, 2011
The Entrepreneurs
Christoph Sutter has a PhD in environmental studies and has been active in the fight against climate change for most of his life. The idea of using market-based mechanisms to finance emission reduction projects, as laid out in the Kyoto Protocol, caught his interest and he became part of the first regional Swiss pilot project. As a consultant for several governments he laid out how CO2 reduction and local sustainable development can coexist. He previously worked for McKinsey in the sustainability and environmental area. Renat Heuberger founded South Pole Carbon with Sutter and three other friends. During a year in Jakarta he became aware of how important socially and environmentally sustainable development is for the peaceful coexistence of future generations. As a consequence he chose environmental studies as his path and spent another year in Indonesia working for an NGO. Upon returning, he and friends founded myclimate, which allowed private citizens to offset their own CO2 emissions. South Pole Carbon scales the concept of myclimate by focusing on solutions for states and large companies.
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Background
Millions of young people around the world are born into a cycle of social injustice that offers little opportunity to break free. One common unifier of youth around the world, regardless of circumstances or status, is sports. Through the love of football, streetfootballworld brings individuals and organizations together behind a common goal: empowering young people to rise above their circumstances.

The streetfootballworld network unites over 80 organizations in 60 countries around the globe, using football to tackle social challenges like HIV/AIDS, violence prevention, education, gender equality and homelessness. In 2010 alone, streetfootballworld network members helped more than 600,000 young people around the world harness their passion for the game to overcome local challenges and become transformative leaders within their communities. The streetfootballworld network drives an international coalition of private and public sector bodies to strengthen members through capacity development programmes, opportunities to share expertise, partnerships, and advocacy work. It actively engages all partners and network members, linking local organizations to private and public partners to facilitate new funding and professional development opportunities, and to maximize the impact and programme quality. The organization works closely with football governing bodies such as FIFA and UEFA, selected corporations, foundations, governments, intergovernmental organizations and venture philanthropists. The purpose is to build a mission-driven, sector-wide coalition that channels resources towards creating a better future for young people around the world. As a team, the goal of streetfootballworld and its partners is to reach an additional 2,000,000 young people worldwide every year by 2015, thus increase their impact.
Jrgen Griesbeck
streetfootballworld
Founded in 2004, Germany www.streetfootballworld.org
Using the love of football, streetfootballworld strives to unite a global network empowering young people to rise above their circumstances and make positive social changes.
Focus: Sport, Children and Youth Geographic Area of Impact: Global Model: Hybrid Non-Profit Recognition: Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Europe, 2011
The Entrepreneur
Deeply disturbed by the murder of Colombian football star Andrs Escobar in 1994, Jrgen Griesbeck decided to dedicate his life to examining the roles of football in societal transformation and as a tool for positive social change. Starting in Medellin, Colombia, one of the most violence-prone areas of the world in the 1990s, he started Football for Peace, which soon brought thousands of local youth together peacefully in troubled areas of the city. Bringing this concept back to his native Germany to combat the wave of racist attacks plaguing the country in the early 2000s, he founded Football for Tolerance. Griesbecks efforts to unite and foster change through football led him to establish the streetfootballworld network in 2004.
131
Europe
Background
Decades after the collapse of the Soviet Union the faltering economies of former socialist countries, such as Ukraine, have given rise to a significant population of homeless and unemployed people. There are, for example, an estimated 11,000 homeless people in Odessa, several hundred of which are street kids. Social services that were once provided under the communist system have eroded as state coffers have dwindled. The only shelter existing in this Ukrainian port city was designed for only 100 men, with no shelters at all for women. Many of Ukraines homeless are unaware that there are a number of institutions that can offer help; the Way Home is one of them.
Sergey Kostin
Way Home
Founded in 1996, Ukraine www.streetkidsodessa.com

The Way Home is a Ukrainian organization catering to Odessas homeless population, particularly street children. It focuses on preventing children from ending up in the streets in the first place, and helps rehabilitate those already there. The Way Home provides a wide array of services, applying innovative outreach strategies to reintegrate individuals into the wider community. Since its inception, the Way Home has helped thousands of people across Ukraine. The Way Home ensures that the basic needs of its clients are met, such as possession of official documents, adequate housing, opportunities for training and employment, and management of personal life issues.
The Way Home provides medical and psychological rehabilitation and social reintegration programmes to homeless people, street children and drug users living on the streets in Ukraine.
It has set up transition homes for those individuals involved in its vocational training workshops, and its clothing production workshops have established a market brand already generating revenue. The Childrens Centre provides a safety net for approximately 600 street children, most of whom come regularly for food and counselling. The AIDS Prevention Centre addresses the risk posed by intravenous drug use and prostitution, through its needle exchange programme and street outreach activities for sex workers. Because of the frequent political and legal roadblocks set up by government authorities, the Way Home has turned to the media to educate an apathetic public about the growing problem and alert the general population that they too, could one day find themselves victims of job loss or even homelessness.
Europe
Focus: HIV/AIDS, Homelessness and Street Children Geographic Area of Impact: Ukraine Model: Hybrid Non-Profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 25,000 (2011) Annual Budget: US$ 1,345,000 (2011) Percentage Earned Revenue: 22% Recognition: Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Ukraine, 2002
The Entrepreneur
Sergey Kostin is a geologist by training. Shortly after the collapse of the Soviet Union, he committed himself to assisting the most disadvantaged people of Ukraine. To garner support for his projects, he set up a series of small workshops to teach carpentry, sewing and icon painting. As a result of this work he has rescued many of the exponentially growing numbers of homeless people, prostitutes, street children and drug addicts that roamed the Odessa streets. Kostin began the Way Home by first offering a series of workshops, seeking to build the skill base of those who had fallen on hard times. However he soon discovered that the socially disenfranchised needed more than food, shelter and workshops. Thus, the Way Home rapidly expanded its programmes and geographic scope to address the growing needs across the Ukraine.
132
Background
The birth rate in Germany is declining as more women, particularly those with an academic background, choose not to have children; still, about 510,000 children are born annually. Many mothers do not live near their families, and the stress of the first months with a newborn can lead to depression or violence. As society becomes more mobile, the family support needed in such circumstances is often not available.

Wellcome provides fast, non-bureaucratic support for mothers overwhelmed by a newborn or with many children at home. The service is designed to reduce stressful situations, violence against children and post-partum depression. It recruits and trains volunteers, and works with a wide range of institutions and paediatricians. Mothers simply call and request support without providing medical or other explanations. Families are expected to pay a service charge of five euros per hour, which can be lowered or waived if necessary. Demand for the service primarily comes from families with twins or triplets, single mothers, families with three or more children, and families who have just moved to a new town. About 25% of its beneficiaries are families in which the stressful situation of a newborn is compounded by an additional difficulty or crisis such as divorce. It is in such circumstances that wellcomes impact can be particularly beneficial. The organization piloted a support group targeted at Turkish minorities in Hamburg, and a programme for families deemed on the edge, wherein wellcome employees fulfil a wish on the first and second birthday of a child. This gives wellcome a follow-up opportunity with marginalized families. In cooperation with Stern, a leading German weekly magazine, wellcome launched a godparent project, which financially supports selected families for an entire year. These families are often affected by chronic disease, sudden loss of employment or other hardships. Headquartered in Hamburg, wellcome is organized as a social franchise with 180 local teams, with plans to expand to 250 throughout Germany by 2013. The teams are largely independent, particularly in raising funds for their operations, but they operate under the same brand, receive central marketing and PR support and follow the same wellcome standards. Although still largely dependent upon donations and government support, wellcome is developing partnerships with corporations and new tools to raise needed funds. Parents pay a small fee to cover the variable expenses of the service.
Europe
Rose Volz-Schmidt
wellcome
Founded in 2002, Germany www.wellcome-online.de
Wellcome supports thousands of mothers in Germany who are coping with the challenges of a newborn and families in difficulties.
Focus: Children and Youth, Women Geographic Area of Impact: Germany Model: Leveraged Non-Profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 3,500 families (2011) Annual Budget: US$ 600,000 (2010) Percentage Earned Revenue: 20% Recognition: Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Germany, 2007
The Entrepreneur
Rose Volz-Schmidt started wellcome after experiencing the difficulties of moving to a new city with a newborn child. She is a mother of three, including twins. Initially, her motivation was to fill the support gap for new mothers in parts of Hamburg, but she quickly realized that the need extended to all of Germany. Before starting wellcome, Volz-Schmidt worked in family education for many years; she studied social pedagogy and is a certified coach. Since 2009, she has served as the owner and manager of wellcome.
133
Latin America
Latin America
134
Background
Across Latin America many students repeat grades because they fail to meet standards in reading, writing and math. Not only does this situation increase the cost of national education, it also leads to increased dropout rates. The idea for abcdespaol (Spanish ABC) occurred to Javier Gonzlez while playing dominoes with his students parents. He realized that although they could not read or write, the parents consistently beat him at the game by using deductive logic, analysis, memorization, inference and other mental abilities needed for learning how to read and write. He understood that these currently illiterate people had all the skills required to learn, and that it was not the people but the methodology that was the problem. Gonzlez then created abcdespaol and ABC de la Matematica, an innovative learning solution employing games as a teaching methodology.
Javier Gonzalez
abcdespaol
Founded in 1982, Colombia www.abcdespanol.com

Javier Gonzlezs abcdespaol is a simple and highly effective gamebased method that teaches reading, writing and math skills to children, youth and adults. It neither requires a classroom or rigid time periods, nor does it grade students. Instead, it presents activities that draw upon group interaction and cooperation to motivate students and stimulate interest in continued learning. Using abcdespaol, students learn to read and write in 90 to 120 hours, and to date the system has enabled over 1 million people to achieve literacy and mathematical reasoning throughout Latin America. Gonzlez works directly with education officials in many countries, sharing the abcdespaol methodology with a core team of national educators or people committed to their communities. Each one learns the methodology and passes it on to others, scaling up in number to create a significant group of trained people who spread the methodology to target communities. In this way the system can reach thousands of people. In the abcdespaol method, students focus on relating to others, sharing ideas and seeking compromise. While playing the game they broaden their mental capacities to grasp the necessary reading and writing skills and math capabilities, while deepening their emotional intelligence and problem-solving aptitudes. The same applies to adults as well. The abcdespaol method has been adapted to four indigenous Mayan languages: Kich, Mam, Kaqchikel and Qeqchi, as well as English and Portuguese. In recent years, Gonzlez has been experimenting and successfully using new learning games as part of his First Aid for the Brain initiative. Guides on how to use Javiers tool-games are available on-line using multimedia technology from the Polytechnic University of Valencia, Spain.
Latin America
The abcdespaol methodology is a simple and highly effective educational tool that has taught reading, writing and math skills to over 1 million children and adults throughout Latin America.
Focus: Children, Youth and Adults, Education Geographic Area of Impact: Latin America Model: Leveraged Non-Profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 67,400 (2010) Recognition: Schwab Fellow of the World Economic Forum
The Entrepreneur
Javier Gonzlezs lifelong devotion to education has evolved over the years. Believing that effective learning of reading and writing could be motivated through creative materials, he began by writing and publishing his own interactive textbooks with exercises that encouraged discovery. While these publications found great acceptance among teachers, he continued searching for additional ways to make the learning process more interesting. After years of experimentation and research he developed abcdespaol. Gonzlez has received numerous awards in recognition of his work to combat illiteracy, reduce the number of students that repeat first grade and, consequently, reduce dropout rates.
135
Background
After nearly 20 years of armed conflict El Salvador faced a difficult path to rebuild the economic and social livelihood of communities. The rural areas, in particular, suffered greatly during this period, experiencing a lack of adequate school facilities, health services, and economic resources to design and implement social assistance programmes. In this context of limited funding, innovative solutions are required to address key public needs of underserved individuals and groups, and that promote selfsustainability of communities.
Flavian Mucci Gaglili

Agape Association
Founded in 1984, El Salvador www.agape.com.sv
The Agape Association of El Salvador has developed 54 programmes in the areas of education, religion, environment, communications, and hotel and restaurant services. It also runs a home for the elderly, a university for students from low-income families, a communal restaurant, several clinics, a TV station and a publishing house. One of Agapes more recent initiatives has been a training centre in the eastern city of Usulutn where unemployed workers can take courses ranging from computer training to cooking lessons. Applying a model of self-sustainability to each of its programmes, the association helps people with limited financial resources, including children. Through its Sonsonate SUPERATE (Excel Yourself) programme, it offers young people specialized training in three areas: English as a second language; use of technology (design and construction of computer programmes); and formation and practice of values. A number of major companies sponsor the programme. Perhaps what sets Agape apart from other organizations is the combination of a strong social commitment with business-oriented practices. If new tables are needed for the restaurant or the university, they are manufactured at one of our carpentry workshops. If an elderly person falls ill, a doctor from one of the clinics is there to help. All of our projects are interconnected, says Father Flavian Mucci.
Agape runs over 50 social programmes in El Salvador to address systematic gaps in education, healthcare, environment and economic development; it promotes self-sustainability of underserved communities.
Focus: Education, Environment, Health, Communications/Media Geographic Area of Impact: El Salvador Model: Hybrid Non-Profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 308,833 (2008) Annual Budget: US$ 9 million (2008) Percentage Earned Revenue: 60% Recognition: Regional Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Central America, 2009
The Entrepreneur
Flavian Mucci is a Franciscan priest who was born in Boston, Massachusetts. He arrived in El Salvador in the mid-1970s, and lived there during much of the countrys conflict, witnessing the consequences inflicted upon the population. Under his ministry the SOS Childrens Villages programme was coordinated. Feeling that something was still missing in his life, he decided to open a dining facility for the elderly, which became known as the Agape Association. In addition to the associations many programmes, it continues to offer more than 300 meals every day.
Latin America
136
Background
Every act of consumption causes an impact positive or negative on the economy, social relations, nature and people. Consumer choice, therefore, has a lot to do with solving the present lack of sustainability of life on the planet. Consumers can maximize the positive and minimize the negative impacts of their consumption, thereby contributing to building a better world, when they are more conscious of these impacts at the time of purchase. This is conscious consumption consumption with consciousness of its impact and directed towards sustainability. Conscious consumption is an opportunity for individuals to contribute to social, economic and environmental sustainability. Consumers and investors must demand a change in the way companies measure success. Citizens, starting with youth, need to be well informed so that they can make the correct choices regarding their consumption patterns. It is therefore important to educate people about the impacts of individual consumption and to encourage consumers to change their behaviours.
Helio Mattar
Akatu Institute for Conscious Consumption
Founded in 2001, Brazil www.akatu.org.br

The Akatu Institute for Conscious Consumption motivates citizens to use the power of their daily choices as consumers to effect large-scale social change. The Akatu Institute works to develop awareness, motivate and mobilize citizens to exercise their individual and collective consumer power. This is done through activities in the areas of communications and education, directed mainly at community leaders, students and employees of partner companies.
The Akatu Institute motivates Brazilians to use the power of their daily choices as consumers to effect large-scale social change in creating a more sustainable planet.
The Entrepreneur
Helio Mattar has created a number of ground-breaking organizations in Brazil that foster individual consumer consciousness and corporate social responsibility. His approach recognizes that social organizations and governments are critical partners in the diffusion of social innovation. Mattar believes that each individual, as a citizen and consumer, plays a critical role in mobilizing support for initiatives with high social impact. Pursuing this conviction, he has dedicated himself full-time to his role as President of the Akatu Institute for Conscious Consumption. An engineer by training, with a PhD in Industrial Management and Engineering from Stanford University, Mattar served as a corporate Chief Executive Officer, a Brazilian federal government secretary and a successful business entrepreneur before dedicating himself to the nonprofit sector. He co-founded the Ethos Institute for Corporate Social Responsibility, an association of companies interested in developing socially and environmentally responsible activities, and remains on its board of directors.
Latin America
Focus: Consumer Awareness Geographic Area of Impact: Brazil Model: Leveraged Non-Profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 100,000 (2009) Annual Budget: US$ 2.3 million (2009) Percentage Earned Revenue: 0% Recognition: Schwab Fellow of the World Economic Forum
137
Background
Rural populations in Ecuador face a range of challenges in attaining high quality healthcare, including limited access to specialized and hospitalbased care. While the reach of basic primary care has broadened in the developing world, allowing for quick and inexpensive treatment of common illnesses, the treatment of infectious diseases still represents a critical gap in healthcare services. Often, the nearest hospitals for rural populations are hours away in major cities, forcing sick villagers to overcome geographic, economic and cultural barriers to access quality treatment. These barriers often make the treatment of infectious diseases difficult. Pregnant women and children in rural communities still die at alarming rates, from the complications of infectious diseases that can be easily treated in specialized clinics and hospitals in urban communities across the developed world.
David Gaus
Andean Health and Development (AHD)
Founded in 1996, US www.andeanhealth.org

AHD raises the standard of care at community hospitals by utilizing the best medical and administrative practices available, and by focusing on the community. It is integral to AHD`s strategy to be community based, so it focuses on serving the community members while also employing local staff. AHDs approach to rural health is based upon providing a high standard of care to patients by educating young doctors and nurses to be effective leaders. The training component of AHDs work involves comprehensive education of the best medical and administrative practices for medical residents and nursing students. These programmes are conducted in partnership with the Catholic University of Ecuadors Medical School and the Luis Vargas Torres University Nursing School. Professionals in training follow the comprehensive AHD Manual, which differentiates AHD doctors and nurses from those working in the traditional public health sector, where formal residency training is not required. Physicians are usually hired directly from medical school with little or no hands-on experience. The hospitals provide 24-hour care and use technology to streamline processes, i.e. Pedro Vicente Maldonado Hospital in north-west Ecuador relies 100% on electronic medical records. AHDs hospitals are financially sustainable, supported entirely by efficient use of local funds through a public-private partnership with the countrys Social Security Administration.
Andean Health and Development is transforming rural health at the community level in Latin America by providing high quality medical care and training for future rural healthcare leaders.
Focus: Health Geographic Area of Impact: Ecuador Model: Hybrid Non-Profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 20,000 (2010) Annual Budget: US$ 557,700 (2010) Percentage Earned Revenue: 62% Recognition: Regional Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Latin America, 2010
Latin America
The Entrepreneur
Dr David Gaus received a BA in Accounting in 1984 from Notre Dame University. After an impressive conversation with then University President Theodore M. Hesburgh, he travelled to Ecuador and volunteered for two years at The Working Boys Center. There he observed the marginalization of a population of mostly women and children who, he later learned, lacked access to even basic health services. When he returned to the US, Gaus re-enrolled at Notre Dame to complete his pre-med studies, and then earned an MD and Masters in Public Health and Tropical Medicine from Tulane University. In 1994 he and Friar Hesburgh founded ADH, where he has served as Executive Director ever since. He is concurrently serving as Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Wisconsin.
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Background
In Brazil, the country with the highest income inequality in the world, the bottom 10% of the population control less than 1% of the countrys wealth. The hinterland population in northern and north-eastern Brazil has grown by 59% over the past two decades, putting an increased strain on water resources for the already drought prone region. In the middle of the hinterland in the state of Bahia lies Valente, a small town with 23,000 inhabitants considered among the poorest in the region. Most farms are 11 hectares or less and suffer from dry, infertile soil. The government considers them unsustainable and therefore has limited the water resources flowing to these small farmers, creating significant hardship for the farmers.
Ismael Ferreira
Associao de Desenvolvimento Sustentvel e Solidrio da Regio Sisaleira (APAEB)
Founded in 1980, Brazil www.apaeb.com.br APAEB organizes and trains farmers in an impoverished region of Brazil, helping them forge links with international markets.

APAEB is a cooperative of small sisal growers based in the interior of Bahia, demonstrating how agricultural workers can organize themselves to succeed in the global economy. APAEB began by helping farmers to collectively market their sisal crop (an agave plant whose fibres are used to make ropes, rugs and brushes). As it grew, APAEB fought for export rights, forged links with foreign markets and built processing plants and a factory, and now exports millions of dollars worth of quality, finished products. A winner of numerous awards, it has influenced similar practices across Brazil. APAEB has built an international bridge linking small agricultural producers with international markets. This process entails organizing and training local farmers with little formal education to manage complex manufacturing processes, while increasing financing from banks and donor agencies, and developing lasting relationships with foreign buyers based on economic self-interest, quality workmanship and mutual respect. Since the construction of its multimillion dollar carpet factory in 1997 in the middle of the semi-arid region, APAEBs revenues have increased 400%, while prices for raw sisal have risen dramatically. With more than 800 employees and revenue of US$ 7 million, APAEB has brought a powerful economic multiplier effect to an impoverished region where half a million people are estimated to derive a portion of their livelihood from sisal.
Focus: Education, Environment, Microfinance, Rural Development, Trade Geographic Area of Impact: Brazil Model: Social Business Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 12,000 (2010) Annual Budget: US$ 7.5 Million (2010) Percentage Earned Revenue: 96% Recognition: Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Brazil, 2001
The Entrepreneur
Ismael Ferreira is the youngest child of a sisal grower from Valente. During the 1970s, at the time of the military dictatorship in Brazil, two Italian priests organized community meetings in Valente and the surrounding areas to discuss the exploitation of workers and small farmers. At the age of only 12, he participated in these gatherings along with his parents and brothers. In 1980, 30 families participated in the formal creation of APAEB. Ferreira was one of the co-founders and became the General Manager. He overcame deep resistance to the cooperative idea and fought for four years with government officials and business interests to establish APAEB as an exporter, in order to capture profits that had traditionally gone to intermediaries.
Latin America
139
Background
According to the UN Development Program, Brazil has one of the highest inequality rates in the world in terms of income distribution between regions and social strata, so health and sanitary conditions vary widely. Brazils public healthcare system coverage is not extensive, and state-of-the-art facilities are only available to those who can afford them. For the 60% of the population using public healthcare, service is limited to basic immunization and emergency care, and poverty presents daunting challenges. Most diseases are caused by unclean drinking water, inadequate sewage disposal, poor housing conditions and malnutrition. Sade Criana addresses poverty issues and social conditions at the root of childhood illness.
Vera Cordeiro
Associao Sade Criana (ASC)
Founded in 1991, Brazil www.saudecrianca.org.br

ASC was created in 1991 to gain insight on child patients in public hospitals. It was found that following treatment of chronic and acute illnesses of children at the Hospital da Lagoa in Rio de Janeiro, poverty often caused over half of the children to be re-admitted; if living standards were not changed, the vicious cycle continued. ASC then created the Family Action Plan (PAF) to determine what assistance each high social risk family needed, based upon five pillars of Health, Professionalization, Housing, Education and Citizenship. Implementation resulted in a +60% reduction in the number of days of re-hospitalization, and more in cases where the social influences were greater. Each day a child was not hospitalized meant they were not suffering, the hospital saved money and beds were available for others. Additionally, the clinical health of children improved between the time of admission to the programme and their release. From 2006 to 2010, a sample of 597 PAF families demonstrated a reduction in hospital costs, a 60% reduction in days of hospitalization, an average 35% increase in family income and an overall improvement in child health. Its model is transferable to locations where disease is exacerbated by socio-economic factors, and has been replicated in 23 other centres in Brazil. To spread this quality and methodology, ASCs governance was franchised in 2010, with 10 of the 23 institutions now so designated. It is creating replication centres to serve beneficiaries and train/control other institutions in each of the five regions in Brazil. To date more than 40,000 people have been served. Each ASC unit is connected to a public health unit and staffed by volunteers, social workers, psychologists, nutritionists and lawyers. The staff provides intensive one-on-one health monitoring and assistance to families, mostly single-mother households with an income of under US$ 200/month. It works with families for 24 months, providing customized legal and nutritional advice, medicines and food, psychological counselling, vocational training and housing improvements. This methodology is now used by the Belo Horizonte government, serving +36,000 people through the programme Familia Cidad Cidade Solidria.
ASC mobilizes people from civil society, volunteers, partners and staff to prevent the recurring hospitalization of children, through post-care support to poor families, donations of food and medicines, legal and nutritional advice, counselling, vocational training and housing improvements to ensure adequate living conditions. Focus: Children and Youth, Health Geographic Area of Impact: Brazil Model: Leveraged Non-Profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 40,000 (1991-2010) Annual Budget: US$ 2,276,097 (2010) Percentage Earned Revenue: 8% (2009) Recognition: Schwab Fellow of the World Economic Forum
Latin America
The Entrepreneur
As a paediatric physician working in a large Rio de Janeiro hospital, Vera Cordeiro was shocked by the number re-admissions of children from urban slums. Realizing their health problems were related to social conditions, she founded ASC to connect the hospital to the home and provide a treatment that addresses the full range of economic and social causes of illness.
140
Background
In Venezuela, 60% of the population is unbanked. Access to bank credit, particularly for micro-entrepreneurs at the base of the pyramid, is barely 0.1%. Banca Comunitaria Banesco (BCB) was created to promote sustainable development through access to credit, financial products and services, and empowerment of entrepreneurs. It offers opportunities to those traditionally excluded from the financial system and helps reduce poverty through economic development and social transformation.
Claudia Valladares
Banca Comunitaria Banesco
Founded in 2006, Venezuela www.bancacomunitariabanesco.com
BCB specializes in microfinancing, providing products and services in the areas of lending, savings, debit and credit cards. The bank offers business financing to entrepreneurs who have been in business for at least one year and 24/7 services for conducting online banking transactions. BCB has created a network of 188 commercial allies or retail agents. Through financial terminals or electronic points of sale (POS Webs) located in community retail locations like grocery stores, pharmacies, supermarkets and cybercafs, clients can make financial transactions, open accounts and apply for microcredits. Using this technology, clients save transactional costs by not having to visit a bank. Clients can access BCBs website and use mobile phone SMS service to check balances and account transactions. To reduce costs and be more efficient, especially in low-income areas, Banca Comunitaria has designed and implemented a model called Community Trailer that is unique in the banking market. This is based on a community branch bank, but physically operates from a container or trailer, reducing investment in infrastructure by 30%, compared to a regular branch. BCB currently has three Community Trailers as part of its 18 branch network, and maintains a presence in eight states of Venezuela and 4,123 poor areas. BCB also implemented a microfinance core system with mobile devices, which automates the credit process from the loan request to disbursement, the processing of collection and all management indicators, thus offering clients more flexibility in response time.
Banescos Banca Comunitaria provides access to banking services, including savings accounts and micro-credit, to low-income individuals in Venezuela.
Focus: Financial Inclusion, Banking, Microfinance Geographic Area of Impact: Venezuela Model: Social Business Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 154,596 (August 2011) Annual Budget: US$ 78.3 million (2011) Percentage Earned Revenue: 100% Recognition: Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Venezuela, 2010
The Entrepreneur
As a systems engineer with an MBA and a Masters of Finance, Claudia Valladares has worked in non-profit organizations such as Gente Nueva in Mexico and Venezuela. She also worked with the Instituto Nacional de la Vivienda, Bancamiga, Consejo Nacional de la Vivienda (CONAVI), Citibank and Citigroup. She currently serves as Vice-President of Banca Comunitaria at Banesco Banco Universal. Since joining Banca Comunitaria Banesco, Valladares has helped microentrepreneurs: increase their income by an average of 27% and sales by 34%; start saving money into a bank account (56%) and through savings programmes (14%); improve their business management skills (60%); acquire their own houses within the past year (64%); have telephone service (87%) and cable TV (56%). Additionally, 82% of the children of the micro-entrepreneurs are now attending primary school, and 30% of micro-entrepreneurs have created two or more jobs within their communities.
141
Latin America
Background
Brazil is one of the largest markets in Latin America for information technology, software and services. Despite enormous promise and important advances, the country faces significant obstacles in the equitable application of information technology. While international companies are targeting Brazil as a new market for ICT and ICT services, employment prospects for the vast majority of the population may actually decline in the countrys new information economy due to lack of access and ICT training. Many have noted that the Internet could erect social barriers unless substantial improvements are made to provide the skills needed to use computers. This is the challenge that CDI is addressing.
Rodrigo Baggio
Center for Digital Inclusion (CDI)
Founded in 1995, Brazil www.cdi.org.br

Based in Rio de Janeiro, CDI is a non-governmental, non-profit organization with a mission of fostering inclusion of less privileged social groups by using information and communication technologies as tools to encourage active citizenship. CDI works in low-income communities and with institutions assisting individuals with special needs, including the physically and mentally disabled, the visually impaired, homeless children, prisoners and indigenous populations. In partnership with community-based associations, CDI community centres provide free computer equipment and software, and implements educational strategies for continuous training of local instructors. Through periodic visits, CDI coordinators monitor their performance and identify key challenges and opportunities. School coordinators work together with CDI representatives to find creative ways of addressing problems, and formulating and sharing solutions. Each school is an autonomous unit, self-managed and self-sustaining through symbolic contributions collected from its students. This fund covers maintenance costs and payment of instructors in an authentic social enterprise. The CDI network has expanded nationally and internationally, with over 821 community centres in 13 countries.
CDI uses information and communication technologies as tools to encourage active citizenship in 15 Brazilian states and 13 countries.
Focus: Children and Youth, Education, Technology Geographic Area of Impact: Latin America, Jordan, United Kingdom and Madrid Model: Hybrid Non-Profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 87,876 graduates and 249,799 indirected beneficiaries (2010) Annual Budget: US$ 6,000,000 (2010) Recognition: Schwab Fellow of the World Economic Forum
The Entrepreneur
Rodrigo Baggios pursuit of social change began at the age of 12, driven by his two interests: volunteer work with children living on the streets of Rio de Janeiro and computers. Baggio founded Informtica para Todos, Brazils first campaign for donated computers, and in 1995, he opened the first Information Technology and Citizens Rights School (ITCRS) in Dona Marta, a slum in Rio de Janeiro. In the same year, he established the Center for Digital Inclusion (CDI), the first non-profit organization to fight the digital divide in Latin America.
Latin America
142
Background
In Brazil, poor urban and rural communities face high dropout and grade repetition rates among youth. The pedagogical approach of the formal education system in Brazil emphasizes rote memory of facts and figures, incorporating little creativity or active dialogue in the classroom. In 1974 Rocha was teaching history in an elite high school in Belo Horizonte in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. One of his students was 14 year-old Alvaro Prates, an avid reader, intellectual powerhouse and talented musician. He read everything he could get his hands on and continuously challenged his teacher. Sadly, Rocha arrived at school one day to find Alvaro had committed suicide. Alvaros death awoke in him the realization that as a teacher he was so focused on imparting knowledge that he had failed to notice the clues the young man was sending him about his depressed state. From then on, Rocha decided to focus on helping students understand their own lives and where they fit into the world.
Tio Rocha
Centro Popular de Cultura e Desenvolvimento (CPCD)
Founded in 1984, Brazil www.cpcd.org.br

Tio Rocha created CPCD to promote informal education and community development through culture, reciprocal learning, play, games, mobile libraries, theatre and music. CPCD has created more than 2,000 innovative educational approaches that have been incorporated into school curricula and non-formal educational programmes. To date more than 20,000 children and young people have gone through CPCDs programmes. CPCD has also developed an extensive monitoring and evaluation system whereby all its approaches are tested, refined and perfected for impact and relevance. These social technologies are certified by the Banco do Brasil Foundation and are available through their public databank. Today CPCD is creating an inter-institutional platform where partnering organizations across the country that have found innovative and effective approaches to poverty reduction come together to focus their diverse strengths on transforming one of Brazils poorest areas in the state of Minas Gerais.
CPCD promotes informal education and community development through culture, reciprocal learning, play, games, mobile libraries, theatre and music.
Focus: Education, Culture, Social Development, Sustainability Geographic Area of Impact: Brazil, Mozambique Model: Hybrid Non-Profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 10,250 (2011) Annual Budget: US$ 2,243,940 (2011) Percentage Earned Revenue: 40% Recognition: Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Brazil, 2007
The Entrepreneur
Tio Rochas experience with school from the very beginning was never great. At 7 years of age he was sent to the principals office on his first day of school for saying he was the nephew of a queen. He studied history to understand his own culture, and eventually learned that his ancestry was not to be found in history books but in the study of anthropology, which he pursued until he received a Masters degree in the subject. He further specialized in popular culture and folklore. As an adult Rocha launched CPCD with the following questions in mind: Is it possible to promote high-quality education outside of a formal school setting? Can learning become so significant in the lives of children that they demand to have classes on weekends and holidays? Can we create an educational centre that teachers, students and the community can truly fall in love with? The answer: Yes, and we will enjoy ourselves making it come true.
143
Latin America
Background
Going into low-income municipalities away from major cities, Ariel Zylbersztejn discovered that a large part of the economic, educational and social divide in Mexico is due to their isolation from the system. The lack of access to information, technology, products and services has created a growing gap between the social classes that has become hard to bridge. Aware that 90% of Mexicans have no access to conventional movie theatres, Zylbersztejn created Cinepop to put free and educational entertainment within the reach of the lowest income population. He believes that a healthy entertainment environment shared by companies, government and the public contributes to growth, self-improvement and development.
Ariel Zylbersztejn
Cinepop
Founded in 2004, Mexico www.cinepop.com.mx

Cinepop has developed a free entertainment and educational platform that allows governments, businesses and low-income communities to create economic and social development opportunities that can increase qualityof-life and raise family incomes. Each week, Cinepop gathers thousands of people in urban and sub-urban communities throughout Mexico to view free outdoor movies on giant screens. These large gatherings, supported by corporations, create a family environment where parents, children, grandparents and grandchildren can spend time together. It is also an opportunity for companies to interact with a large target audience and promote their brands. The movie screenings are also an occasion to promote social programmes on health, environment, diet, employment, microcredit and other topics. To date, Cinepop movie screenings have been viewed by about 21 million people in more than 2,050 Mexican municipalities.
Cinepop is a social enterprise that offers free cinema and entertainment as a way to increase quality of life for low-income families in Mexico.
The Entrepreneur Focus: Civic Participation, Education, Technology Geographic Area of Impact: Mexico Model: Social Business Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 10,500,000 (2011) Annual Budget: US$ 21.54 million (2011) Percentage Earned Revenue: 100% Recognition: Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Mexico, 2006
Ariel Zylbersztejn studied mass communication and film, and has produced several short films. He has attended over 70 film festivals, including the Cannes Film Festival, and created Cinepop when he was 24 years-old. Zylbersztejn is a strong believer in social entrepreneurism and has spoken on the issue at several conferences, including Columbia Universitys Social Entrepreneurship Conference. In 2009, he was invited to participate in the World Economic Forums Global Agenda Council on the Future of Entertainment.
Latin America
144
Background
Solid waste management is a serious problem in Peru. When Albina Ruiz started her work in Cono Norte, one of Limas largest slums, some 1,000 tons of garbage were being generated daily, only half of which was collected by municipal workers. The remainder was left to accumulate in stinking waste heaps or strewn along public roads and in vacant lots. This situation exists in towns throughout the country. Waste is also often dumped into rivers, contaminating the water that is a drinking source for many poor families.
Albina Ruiz
Ciudad Saludable
Founded in 1989, Peru www.ciudadsaludable.org
Through Ciudad Saludable (Healthy City), Albina Ruiz has turned waste collection in Peruvian urban slum areas into a profitable enterprise. Working in partnership with municipalities, Ciudad Saludable has organized over 1,500 waste collectors, creating employment and improving health and living conditions for the +6 million people living in these poorer areas. In upscale suburbs where the city government collects the trash, waste collection payment rates are below 40%, whereas in the districts where Ciudad Saludables microenterprises work, payment rates are over 80%. Ciudad Saludable provides waste management services that are more dependable and less expensive than those provided by municipal governments. It uses creative marketing incentives to encourage people to pay a modest monthly fee for trash collection. It targets women and primary school children with health promotion messages, for example, emphasizing that waste collection will improve their families health at the cost equivalent of only one bottle of their husbands favourite beer each month. In barren hillside districts, the organization regularly rewards paying customers by planting trees in front of their houses. Prompt payers receive gifts such as kitchen baskets. Ciudad Saludable was instrumental in the creation of the first law in Peru, as well as Latin America, to regulate the activities of waste recyclers. It has also established two other organizations: Peru Waste Innovation, a consulting firm specializing in solid waste management; and Healthy Cities International (New York), which is in charge of replicating Ciudad Saludables model around the world.
By turning waste collection in urban slums into a profitable enterprise, Ciudad Saludable is improving the health conditions of millions of poor people in Peru.
Focus: Energy, Enterprise Development, Environment, Waste Management Geographic Area of Impact: Peru Model: Hybrid Non-Profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 6 million (2009) Annual Budget: US$ 1.5 million (2009) Percentage Earned Revenue: 45% Recognition: Schwab Fellow of the World Economic Forum
The Entrepreneur
The daughter of poor but hard-working parents, Albina Ruiz grew up in the Peruvian jungle. She was fortunate enough to attend a local convent school where the nuns instilled a love of learning and responsibility for others. She was the only woman in her class at the National University of Engineering where she majored in industrial engineering. She went on to receive an MA in Ecology and Environmental Management from the Ricardo Palma University and a PhD in Chemistry from Ramon Llull University in Barcelona, Spain.
Latin America
145
Background
Bolivia, the poorest country in South America, is characterized by stark inequality. In urban areas 60% of the population lives below the poverty line, and in rural areas the number is as high 80%. Many of the rural poor, including a large part of the local Indian population, depend on agriculture, earning unstable and low wages. These communities have little access to international markets, making economic development opportunities challenging and further exacerbating poverty conditions.
Martha E. Wille
Coronilla
Founded in 1972, Bolivia www.coronilla.com
Coronilla was a traditional family pasta business until cheap foreign exports began to drive the business into bankruptcy. It was re-launched in 1997 by Martha Wille, the daughter of the founder, who diversified the companys product lines to produce healthy, organic products largely for export to Europe, the US and Oceania. The reinvented company aims to be economically sustainable with a social conscience. Coronilla wants to fight poverty by having a positive impact throughout its value chain. The company buys from local suppliers, supporting the production of organic produce in poor rural areas. Buying ingredients from local producers following fair trade principles, Coronilla provides a stable source of revenue for hundreds of families. It buys a large proportion of its prime ingredients from impoverished communities of the Bolivian Altiplano, providing a source of income and a chance of survival to the rural poor in the region. The organic food products it exports offer a significant opportunity to develop Bolivias economy. Coronilla is certified for social responsibility by the Swiss-based Institute for Marketecology (IMO). Coronilla employees have a very important place in the companys strategy; a majority of them are women, minorities and handicapped people. Staff members benefit from continual vocational training and certified fair trade conditions by the International Fair Trade Association (IFAT). The company is also subject to Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) ecological and hygiene practices, and runs various environmental programmes. In addition to promoting organic agriculture, which is sustainable and more environmentally friendly than conventional agriculture, the company recycles its solid waste and was the first to respect the city of Cochabambas environmental laws for companies. Coronillas business plan has been recognized for excellence at the Forum of Investors in New Ventures, winning investment from BID, CAF, UNCTAD and the World Resources Institute. The challenge Coronilla faces is how to replicate its model across South America.
As a producer of certified gluten-free pasta and snacks, Coronilla supports organic rural products for export and gives preference to minorities in its hiring process.
Focus: Labour Conditions and Unemployment, Trade Geographic Area of Impact: Bolivia Model: Social Business Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 100 Annual Budget: US$ 1 million (2009) Recognition: Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Bolivia, 2005
Latin America
The Entrepreneur
Martha Wille was influenced by the social convictions of her father and incorporated them into the family business. She is convinced that change can be achieved by reducing the poverty gap, incorporating women and handicapped minorities into the workforce, and through other tasks of a socially conscious nature. Through the Guillermo Wille Foundation, she is working to encourage other Bolivian companies to adopt CSR policies.
146
Background
Brazil, like many countries in Latin America, suffers from a high rate of child malnutrition or under-nutrition. Despite clear documentation of the problem in official and third-party statistics, it persists and leads to serious public health issues, while deepening the poverty of thousands of rural and urban families. CREN, taking advantage of the obvious need and documentation, promotes integrated and innovative approaches to end child malnutrition in Brazil and around the world.
Gisela Maria Bernardes Solymos

Centro de Recuperao e Educao Nutricional (CREN)
Centro de Recuperao e Educao Nutricional (CREN)
CREN has pioneered new methods for tackling the widespread malnutrition and under-nutrition problem, first in Sao Paolo, and now throughout Brazil, parts of Latin America and Africa. By first transforming the manner in which malnutrition is measured among young children, CREN has received methodological support from Unifesp (Federal University of So Paulo) and the municipal governments where they operate. Contrary to the common treatment of simply medicating malnourished and undernourished children, CREN seeks to address the problem through a holistic education method. Other institutions working with child malnutrition either approach the problem through hospitalization, which often leads to difficulties in maintaining the mother-child relationship, or through clinical rather than educational services. CREN expands the conventional approach by undertaking medical examinations, but then engages in an active search including home visits and training workshops, involving the childs entire family in the diagnostic and treatment process. Thus far, the centres method has led to a long-term transformational impact. Using a highly qualified, knowledgeable staff and renowned impact measurement system, CREN implemented an array of new projects, including the Creches (day care) project, which brings nutritional education in CEIs (Child Educational Centers) in So Paulo. Another project, Eu Aprendi, Eu Ensinei (I Learned, I Taught) in Minas Gerais, involves adolescents fighting malnutrition in their own communities through interdisciplinary activities integrated into the school curriculum. Presently 11 cities, 53 schools, 850 teachers and 16,000 students are part of the Eu Aprendi project. CRENs activities have benefited +50,000 children since its establishment in 1992. In 2011 the two units together have accounted for the care of 142 malnourished children up to 6 years of age, through a day hospitalization system, and around 2,000 undernourished, underweight or obese children and adolescents, through an outpatient system. In the past year, CREN carried out 3,262 consultations in the community, 7,326 outpatient consultations (medical, nutritional, social and psychological) with children and their families, and received 6,346 hospitalized patients.
CREN fosters the effective nutritional education and recovery of children and adolescents with slight, moderate or serious primary malnutrition in Brazil and other parts of Latin America.
Focus: Education, Health, Children, Youth, Nutrition Geographic Area of Impact: Brazil, Colombia, Haiti, Honduras, Italy, Mexico, Mozambique, Peru Model: Leveraged Non-profit Annual Budget: US$ 1,954,000 (2011) Recognition: Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Brazil, 2011
The Entrepreneur
Gisela Maria Bernardes Solymos obtained a Masters in School Psychology and Human Development from the University of Sao Paolo, with her dissertation focused on the link between malnourished children and their mothers. In 1997, she began working on her doctorate in Psychiatry and Medical Psychology at Unifesp, while also working in a consulting office studying corporate management and organizational development. She formerly worked at a foundation making twice the salary, but left this position to take over as Managing Director at CREN, devoted to nourishing the dreams of thousands of people in Brazil and elsewhere.
147
Latin America
Background
Nearly 1.1 billion people around the world live in deficient homes, and in Mexico approximately 25.8 million people live in physically unstable structures. The average monthly income of a person living in an unstable home is US$ 120600. In recent years many companies have marketed to individuals at the base of the pyramid by selling housing construction materials, such as cement, in smaller quantities. The result of this self-build strategy has been a housing process marked by poor planning, high waste, high costs and long completion times (1015 years). In the long term, these homes are costlier to build and in many cases they are more physically vulnerable in the event of a severe hurricane or earthquake. Stable homes and vibrant communities are linked to child development, reduced crime, improved democracy and economic growth. Hence, it is important to find low-cost, effective approaches to community building and house construction for the poorest of the poor.
Francesco Piazzesi
Echale a Tu Casa
Founded in 1997, Mexico www.echale.com.mx

Echale has devised a housing construction strategy for the poor to become owners of structurally sound houses in a cost-effective and sustainable way. It begins by creating social housing production units that work with a combination of sweat equity and facilitated capital. Echale helps the units create community trusts, creating both financial and social capital. With this capital, and a partnership with the federal mortgage authority, Echale can offer mortgages and financing to community members. Home ownership, in addition to creating more stable communities, offers the residents collateral and an asset through which they access other opportunities. Echale trains communities on how to create AdoBlocks, which are made from 90% soil and clay, thus reducing waste and creating naturallyinsulated homes. Additionally, Echale promotes the use of other sustainable technologies (rain water collection systems, solar heaters, biogas digestors and grey water filtration systems) in its housing construction, promoting ideals of sustainability and environmental preservation through the production process. Over time, Echale works with communities to form a micro-construction industry for the area, through which community members can generate income and assist in the construction of each others homes. This sweat equity approach cultivates greater community ownership and instils a sense of pride for self-made communities. Nearly 25,000 homes have been built through Echale across Mexico. Additionally, the process of construction has generated significant income increases for those engaging in the micro-construction industry. Echale hopes to construct 125,000 housing units by 2016.
Echale promotes sustainable social housing production and social inclusion through technological empowerment, financial education and associative development.
Focus: Enterprise Development, Housing, Urban Development Geographic Area of Impact: Mexico, Central America Model: Social Business Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 147,000 (2011) Annual Budget: US$ 5 million (2011) Percentage Earned Revenue: 90% Recognition: Regional Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Latin America, 2011
Latin America
The Entrepreneur
Francesco Piazzesi, who grew up in Mexico learning about his familys construction business, is deeply passionate about home ownership and community building for the poorest of the poor. After writing his PhD dissertation on Sustainable Housing Microfinance Mortgage, he founded Adobe Homes Aid n 1985, as a non-profit that teaches communities how to make robust construction materials out of 90% natural earth. Realizing that community building and home ownership requires other components such as social capital, financial literacy and credit instruments, in 1997 he transformed Eco-Block into the social business Echale a Tu Casa.
148
Background
The lack of educational opportunities in Chile is a systemic problem due to budget constraints, public policies, school capacity, prevailing ideology and weak evaluation practices, among others. Ensea Chile aims to reverse the educational gap by bringing top graduates from diverse backgrounds to the field of education. The objective is to transform classrooms in underprivileged schools and significantly influence the learning and aspirations of students. In bringing Chiles top university graduates to teach for two years, Ensea Chile aims to create a critical mass of leaders who understand public education challenges, the possibility of solving the problem and will commit to be part of the solution. As these professionals go on to other careers, they will take with them their transformational experience in the classroom and an interest in improving the quality of education in Chile.
Toms Recart
Ensea Chile
Founded in 2008, Chile www.ensenachile.cl

Ensea Chile is based on the successful Teach for America model, recognized for creating a corps of leaders committed to improving access to excellent education regardless of socio-economic circumstances. Many join straight after finishing college, but others have gathered professional experiences outside the education sector. All applicants need to have demonstrated skills in leading and motivating teams, such as campus initiatives, community organizations or sports teams. Ensea Chile has adapted the model for the Chilean and Latin American context. By bringing bright college graduates and professionals to teach in underprivileged schools, they provide a significant contribution to bridging the inequality gap. Although Ensea Chile believes that good teachers have similar characteristics independent of culture, the organization has been adapting the Teach for America model in the way these competencies are measured and trained, and in teacher training. Ensea Chile draws a highly competitive application pool, and selects teachers based on eight fundamental criteria, including ability to organize/ achieve goals, leadership and perseverance. Training for teachers is based on the Teaching as Leadership model, divided into two phases: an intensive training period prior to the start of the school year, followed by support activities during the two years of work. In 2009, Ensea Chile selected 29 teachers to work in 14 schools. In 2012, it will expand to 70 schools with 160 teachers, reaching 25,600 children in four regions in Chile, with plans to expand to the entire country. Teachers receive a salary from their school; the rest of the budget comes from corporate donations.
By enlisting Chiles top university graduates to teach for two years in lowincome communities, Ensea Chile improves educational opportunities for impoverished students.
Focus: Education Geographic Area of Impact: Chile Model: Hybrid Non-Profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 23,000 (2012) Annual Budget: US$ 2 million (2012) Percentage Earned Revenue: 40% Recognition: Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Chile, 2010
The Entrepreneur
Toms Recart studied civil engineering at Pontificia Catholic University and later received a Masters in Public Administration in International Development from Harvard University. Prior to founding Ensea Chile, Recart worked with the Catholic University of Chile Centre for Public Policy Research. There he created a tool to monitor and establish incentives for improving school attendance and founded a school. These experiences convinced him that in order to achieve social and economic equality it is necessary to systematically incorporate leadership into the educational system. In 2006 he met Wendy Kopp, the founder of Teach for America, regarding adapting the model for implementation in Chile. After developing a plan and adapting the programme to the Chilean context, Recart formally co-founded Ensea Chile in January 2008. He is a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader 2011.
149
Latin America
Background
In 1995 Haiti was ruled by a military regime, in the midst of a struggle for freedom and equality, with its first democratically elected president living in exile. The organized rural/urban poor and hundreds of grassroots leaders who worked tirelessly in the late 1980s-90s for democracy were targets of repression. Thousands were killed and many more lived in hiding or constant fear of reprisal. The majority of poor people in Haiti could organize themselves politically but not economically, with no access to the banks or financial services needed to rebuild their lives and their country. The poor needed a bank of their own.
Anne Hastings and Joseph Philippe

Fonkoze Financial Services
Founded in 1995, Haiti www.fonkoze.org

Fonkoze is Haitis alternative bank for the organized poor. It is the largest microfinance institution in the country, serving +55,000 women borrowers and more than 250,000 savers. With its network of 46 branches throughout Haiti, it is the only microfinance institution that is truly national. Fonkoze provides savings, loans, money transfers and micro-insurance services to clients, as well as business skills and health education. It seeks to empower rural Haitians to build and diversify their income, learn new skills, and follow a staircase out of poverty, a model it developed to ensure services reach the poorest in Haiti. This staircase is a five-tiered programme starting with asset transfer and other services for the ultrapoor, culminating by offering individual loans for business development. To date, 75% of Fonkozes ultra-poor programme participants have reached its small loan microfinance programme. Fonkoze takes a rigorous approach to social impact monitoring and evaluation, and established a Social Performance Management and Market Research Department in 2005. The department tracks poverty level changes of clients, researches client needs and experience with a focus on satisfaction and retention, and recommends improved or new services to the management at Fonkoze. The department depends on Social Impact Monitors who work full-time in branch offices and personally collect information from clients. In 2011, with the help of Swiss Re, Mercy Corps, Caribbean Risk Managers and Guy Carpenter, Fonkoze launched a new catastrophe micro-insurance company, and maintains 50% ownership. All clients are now covered by catastrophe micro-insurance and life insurance.
Fonkoze serves low-income communities in Haiti with a full range of financial and educational products, building the economic foundations for economic and socio-political inclusion.
Focus: Microfinance, Education, Micro-insurance Geographic Area of Impact: Haiti Model: Hybrid Non-Profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 250,000 (2011) Annual Budget: US$ 6,400,000 (2011) Percentage Earned Revenue: 90% Recognition: Regional Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Latin America, 2010
Latin America
The Entrepreneurs
Before coming to Haiti, Anne Hastings spent 15 years providing strategic management services to executives and managing high performance and growth of young organizations. In 1995 she sought a career change, and upon the advice of Father Joseph Philippe, Founder of Fonkoze, went to Haiti in 1996 as a volunteer; she has worked as its Director since then. Philippe is a member of the Spiritan Catholic Holy Order, and holds a Masters in Divinity, with special studies in liturgy and politics, from the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. He studied credit cooperative management at the Centre Lebret in Paris, and attended training in banking administration at Fairfield University in Connecticut. He is the Founder of the Peasant Association of Fondwa and the University of Fondwa, as well as Fonkoze. His main work is to empower the poor to transform their lives.
150
Background
In an effort to address the high illiteracy rate in Chile, Fundacin La Fuente establishes school libraries, improves public libraries, equips mobile school and community libraries, and develops museums and cultural centres in both urban and rural areas. Its staff members represent a variety of backgrounds and experience, including primary and secondary teachers, literature experts, actors, musicians, commercial engineers, sociologists, librarians and management experts.
Vernica Abud
Fundacin Educacional y Cultural La Fuente
Founded in 2000, Chile www.fundacionlafuente.cl
Fundacin La Fuente developed the first public libraries in shopping centres throughout Chile. Known as Biblioteca Viva (Living Library), it is more than just a place that lends books. The library includes theatre, painting, movies and many other cultural activities. Creando los Lectores del Maana (Creating Tomorrows Readers), another important programme of Fundacin La Fuente, develops school, public and mobile libraries for students and communities. The focus of the programme is to introduce to a community, particularly its children, the pleasures of reading by providing materials that respect their interests and needs. The programme also trains school teachers and librarians in reading promotion activities and cultural development. In general, Fundacin La Fuente supports projects for one to two years. Once they are well established, they are handed over to local municipalities or school boards. It finances the education projects through support from companies that are willing to invest in communities where they engage in business activities. Based on the organizations experience, equipping cultural centres for students and adults is significantly important to the function of any educational programme. The creation of libraries in schools or public areas is aimed at improving the quality of life for many disadvantaged communities.
Fundacin La Fuente is a non-profit foundation that designs and implements educational and cultural programmes to help poor people improve their quality of life.
Focus: Education, Financial Inclusion, Rural Development Geographic Area of Impact: Chile Model: Hybrid Non-Profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 1.5 million (2011) Annual Budget: US$ 3 million (2011) Percentage Earned Revenue: 99.9% Recognition: Regional Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Latin America, 2009; SEOY, Chile, 2009
The Entrepreneur
Vernica Abud received an MA in Education from Virginia Tech. She worked as a teacher and at Fundacin Educacional Barnechea for over 10 years before establishing Fundacin La Fuente in 2000. She is currently involved in the organizations general management, financing and implementation of school libraries and book mobiles throughout Chile. Abud is on the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions commission for young and early adult literature.
151
Latin America
Background
Convinced that sustainable development and peace can only be achieved through quality, participatory education, Colbert co-created the Escuela Nueva (New School) model with a team of rural teachers and education professionals. This was done in response to typical problems facing neglected low-income schools, like incomplete schooling, high dropout/ repetition rates, poor school-community relationships, low teacher morale, ineffective teacher training and lack of learning materials for children. As a successful social entrepreneur she is the main promoter of Escuela Nueva, while the non-profit Fundacin Escuela Nueva advances the model in Colombia and internationally, with support from civil society and the private sector.
Vicky Colbert
Fundacin Escuela Nueva Volvamos a la Gente
Founded in 1987, Colombia www.escuelanueva.org

Fundacin Escuela Nueva provides a systemic, cost-effective, replicable and scalable solution to improve the quality of basic education, by transforming conventional schools and reshaping the roles of teachers, students, community and educational administrators. As part of the Escuela Nueva model, students learn in small groups, which promotes active, participatory and cooperative learning. Its flexible grade promotion feature allows students to advance from one level to another at their own pace using interactive, self-directed and reusable learning guides designed to encourage dialogue, interaction, critical thinking and application of knowledge to family and community. The model unlocks social and entrepreneurial skills and attitudes necessary in the 21st century, encouraging leading processes, initiative taking, teamwork and decision-making. It encourages a new role for teachers, shifting their responsibility from being transmitters of facts to managers and facilitators of the learning process. Teacher training is experiential, whereby they exchange and support each other and promote positive change through microcenters (learning circles) and local networks. The Escuela Nueva approach is one of the longest-running, bottom-up educational innovations in the developing world. International organizations and leading researchers document results demonstrating improvement in academic achievement, self-esteem, girls participation, democratic behaviours and peaceful coexistence. The approach has inspired educational reforms worldwide and investigated by educators from more than 40 nations who are interested in applying it in their countries. To date, the Escuela Nueva approach has been adapted to urban and displaced populations in emergencies, and has been implemented in 18 countries, reaching more than five million children.
Fundacin Escuela Nueva contributes to improving the quality, efficiency and sustainability of basic rural and urban education in Latin America and the developing world.
Focus: Education, Children and Youth, Social and Civic Participation, Citizenship, Social and Entrepreneurial Skills Geographic Area of Impact: Latin America, East Timor, India, Vietnam Model: Hybrid Non-Profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 950,000 children; 26,000 teachers (2007-2011) Annual Budget: US$ 2.3 million (2010) Percentage Earned Revenue: 89% (2010) Recognition: Schwab Fellow of the World Economic Forum
Latin America
The Entrepreneur
After completing graduate studies at Stanford University in the US, Vicky Colbert returned to Colombia to commit herself to public service and education. She was a pioneer of the Escuela Nueva model, and served as its first National Coordinator. She has served as Colombias Vice-Minister of Education, and UNICEFs Regional Adviser for Education in the Americas, which allowed her to promote Escuela Nueva throughout Latin America and the Caribbean.
152
Background
Unequal access to quality education persists in Chile and constitutes a major challenge. The countrys education system exacerbates existing and growing social and economic divides, with the wealthy having access to top quality schools which exclude the poor. Fundacin Origen, though its agriculture school, has demonstrated that quality education can be provided to the poorest sectors, breaking the poverty cycle, improving opportunities for individual students and transforming their families and communities.
Mary Anne Mller Prieto

Fundacin Origen
Founded in 1991, Chile www.fundacionorigenchile.org/esp
Mary Anne Mller Prieto founded Fundacin Origen, and pioneered a revolutionary educational model for youth (ages 14 to 18) from low-income to socially vulnerable families who have been expelled from or dropped out of the traditional school system. The majority of these young people come from family situations often characterized by violence, drug addiction, unemployment and often, desertion by a parent. Through Fundacin Origens Escuela Agroecolgica de Pirque (Agroecological School of Pirque), these students graduate with a technical degree in farming and a specialization in organic agriculture. Since its inception approximately 10,000 students have graduated from the school; the dropout rate is 0% and the teenage pregnancy rate is less than 1% (compared to the national average of 14%). More than 70% of students go on to universities or technical schools, and 75% of graduates work in the agricultural/farming sector. There are no episodes of violence and the school community does not tolerate any form of drugs or violence. Fundacin Origen also runs the Institute for Peace and Sustainable Development, which trains women and educators from private and public institutions on conflict mediation, and personal and organizational development. Further, it operates the Villa Virginia, offering hotel services for training, workshops, retreats, executive meetings, events and weddings. Fundacin Origen also launched, in partnership with Natura, the School for Teachers in Sustainable Education, with a 5 year program aiming to train the teachers of 200 vulnerable schools in Chile and other South American countries. Income from these activities, as well as the sale of its organic products (cheeses, marmalades, baked goods and honey) contributes to the operation of the agroecological school, while Chiles Ministry of Education pays the teachers salaries and benefits, covering 70% of the budget. Fundacin Origen is the first institution of its kind in Chile and one that the Ministry of Education hopes to emulate throughout the country.
Fundacin Origen improves the quality of education for youths at risk in Chile by providing training in agriculture, sustainable development and peace leadership skills.
Focus: Agriculture, Children and Youth, Education, Rural Development, Women, Youth, Leadership, Indigenous Communities Geographic Area of Impact: Chile Model: Hybrid Non-Profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 5,000 (2011) Annual Budget: US$ 1,850,000 (2011) Percentage Earned Revenue: 30% Recognition: Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Chile, 2007
The Entrepreneur
Born in Santiago, Mary Anne Mller Prieto comes from a family of landowners. She lived in Chile until the age of seven, when she was sent to a Swiss boarding school. On a visit to Easter Island after graduation, she befriended a local island girl whose father was an organic farmer. He taught Mller Prieto everything he knew about art and trade as well as a love for nature. Returning to Chile, she volunteered at a juvenile detention facility on the outskirts of Santiago, where she discovered her passion for education and helping rejected youth. Mller Prietos determined pursuit to follow her dream of setting up an agricultural school for at-risk youth, while learning from setbacks and mobilizing a diverse section of society to support her efforts, have helped her achieve what others would consider impossible.
153
Latin America
Background
Paraguay is one of the poorer countries in Latin America, with a per capita income of US$ 2,700 and a third of the population living on less than US$ 2 per day. The population is young and needs greater educational opportunities. Around 30% of young people age 15-24 are neither obtaining marketable skills in school nor using such skills in productive work, indicating the valuable economic resource of human capital is wasted.
Martin Burt
Fundacin Paraguaya
Founded in 1985, Paraguay www.fundacionparaguaya.org.py
Fundacin Paraguaya was the first microfinance institution in Paraguay and a founding member of the Accin International microfinance network. In 1995 the foundation pioneered financial literacy and entrepreneurial education programmes in Paraguay, adapting junior achievement methodologies to underprivileged youths. In 2003, it took a bankrupt boys agricultural school and made it a financially self-sufficient, co-ed school. The schools 17 educational enterprises now cover the schools operating costs. Fundacin Paraguaya is a pioneer in sustainable agricultural education, providing 100% employability to poor rural youth through a market-based curriculum in free, quality, 100% financially self-sufficient schools. The practical, market-oriented education allows students to find agricultural jobs upon graduation, create their own small enterprises, and/or enter university. In 2009, an all-girls school was set up in partnership with the Bertoni Nature Conservancy and Mbaracayu Forest Reserve Foundation, and in 2010 and 2011 two more schools, previously owned by SOS Villages and the San Pedro Bishopric, joined the education model. In 2007 Fundacin Paraguaya committed to education-that-pays-for-itself under the Clinton Global Initiative, replicating its model in 50 schools around the world in 10 years. There are now +50 partner organizations in 27 countries replicating the model, and in 2011 the Fundacin set up a new office in Morogoro, Tanzania. Additionally, the foundation is disseminating this model through its London-based partner, TeachAManToFish, which has developed a network of 2,500 institutions in over 125 countries. Fundacin Paraguaya has also come up with a new and inclusive approach to poverty measurement and elimination, with a pilot project addressing 50 tangible and intangible poverty indicators being implemented in five womens loan groups since June 2010. The goal for 2011 is to lift 5,000 women out of poverty.
Fundacin Paraguaya promotes entrepreneurship, enabling people of limited resources, particularly underprivileged youths, to create jobs and increase their family income.
Focus: Civic Participation, Education, Environment, Microfinance, Rural Development, Poverty Elimination Model: Hybrid Non-Profit Geographic Area of Impact: Global Annual Budget: US$ 9 million (2011) Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 105,130 (2011) Percentage Earned Revenue: 83% (2010) Recognition: Schwab Fellow of the World Economic Forum
Latin America
The Entrepreneur
Martin Burt is a social entrepreneur who served as Paraguays ViceMinister of Commerce and mayor of Asuncin. He has received the Inter-American Development Banks Microfinance Award, Skoll Foundation Social Entrepreneur Award, Templeton Freedom Award, World Innovation Summit in Education Award, Opportunity Collaboration Achievement Award, and the Ashoka Changemakers Award. He received distinguished alumni awards from the University of the Pacific and George Washington University, the 2007 Social Innovation Award from Brigham Young University, and is an Avina Foundation leader, Eisenhower Fellow and Synergos Africa Leader and Fellow. He served twice as President of the Paraguayan-American Chamber of Commerce, is a founding board member of the Bertoni Conservation Foundation and Mbaracayu Biosphere Reserve, and a trustee of the Karatara Project in South Africa. Burt is currently a visiting professor in social entrepreneurship at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California, and the American University of Nigeria in Yola. His commitment to education is featured as part of the Clinton Global Initiative.
154
Background
The Amazon region is known for its environmental importance. It accounts for 45% of the worlds rainforest cover and is the third largest freshwater source on the planet. But uncontrolled and illegal deforestation is occurring at a rapid pace and contributing to global carbon dioxide emissions. In the Brazilian Amazon alone, approximately 600,000 km2 have been deforested, an area about equal to Spain and Portugal combined. National park systems only cover 9% of the Amazon rainforest, mainly areas rich in biodiversity. It is largely acknowledged that a much larger region must be preserved to stabilize the global ecosystem.
Martin von Hildebrand

Gaia Amazonas
Founded in 1994, Colombia www.gaiaamazonas.org

Many different models of rainforest conservation programmes have been carried out in the last few decades. International funding has poured into the region, but often with little effect. Martin von Hildebrand was one of the first to recognize the key role of indigenous communities in preserving their own environment. The Gaia Amazonas Foundation helps these communities gain control of their territories, livelihoods and development based on their traditional knowledge and cultural values. Under von Hildebrands leadership, the foundation has secured 24.5 million hectares of Amazon rainforest from the Colombian government for the 60,000 indigenous inhabitants that live there. In addition, it has helped set up: 16 local indigenous organizations, with legal status and exercising local governance; 84 indigenous community schools; nine indigenous health programmes based on traditional medicine; and official spaces for negotiations between indigenous organizations and government, which has led to the decentralization of state programmes and joint policy decisions. Gaia Amazonas is also active in a number of networks, including the Consolidation of the Colombian Amazon (COAMA). Leading the Cooperation and Alliance in the North and West Amazon (CANOA) initiative, Gaia Amazonas has improved transboundary coordination between Brazilian and Venezuelan NGOs and indigenous organizations for the conservation of 62 million hectares of Amazon rainforest. The foundation is also a driving member of the Amazon Regional Articulation (ARA) initiative, which develops joint regional strategies to preserve the ecosystem and mitigate climate change.
Latin America
Gaia Amazonas has safeguarded 24 million hectares of the Amazon rainforest in Colombia through the establishment of protected areas managed by indigenous communities.
Focus: Biodiversity, Environment Geographic Area of Impact: Colombia Model: Leveraged Non-Profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 18,000 (2009) Annual Budget: US$ 1,042,605 (2009) Percentage Earned Revenue: 0% Recognition: Regional Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Latin America, 2009
Gaia Amazonas has transferred its experience to several countries in Africa (Kenya, Ethiopia, Botswana, Ghana and South Africa) through the Gaia Foundation UK and the African Biodiversity Network.
The Entrepreneur
Martin von Hildebrand has dedicated the last 38 years to strengthening the indigenous communities and conservation of the Amazon. In the 1970s he moved from Bogota to the Colombian Amazon to live with and learn from indigenous groups as part of his PhD studies in ethnology. In the 1980s he focused on shaping laws in the Colombian Interior Ministry to grant land rights to indigenous groups, and in 1991, as the coordinator for the Amazon in the presidents office, he secured constitutional support for granting land rights to Colombian indigenous people. In the early 1990s he set up COAMA and Gaia Amazonas to help indigenous groups access and defend their constitutional rights. He is currently working on shaping international frameworks and garnering support to ensure indigenous populations receive a steady income for the environmental services they deliver in the fight against climate change by protecting the rainforest.
155
Background
Comprising 3,835 km2 (32%) of the north-eastern Mexican state of Queretaro, the Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve is home to old-growth forests and a diverse range of animal species, including jaguars. Sierra Gorda is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, created by presidential decree in 1997. It is the largest natural protected area in Mexico and is currently managed by the Comisin Nacional de reas Naturales Protegidas (CONANP) in cooperation with Grupo Ecolgico Sierra Gorda. For more than two decades an alliance of community organizations under Grupo Ecolgico Sierra Gorda has carried out award-winning actions in the reserve in environmental education, solid waste management, conservation and economic development. According to a recent survey, 86.2% of 40,000 inhabitants reported that their quality of life has improved thanks to the reserve, and 13,000 hectares of previously deforested land have been recovered as a result. The regions comprehensive social strategy has become a model in biodiversity protection and sustainable development in Mexico.
Martha (Pati) Ruz Corzo

Grupo Ecolgico Sierra Gorda IAP
Founded in 1987, Mexico www.sierragorda.net

The Sierra Gorda Ecological Group was established to reverse environmental degradation and encourage sustainable use of the regions rich natural resources. Local inhabitants are directly involved in conservation and economic activities within Sierra Gorda, which includes commercial tree planting (5 million trees have been planted), soil regeneration, protection of springs and micro-watersheds, sustainable ranching and farming, and ecotourism. A project in the reserve also promotes compensation and payment to local forest owners for environmental services, including initiating carbon offset sales under a voluntary mechanism. Through Grupo Ecolgico Sierra Gorda a number of conservation and social networks have been formed, which includes local teachers, parents, students and the wider Sierra Gorda community. Together they take part in community surveillance groups, voluntary fire fighting brigades and run 120 recycling storage centres. Grupo Ecolgico Sierra Gordas public education campaign teaches 23,000 children a year about conservation and local development. In addition, Grupo Ecolgico Sierra Gordas Earth Centre offers a variety of training programmes and shares its experience in natural resource management. Through the centre the organization promotes the replication of successful projects elsewhere in Mexico and Latin America.
Through an alliance between local communities and government, Mexicos Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve has become a model for biodiversity protection and sustainable development.
Focus: Biodiversity, Environment, Rural Poverty Geographic Area of Impact: Mexico Model: Leveraged Non-Profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 41,291 (2009) Annual Budget: US$ 3,048,377 (2008) Percentage Earned Revenue: 7.56% Recognition: Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Mexico, 2001
Latin America
The Entrepreneur
Twenty-seven years ago Martha Ruz Corzo sought a simpler way of life and moved with her husband and two sons from the city where she taught music, to a rural community in the Sierra Gorda Mountains. In 1997 she was appointed federal director of the Sierra Gorda Reserve, and for the past 22 years has worked to protect this unique area of the world. The result has been the creation of a grassroots environmental movement that has transformed natural resource management practices of the local population and re-oriented public investment from government authorities.
156
Background
Although Mexico is considered an emerging market and middle-income country, many inequalities between the urban and rural populations remain. In the rural population of 24 million, 56% live below the poverty line and half are considered extremely poor. The GDP per capita in the rural area is 73% lower than the national average, life expectancy is 10 years less and infant mortality is three times higher than in cities. Poverty in the rural areas often translates into abandonment of fields, mass migration, inadequate housing and food insecurity. Environmental problems such as deforestation, water scarcity and land erosion, are exacerbated in rural communities. These problems are largely ignored and considered of lesser importance than the fight against poverty.
Margarita Barney
Grupo para Promover la Educacin y el Desarollo Sustentable (GRUPEDSAC)
Founded 1990, Mexico www.grupedsac.org

GRUPEDSAC takes an integrated approach to solving the problems of rural poverty and environmental degradation. It does this through skills training and programmes of human development that increase a communitys organizational capacity and autonomy. Through its learning centres in the states of Mexico and Oaxaca, GRUPEDSAC addresses a range of problems faced in rural Mexico, like the lack of water, energy, food insecurity, rural migration and inadequate housing. The centres provide hands-on training in appropriate technologies and methods of organic farming, rainwater harvesting, ecological construction, and solar and wind energy. All technologies are adapted to the respective environment and make sustainable use of the existing natural resources. In addition, GRUPEDSAC revives cultural traditions and resources that have been neglected and underutilized and combines them with modern techniques. The organization also grants microfinance loans for the development of small business and housing improvements. The training centres receive groups from Mexico and other parts of Latin America. Once trained, these experts then replicate the appropriate technologies in their countries. There are now nearly 30 centres throughout the region, all started by organizations trained at GRUPEDSAC and following its model. The government of the State of Mexico has also constructed eight small training centres in its most remote municipalities with the intention of introducing sustainable development in these areas. GRUPEDSAC also works with children, adolescents, corporations and universities for environmental awareness, to increase social and environmental responsibility and promote sustainable income generating activities. It offers programmes in volunteerism and family rural ecotourism to benefit local communities.
Latin America
GRUPEDSACs mission is to educate, train and carry out activities for the creation of sustainable societies, offering sustainable solutions for low-income people, especially in rural areas.
Focus: Organic Agriculture, Eco-Training and Application of Technologies to Satisfy Basic Needs, Environment, Sustainable Community Development, Handicrafts, Housing, Rural Development, Corporate Volunteer Work, Environmental Education, Rural Eco-Tourism, Volunteerism Geographic area of impact: Mexico and Latin America Model: Hybrid Non-Profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 12,000 (2011) Annual Budget: US$ 1 million (2011) Percentage Earned Revenue: 46% Recognition: Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Mexico, 2008
The Entrepreneur
Born in the Mexican city of Chihuahua, Margarita Barney studied languages and became an interpreter and translator. She dedicated most of her adult life to the support of education in Mexico. As part of a group of young parents, she started a Montessori school in Chihuahua, and in Mexico City worked for a school that prepared Montessori teachers. Witnessing the pollution in Mexico City and the widespread indifference of its inhabitants, she carried out awareness-raising campaigns. Later, she studied ecology, population and development at the Ibero-American University and formed the group Environmental Volunteers of Tecamachalco, which later became GRUPEDSAC.
157
Background
Brazil is renowned for its rich biodiversity and natural resources, but these are under threat. The Atlantic Forest, one of the most important rainforests, has lost 93% of its original area, with the extinction of several animal and plant species. The Amazon, the worlds biggest rainforest, faces devastation from agricultural expansion and logging. Brazil must balance environmental protection with economic growth.

IPE promotes conservation and sustainable development in impoverished communities throughout Brazil. The organization aims to conserve biodiversity while respecting the traditions of local communities living near areas in need of protection. To achieve its mission IPE carries out a number of activities, including: research of rare or endangered species; environmental educational programmes; professional training in conservation biology; policy advocacy for biodiversity conservation; partnership engagement with companies to improve social and environmental responsibilities; and projects that encourage sustainable alternatives for income generation of communities living near protected areas. IPE has directly assisted in the conservation planning and sustainable use of millions of hectares in the Amazon and Atlantic Forest regions. A project in the western Sao Paulo state of Pontal do Paranapanema, for example, combines environmental protection with the introduction of sustainable agro-forestry techniques to local farmers so that they do not adversely impact the regions biodiversity. As a result of its efforts, IPE managed to remove the black lion tamarin from the list of severely endangered species. In 1999 IPE founded the Brazilian Center for Conservation Biology in Nazar Paulista in the state of Sao Paulo. It shares knowledge gained from 20 years of wildlife and conservation research through courses to audiences on themes like conservation biology, conservation medicine, wildlife management, sustainable development, environmental education, environmental law and the history of ecology. The centre has a Masters programme accreditated by the Brazilian Ministry of Education, with support from big Brazilian companies like Natura and Fibria and the Arapyau Institute. It is creating an MBA on management of socioenvironmental business. IPE is also the major shareholder of a 2.5 company that successfully works with new business connected to payment for ecosystem services.
Suzana and Claudio Padua

Instituto de Pesquisas Ecolgicas (IPE)
Founded in 1992, Brazil www.ipe.org.br
Through science, education and local engagement, IPE promotes conservation and sustainable development of Brazils natural resources.
Focus: Biodiversity, Environment, Education, Business Development Geographic Area of Impact: Brazil Model: Hybrid Non-Profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 10,000 (2010) Annual Budget: US$ 3.74 million (2010) Percentage earned revenue: 20% Recognition: Social Entrepreneurs of the Year, Brazil, 2009
Latin America
The Entrepreneurs
Coming from traditional Brazilian families, Claudio and Suzana Padua left lives as a businessman and designer for a life of adventure as conservationists. In the 1980s they moved with their three children to the Pontal do Paranapanema in western Sao Paulo state to fulfill that dream. What began as a project to study the black lion tamarin developed into IPE, which now includes +80 professionals working in 45 projects. Claudio focuses on the environmental and technical part of projects, and deals with the institutions administration and partnerships with the private sector, the development of carbon offset projects, marketing initiatives and engaging the corporate world in social and environmental responsibilities. Together with Brazilian businessmen he is a shareholder of a start-up company whose mission is to use REDD++ and other innovative mechanisms to create five million hectares of privately protected areas in Amazonia. Suzana dedicates herself to environmental education and the socioeconomic integration of communities where IPE works.
158
Background
In Colombia, as in many developing countries, many children under the age of six live in poverty and do not have access to the services and physical/ psychological environments that guarantee their basic rights and development as productive and happy citizens. The most significant components of human potential and personality are developed within the first years of life. The cost of failing to invest in early childcare and development often translates into higher future costs and irreversible social consequences.
Marta Arango Nimnicht

International Center for Education and Human Development (CINDE)
Founded in 1977, Colombia www.cinde.org.co
CINDE is a research and development centre focused on promoting and protecting child rights. It creates healthy physical and psychological environments for youth, particularly excluded children (ages 0-6) living in rural and urban areas. Through integrated community support networks, CINDE helps families and communities foster development using local human and institutional resources. CINDE has helped families and communities engage in the development and education of their children and strengthen their ability to attend to their needs. This has been complemented by a comprehensive approach to prepare human talent at all levels of child and social development, and the creation of networks and strategic alliances to promote integrated development programmes and influence the formulation and implementation of social policies. CINDE has contributed to the development of public policies for children in and out of Colombia. Presently it is developing two Masters programmes, one en Bogota with the Pedagogical University on Education and Social Sciences, and another in Manizales and Medelln with the University of Manizales on Education and Human Development. It is also developing educational alternatives through the Internet to reach a wider audience in more geographical areas, and already conducts several social development projects in the communities of Bogota, Manizales and Medellin. In a country affected by various forms of violence, it is imperative to build new forms of social interaction with its citizens, especially the younger generations. Therefore CINDE created the Children and Youth Peace Builders project, to strengthen political and civic participation of young people from various educational institutions located in areas highly affected by violence.
CINDE promotes the creation of healthy environments for the development of children and youth living in conditions of vulnerability in Latin America, particularly Colombia.
Focus: Children and Youth, Education Geographic Area of Impact: Colombia Model: Hybrid Non-Profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 300,850 (2010) Annual Budget: US$ 5 million (2010) Percentage Earned Revenue: 90% Recognition: Regional Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Latin America, 2009
The Entrepreneur
Marta Arango was one of 10 children in a family of modest means, but her parents valued education. She completed her studies in Colombia and worked at all levels of the educational system, especially in rural areas. After finishing graduate studies in the US, she returned to Colombia determined to improve the lives of the most marginalized children in urban and rural areas, particularly those below age six. She wanted to give to people the same opportunity for education and personal development she had received. Arango believes that early care and education are the foundation of social and economic development, and that the development of children and youth is a powerful strategy to decrease poverty and marginalization. In 1977, she founded CINDE together with her late husband, Glen Nimnicht. She continues building and developing the organization, despite the fact that twice she had to take refuge from Colombian guerrillas and drug lords.
159
Latin America
Background
Education is estimated to account for approximately 70% of a countrys wealth, contributing to a productive labour force and leadership that steers the country on a path of economic growth. However many developing countries suffer from chronic under-investment in the education sector. For example, in Mexico only 2% of college students have access to student loans. Globally, around 88% of the worlds youth do not attend a higher education institution. Of those who are able to enrol, drop-out rates among the poor are very high, with 60% of dropouts citing inability to pay as the primary cause for abandoning their studies.
Felipe Vergara
Lumni
Founded in 2004, Colombia www.lumni.net

Lumni is the first organization to successfully bring to market the concept of human capital contracts. Whereas student loans require students to pay back both the full principal of the loan plus interest payments and fees, human capital contracts only require graduates to pay back a percentage of their income after graduation. In the case of Lumni, students are required to pay no more than 15% of their income over 10 to 15 years. In most cases, the income differential for attending university more than offsets these payments, representing a win-win solution for both the investor and the student. Nearly 80% of Lumni students are from low income or very low income families, who are often the first generation to attend college. The indirect beneficiaries are several-fold, assuming low-income families depend on the most highly educated person for household income. On average, students income increases 50% to 300%. Investors have received an average 11.4% return on their investment, compared to the Dow Jones Industrial Average return of 4.18%. Lumnis target is to raise $200 million from impact investing capital markets, and reach 32,000 students by 2015 in the countries where it currently has operations.
Lumni creates an efficient global market for investing in human capital, revolutionizing sustainable investments in higher education and student talent.
Focus: Education, Financial Inclusion Geographic Area of Impact: Mexico, Colombia, Chile, US Model: Social Business Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 1,912 Percentage Earned Revenue: 100% Recognition: Regional Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Latin American, 2011
The Entrepreneur
Felipe Vergara, a Wharton MBA and former McKinsey consultant, has been passionate about access to higher education since he was young. Growing up in Colombia, he became acutely aware of educational inequality when his best friend from high school, who was the top ranked student in the class, was not able to attend university due to an inability to pay. Vergara realized the education financing market was inefficient, and that if someone would invest in the education of a high potential future worker, the return on that investment in the form of future earning potential would more than compensate for the educational cost. It was not until years later, when Vergara met Miguel Palacios, who was perfecting the model for human capital contracts and human capital investments, that the innovative model would emerge and Lumni would be born.
Latin America
160
Background
In remote regions of Venezuela people live without access to modern medical treatment. Those in need of treatment beyond basic healthcare services have few options other than undertaking the expensive, long and difficult journey to medical centres in large cities. Maniapure, named after a region and river in remote Venezuela, identified this need and has leveraged the power of communications technology to deliver specialized and modern medical services to Venezuelas isolated and needy populations.
Tomas Sanabria
Maniapure
Founded in 2000, Venezuela www.maniapure.org
Maniapure provides access to quality healthcare and specialized telemedicine services for those living in regions with limited access to healthcare and services in Venezuela and Ecuador, with pilot projects in Bolivia, the Dominican Republic and Peru. In Venezuela, doctors are required to do rotations in rural, isolated areas as part of their training. Maniapure relies on these practitioners to formalize partnerships between advanced medical facilities, specialist doctors and local health organizations to create ambulatory outpatient services with higher quality equipment. Over time these clinics incorporated wireless technologies (two-way radios, satellite phones and satellite internet) to connect with specialists in Caracas and other major cities for consultation and treatment options for rural patients. Maniapures approach is providing formerly unavailable treatment options and services to three states in Venezuela and three states in Ecuador, with increasing operations in peripheral urban areas where the model has proven useful and feasible. Families that visit Maniapures telemedicine clinics and Maniapure local doctors have been spared the difficult and often prohibitively expensive journeys to cities for proper medical care, and are able to connect with highly specialized doctors who guide local clinicians in diagnosis and treatment. Each Maniapure clinic serves an average population of between 3,000 and 5,000. In Centro La Milagrosa de Maniapure, the original pilot site, 4,000 patients receive treatment annually. Nearly 95% of the patients across all clinics are effectively treated by local health technicians, with only 5% needing the telemedicine specialist consultations. Of those five percent, 80% can be treated at local centres by Maniapure doctors, and only 20% now require transport to Caracas or other major cities for in-person treatment. For that small minority of patients, Maniapure arranges all transport and appointments, minimizing the time patients are away from home and the time commitment of the specialists.
Maniapure leverages the power of communications technology to deliver specialist medical services to Venezuelas isolated and needy populations.
The Entrepreneur
While doing rural service as part of his medical training as a doctor, Tomas Sanabria was inspired by the plight of rural Venezuelans in accessing quality healthcare. Over time he grew aware of the growing need for more quality care, as well as the availability of resources that could be linked to fill that need: human resources of doctors serving in rural areas; community organizations; and access to telecommunications and wireless technology. Combining these resources, he created the Maniapure Project which has since grown into a social business providing unprecedented and highquality care.
161
Latin America
Focus: Health, Technology, Rural Development Geographic Area of Impact: Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Dominican Republic, Peru Model: Hybrid Non-Profit Recognition: Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Venezuela, 2011
Background
Volunteerism is usually considered to be a non-essential activity for retired, older people or part of a compulsory community service requirement for younger people graduating from high school. The majority of volunteer activity often stems from a paternalistic attitude that is unidirectional, as one person gives and another receives, as in charity. In Brazil, as elsewhere, people expect the government to respond to social needs. Parceiros Voluntrios has undertaken the enormous challenge of changing the mindsets of individuals so they take responsibility for the social conditions of their community.
Maria E. Johannpeter
ONG Parceiros Voluntrios
Founded in 1997, Brazil www.parceirosvoluntarios.org.br

Parceiros Voluntrios prepares people, corporations, schools and universities to improve the quality of life within a community through organized volunteer work, while preparing non-profit organizations to effectively deploy the skills and goodwill of these volunteers. The success of Parceiros Voluntrios comes from its capacity to tap into peoples desire to participate meaningfully in a community. It cultivates a level of competency in people of all ages and walks of life and teaches leadership skills. It also provides a vehicle for companies to engage in corporate citizenship, sharing the strengths and skills of their staff with civil society. In this way, the motivation of their staff is enhanced, as is the companys reputation. Parceiros Voluntrios also qualifies young people to perform civic service, and supports schools in their efforts to extend this approach to the communities where they are sent. Parceiros Voluntrios is not just a coordinator of volunteer activities, volunteer centre or human resource placement agency. By training both the volunteer and the organization that receives the volunteers, it stimulates people of all ages to see themselves as agents of social transformation. In 2010, the organization involved nearly 370,000 volunteers, including 81,000 young people, and 1,945 schools, 2,473 companies and 2,784 civil society organizations. To replicate its approach throughout Brazil, Parceiros Voluntrios is working in collaboration with SEBRAE (Brazilian Service of Support for Micro and Small Enterprises), and in partnership with the IDB (Inter-American Development Bank), to promote professionalism and enhance the credibility and visibility of civil society organizations.
Parceiros Voluntrios enhances human development through organizing volunteers to find solutions to social demands within the community.
Focus: Civic Participation Geographic Area of Impact: Brazil Model: Hybrid Non-Profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 150,000 (2010) Annual Budget: US$ 1,000,000 (2010) Percentage Earned Revenue: 20% Recognition: Social Entrepreneur of the Year, 2004
The Entrepreneur
The youngest of 10 children, Maria Elena Pereira Johannpeter was born in the pampas of Rio Grande do Sul to a humble agricultural family, whose father died when she was an infant. As her mother could not look after her children while also working outside the home, she sent them to different schools run by religious orders where she knew they would receive an adequate education, food and lodging. As a result, Johannpeter did not experience a family life with her siblings, and it was only as adults that they developed relationships. Even so, she vividly recollects her mother as a leader and supporter who worked with and for others in her community, and draws on her mothers experience for inspiration for her own work.
Latin America
162
Background
Youth from vulnerable sectors of society are likely to be involved in violence, delinquency, drugs, prostitution and other social risks. The main reasons are the lack of income and ineffectiveness of public schools to maintain quality education and retain students in the classrooms. During its first years of existence Fundao Pr-Cerrado focused on delivering environmental education programmes to high school students. The experience with this target group led the organization to develop its apprenticeship programme, Jovem Cidadao (Young Citizen), which offers vocational training for disadvantaged youth and prepares them for the formal labour market.
Adair Meira
Pr-Cerrado Foundation
Founded in 1994, Brazil www.fpc.org.br

Fundao Pr-Cerrado tackles both unemployment and the destruction of Brazils environment by turning unemployed youth (ages 14 to 21) into paid environmental activists. The youth, all of whom must attend school regularly, study environmental preservation and acquire vocational skills like basic administration, mailroom work and computer skills. They are then placed in paid internships with local industries and government where they earn supplemental incomes. After a two-year intensive training programme, many of the apprentices are contracted as staff. Since 1994 Fundao Pr-Cerrado has placed over 30,000 young people (4,538 in 2009) in the labour market, benefiting over 100,000 people by contributing to their household income. More than introducing youth to the labour market and giving them initial job experience that increases their market competitiveness, Fundao Pr-Cerrado focuses on educating them to be good citizens by teaching them sustainable environmental practices. The aim is to break the vicious cycle that exists between poverty and environmental degradation. Fundao Pr-Cerrado reaches a national audience in Brazil through the National Conference of Environmental Education. Its methodologies are being observed and adopted by NGOs across the country.
Fundao Pr-Cerrado is a pioneer in the struggle against poverty in Brazil, focusing its activities on promoting youth development through environmental education and income-generating initiatives.
Focus: Children and Youth, Environment, Rural Development Geographic Area of Impact: Brazil Model: Hybrid Non-Profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 17,500 (2009) Annual Budget: US$ 60 million (2010) Percentage Earned Revenue: 80% Recognition: Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Brazil, 2001
The Entrepreneur
Adair Meira is a businessman and environmentalist who has long been committed to social causes in poor areas of large cities. As a communications professional he was involved in social mobilization campaigns between 1980 and 1990, especially in struggles for childrens and adolescents rights. In 1994 he founded Fundao Pr-Cerrado, which has become the largest educational and income-generating youth programme in Brazil. With his experience of integrating social sectors into different areas of knowledge, he created a platform that connects the needs of todays youth with the business world, increasing awareness of the need to support young people in Brazil.
163
Latin America
Background
In Brazil 154 million people (77% of the population) depend upon the low quality public health system. Many of them wait months or years to get medical attention at public hospitals in the largest cities, where doctors are overworked.

CIES Project applies an innovative approach in two ways. First, it employs a unique, self-sufficient business model integrating civil society, government (municipal, state and federal) and private companies (local and national) in a combined effort to treat-educate-prevent. Second, it uses advanced technology in its mobile health centres to offer services in more than ten medical specialties. Presently, a mobile unit known as the Health Truck is the only one in the world that incorporates exam and surgery rooms for ten medical specialties. In a single day, 200 people can receive care, at an average cost of BRL 36 (US$ 20) each. In three years the project has served more than 57,000 people in 26 Brazilian cities in six different states, and has attracted the attention of about 50 other cities in Brazil and abroad. After visiting different Brazilian cities, the various needs and local economic, structural and socio-educational conditions dictated the design and development of two new innovative mobile structures. The Health Box is a container-like structure measuring 7.5m x 2.5m, which is easily transported by a tow truck, catamaran or raft, in order to service populations living in places like the Upper Amazon Basin. It consists of a stand-alone mobile health system incorporating a 28m2 living space, projected for a maximum of four specialties. The Health Box targets cities with more than 50,000 and less than 150,000 inhabitants, or locations requiring between four and seven medical specialties at the same time. The Health Van (VDS) is a mobile unit that transports equipment for digital radiology exams and ultrasound/echocardiography, with complete connectivity to a central unit of larger size if needed. This unit targets cities with less than 50,000 people or locations needing less than three medical specialties at the same time. VDS is an ideal model for mountainous regions like the slums in Rio de Janeiro, Santos and other steep terrain areas. This inclusive portfolio of three types of mobile health units allows the CIES Project to meet any populations needs, fulfilling its mission of providing mobile healthcare without borders.
Roberto Kikawa
Projeto Cies
Founded in 2008, Brazil www.projetocies.com.br
CIES Project delivers specialized, humanized, high technology preventive medical care to communities in need through the use of advanced mobile medical centres.
Focus: Health Geographic Area of Impact: Brazil Model: Leveraged Non-Profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 33,000 (2011) Annual Budget: US$ 720,000 (2011) Percentage Earned Revenue: 100% Recognition: Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Brazil, 2010
Latin America
The Entrepreneur
Roberto Kikawa, a renowned Brazilian gastroenterologist, was introduced to medicine as a child, through learning first-aid as a member of the Scouts. Years later he witnessed his father battle cancer, and upon his death Kikawa promised himself to become a doctor dedicated to quality medical services. In addition to being responsible for endoscopy services in a number of hospitals, he is a professor and the Clinical Director at the Hospital Sao Camilo. He has served as the head of the CIES Project since its inception in 2008.
164
Background
RECYCLA started operations in 2003, with its core business focused on recycling of electronic waste. While e-waste recycling is widely available, inadequate and out of date legal frameworks, non-existent or inadequate collection systems, logistic support systems and other services severely constrain the implementation of sustainable and efficient solutions. Electronic waste represents only 2% of trash in landfills, yet it accounts for 70% of overall toxic waste.
Fernando Nilo
RECYCLA Chile
Founded in 2003, Chile www.recycla.cl
RECYCLA is the first and only financially sustainable social business exclusively dedicated to e-waste recycling and creating green job opportunities for vulnerable people in Latin America. Since its inception it has implemented a triple bottom line business model, creating environmental, social and financial value. Environmental value is created by recycling electronic waste and establishing the first industrial Green Seal in Latin America. Social value is created by providing opportunities to those in the bottom tiers of the social pyramid, and by entering into agreements with social organizations to bridge the digital gap. RECYCLAs labour force on the disassembling lines consists of former inmates who seek a second chance in the workplace and society. Economic value is created through the appropriate use of market and management tools to achieve financial sustainability. RECYCLA has set up efficient processes to receive, collect and store electronic equipment and appliances. Waste is first classified, then computers, fax machines, printers, cellular phones and other devices are separated and disassembled. Hazardous waste is separated according to toxicity levels and sent to hazardous waste disposal centres. Non-ferrous metals including copper, aluminium and stainless steel are processed in a similar manner, before materials are compacted and stored in containers for export to ISO compliant smelters. RECYCLA exports recycled metals to Europe.
RECYCLA Chile established a system to recycle electronic appliances in an environmentally sound way. Its labour force consists of former prison inmates seeking a second chance in the workplace and life.
Focus: Environment, Electronic and Electric Waste Management Geographic Area of Impact: Chile Model: Social Business Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 150 (2010) Annual Budget: US$ 1.4 million (2010) Percentage Earned Revenue: 100% Recognition: Schwab Fellow of the World Economic Forum; SEOY, Chile, 2007
The Entrepreneur
Fernando Nilo had a tough time launching RECYCLA. He faced social indifference to a mounting problem and no resources to start the venture. With a family to support, he studied and perfected his business plan while working at night to earn an income. In 2008 RECYCLA was internationally recognized with the Energy Globe Award and the Dubai International Award for Best Practices. In 2009 Nilo was selected by the World Economic Forum as a Technology Pioneer in the environmental technology category.
165
Latin America
Background
Until recently Latin America was characterized by paternalistic, authoritarian and classist policies, at the expense of lower and middle class majorities, equal opportunity, diversity and entrepreneurship. Such attitudes are counter-productive to the creation and growth of free, democratic, just and humane societies in the 21st century. The Rodelillo Foundation strives to improve equality, opportunity, inclusion and fairness by means of family-based social programmes. It contends that the most powerful force in society abides in the bonds of love, kinship and a common identity shared by self-defined family groups. Those bonds are the most effective key to unlocking the latent human potentials within dreams, talents, dignity and courage.
Macarena Currin
Rodelillo Foundation
Founded in 1987, Chile www.rodelillo.cl

Through the Rodelillo Model of Enterprising Families, families engage in a personalized psycho-social companionship over 18 months with social workers, psychologists and others. They work on such basic human needs as family relationships, income generation, child development, access to health networks, and organizing the demand for, and construction of, definitive housing solutions. For more than 25 years Rodelillo has played a pivotal role assisting over 30,000 Chilean families, totalling 125,000 people, to recover their dignity, surmount poverty, become self-reliant, find a job or create a business, purchase a home, obtain a college education, become community leaders, hire and train others, and get involved in local affairs. Every year this motivates and encourages thousands of families, their communities, co-workers and the nation. During the past four years Rodelillo has been innovating unprecedented corporate-civil society collaborations in the design and installation of its model, for the benefit of workers and workers families at ports and mines throughout Chile. The results have exceeded expectations in delivering more productive workers, more congenial work environments, major decreases in worksite accidents and quantified social results. For two decades Rodelillo has instigated and produced consistently superior results with the Chilean ministries of Justice, Planning, Housing, Women, Education and the National Service for Minors. Local and regional authorities, universities, CSOs and other stakeholders have also enjoyed the mutual benefits of helping families to help themselves.
Rodelillo helps thousands of families every year co-construct Family Action Plans, overcome social vulnerabilities, generate new sources of income and assume protagonistic attitudes and responsibilities for their familys lives and destinies.
Focus: Enterprising Families, Womens Empowerment, Income Generation, Homeownership Geographic Area of Impact: Chile, US Model: Hybrid Non-Profit Number Direct Beneficiaries: 15,000 (2011) Annual Budget: US$ 1,925,000. (2011) Percentage Earned Revenue: 90% Recognition: Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Chile, 2006
Latin America
The Entrepreneur
Macarena Currn holds an MS in Social Work from the University de Chile. She founded Rodelillo in Santiago in 1987, based on her personal experience and deep social commitment. In Los Angeles, California in 2000, she and her husband, David Hansen, established a local variant of Rodelillo in a parish community, which still thrives today. Currn continues to inspire and influence leaders from business, civil society, government and academia with her integral family vision, leadership, wisdom and social effects.
166
Background
The Amazon is the largest remaining tropical forest in the world, and home to about 20 million people, including over five million caboclos (traditional forest dwellers). Their remote communities survive by fishing, hunting and sustainable use of the forest, but their way of life is threatened by destruction of the Amazon from logging, land conversion and other activities. Protection and conservation of the forest requires supporting and empowering these communities, and adapting development models capable of preserving the environment and local cultural identity. Development and production are accelerating, creating pressure on resources and the Amazon forest. Despite governmental action to reduce deforestation, new models and practices are needed to ensure sustainable development in the region.
Eugenio Scannavino
Sade e Alegria (Health and Happiness)
Founded in 1985, Brazil www.saudeealegria.org.br

Eugenio Scannavino and his brother Caetano created Sade e Alegra to reach isolated communities living along the Amazon rivers in western areas of Santarm, Belterra and Aveiro in the state of Par. The objective was to support participatory processes for sustained community development. Its strategy is based on community organization and self-governance, respect for people and their culture, and belief in their ability to contribute to economic and social development. Sade e Alegra supports communities that undertake this process by forming cooperatives, identifying marketoriented activities, educating the community on conservation, and developing partnerships with the public and private sectors. This is done through: securing land use through protected areas; health and sanitation interventions; educational and income generation programmes focused on community empowerment and individual emancipation, with attention to minorities like women and children. The methodology takes a playful approach using circus, radio, TV and other activities where youngsters can use these technologies to create educational campaigns within their own communities. The result of Sade e Alegras healthcare activities show: 100% of families have sanitation; 98% of children are immunized; and infant mortality has dropped to 18:1,000 (from 48:1,000 in communities where Sade e Alegra is not active). Through its education and communication programme, illiteracy rates have decreased and young people are taking part the Mocorongo Communication Network, which runs community radio stations and produces and distributes newspapers, videos and television programmes. The north of Brazil remains a major health access challenge, specially in rural areas. Traveling requires long distances, sometimes only by river; public sewage investment is very costly and low; transportation and communication infrastructures are poor and a hindrance to any action in the region. In 2006 Sade e Alegria started a boat-hospital in the Tapajs basin using a development programme focused on family health. It reached 73 communities and provided services to about 2,800 families with 15,000 beneficiaries. The Saude e Alegria model of river family health as public policy was adopted in 2010, when the Health Ministry passed a bill allowing municipalities to acquire hospital-boats of the Sade e Alegria model. A second hospital-boat will start operating in the Arapiuns basin as a pilot provision of this public policy.
Sade e Alegria supports participatory, integrated and sustainable community development in the Amazon.
Focus: Communications/Media, Education, Environment, Health, Rural Development, Water Geographic Area of Impact: Brazil Model: Leveraged Non-Profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 30,000 Recognition: Schwab Fellow of the World Economic Forum; SEOY, Brazil, 2005
The Entrepreneur
Eugenio Scannavino Neto graduated from medical school in Sao Paulo, with a specialization in tropical medicine. In 1984, he worked as a rural doctor in the remote Amazon. Here he organized communities around health issues, which developed into Sade e Alegra.
Latin America
Background
Rural to urban migration is a global pattern, and Argentina is no exception. Approximately 90% of the countrys population lives in large cities, many of which migrated from rural areas in search of better living conditions. According to Argentinas National Institute of Statistics and Census, over half of the countrys rural villages are at risk of extinction. Many towns suffered economically with the growth of agribusiness and the closing of railways that connected communities to markets and each other. Roads deteriorated and basic state infrastructures collapsed, including health services and education. Violence and crime has increased exponentially in cities, and public services have diminished due to the demand of arriving migrants.
Marcela Benitez
Social and Economic Recovery of National Rural Villages at Risk of Disappearing (RESPONDE)
Founded in 1999, Argentina www.responde.org.ar RESPONDE promotes social and economic opportunities in rural communities in crisis, allowing them to take advantage of existing resources and help their villages develop, respectful of their freedom, entrepreneurial spirit and self-improvement desires. Focus: Rural Development, Green Economy Geographic Area of Impact: Argentina Model: Leveraged Non-Profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 11,400 (2011) Annual Budget: US$ 322,000 (2010) Percentage Earned Revenue: 0% Recognition: Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Argentina, 2006

From 2000 to 2010 RESPONDE developed social and economic projects in 60 towns, so villagers were not forced to migrate, benefiting 1.4 million people. The tourism programme in rural villages promotes local economic development, employing villagers as service providers of bed and breakfast inns, restaurants, tourism and artisanal products. The self-sustaining village programme offers self-sufficiency and good nutrition of small rural communities from natural resources at their disposal. Under the Wings programme, community centres offer space in libraries, museums, cafes, and virtual classrooms with Internet access for education and training, and showrooms to display local products. To address global civic responsibility, RESPONSE offers programmes where volunteers from companies or universities, or retired professionals from big cities, share their knowledge and experience to develop projects and business opportunities. Between now and 2021 RESPONDE plans to scale the project to 500 rural villages. It proposes to map the sustainability of all rural villages in Argentina, based on field research, to ascertain their social and economic profiles, identify obstacles to development and the strengths that can help build their future. To make small villages visible to the world, RESPONDE is building a portal called Presenting Villages, where the most useful and interesting information can be posted, along with the projects they wish to create. In this era of communication, where social networks are main vehicles and important engines of all world events, RESPONDE believes that as rural villages become visible, civil society, companies and government will take account of them and help them grow. Hopefully government will implement appropriate public policies that assure welfare and development, private companies will establish new businesses in new locations, and more families will move to rural villages in order to discover and enjoy a new style of life.
Latin America
The Entrepreneur
Marcela Benitez, a geographer and sociologist by training, spent seven years travelling throughout Argentina as part of her work as a researcher for the National Research Council for Science and Technology. During this time, she observed the economic and social problems arising in small rural villages outside of Buenos Aires and throughout the country. After completing her degree, she began researching how these rural villages were slowly dying, and developed ideas on how to reverse the situation. Based on this, Benitez created RESPONDE, which has galvanized thousands of people, universities and companies to become involved in generating new opportunities for these villages. Her work has received multiple national and international awards, made possible through social responsibility programmes in conjunction with the private sector, such as American Express, LAN, Apache and the Cargill Foundation.
168
Background
In Brazil dentistry as a profession has little attraction, either for the patient or for those selecting a career in health. While Brazil trains approximately 13% of dentists worldwide, it does not have a comprehensive oral health policy. A great number of private clinics are concentrated in the richest regions, while dental services offered through the public health system are poor in quality and cannot meet demand. The vast majority of dentists, unlike medical doctors or lawyers, are also seldom involved in pro bono work.
Fbio Bibancos
TdB (Turma do Bem)
Founded in 2002, Brazil www.turmadobem.org.br
With the largest volunteer dental programme in the world, Turma do Bem is on a mission to change the perception of oral health and dentistry, especially in low-income communities.
TdB is working to transform oral healthcare in Latin America and Portugal. Through its DENTISTA DO BEM (Dentist for Good) programme, children from low-income families are provided with free dental care until the age of 18. The programme selects young people in public schools located in more than 700 cities across 27 Brazilian states, Latin American countries and Portugal, for treatment if they are below the poverty line, seeking employment and have poor oral health. Today, DENTISTA DO BEM is the largest volunteer dentistry programme in the world, creating incentives for dentists who participate, including an office plaque identifying them as contributors to help those in need. They can participate in a ceremonial award for The Best Dentist in The World, given by the organization to the dentist that contributes the most. This recognition generates interest in joining the group. A main features of the business model is its effectiveness and high social return, with low cost. The office in Sao Paulo follows-up all cases and forwards the results to municipal coordinators, so dentists see how they are affecting the lives of these young people. In addition to DENTISTA DO BEM, TdB has initiated a number of other projects. Dentista Verde (Green Dentist) aims to make dentistry more environmentally friendly. This includes saving water and electricity, and recycling disposable materials. Liga do Dentista Limpo (Dentist Clean League) aims to diffuse information and biosecurity practices for the volunteers and dental classes. It was created with guidance on how to improve the routine procedures for cleaning, disinfection and sterilization. Assistentes do Bem (Assistant for Good) provides a technical course in Dental Assistance to the beneficiaries of the project Dentista do Bem. The course is a way to offer a profession that can increase family income. It closes the dental treatment cycle, and can include these young people in the labour market. Since 2006, six documentaries have been made by TdB to show the poor situation and lack of resources in oral healthcare in Brazil, as well as the important work being done by DENTISTA DO BEM to change the situation. TdB mobilization activities and its network of dentists try to change public policies by distributing oral hygiene kits, encouraging the production of generic toothpaste, and others. TdB want poor people to have access to the only drugs of a dentist: toothpaste, toothbrush and dental floss.
Focus: Children and Youth, Civic Participation, Health Geographic Area of Impact: Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Paraguay, Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Panama, Portugal Model: Leveraged Non-Profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 22,000 (2011) Annual Budget: US$ 1,028,000 (2011) Percentage Earned Revenue: 1% Recognition: Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Brazil, 2006
The Entrepreneur
Fbio Bibancos is a Brazilian dentist, President of the Instituto Bibancos de Odontologia, a social entrepreneur and author of four books on dentistry. His business is a renowned and respected multidisciplinary clinical dentistry in So Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, and the first clinic in Latin America to win the ISO 9001 Certificate of Quality, since 2000. He founded TdB in 2002, and is the volunteer President and leader of the NGO. Since 1997 he has worked in the non-profit sector, using his capacity to convince dentists that they can transform the lives of millions of poor people by simply applying their skills.
169
Latin America
Background
In Nicaragua, over 50% of the rural population has no access to electricity. It is not attractive for large private companies to provide electricity to rural communities, due to their distance from the grid, the dispersion of communities and houses, low population density, low consumption per family (50 kWh/month or less), and reduced payment capacity. These factors translate into high energy costs for rural consumers. Tecnosol offers products and services to provide alternative energy solutions that greatly impact the standard of living of Nicaraguas citizens.
Vladimir Delagneau Barquero

Tecnosol
Founded in 1998, Nicaragua www.tecnosolsa.com.ni
Since 1998, Tecnosol has worked to improve access to electricity in rural areas of Nicaragua. It offers customers a range of products, including lighting systems, solar-powered refrigeration, water pumping systems, wind and hydro-electric systems, that range in price from US$ 250 to US$ 2,500. To help customers finance their systems, Tecnosol works with local microfinance institutions. Often these systems lead to increased income generation for customers, i.e. a shop keeper with a refrigeration system can store meat and produce to sell throughout the week, and farmers can increase crop yields using a solar-powered water pumping system. So far Tecnosol has installed +50,000 photovoltaic systems in Nicaragua. Tecnosol has developed a business model that includes import, storage, distribution, retail and after-sale service, that emphasizes quality and customer service at each stage of the business chain. Excellent quality is essential to facilitate the adoption of unfamiliar technology with an often sceptical customer group. Tecnosol goes to great lengths to reach its customers, even in areas where the only access is on horseback. This commitment is part of Tecnosols mission to bring solutions, hope and improved well-being to its clients. Relying on a chain of 15 stores in Nicaragua and offices in El Salvador and Panama, Tecnosol aims to expand strategically throughout the region to better reach and serve customers.
Tecnosol provides renewable and clean energy to homes and farms in Nicaragua through solar, wind and hydro systems.
Focus: Energy, Environment, Rural Development Geographic Area of Impact: Nicaragua, El Salvador, Panama Model: Social Business Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 300,000 (1998-2010) Annual Budget: US$ 5,000,000 (2010) Percentage Earned Revenue: 100% Recognition: Regional Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Latin America, 2010
The Entrepreneur
Vladimir Delagneau Barqueros desire to address rural electricity access began in 1986 when he was 18 years-old. While serving in the army he experienced the challenges of living in an isolated community without electricity, relying only on kerosene and a diesel generator. As the member of his squad responsible for radio communications, he acquired a small solar panel to charge radio batteries. The impact of the technology on his work left a lasting impression. After his army service he returned to school with a new-found commitment to help Nicaraguas rural poor. He obtained a scholarship to study solar energy in Germany and then returned to Nicaragua and founded Tecnosol. Currently he is the President of ANPPER, the Renewable Energy Association in Nicaragua.
Latin America
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Background
About 12.4 million Brazilians live in 3.2 million informal dwellings lacking access to public services such as water, electricity and waste collection. Most of these dwellings are located in the favelas (urban shanty towns), beset by environmental degradation, disease and violence. In Sao Paulo, economically the largest and most important city in the country, there are 1,587 favelas, more than half of which are located illegally on public land. The absence of a housing policy for low-income groups is one of the biggest factors in illegal land occupation in the country.
Andr L. Albuquerque
Terra Nova Regularizaes Fundirias
Founded in 2001, Brazil www.grupoterranova.com.br
Andr Albuquerque founded Terra Nova as a social enterprise committed to the sustainable regularization of illegally occupied properties in urban areas. Terra Nova acts as an intermediary between legal land owners and land occupiers, to discover a positive solution for both sides. Regularization of these dwellings has usually depended on actions by the public sector, which is overwhelmed and underfinanced. Government policies, when carried out, have been restricted to expropriations and urbanization services. Regularizing land ownership is expensive and not an attractive priority for politicians. Terra Nova was founded to resolve conflicts that had dragged on in the courts for years. The land regularization process brings a final resolution to the conflict between landowners and occupants. Property rights are transferred to the occupants after payment of an indemnity, and the title deed goes to the current occupants of the plots. Landowners are exempted from having to pay taxes accruing on the occupied area. For each plot of land negotiated, 40% of the indemnity payment goes to Terra Nova and 20% into a clearance fund used for projects within a community. The remainder goes to the original property owner, who accepts the deal, even if depreciated, to avoid long court cases that languish in the judicial system and rarely guarantee the return of the property. In all the communities regularized by Terra Nova, the quality of life for low-income families has improved. When title deeds are awarded the local community government starts to supply water, electricity, a postal code, basic sanitation and public transport to the residents. This partnership represents a historic milestone in the country, as the state changes its role from provider to supporting player in an initiative promoting improvement in the lives of those most in need. Terra Nova directly negotiates with the public authorities for structural improvements in the regularized neighbourhoods, and indirectly by encouraging the formation of neighbourhood associations.
Terra Nova is a social enterprise committed to the sustainable regularization of illegally occupied properties in Brazils urban areas.
Focus: Land Ownership, Urban Planning, Civic Participation Geographical Area of Impact: Brazil Model: Social Business Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 5,700 families (2001-2011) Recognition: Regional Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Latin America, 2009; SEOY, Brazil, 2008
The Entrepreneur
Bringing peaceful resolution to conflicts is a life mission for lawyer Andr Albuquerque. Standing against the tide of people who recriminate against profit in Brazil, he established Terra Nova as a social business. His idea is to capitalize those who have no access to funds. When occupants become owners they can obtain bank loans, and when a community becomes a legally recognized entity it gains the right to improvements, such as paved streets and a sewerage system.
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Latin America
Background
Before 1970 a feudal system dominated the Mexican state of Chiapas. That year a rural uprising took place in which indigenous farmers demanded land ownership. The federal government and wealthy landowners responded by agreeing to give government lands to the farmers, but there was one drawback: the land was in the jungles of Chiapas and roads, water and other basic infrastructure were non-existent. Faced with this challenging new reality the farmers decided the only way to get their products to market was to organize collectively. They established the Unin de Ejidos de La Selva with the help of Jesuit priests living in the area and Jos Jurez, an agricultural engineer who started working with the communities 28 years ago.
Jos E. Jurez
Unin de Ejidos de La Selva
Founded in 1979, Mexico www.laselvacafe.com.mx

Unin de Ejidos de La Selva is a union of 1,300 coffee-producing indigenous families in 42 communities in Chiapas. What distinguishes it from other cooperatives and associations is its commercialization strategy. In addition to foregoing the use of intermediaries to sell its coffee nationally and internationally, it sells its finished product directly to the consumer. Over 15 years ago the union pioneered efforts in Mexico that predated Starbucks, opening La Selva Coffee Shops in the countrys major cities and in Europe. By controlling the entire chain of coffee production Unin de Ejidos de La Selva has been able to take advantage of the full urban consumer value of coffee and use it to improve farmer income and self-sufficiency. All profits are distributed among its members and used to address social needs identified within their own communities. Investments go to ensuring better soil management and environmental practices, including certified organic techniques that limit erosion and water pollution. Unin de Ejidos de La Selvas innovative approaches have allowed it to survive the international collapse of the coffee market as well as the insurrections of the Zapatista movement that spread through Chiapas and significantly affected rural communities. Part of its strategy is to identify multiple markets and establish commercial links with small and medium coffee roasters in Europe and the US. Although sales volumes are limited using this strategy, it permits the establishment of personalized, stable and trusting relationships. If you sell 1,000 kilos of coffee to a huge buyer that needed 150,000 kilos, you are nobody, explains Jos Jurez. However, if you sell it to a buyer who sells 2,500 kilos a year, then you become someone he relies on.
Unin de Ejidos de La Selva is an association of coffee-producing indigenous families in Chiapas, Mexico, helping farmers to increase their income and self-sufficiency.
Latin America
Focus: Rural Development, Trade Geographic Area of Impact: Mexico Model: Social Business Recognition: Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Mexico, 2005
The Entrepreneur
In his youth Jos Jurez worked alongside his father farming their small plot of land. Although life was hard he loved agricultural work and at age 18 enrolled in the National Agricultural School in Chapingo and became an agricultural engineer. When he was 21 Jurez went to Chiapas as part of his practicum experience, where he initiated contacts with the indigenous farmers who would later become members of Unin de Ejidos de La Selva. He quickly learned their customs and ways of thinking and fell in love with their struggle to improve their lives. He stimulated their interest in reading and writing so that they could become owners of their own destiny as entrepreneurs.
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Background
Mexico is firmly established as a middle-income country, albeit with huge gaps between rich and poor, and urban and rural populations. Deep poverty persists among the indigenous population in many states of the country, mainly in the south-eastern states of Chiapas, Oaxaca and Guerrero. However, even in villages near Mexico City it is not uncommon to find the majority of villagers subsisting on less than US$ 2 per day. After the 1994-95 peso crisis, access to credit became difficult for most small and medium enterprises and impossible for the rural poor. In 1995, although Mexico had the highest GNP per capita in Latin America, the prevalence of malnutrition in children less than five years of age was significantly higher than in Brazil, Venezuela or even Bolivia, one of the poorest countries in the region. Un Kilo de Ayuda plays an important role in lowering the rate of malnutrition in many communities throughout the country.
Jos Ignacio Avalos Hernndez

Un Kilo de Ayuda
Founded in 1984, Mexico www.unkilodeayuda.org.mx

Un Kilo de Ayuda (One Kilo of Help) was set up to fight malnutrition among children under five years of age as well as pregnant mothers. The organization methodology consists of six main components: nutritional surveillance; anaemia detection; nutrition education; nutritional package distribution; neurodevelopment and early stimulation evaluation; and safe water. It applies these actions to 55,000 children in rural Mexico every two weeks. Un Kilo de Ayuda gathers information on each child they serve with an online epidemiological system called INFOKILO, to track progress and make intervention recommendations. Children served by the programme have shown an annual weight increase of 5-8%, and a decrease of 1.5-3% for those suffering from moderate to severe malnutrition. Un Kilo de Ayuda has successfully enrolled governments in funding the programme and implementing the holistic and integrated approach in their specific programmes. It has confirmed the relevance early stimulation has on the neurodevelopment of the brain in comparison to food. This refocuses the health agenda on the importance of nutrition, in that intelligence is more critical than height, for example. Eradicating child under-nourishment in Mexico is Un Kilo de Ayudas goal. In addition to a strong nutrition programme, it enjoys impressive community support and participation; the majority of its personnel are volunteers. At age 22, Jos Ignacio Avalos Hernndez started a youth movement for human values called Gente Nueva, at a time when civil society organizations were regarded as highly suspicious in Mexico. Since then he has founded or inspired the establishment of many organizations based upon improving individual capacities, opportunity access for the poor and infrastructure building. Some of those organizations include: COFAS, a self-sustaining healthcare system providing high-quality healthcare to Mexicos rural poor; Compartamos Banco, the fastest growing and largest microfinance institution in Latin America serving 2.5 million people; and Mi Tienda (social business), which supplies 6,000 small, rural shops with products at lower prices and quantities than traditional wholesalers.
Latin America
Un Kilo de Ayuda fights malnutrition among children under the age of five, in hundreds of communities throughout Mexico.
Focus: Nutrition, Rural Supply, Social Development, Microfinance, Impact Investing Geographic Area of Impact: Latin America Model: Hybrid Non-Profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 225,000 (2011) Annual Budget: US$ 25 million (2011) Recognition: Schwab Fellow of the World Economic Forum
The Entrepreneur
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Middle East and North Africa
Middle East / North Africa

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Background
Over 600,000 people with disabilities, including physical, sensory (blind, visually impaired, deaf, hearing impaired), mental and psychological live in Israel. Approximately 150,000 of them have severe disabilities caused by war, terrorism, car and work accidents, diseases and old age. The current lack of accessibility in Israel causes great suffering to people with disabilities and to their families and prevents them from leading normal lives. Simple tasks, such as a visit to the doctor or meeting friends for a coffee, become impossible and humiliating due to lack of appropriate handicap parking zones, proper handrails and accessible toilets. People with disabilities are punished twice: once by their disability and then by an inaccessible environment. The need to promote accessibility in every aspect and field of life for disabled people in Israel is the motivation behind Access Israel and its activities.
Yuval Wagner
Access Israel
Founded in 1999, Israel www.aisrael.org

Access Israel is dedicated to making Israel an accessible place for all its citizens, especially those living with disabilities. To achieve its mission the organization works with government agencies and corporations to design and build facilities that take into account the specialized needs of the disabled. To achieve this goal Access Israel established the Forum for Accessibility Promoting Businesses in Israel, where members work to encourage their companies to make accessibility a basic feature in every aspect of their business. Access Israel serves as an information centre, providing essential information for people with disabilities and their families. Its online database, Access Key, includes reliable and up-to-date information on accessibility to over 10,000 public and private places and facilities in Israel, as well as on public transportation. Each year more than 400,000 people access the database. Access Israel has also developed accessible picnic areas and observation posts in many of the countrys national parks for people with disabilities to enjoy nature with dignity, respect and a high level of independence. To demonstrate to the public how simple it is to change its attitude towards the disabled, Access Israel has initiated several innovative projects to increase awareness and understanding of the importance of accessibility, and acceptance of people with disabilities as equals. Such projects include educational programmes for students, where children participate in Accessible Stops, each aimed at exposing participants to a different disability, such as using a wheelchair to go up a ramp, scoring points with a basketball, using a guide stick while blindfolded, or having a guide dog help them complete an obstacle course. The Accessible Tastes initiative allows participants to experience what a disabled person goes through when they dine in a restaurant.
Access Israel works to increase awareness and ensure accessibility to people with disabilities and their families.
The Entrepreneur
Lieutenant-Colonel Yuval Wagner, an Israeli Air Force combat pilot, founded Access Israel in 1999. In 1987 he was injured in a helicopter crash, which left him a quadriplegic and confined to a wheelchair. As a person with disabilities and a father of three, Wagner realized that Israel was inaccessible to the disabled community, limiting their ability to lead independent and dignified lives. He decided to take action by establishing Access Israel with the help of friends and business colleagues. Despite limited resources, they have now become the leading accessibility promoter in the country.
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Focus: Disabilities, Health, Technology, Education Geographic Area of Impact: Israel Model: Hybrid Non-Profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 400,000 (2011) Annual Budget: US$ 950,000 (2009) Percentage Earned Revenue: 50% Recognition: Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Israel
Background
Although the Moroccan government spends a quarter of its budget on education, educational outcomes remain poor. Nearly one in six secondary school students under the age of 15 drop out of school and only 1% graduate from university. Facilities, classrooms and equipment in most of Moroccos 8,000 public schools are in need of repair, and curriculum materials and pedagogical styles are outdated for todays knowledge economy. Moreover, school administration systems are unable to mobilize students and members of the community to tackle the root causes of poor school performance.
Mhammed Abbad Andaloussi

Al Jisr
Founded in 1999, Morocco http://www.aljisr.ma

Al Jisr (The Bridge) works with all sectors of Moroccan society that have a vested interest in improving educational outcomes, and has succeeded in fostering true public-private partnerships in the education sector. Through regular marketplace exhibitions around the country, Moroccan companies can sign up to an adopt-a-school programme. Company executives also have the opportunity to join forces with parents, students and teachers on a management support council to conduct a rigorous diagnosis of a schools weaknesses, develop a three-year action plan to improve performance, and monitor progress towards objective criteria. Each company provides an annual budget to carry through the activities prioritized by the support council, which is matched by the Moroccan Ministry of Education. Both the government and companies provide in-kind support and, perhaps most importantly, management expertise to dramatically improve school performance. Al Jisr provides diagnostic materials, guides, and shares best practices among committees to improve processes and outcomes. In 2010 Al Jisr launched Project Green Chip to train secondary-school dropouts to refurbish 200,000 donated computers by 2013, for use in classrooms and for recycling. Al Jisrs efforts have made a positive impact on the quality of education and school facilities for 150,000 students in 300 schools. The organization aims to increase that number to 1,000 schools across Morocco by 2015.
Al Jisr works to improve public school performances throughout Morocco.
Focus: Education Geographic Area of Impact: Morocco Model: Hybrid Non-Profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 150,000 (2009) Annual Budget: US$ 500,000 (2009) Percentage Earned Revenue: 30% Recognition: Regional Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Middle East and North Africa, 2010
The Entrepreneur
As the only one among his seven siblings to attend university, Mhammed Abbad Andaloussi understands that education is the key to future success. After a long, accomplished career in banking, he began volunteering his time in Moroccan schools in the 1990s, and was dismayed by the poor quality of school facilities, outdated styles of teaching instruction and disorganized management structures. In addition to founding Al Jisr, Andaloussi founded Injaz Al Maghrib, which helps prepare young people for work in Morocco. Injaz mobilzes businesses to provide financial contributions and volunteers to trains students in entrepreneuship, financial literacy and success skills. In 2010 the number of students benefited by these trainings reached 5,500; by 2015 Injaz aims to train 100, 000 sudents. Andaloussi is also involved in the Rseau Maroc Entreprendre and the Education for Employment Foundation in Morocco, and is a member of the Moroccan High Council of Education.
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Background
Egypts Sinai Peninsula and Gulf of Aqaba are particularly vulnerable regions, where the consequences of massive tourism in Sharm El Sheikh and Dahab have had a dramatic impact on both land and sea. From overflowing landfills, hazardous disposal of trash or dumping into the sea, little attention has been paid to waste management and environmental protection. Once these lands were almost solely inhabited by about 15,000 Bedouins, who are now completely omitted from any tourism plans by developers; yet they suffer from the impacts, such as loss of livestock to disease from rubbish dumps.
Sherif El Ghamrawy
Basata
Founded in 1986, Egypt

Sherif El Ghamrawy has fought relentlessly for the sustainability and conservation of Egypts natural resources. He is the founder of Basata, Egypts first ecolodge, located on the Red Sea just north of Nuweiba on the Sinai Peninsula. The basic premise of Basata is respect for the environment through cultural diversity and communication. As commercial development along the Red Sea coastline progressed, so did the need for sensible waste management as well as social and environmental protection. As a result, El Ghamrawy established Hemaya, a local NGO whose purpose is to monitor, regulate and provide awareness of safe waste disposal procedures for the lodge and area.
Basata supports social development and ecotourism in Egypts Sinai Peninsula.
Hemaya collects the waste of approximately 60,000 people from hotels and camps, households and city streets in the towns of Taba, Nuweiba and Dahab. The collected waste is then sorted: organic material is distributed among the Bedouins as cattle feed, and non-organic waste is packed, shredded or pressed and sent to Cairo for recycling. Only 15% of the collected waste goes to landfills. Half of the income generated from the sale of the recycled waste is distributed among the workers. Hemaya has expanded its community involvement by providing services related to education and healthcare. In addition, Hemaya campaigns to stop the construction of a 750 MW power plant in Nuweiba, which poses a threat to the environment and local community. In conjunction with local authorities Hemaya has hired local Bedouins as rangers to protect the coral reef and to prevent illegal fishing.
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Focus: Ecotourism, Environment, Waste Management Geographic Area of Impact: Egypt, South Sinai Model: Hybrid Non-Profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 65,000 (2010) Annual Budget: US$ 500,000 (2010) Percentage Earned Revenue: 25% Recognition: Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Egypt, 2008
The Entrepreneur
Sherif El Ghamrawy was born in Giza, Egypt, and attended the German School of Cairo. He graduated from Cairo University with a degree in civil engineering, but his passion for the environment and conserving Egypts natural resources led him to create Basata Ecolodge and Hemaya. He has also worked tirelessly to prevent the construction of a power plant in Nuweiba, which could destroy the natural beauty of the region.
Background
With a population of 15 million and growing at a rate of almost one million every eight months, Cairo has become one of the largest cities in the world. As a result basic services, especially the collection and disposal of waste, are severely strained. For years Cairos 60,000 Zabbaleen people, a Coptic Christian community of formerly landless and unemployed peasants, have gathered a large part of the citys 14,000 tons of daily garbage. They are an industrious people and have been able to create work from waste for thousands of low-income residents, yet they lack resources, political organization and the vision to expand their economic opportunities and protect their interests. CID Consulting focuses on linking productive work with environmental sustainability in poor urban environments, including those inhabited by the Zabbaleen.
Laila Iskandar
CID Consulting
Founded in 1995, Egypt www.cid.com.eg

Waste management in Egypt has traditionally been perceived by city planners, waste management specialists and engineers as a technology, management and engineering issue. Few municipalities and ministries in charge of waste management have viewed garbage as an issue where consumers have to be involved in crafting sustainable responses. CID highlights how the reality of megacities must place people at the centre of waste management planning. Laila Iskandar has worked with the Zabbaleen since 1982, introducing innovative social and environmental initiatives that have included recycling as much as 80% of the inorganic waste they collect into raw materials and manufactured goods like plastics, rugs, pots, paper and glass. As a result, garbage collectors have begun to break the cycle of poverty. CID is a for-profit organization that seeks to link the private, government and non-profit sectors to achieve sustainable development and create viable business partnerships where people and organizations learn together. The consulting agency is working with communities in the Moqattam area outside of Cairo and in other parts of the country, including the Sinai Peninsula, to set up sustainable waste recycling and education programmes. These efforts promote job creation while improving sanitary conditions. Since its inception, CID has planned and implemented numerous projects that focus on sanitation, crafts production, improvements to low-cost housing, primary healthcare and literacy.
CID Consulting works with Cairos garbage collectors, introducing them to environmental initiatives that recycle organic waste into raw materials and manufactured goods.
Focus: Education, Enterprise Development, Environment, Waste Management Geographic Area of Impact: Egypt Model: Social Business Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 120,000 (2010) Annual Budget: US$ 3 million (2010) Percentage Earned Revenue: 75% Recognition: Schwab Fellow of the World Economic Forum; SEOY, Egypt, 2006
The Entrepreneur
Laila Iskandar studied economics, political science and business in Cairo, and Near Eastern studies and international education development at UC Berkeley and Columbia University. Her work with the Zabbaleen first began with the establishment of a informal school to teach recycling and educate Zabbaleen children on health and hygiene. In 1988 she became the field director for the Association for the Protection of the Environments Rag Recycling Center, where she introduced Zabbaleen households to waste recycling and composting. Visualizing a larger goal, she scaled up her community work to set up CID Consulting in 1995. Committed to a grassroots approach to development, she continues to help CID clients devise highly successful programmes that address a range of community concerns.
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Background
Government-funded social programmes and charities have created a widespread dependence mentality among poor Tunisians. However numerous feasibility studies have demonstrated that there are many entrepreneurs among the poor, especially women, who are able to benefit from access to capital, training and market opportunities.

Enda inter-arabe is one of the highest rated microfinance institutions in the world, and the largest microfinance institution in Tunisia, with 730 staff in 60 locations around the country. It serves more than 140,000 active clients with a gross loan portfolio of over US$ 50 million and a repayment rate of 99%. Enda has a MixMarket five-diamond rating and a social return rated 1st Excellent on the MicroRate system. Enda provides lines of credit with strong customer service to overcome the dependence mentality. Along with its business products and agricultural loans, it provides specialized products such as education and home improvement loans. Enda also provides business development services to its clients, including regular exhibitions and classes on financial literacy, vocational and craft training, exhibition and marketing, and workplace guidance. It hosts regular discussion groups to provide clients an opportunity to discuss business as well as social issues like family planning and domestic violence. Enda will soon offer micro-insurance in collaboration with an insurance company. Since 1990 enda has distributed over 712,000 loans, benefiting more than one million people. In addition, studies have demonstrated one new job is created for every four clients; thus, 55,000 additional jobs were created by enda micro-entrepreneurs. Further impacts include improved school attendance, empowerment of women and career coaching and job training for endas staff, over half of whom received their first job with enda. It also has one of the largest budgets among microfinance institutions (MFIs) in the region for capacity building to create a cadre of middle managers, with 90% of their staff coming from the low-income neighbourhoods and villages where enda has branches. Despite its strong position in the Tunisian market, enda regularly cuts its interest rates to serve its customers better. It is actively lobbying for the liberalization of Tunisias financial sector to open the market for the one million unserved microcredit customers. By expanding in rural areas enda aims to have 100 branches across Tunisia by 2012.
Essma Ben Hamida

enda inter-arabe
Founded in 1990, Tunisia www.endarabe.org.tn
The first and only best-practice microfinance institution in Tunisia and one of the highest rated in the world.
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Focus: Microfinance, Enterprise Development, Financial Inclusion, Womens Empowerment, Rural Development Geographic Area of Impact: Tunisia Model: Social Business Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 141,000 (2010) Outstanding Portfolio: US$ 50 million (2010) Percentage Earned Revenue: 100% Recognition: Regional Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Middle East and North Africa, 2010
The Entrepreneur
For over 15 years Essma Ben Hamida travelled extensively as a journalist and UN consultant, specializing in humanitarian and development issues. Frustrated with the slow pace of development despite innumerable UN resolutions and development programmes, she returned to Tunis in 1990 and co-founded enda inter-arabe with her British husband, Michael Cracknell. She is a founding member and former Chair of Sanabel, the Arabic Microfinance Network consisting of 78 member MFIs in 12 Arab countries.
Background
In the Arab region 60% of the entire population is 20 years old or younger. These youth want to contribute to building more stable, prosperous and peaceful societies, however unemployment rates for them are the highest in the world and still rising in many cases. The average unemployment rate for Arab states is nearly 25% according to UN data, and as high as 40% in some countries. Amid a broad spectrum of reform efforts aimed at better governance, perhaps the most important and urgent issue is the need to offer youth opportunities to share in shaping social, economic and political change. It is in this context that INJAZ al-Arab has laid the groundwork for providing those opportunities to create a vibrant, dynamic and entrepreneurial environment in the Arab region.
Soraya Salti
INJAZ al-Arab - JA Worldwide
Founded in 2001, Jordan www.ja.org

INJAZ al-Arab takes a hands-on approach to help young people understand the role of economics in their lives. It helps students gain insight into the complexities and rewards of entrepreneurship and business in todays interdependent market economy. Successful local business leaders from over 800 Middle East and North African (MENA) companies serve as classroom mentors to make economic concepts relevant, fuel entrepreneurship and challenge students to excel. INJAZ al-Arab is a member of Junior Achievement Worldwide, the worlds largest organization dedicated to educating students to become successful participants in the global economy.
INJAZ al-Arab harnesses the mentorship of Arab business leaders to help inspire a culture of entrepreneurialism and business innovation among Arab youth.
The Entrepreneur
Soraya Salti holds degrees in economics and accounting, and is a graduate of Northwestern Universitys Kellogg Recanati International Executive MBA programme. She has applied renowned Harvard economist Michael Porters model for competitiveness in Jordan. In particular, her sights were set on transforming possibilities for Arab youth, encouraging young people to develop a passion for curiosity, innovation and entrepreneurship while nurturing a commitment to their own roots and respect for others.
Focus: Children and Youth, Education Model: Leveraged Non-Profit Geographic Area of Impact: Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Palestinian Territories, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, Yemen Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 200,000 (2009-2010) Annual Budget: US$ 7,518,000 (2009-2010) Recognition: Schwab Fellow of the World Economic Forum; SEOY, Jordan, 2006
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Background
Every year more than 120,000 children are hospitalized in Israel and an additional 20,000 are treated daily as outpatients. Hospitalization involves fear and pain and children being cut off from their familiar surroundings. Children in hospitals, however, can find some comfort in computers. Using a computer helps put their anxieties aside and channel their energies into learning and fulfilling creative activities.
The Innovation and Activities

The Kav-Or organization was created to provide children in hospitals with distance learning services, a virtual playground, enrichment activities and opportunities to release tension and develop relationships through online communication. In particular, Kav-Or creates hospital classrooms and designs friendly learning environments that can be accessed from a special website for children in Hebrew, Arabic, English and Russian. Through online forums and chat rooms the website brings together children from all sectors of Israeli society who are hospitalized across the country. Using computers and tailored software for distance learning provides hospitalized children with education, companionship and opportunities to play, while having classes through a website supervised by teachers and volunteers offers continuous learning. One of the organizations objectives is to train educational medical staff members and volunteers to be at the forefront of technology. A computer-literate staff can better assist hospitalized children to enjoy the resources provided by Kav-Or computers. Kav-Ors medical guide and database explains medical and surgical procedures to children through special presentations. This helps children and their parents better understand medical procedures, reduces anxiety and improves communications with the medical team. Kav-Or helps children continue their education. All 120 childrens wards in 27 hospitals across Israel now have Kav-Or programmes and are networked together via its website. Kav-Ors activities have earned significant recognition in Israel and abroad, and there are plans to operate similar programmes in other countries. In light of these achievements, Kav-Or has been asked to use the experience gathered to serve a third generation by setting up computer centres for the residents in senior citizens homes. This project will thereby enable senior citizens to communicate with family members and friends, record their memoirs and draw up their family trees. With the help of volunteers, the residents will also be able to prepare personal albums and presentations about their lives using the computer. The plan will involve high school students, teachers and retired academics with good knowledge of Hebrew and computing as volunteers to teach and assist the golden agers.
Bilha Piamenta
Kav-Or
Founded in 1993, Israel www.kavor.org.il
Kav-Or provides distance learning programmes and a virtual playground for hospitalized children in Israel.
The Entrepreneur
Bilha Piamenta studied teaching and urban planning, gaining her first PhD in Education from Sussex University in England and second from Bar-Ilan University in Israel in Geography. She taught at the David Yellin College in Jerusalem, establishing a computerized distance learning programme, which later served as the inspiration to found Kav-Or. She retired in 1997, and now commits to Kav-Or as her life project.
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Focus: Education and Health Geographic Area of Impact: Israel Model: Leveraged Non-Profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 120 childrens wards in 27 hospitals (2009) Annual Budget: US$ 391,305 (2009) Recognition: Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Israel, 2007
Background
From its beginning, Israeli society has been marked by educational and social inequality between the periphery and the central urban areas, between the Jewish and non-Jewish communities, and between new immigrants and more established citizens. As the inequalities between these groups widened over the years, many entrepreneurs have searched for opportunities to unite, integrate and establish greater equality to the society as a whole. The founders of Mifalot have taken the idea of sport, particularly football, to work with the youngest generations and unify the country both on and off the field.
Moti Orenstein, Moshe Theumim and Sammy Segol

Mifalot Education and Society
Founded in 2000, Israel www.mifalot.co.il

Mifalot Education and Society is active in 250 Jewish and non-Jewish communities nationwide in Israel, mostly in the communities that have long remained on the margins of Israeli society and borne the burden of social and economic inequalities. Working evenly between Jewish and nonJewish communities, Mifalot reaches more than 20,000 children ages 3-21 through eight different sport-for-social change programmes. These not only provide free equipment and coaching, but also citizenship and values education, enabling youth as local change agents and collaborative team leaders. In its earliest days Mifalot sought to bring some of Israels most renowned and influential football stars into direct interaction and mentorship with disadvantaged youth, and has trained and used thousands of coaches, chosen based upon educational criteria and commitment to social equality, to work with its youth. As the programmes target marginalized communities, it is critical for Mifalot to fully mobilize local support networks to sustain the goals of the sport and education programmes. Therefore Mifalot engages local small and medium enterprises to sponsor youth teams, which encourages local economies and provides a mechanism for the private sector to champion the next generation. Mifalot local partners usually finance 50% of the activities in their respective regions, and municipal authorities express eagerness to cooperate under such a scheme since the costs are lower than public sport and education programmes. This is largely due to Mifalots use of highly-motivated young coaches and staff who serve on a rotating basis. Since its inception Mifalot has provided mentoring, sport and education programming to about 150,000 children and at-risk youth in Jewish and non-Jewish communities, as well as children and adults with special needs. Mifalots activities have been exported to Congo, Rwanda, Cameroon and Haiti, with plans for expansion to other regions in the near future.
Mifalot harnesses the power of sport to instil positive values, affect social change and unify Israels marginalized communities
Focus: Sport, Education, Children and Youth Geographic Area of Impact: Israel Model: Hybrid Non-Profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 20,000 (2010) Annual Budget: US$ 3,826,600 Recognition: Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Israel, 2011
The Entrepreneurs
Moti Orenstein and Moshe Theumim have worked together for many years, first meeting in the Israel Scouts in 1966, when Theumim was a scout leader and Orenstein joined the troop as a guide. Later the friends had the opportunity to acquire the financially-troubled Hapoel Tel Aviv Football Club. Theumim had been a fan of the team for many years, and although Orensten was a fan of the rival Maccabi Tel Aviv Football Club, they decided to jointly acquire Hapoel in order to create a platform for social activity through sport, a concept that was missing in Israels poor and marginalized communities. They soon approached their good friend, Sammy Segol, and together the three developed their idea into what is now Mifalot.
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Background
The Middle East suffers from high rates of unemployment and social exclusion among its large youth population, a significant percentage of which do not complete secondary education. In Jordan alone the Ministry of Education predicts that 100,000 youth between ages 6-16 will drop out before reaching the tenth grade certificate level. An additional 6,000 are labelled at-risk for delinquency, and 3,000 are incarcerated every year. Throughout the region there are very few, if any, opportunities at a second chance for youth that drop out of formal schooling. Questscope provides an alternative road out of poverty and alienation and into formal and vocational schooling for youth in Jordan and across the Middle East.
Curt Rhodes
Questscope
Founded in 1988, Jordan www.questscope.org

Questscope designed and formalized the Arab worlds first GEDequivalency and certification programme for primary school dropouts. Prior to its work, students who spent more than three years outside of the formal schooling system were legally prohibited from returning to school. With the Jordanian Ministry of Education, Questscope designed a 24-month cycle of alternative pedagogy called non-formal education (NFE), which gives dropouts a tenth grade level GED certificate regardless of the amount of time they spent away from the classroom. In addition, nearly two-thirds of those who enter NFE continue on to higher-level grade schooling, reintegration into formal classrooms or participation in governmentsponsored vocational training programmes. Along with its non-formal education programme, Questscope implemented the Arab worlds first mentorship and education programme for incarcerated youth and established a highly successful service-learning programme. This pairs upper class youth with disadvantaged youth for community projects and policy workshop meetings with members of the Ministry of Education, the British Council and other policy-makers. Questscope has a clear and rigorous commitment to evaluating its impact, and recently concluded a randomized control trial conducted by Oxford University that demonstrated positive behavioural changes among youth enrolled in the programme. Through 2011 Questscope had 4,900 enrolments and 2,450 graduates in its non-formal education tenth grade equivalency programme; 4,000 youth volunteers and mentors working with 3,000 disadvantaged youth; 4,000 Jordanian university students undertaking joint service learning/research projects with disadvantaged youth; 400 government teachers trained in alternative pedagogy teaching at nearly 60 non-formal education centres around the country; and 600 vocational training graduates, with another 600 currently enrolled.
Through non-formal education, mentoring and vocational training programmes, Questscope offers thousands of former dropouts a second chance at success and employment.
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Focus: Education, Labour and Unemployment, Children & Youth Geographic Area of Impact: Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Qatar, Sudan, Syria, United Arab Emirates, Yemen Model: Hybrid Non-Profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 3,600 (2011) Annual Budget: US$ 3,407,000 (2011) Percentage Earned Revenue: 10% Recognition: Regional Social Entrepreneur of the Year, MENA, 2011
The Entrepreneur
A resident of the Middle East for more than three decades, Curt Rhodes began his formative post-PhD studies in Indonesia in the 1970s. He subsequently moved to Lebanon and served as Assistant Dean of the American University of Beirut. After witnessing massacres during the Lebanese civil war in the 1980s, Rhodes left academia in pursuit of providing equal access and opportunity for youth throughout the region. He is a member of the Jordanian National Council for Family Affairs.
Background
About 20% of Jordanians live in rural areas, where poverty is more prevalent than in urban areas; approximately 19% of the rural population is classified as poor. Because of the arid nature of the land many rural poor people cannot grow enough crops to feed themselves and their families, and regular droughts exacerbate the situation. Thus, many of Jordans rural poor people live in extremely difficult conditions with limited opportunities to diversify their farming enterprises and gain access to alternative sources of income. As a result they lack collateral and cannot obtain loans needed for investment in farm activities. Sakhrah is just such a community in Jordan, with a population of 18,000 people and high rates of unemployment. Women here are duty-bound to take care of their children at home, since childcare centres do not exist.
Zeinab Al Momany
Sakhrah Womens Society Cooperative
Founded in 2002, Jordan

The Sakhrah Womens Society Cooperative promotes the economic, social and cultural rights of women in the remote and rural areas of Jordan while operating as a successful for-profit cooperative. Its female members cultivate, manufacture, package and market the cooperatives farming and crafts products and share in the profits, while their children are enrolled in the cooperatives childcare programme or benefiting from school and university grants given by the group. Zeinab Al Momanys initial project in Sakhrah was to establish the Zain nursery and kindergarten that offers working women a safe place to leave their children with supervision during working hours. This also provides women the opportunity to engage in economically productive activities, who would otherwise be obliged to mind their children at home. With their children in good care, women can take advantage of loans provided by the cooperative to start their own enterprises and activities. It provides the technical training to become project managers of various agricultural and dairy initiatives, while also offering job opportunities for the people of area, such as teaching students through the nursery, kindergarten and the school. The Sakhrah Womens Society Cooperative was subsequently established to play an active role in the development of the community and reduce poverty and unemployment through the economic, social and cultural empowerment of women. It aims to raise the standard of living of local people through the creation of different self-sustaining projects such as a dairy plant, sewing workshop, and a grain processing and packaging project. The dairy products, grain and textiles are packaged, marketed and sold through various channels both within the community as well as exterior markets. The cooperative now has 721 members involved in the cultivation and packaging of cereals, the manufacture of dairy products, textiles and crafts. It has 32 full-time staff involved in the management of microloans to members, training, packaging, marketing and sales of its members products. Each member contributes to the cooperative in the beginning of the year. These funds are invested into the various projects, and from the diversified sources of income the profits of the cooperative are distributed equally between all its members at the end of the year.
The Sakhrah Womens Society Cooperative promotes the economic, social and cultural rights of women in remote and rural areas of Jordan.
Focus: Enterprise Development, Microfinance, Rural Development Geographic Area of Impact: Jordan Model: Social Business Recognition: Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Jordan, 2008
The Entrepreneur
Zeinab Al Momany was born in Irbid, Jordan, and received a BA in Elementary Education. She moved with her husband to the Sakhrah region and was inspired to find solutions to the problems of working mothers. These included caring for their children and providing free education for orphans and people with special needs, while reducing poverty and unemployment. She established the Zain nursery and kindergarten as the first step in 2002, followed by the Sakhrah Womens Society Cooperative by the end of 2003.
184 Outstanding Social Entrepreneurs 2012
Background
Egypt faces problems of overpopulation, environmental degradation, inadequate education and healthcare. Agriculture occupies 40% of the workforce, yet remains the least developed sector of the economy. Costs of agricultural production have increased while the resource base has diminished. Today, Egypt is one of the worlds largest importers of food. SEKEM has built a thriving social and cultural base to address Egypts deteriorating health conditions, as well as its educational and cultural development capacities.
Ibrahim Abouleish and Helmy Abouleish

Sekem Group
Founded in 1977, Egypt www.sekem.com
SEKEM is the first initiative to develop biodynamic farming methods in Egypt, building up fertile soil structures, improving agro-biodiversity and promoting organic composting; all products of the system can be sold, used in processing or re-used in cultivation. SEKEMs strong commitment to innovative development led to the nationwide application of biodynamic methods to control pests and improve crop yields. For example, in collaboration with the Egyptian Ministry of Agriculture, SEKEM deployed a new system of plant protection for cotton, reducing total pesticide use to less than 10% and leading to a ban on crop dusting within the country. SEKEM has grown exponentially in the last decade to become a nationally renowned enterprise and market leader in organic consumer goods. Apart from strong and long-lasting export partnerships in Europe and the US, today more than half of SEKEMs overall sales are domestic within Egypt, making the country home to one of the largest markets of organic products outside the western world. In recent years, the SEKEM Group has established a professional management system of corporate sustainability, including a comprehensive annual report on sustainable development, and progress analysis and monitoring of 40 performance indicators related to economics, society, culture and the environment. To extend its commitment to sustainable development, SEKEM is currently establishing the Heliopolis University for Sustainable Development. It firmly believes in the role of academic institutions to actively contribute to social innovation and to helping solve the major challenges of our times.
By supporting economic, social and cultural institutions, SEKEM aims to realize a vision of sustainable development for individuals, society and nature.
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Focus: Agriculture, Education, Enterprise Development, Environment, Health and Rural Development Geographic Area of Impact: Egypt Model: Social Business Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 30,000 (2010) Annual Budget: US$ 40 million (2010) Percentage Earned Revenue: 98% (2010) Recognition: Schwab Fellows of the World Economic Forum
The Entrepreneurs
SEKEM is the vision of Dr Ibrahim Abouleish, an Egyptian pharmacologist. He earned a doctorate in medical chemistry in Austria, where he then worked initially in research and development. Upon returning to Egypt he was overwhelmed by its pressing problems in education and overpopulation, which led him to implement biodynamic farming methods for the first time in the desert. Helmy Abouleish, Managing Director of the SEKEM Group, joined his fathers quest for sustainable development by building SEKEM into a leading entrepreneurial corporation. He is a recognized leader of sustainable change in Egypt and beyond, driving a number of initiatives that address major challenges like climate change and food security through organic agriculture and social entrepreneurship. In 2007, he established EcoTec Holding, to invest in ecological technologies and green business ideas in Egypt.
Background
In 2001 Israel passed the Mental Health Rehabilitation Law, enabling NGOs to participate in the rehabilitation of the mentally handicapped. In most cases however, the rehabilitation programmes are inadequate and lack the necessary creativity to provide the mentally handicapped with a feeling of self-worth, equality and dignity as workers. Shekulo Tov was founded against this backdrop in the belief that every person has the right to be fully integrated into the community. Through its jobs programme Shekulo Tov has changed attitudes about rehabilitating the mentally handicapped in Israel.
Irad Eichler and Offer Cohen

Shekulo Tov
Founded in 2004, Israel www.s-tov.org.il

Shekulo Tov made a breakthrough in the rehabilitation of the mentally handicapped through its vision and belief that the mentally handicapped can be independent people who take responsibility for their lives. Shekulo Tov applies a business approach to its activity and bases its existence on a model of business relationships rather than on donations. It has created a social consumer platform by branding its products, known for their high quality, with a label that explains the manufacture of each product, and by distributing them through leading market channels. Shekulo Tov operates nine enterprises and ventures, and 80 sales points in eight regions of Israel. It provides employment and rehabilitation services for 1,400 mentally handicapped persons, as well as a range of cultural and recreational initiatives for 700 additional rehabilitants, including regular trips throughout Israel, bicycling groups and coffee shop gatherings. Among the nine enterprises are: Creating an Opportunity, a project that operates 85 sales stands for social consumerism at malls and employs 600 people; Paper Work, a joint Jewish-Arab enterprise that designs products from recycled paper and employs 234 people in three factories; Creative Imagination, a plant that manufactures original childrens toys and employs 75 people; and Sweets, a plant that produces uniquely designed confectionaries and employs 100 people. These models have created employment criteria that have been adopted by the Ministry of Health, and are now becoming part of the work procedures for rehabilitation of the mentally handicapped in Israel. Although the ventures of Shekulo Tov are in the fields of employment and recreation, those who participate in the rehabilitation programmes experience changes in every aspect of their lives. In addition to the positive changes in livelihood, they also undergo changes in their interpersonal relations; communication skills improve, relations with their close family are tightened, and even their standing in the family is enhanced.
Shekulo Tov specializes in providing occupational rehabilitation services for the mentally handicapped in Israel so they can become equal members of society.
Focus: Disabilities Geographic Area of Impact: Israel Model: Hybrid Non-Profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 80 employees, 1,500 rehabilitated persons (2009) Annual Budget: US$ 4,956,112 (2008) Percentage Earned Revenue: 100% Recognition: Social Entrepreneurs of the Year, Israel, 2009
The Entrepreneurs
Shekulo Tov was founded by Irad Eichler, who originally studied criminology and sociology, with a specialization in anthropology. During his studies he began to work at the Rihan Hostel for young girls at risk, as a guide for the Rosh HaAyin Scouts and a coordinator at hostels for the mentally handicapped. Shekulo Tovs CEO Offer Cohen joined the group from the business and food industry world, where he served in various executive positions. His last position was COO of the Erez Bread bakery chain, where he was responsible for all operations and logistics of stores and cafes.
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Background
In 2007, 13% of Jordans population was living below the poverty line, with another 12.7% in a near poor category at risk of falling below this threshold. With a young and rapidly growing population, scarce natural resources, reduced international aid assistance and a global economic crisis, the economy cannot generate jobs and provide sufficient income to assist this quarter of the population. Additionally, limited opportunities exist for both rural and urban populations, particularly women, to access sources of credit for income-generating activities. To address the situation, best-practice microfinance was piloted in Jordan more than a decade ago to test introducing the group guaranteed lending method based on the Grameen Bank model.
Ziad Al Refai
Tamweelcom
Founded in 1999, Jordan www.tamweelcom.org

Tamweelcom developed a range of financial, insurance and non-financial services for micro-entrepreneurs and women-led families and widows in the poorest communities in Jordan who cannot access the traditional banking system. By listening to its clients, Tamweelcom developed several innovations in financial and value-added services to address clients needs. In the financial sector it provides group loans to women, pioneer loans, seasonal loans and an innovative pay and renew system. It also provides life insurance and loan insurance schemes to its members. In the nonfinancial services sector it offers business training and vocational services through vocational training centres and its loan offices, to support the development and marketing of clients businesses. In 2006 Tamweelcom launched the Marketing Gateway, providing clients with access to larger markets and clients with disposable income to accelerate the business cycle growth. It created large bazaars (Souk Ayyadi) in three regions and permanent showrooms to create new sales channels for the members products and services. Tamweelcom provides educational scholarship funding for the neediest and to best performing clients family members, and recently embarked on a solar panel subsidy project with the Ministry of Energy and Environment. In 2008, Tamweelcom was listed as the eighth best microfinance institution by the Microfinance Information Exchange Market, and first in the Middle East/North Africa region. It received the Financial Transparency Award for 2006 and won the CGAP Pro-Poor Innovation Challenge. It has a rating of A- with positive outlook by the global microfinance rating agency, Planet Rating. In 2009, Planet Reading gave Tamweelcom a financial rating of A, and was socially rated 3+ out of 5. At the end of 2010 Tamweelcom was the first institution in Jordan and the region to use mobile phone technology to help clients living in remote areas or with transportation issues to cover the costs of their loan by using their telephones to conduct transactions through M-Wallet known as E-mal.
Tamweelcom is the Middle Easts leading microfinance organization, providing credit opportunities, business training, vocational services and market access for mostly women entrepreneurs in the poorest communities in Jordan.
The Entrepreneur
Ziad Al Refai graduated with a BA in Accounting from the University of Jordan, and received an MBA in Microfinance from Bergamo University in Italy, with his final thesis on microfinance product development and Islamic law (Sharia). He has 20 years of experience in the private sector, international organizations (including USAID and UNDP), NGOs and social enterprises. Al Refai previously worked for the Microfund for Women and with UNDPs microfinance programme in Jordan. He also worked for five years as the Finance Manager of the Royal Society for Conservation of Nature.
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Focus: Financial Inclusion, Enterprise Development, Rural Development Geographic Area of Impact: Jordan Model: Social Business Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 56,666 (2011) Annual Budget: US$ 18,022,950 (2011) Recognition: Regional Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Middle East and North Africa, 2009
Background
Attempts by governments and other institutions in the Islamic world have not been very successful in communicating to the outside world or to its own youth that Islams global values are shared by all human beings of good will, regardless of religion, culture or heritage. The scarcity of positive and relevant role models for children in the Islamic world is startling, while the quantitative data of some contemporary role models can be measured in body bags and violence. Others have quantified the disastrous results of poorly chosen role models. THE 99 decided to do something to change perceptions.
Naif Al Mutawa
THE 99
Founded in 2004, Kuwait www.teshkeelcomics.com
The Teshkeel Media Group focuses on creating wholesome childrens adventures through its superheroes, THE 99, drawn from global culture, history and Islam. These superhero role models tell universally relevant stories that promote multiculturalism and personal responsibility. Focus: Communication/Media, Culture, Children and Youth Geographic Area of Impact: Middle East, North Africa, Indonesia, Turkey, France, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau Model: Social Business Recognition: Regional Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Middle East and North Africa, 2009
THE 99 tapped into the same sources from which others took violent, hateful messages, and created story lines that promote diversity, multiculturalism and personal responsibility. Drawing upon global history, culture and traditions, our 99 superheroes come from 99 countries and work together to improve the world. Their aim is to provide positive role models for children that are inspired on a global level. THE 99 is one of the most popular entertainment properties from the Islamic world. President Obama made a special mention of THE 99 in a speech given at the Presidential Summit on Entrepreneurship held in Washington. A global animation project co-produced with media giant Endemol is scheduled for release soon. So far 26-episodes of the animated TV series have been completed, with another 26 in production. Broadcasting rights have been sold in 49 countries across four continents to Cartoon Network, The Hub, MBC and others. Through its parent company, Teshkeel Media Group, THE 99 also already displayed success with character licensing and product endorsements for a theme park in Kuwait, back-to-school products in Spain, banking products for a Gulf bank, plus digital and mobile comics. DC Comics Justice League of America has enlisted our superheroes to join Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and other heroes in a mini-series to advance the cause of good over evil. An agreement with the digital comics website Comixology has been signed to distribute THE 99 comics via their digital platform, which is compatible with iPad, iPhone, iPod, Android and the Web. THE 99 has also expanded into new territories with licenses for Turkish and French language editions with leading comic book publishers. The direct impact of THE 99 cannot be easily measured, yet it clearly is causing a cultural shift. Our partnerships with major players like DC Comics, Endemol, Panini, Gulf Bank, Comixology, and others have demonstrated the strong commercial demand for the content. There are now classes in schools and universities studying THE 99, and +1,000 media articles have been written about its cultural goals.
The Entrepreneur
Born and raised in Kuwait, Naif Al Mutawa earned an undergraduate degree from Tufts University where he triple majored in clinical psychology, English literature and history. He completed an MA and PhD in Clinical Psychology at Long Island University, and an MA in Organizational Psychology and Business Administration from Columbia University. He has extensive clinical experience working with former prisoners of war in Kuwait as well as at the Survivors of Political Torture unit of Bellevue Hospital in New York. He has seen first hand the cancer that intolerance can bring to any society. His direct contact with the horrors of prisons and with people tortured because of their religious and political beliefs led him to write a childrens tale that won a UNESCO prize for literature in the service of tolerance. His work with Iraqi POW patients and awareness of the phenomenon of suicide bomber trading cards in the Palestinian territories left him with the impression that young people in the Arab world needed new heroes. This inspired the creation of THE 99.
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Background
The UNDP estimates that more than 90% of rural villages in Egypt are not connected to any sort of sewage system. This infrastructure gap has led to widespread contamination of groundwater, polluting crops, fish, and drinking water. With the contamination of so many major food and water sources, rural Egyptians face a costly disease burden (diarrhoea, schistosomiasis, parasites, typhoid). They incur a financial cost as well; households are compelled to pay US$ 10 per month for sweeping vehicles to clean streets and water sources. Considering the widespread poverty that plagues much of Upper Egypt and the prohibitive cost of current remedies, the Together Association seeks to improve health, sanitation, and economic conditions through more efficient and locally-managed sewage systems and development services.
Sameh Seif Ghali

Together Association
Founded in 2006, Egypt www.together-eg.com

The Together Association designs and installs low-cost community sewage and water treatment systems, providing potable water in homes and water for irrigation. The village-wide sewage system connects household septic tanks by gravity-fed pipes to a communal filtering facility, where appointed and trained community technicians oversee maintenance and quality control. The Together Association sewage system model is built and maintained with locally available materials and labour, making it 7075% cheaper than government-issued systems. The association actively involves the communities in the initial planning stages and turns over maintenance to locally based organizations, which conduct the necessary maintenance and upkeep. While traditional sewage systems often require a US$ 10 per month fee from each family, this model requires only a US$ 2 per monthly fee. A crucial part of the community ownership and accountability process is the provision of low-interest loans, which enable families to pay the up-front connection fee of US$ 350 to join the sewage grid (including piping, construction, sinks, toilets, etc.). Villagers, in conjunction with association staff, do all of the initial construction work. After the installation process the Together Association continues its work of strengthening local organizations to facilitate the loan repayment and monthly fee collection process. To date four villages in Upper Egypt have been connected to the Together Association sewage systems, with a total of 37,000 direct beneficiaries who now receive proper in-home sanitation services and who have saved average of US$ 96 per year. Villages have reported dramatic reductions in disease infection rates, especially among children. Together with the EFG Hermes Foundation, a key partner, along with Vodafone, the World Bank and others, the Together Association also provides diverse value-added community development programmes in villages it serves, including employment and handicrafts training.
The Together Association designs and implements low-cost village sanitation systems and value-added community development services for those living in the isolated areas of Upper Egypt.
The Entrepreneur
Born to a middle-class family in rural Egypt, Sameh Seif Ghali has long been fascinated with the role technology could play in Egypts development. After his university studies he began a decade of testing stoves, furnaces, solar heaters, and sewage systems, ultimately leading to his design and creation of the new, efficient and cost-effective sanitation system used by the Together Association.
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Focus: Water & Sanitation, Rural Development Geographic Area of Impact: Egypt Model: Hybrid Non-Profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 37,000 (2011) Annual Budget: US$ 2,662,000 (2010) Recognition: Regional Social Entrepreneur of the Year, MENA, 2011
Background
Receiving initial treatment within five minutes after an accident or lifethreatening event like a heart attack or stroke assures a higher chance of survival in critical situations and a speedier recovery from injuries and illness. Yet ambulances can often take 10-15 minutes or longer to arrive, especially outside of Israels main cities. United Hatzalah of Israel was founded in the aftermath of several tragic and avoidable deaths, when medical personnel were nearby but unaware of the events until too late. United Hatzalah works unceasingly to increase citizen involvement in saving lives and to raise public awareness of basic life-saving techniques. It is the only organization of its kind in the world to undertake the task of responding to emergency calls and providing advanced life-saving care before an ambulance and EMS team arrives.
Eli Beer
United Hatzalah of Israel
Founded in 2006, Israel www.unitedhatzalah.org

United Hatzalah developed the innovative concept of establishing an emergency medical network. The network consists of over 1,700 volunteers from all parts of Israeli society, including rural and city dwellers, religious and secular, Jews and Arabs. Volunteers are certified as Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs), paramedics or MDs, and must undergo rigorous continuing education courses. They carry their advanced emergency and communication equipment 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Annually, 190,000 people are treated by United Hatzalah volunteers, without regard to race or religion, and at no cost to the recipient. To expedite the immediate response to an emergency, the organization created the LifeCompass Command Centre, a central dispatch service, and developed proprietary software integrating the latest GPS tracking technology. In an emergency this system uses an algorithm in five seconds to locate and alert medical volunteers who are closest to an incident and most qualified for the type of emergency reported (cardiologist, trauma surgeon, paramedic, senior paramedic, etc.). When the volunteer responds to the alert on their mobile phone, the software then calculates the time of arrival to the scene and displays the shortest directions, depending on the medical personnels mode of transport. By 2013, United Hatzalah aims to have 3,000 volunteers providing coverage throughout the entire state of Israel with a maximum response time of two minutes (current response time is 2-4 minutes). In addition, with the help of its proprietary software, United Hatzalah seeks to export its model globally. In 2011, United Hatzalah helped establish Hatzalah of Brazil.
United Hatzalah provides life-saving medical assistance immediately after an accident or life-threatening event, even before the arrival of an ambulance. Each year the organizations trained volunteers treat more than 180,000 people and save lives on a daily basis. Focus: Healthcare Geographic Area of Impact: Israel Model: Leveraged Non-Profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 190,000 (2011) Annual Budget: US$ 3.2 million (2011) Percentage Earned Revenue: 10% Recognition: Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Israel, 2010
The Entrepreneur
Eli Beer was born in Israel, where he witnessed his first terror attack at the age of seven. This traumatic experience, coupled with his desire to help people, encouraged him to become a volunteer medic. Beer has been involved in emergency medical first response in Israel since 1988. With +20 years of life-saving experience, he has responded to some of the worst civil, wartime and terror-related incidents. He currently serves as the voluntary chief coordinator and senior medic of United Hatzalah of Israel. When not in the field, he lectures at health organizations around the world and was a featured presenter at the European Unions Homeland Security Conference.
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Background
While Israel can be proud of its booming economy and entrepreneurial spirit, alongside that success is a growing social gap between rich and poor. There is an underrepresentation in the labour force and underutilization of government benefits by the poorest members of society. YEDID was created to promote access to rights, equal opportunities for economic advancement, and to ensure a participatory democracy for all Israeli citizens regardless of race, religion or language.
Sari Revkin
YEDID - The Association for Community Empowerment
Founded in 1997, Israel www.yedid.org.il/english
YEDID (friend in Hebrew) was established with the goal of empowering disadvantaged people by giving them access to justice while breaking through the chains of poverty. Through its 16 Citizen Rights Centres located in major cities and small towns throughout Israel, YEDID seeks to turn the personal struggles of individuals in poor neighbourhoods into active initiatives that have a personal impact on their lives. It also advocates for changes in public policy that will affect the lives of hundreds of thousands of people who find themselves in similar circumstances. Since its founding in 1997, YEDID has helped over 275,000 Israelis break the cycle of poverty and successfully change public policy on issues, including homelessness prevention, labour, healthcare and social security. At the individual level, YEDID provides free legal assistance and information and advice on issues concerning housing, healthcare, consumer fraud, educational, employment and other social issues. The organization defends the rights of the disadvantaged, and has helped tens of thousands who faced eviction from their homes. It has helped clients overcome and refinance bad debts, avoid repossessions and imprisonment, learn financial literacy skills to avoid future problems, and break the cycle of poverty in families. YEDIDs Community Empowerment Initiatives provide the skills and information necessary to help people raise themselves out of poverty. Empowerment courses include financial literary, job readiness, grassroots community organizing and leadership development. YEDID also advocates for affecting changes in national policy, regulations and legislation on a broad range of issues, including homelessness, labour law, welfare and healthcare. For example, legislative change was enacted in response to a campaign to provide solar hot water heaters in governmentowned public housing, resulting in decreased electricity bills for tenants and a reduced carbon footprint for the environment.
Through a national network of Citizen Rights Centres, YEDID empowers lowincome Israelis of all ethnic and religious backgrounds to break the cycle of poverty and reach self-sufficiency by accessing their rights and economic opportunities.
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Focus: Social and Economic Rights, Homelessness Prevention, Affordable Housing, Financial Literacy Geographic Area of Impact: Israel Model: Leveraged Not-for-Profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 27,000 (2010) Annual Budget: US$ 2.5 million (2010) Percentage Earned Revenue: 2% Recognition: Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Israel, 2008
The Entrepreneur
Sari Revkin was awarded a Masters in Social Work from the University of Maryland. Following professional training at Baltimores Welfare Rights Organization, she immigrated to Israel in 1983. For 14 years, she provided capacity building to hundreds of non-profit organizations as the CEO of SHATIL, New Israel Funds Empowerment and Training Center for social change organization. Fourteen years ago she founded YEDID, and as Executive Director she leads her team in providing access to economic opportunities and social rights for those living outside of Israels mainstream society. Pragmatic in nature, Revkin is an optimist imbued with a social justice ideology.
North America
North America
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Background
Global society pays a high price when assets are not used to address pressing needs, simply because such use is not deemed profitable. These costs appear most acutely in the areas of health and education, where millions die or are disabled from lack of access to drugs they cannot afford, or where children of the poor are condemned to follow in their parents footsteps because of lack of educational opportunities. With better access to the benefits of science, technology and knowledge, significant payoffs in education, economic development, environment, health, social inclusion and democracy are possible. Benetechs goal is to bridge the gap between possibility and profitability in technology applications, ensuring that more solutions reach the people who need it the most, but who are often the least able to afford it.
James R. Fruchterman
Benetech Initiative
Founded in 1989, US www.benetech.org Blog

Benetech opens avenues of high technology to societys disadvantaged. It fosters the development of socially valuable technological initiatives ignored by commercial developers because of potentially low market returns. The first Benetech project was the Arkenstone reading machine for the blind, which has delivered reading tools in a dozen languages to over 50,000 disabled people living in 60 countries. Subsequently, Benetech initiated Bookshare, an online library of over 127,000 accessible books and periodicals for people with print disabilities like blindness, low vision, a learning disability or mobility impairment. Currently over 145,000 people around the world subscribe to Bookshare. In the US, all students with a qualified print disability may access the Bookshare library free of charge. Through its human rights programme Benetech developed Martus, a software programme that permits human rights groups to collect and store sensitive information on a secure database. Today, human rights groups in over 100 countries are using Martus to document incidents of human rights violations and abuses. The Human Rights Data Analysis Group (HRDAG) develops database software, data collection strategies and statistical techniques to measure human rights atrocities. This technology and analysis are used by truth commissions, international criminal tribunals and non-governmental international human rights organizations. Benetech also developed Miradi, a project management software application that allows environmentalists to design conservation plans, track data, calculate projections and generate reports on their efforts to conserve species and ecosystems. It is currently being used by over 5,000 environmental organizations and educational institutions in over 150 countries. Each year Benetech evaluates new opportunities in socially beneficial applications of information and communication technologies. In 2012, it expects to launch two new projects: CityOptions, to help communities better respond to climate change, based on ideas originally discussed at the World Economic Forum Annual meeting in Davos; and SocialCoding4Good, a volunteer platform to connect high tech professionals to non-profit opensource software projects for social good.
Benetech combines the power of the human mind with a deep passion for social improvement, creating new technology applications that address unmet human needs. It builds effective solutions for issues concerning disability, literacy, human rights and the environmental. Focus: Disabilities, Human Rights, Environment, Education, Technology Geographic Area of Impact: Global Model: Hybrid Non-Profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 150,000 (2011) Annual Budget: US$ 12.5 million (2011) Percentage Earned Revenue: 82% Recognition: Schwab Fellow of the World Economic Forum
The Entrepreneur
Unlike many individuals working in the area of disabilities, James Fruchterman was not drawn to the field because of personal experience, but due to a keen interest in applying technology to bridge an equity gap. After attending Caltech and Stanford University, he continued to interface with the engineering profession, lecturing regularly to engineering and business students. He is the former Chair of the Board of the Social Enterprise Alliance.
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North America
Background
Earthquakes have a disastrous and disproportionate effect on the worlds poor. Around 99% of earthquake fatalities in the past 10 years have been in developing countries where victims not only suffer the loss of their homes and family members, but also the ability to earn a living. The UNDP estimates that approximately 130 million people in the world are at risk of being killed from an earthquake, and current post-earthquake reconstruction models have proved inefficient, resulting in resource waste, unaffordable housing for the poor, and loss of the opportunity to build local capacity.
Elizabeth Hausler
Build Change
Founded in 2004, US www.buildchange.org

Build Change uses local human and material resources to provide low or no-cost adjustments of existing materials and methods to create earthquake-resistant homes. The work is driven by homeowners and local engineers in partnership with NGOs and governments, to provide secure and durable homes for thousands of people living in quake-prone areas. Build Change creates stronger infrastructure on multiple levels, providing direct homeowner technical assistance and builder training, as well as consulting services for local associations and NGOs on engineering design and site inspection. In order to integrate the safer housing model into common practice, Build Change partners with local and national governments to advocate for safer building codes that incorporate earthquake-resistant designs and enforcement of safer housing standards. In an Indonesian earthquake in 2009 all homes that met Build Changes minimum construction standards were left undamaged. Thus far the organization has worked with: 1,400 builders, 100 engineers and 2,400 homeowners in Haiti; 100 builders, 90 engineers and 850 homeowners who oversaw the construction of 1,300 safe homes in Sichuan, China; and 856 builders, 1300 engineers and 4,400 homeowners who oversaw the construction of 16,600 safe homes in Aceh, Indonesia.
Build Change designs earthquake-resistant houses in developing countries and trains builders, engineers, homeowners and government officials to build them. Build Change works in partnership with the public and private sector to assure lasting change in construction practice. Focus: Housing, Disaster Relief Geographic Area of Impact: China, Haiti, Indonesia Model: Hybrid non-profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 52,000 (2011) Annual Budget: US$ 2.4 million (2011) Percentage Earned Revenue: 12.5% Recognition: Social Entrepreneur of the Year, US, 2011
The Entrepreneur
Elizabeth Hausler spent many summers as a bricklayer for her fathers construction company and is a skilled stone and brick mason. She earned a PhD in Civil Engineering from the University of California and was named a Fulbright Scholar in 2002, which she used to study post-earthquake reconstruction in Gujarat, India. At the same time she served on the US National Research Council committee to develop a long-term agenda for earthquake engineering.
North America
194
Background
The long-term health of the United States depends on whether the nation can expand the pool of college-educated talent to grow the economy. High performance in low-income high schools is not just about the availability of quality academic courses; students must also buy into the rigour. Research finds that students lose motivation and drop out when they believe high school is not relevant to their college and career goals. Performance increases when students experience high school not as a destination but as a launching pad for college and career success.
J. B. Schramm
College Summit
Founded in 1993, US www.collegesummit.org
College Summit works to increase college enrolment rates of low-income students in the US by partnering with school districts to help high schools build a college-going culture. It works with educators to embed a postsecondary planning structure and resources into each school. This includes a regular, for-credit College Summit class with detailed curriculum, regular teacher training and online tools to help both teachers and students manage college applications online. Central to the programme is peer leadership. College Summit trains influential students to help build a student-led, college-bound culture in their high schools. Approximately 15-20% of the rising senior class attend a four-day workshop on a nearby college campus where they get a head start on college applications by learning how to effectively write a personal statement, meet one-on-one with a guidance counsellor, learn the basics of financial aid, and gain concrete skills in self-advocacy. These students then return to their respective schools and spread their enthusiasm to their peers. College Summit has served 92,000 students from low-income communities and trained 1,600 educators in college-going curriculum, and currently works with 170 partner high schools in 11 states and the District of Columbia. College Summits partner schools have increased their schoolwide college enrolment rates by 18% since the programmes implementation.
College Summit is a national organization that helps public schools raise their purpose from high school diplomas to college and career success.
Focus: Education Geographic Area of Impact: United States Model: Hybrid Non-Profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 92,000 (2011) Annual Budget: US$ 17.5 million (2011) Percentage Earned Revenue: 24% Recognition: Schwab Fellow of the World Economic Forum; SEOY, US, 2007
The Entrepreneur
J. B. Schramm is a product of the Denver public school system. Supported by his parents, both university graduates, he successfully applied from his inner-city high school and enrolled in university. In contrast, many of his talented classmates, whose parents had not gone to college and who relied on an application support system in their school that was ineffective, did not go to college. After graduating from Yale University and the Harvard Divinity School, he directed a teen centre in the basement of a Washington DC housing project. There he encountered smart, curious and determined young people who did not see university as an option. Recognizing a critical public sector and market failure, he founded College Summit to address this gap.
195
North America
Background
For emerging economies transitioning from international aid to international investment, there is a gap in the development sector. In these countries thousands of ambitious and visionary entrepreneurs have the desire and ability to run innovative businesses that create jobs, wealth and economic security for themselves and entire communities. But this ambition is often left unfulfilled when there are too many factors involved (lack of mentoring, self-made role models, new markets and smart capital), which the global community must proactively address. If not, the same old story of economies that nearly made it will continue to persist. Endeavor addresses these lacking factors by applying the missing ingredients of role models, mentors and the audacity to think big.
Linda Rottenberg
Endeavor
Founded in 1997, US www.endeavor.org

Endeavors model is designed to achieve three objectives: unleash untapped, high-potential entrepreneurial talent and stimulate new venture creation in a country; help create a venture-friendly environment where entrepreneurs can access the knowledge, networks and capital they need to succeed; and widen economic participation and opportunity by elevating entrepreneurs to become national role models, inspiring emerging market citizens, particularly youth, to take risks and turn their ideas into reality. Endeavor aims to transform the social and economic landscape of emerging markets through the power of entrepreneurship. Since 1997, over 600 Endeavor Entrepreneurs screened from more than 28,000 candidates in 11 emerging market countries have created +150,000 high-value jobs, and generated US$ 4.5 billion in 2010 alone. While threequarters of new ventures in emerging markets expect to hire a maximum of two people, the average number that an Endeavor Entrepreneur employs is 288. Endeavor is poised to take its model to at least 25 emerging markets by 2015. Endeavor is revolutionizing philanthropy with Endeavor Catalyst, an opportunity for leading donors to leverage their donations for self-sustained global impact. Endeavor Catalyst is a passive investment pool that uses donors funds to support professional capital-raising rounds for Endeavor Entrepreneurs. When it reaches $50 million, Endeavor Catalyst will be ongoing, evergreen and self-generating, and will permanently ensure the long-term sustainability of Endeavor Global.
Endeavor is leading the global movement to catalyze long-term economic growth by selecting, mentoring and accelerating the best High-Impact Entrepreneurs around the world.
Focus: Enterprise Development Geographic Area of Impact: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Indonesia, Mexico, South Africa, Turkey, US, Uruguay Model: Leveraged Non-Profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 28,000 entrepreneurs; 156,000 jobs Annual Budget: $22 million (2011) Percentage Earned Revenue: 22% Recognition: Schwab Fellow of the World Economic Forum
The Entrepreneur
When Linda Rottenberg first spoke of her idea, everyone told her she was crazy. Undeterred, she stalked potential donors at the gym and outside restrooms. She logged over a million airline miles and ultimately convinced top business leaders in Latin America, the Middle East, south-east Asia and South Africa not only to donate more than US$ 3 million to launch each country affiliate, but also to dedicate their time and passion to the organization and its entrepreneurs. Today she is recognized for empowering high-impact entrepreneurs worldwide and inspiring a new generation of philanthropists. The two things that drive her work at Endeavor are a passion for helping young people make their dreams come true and the challenge of creating an organization that borrows the best practices from the private sector to achieve development goals in the most high-impact and sustainable way possible. She consults with top leaders at Fortune 500 companies on topics related to global entrepreneurship, lessons for adopting an entrepreneurial mindset, business opportunities in emerging markets, and innovative leadership for the new economy.
North America
196
Background
With issues such as urban planning, community health, climate change and environmental sustainability at the forefront of public concern and international debate, the need for Evergreens work has never been stronger. Evergreen has aligned and leveraged significant resources from private, public and non-profit organizations to address urban environmental issues and promote widespread action at the community level, to help restore degraded landscapes and address problems associated with urban design. This approach is particularly vital in large cities. Working in collaboration with the broader community, Evergreen takes a holistic approach to the re-invention, design and management of our cities. Natural systems must inform the design of our green spaces, buildings, transportation, energy, waste and water systems.
Geoffrey Cape
Evergreen Foundation
Founded in 1990, Canada www.evergreen.ca

Evergreen operates as both a charity and hybrid non-profit venture. Since its inception in 1990, it has partnered with over 700 urban projects and 4,500 school projects, reaching over 3 million people directly. Evergreen is a recognized international leader in the green/sustainable city movement, in large part because its community partnerships enable it to effectively measure up to the scale of its ambitions. One of its most recent initiatives is the Evergreen Brick Works project, which involves redeveloping a 17 hectare former industrial site in Toronto into a large-scale centre for green cities. The centre will feature exhibits, education programmes, a local farmers market, conference and event facilities on sustainable building design and urban issues, youth leadership and childrens camps, creative arts and youth-at-risk job training. Evergreens core strength is facilitating community partnerships and convening leaders to support action to green cities. The eight-person management team and 110 member staff, consisting of urban planners, architects, educators, ecologists, management, marketing and finance professionals, have built an effective and replicable model to forge community, government and corporate partnerships for change in cities globally.
The mission of the Evergreen Foundation is to inspire, educate and enable action to green cities.
Focus: Environment, Sustainable Cities Geographic Area of Impact: Canada Model: Hybrid Non-Profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 3.5 Million (2011) Annual Budget: US$ 12 million (2012) Percentage Earned Revenue: 30% Recognition: Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Canada, 2007
The Entrepreneur
Geoffrey Cape is the visionary founder and leader behind Evergreens national organization. Over the past 20 years he has played an active role in building a supportive culture of innovation that is well recognized and attracts talent.
197
North America
Background
The current global economy places the worlds small farmers and agricultural workers at a significant disadvantage within the value chain for their products. Poverty, geographical isolation and lack of access to market information leave many farmers with returns that fail to cover their costs of production, a pattern with dire human and environmental consequences. The Fair Trade Certified model enables farmers and workers to overcome these challenges by ensuring they receive a fair price for their goods, covering both the production costs and a sustainable livelihood. This price additionally covers funds needed for vital community development initiatives such as building schools, opening health clinics and reforestation projects. These unique benefits enable farmers and workers across Africa, Asia and Latin America to achieve sustainable community development.
Paul Rice
Fair Trade USA
Founded in 1998, USA www.fairtradeusa.org

Fair Trade USA is the leading third-party certifier of its products in the US. The organization actively builds US consumer awareness and demand for its products, ensuring that Fair Trade is a profitable growth market for businesses. This win-win proposition for farmers, workers, consumers and businesses distinguishes its model from traditional aid-based responses to poverty in the developing world and provides a unique model for sustainability. Fair Trade USA works with over 700 US companies, including Starbucks Coffee, Dunkin Donuts, Green Mountain Coffee and Ben & Jerrys, and recently expanded its product line in response to growing consumer demand. Products that it currently certifies include coffee, tea, chocolate, sugar, fresh fruit, rice, flowers and garments. In 2011, Fair Trade USA launched Fair Trade for All, an innovation strategy designed to expand its successful model to scale. The three pillars of the strategy are designed to double its impact by 2015: strengthen farming communities through investment and technical assistance; expand the scope of Fair Trade to include previously excluded communities and products; and stimulate consumer involvement to drive awareness and sales of Fair Trade Certified products.
Fair Trade USA enables sustainable development and community empowerment by cultivating a more equitable global trade model benefiting farmers, workers, consumers, industry and the earth. It achieves its mission by certifying and promoting Fair Trade products. Focus: Fair Trade, Sustainable Development Geographic Area of Impact: Africa, Asia, Latin America Model: Hybrid Non-Profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 1.2 million (2010) Annual Budget: US$ 9.1 million (2010) Percentage Earned Revenue: 74% Recognition: Schwab Fellow of the World Economic Forum
The Entrepreneur
Paul Rice worked for 11 years as a rural development specialist in the mountainous Segovias region of Nicaragua. There he founded and led a successful Fair Trade organic coffee export cooperative called PRODECOOP, introducing him to the transformational power of Fair Trade. When the opportunity arose in 1998 to launch Fair Trade USA, he found this to be a natural evolution of his years in the field.
North America
198
Background
Kids need books. Research confirms that lack of access to books is a central obstacle to literacy development. However most children from low-income families grow up without books. One US-based study found that although middle-income neighbourhoods have an average of 13 age-appropriate books per child, low-income neighbourhoods average one book for every 300 children. Millions of children in need across North America spend hours every day in under-resourced classrooms and community programmes. To address the disparity, First Book created highly innovative, leveraged and efficient models to improve the quality of education these children receive. In addition, First Book is expanding content areas provided into the digital arena through several major partnerships and some innovative experiments.
Kyle Zimmer
First Book
Founded in 1992, USA www.firstbook.org

First Book provides new books and educational resource to children in preschools and after-school programmes, mentoring/tutoring programmes, shelters and day care centres. With access to high-quality books and other educational materials, teachers and school administrators can better teach, plan curriculum and impart a love of learning, elevating the quality of programmes and opportunities available to children in need. Its models are based on the best business principles and are built for efficiency and high impact. First Book has engaged the corporate sector in award-winning marketing campaigns, which fund more than 80% of its operating budget annually. In 1992, First Book created a network of volunteer groups to fundraise and select eligible programmes locally, which now includes +180 markets in the US and Canada. In 1999, First Book took advantage of the excess inventory of publishers. The First Book National Book Bank is the only centralized distribution system for large-scale donations of books to programmes serving needy children, distributing millions of new books annually and engaging the top 90 publishers in the US. In 2004, the First Book Marketplace was launched as an online retail site offering low-cost, high-quality books only to programmes serving children in need. Though each programme has limited resources, the combined annual book buying power exceeds US$ 150 million. Additionally, added purchasing power comes from community service organizations and stakeholders supporting their communities. By aggregating the demand, the First Book Marketplace creates new customers for publishers, affordable prices for recipient programmes, and a self-sustaining margin to First Book. The Marketplace continues to post strong results and has nearly doubled revenue each year. In 2011, the First Book Marketplace launched an enhanced platform with capacities to offer an expansive array of new content areas, including digital options. With a powerful business model in place, First Book is launching the first fully inclusive online community of programmes serving disadvantaged children and empowering them with affordable books and digital resources, access to expert guidance, ability to make inventory selections and to interact at the global level.
First Book provides millions of new books to children in low-income situations, addressing one of the most important factors affecting literacy access to books.
Focus: Children and Youth, Education Geographic Area of Impact: US, Canada Model: Hybrid Non-Profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 10 million (2011) Annual Budget: US$ 65 million (2011) Percentage Earned Revenue: 15% (2011) Recognition: Schwab Fellow of the World Economic Forum; SEOY, US, 2006
The Entrepreneur
A lawyer by training, Kyle Zimmer worked with then US Governor Richard Celeste from Ohio, and then as an adviser in Walter Mondales presidential campaign. While volunteering at a soup kitchen in Washington DC she discovered a complete lack of books and resources, and learned that most low-income families in the US have no age-appropriate books for their children. She then founded First Book in 1992 with two friends, distributing 12,000 books the first year. By the close of 2011, it distributed nearly 90 million brand new books.
North America
Background
David Green has long been at the vanguard of global efforts to make medical technology and healthcare services sustainable, affordable and accessible to all, particularly to the poorer two-thirds of humanity. His most significant work is the development of an economic paradigm he calls humanized capitalism, for making healthcare products and services available and affordable to the poor. This paradigm uses production capacity and surplus revenue to serve all economic strata, rich and poor, in a way that is both financially self-sustaining and affordable to all members of society.
David Green
USA

In 1992 Green directed the establishment of Aurolab, a not-for-profit manufacturing facility in India. Aurolab is one of the worlds largest manufacturers of intraocular lenses (IOLs), which are surgically implanted in the eye to replace the cloudy lens during cataract surgery. In developing countries Aurolab sells lenses for US$ 2-4 (compared to US$ 150 in the developed world), helping countless patients that otherwise could never afford such treatment to preserve their sight and ability to work. He also established the production of a wound closure product at Aurolab. Green helped develop high-volume, quality eyecare programmes that are affordable to the poor and self-sustaining from user fees. He helped develop the Aravind Eye Hospital in Madurai, India, which performs 300,000 surgeries annually, making it the largest eyecare system in the world. Approximately 70% of this care is provided free-of-charge or below cost, yet the hospital generates substantial surplus revenue. Green replicated this cost recovery model in Nepal, Malawi, Egypt, Guatemala, El Salvador, Tibet, Tanzania and Kenya, and has assisted other institutions in providing sustainability planning services and training, such as the Al Noor Foundation in Egypt and the Lions Aravind Institute for Community Ophthalmology in India. He collaborated with the International Agency for Prevention of Blindness, Ashoka and Deutsche Bank to create an Eye Fund that provides US$ 15 million in affordable loan financing for sustainable eye care programmes and a related US$ 1.5 million capacity building grant fund. He co-founded the Oxford Lotus Health Fund, which will invest in making healthcare equitable and sustainable in developing countries, and is a vice-President of Ashoka, where he leads an initiative to make solar energy affordable to low income communities. He works with Pacific Vision Foundation to develop an eye hospital serving northern California where revenues from insured patients cover costs of the uninsured, and collaborates with Grameen Health in Bangladesh to develop eye hospitals. He developed the social enterprise company Quantum Catch to develop affordable retinal imaging for eye disease detection and monitoring, and a non-invasive method for monitoring glucose levels for diabetics. Recently he has focused on making good hearing affordable and accessible as a cofounder of Conversion Sound, which developed an affordable high-quality digital hearing device with a novel, de-medicalized way for hearing devices to be fitted by non-medical technicians or directly by the consumer.
Through compassionate capitalism, David Green works to provide high-quality, affordable medical technology and healthcare to the poor.
Focus: Health, Technology Geographic Area of Impact: Global Recognition: Schwab Fellow of the World Economic Forum
The Entrepreneur
David Greens philosophy of development emphasizes deconstructing reality to see that much of the worlds problems are due to human artifice that creates economic paradigms favouring the concentration of wealth into the hands of the few. He addresses the pricing disparity that exists and works to put basic human needs like sight and hearing into the realm of affordability for the blind, visually disabled and hard-of-hearing. He has a Masters in Public Health and Bachelors in General Studies (Honours) from the University of Michigan.
200 Outstanding Social Entrepreneurs 2012
North America
Background
Direct care workers and adults with physical disabilities are often treated as invisible in our healthcare system. Direct care workers generally receive low pay and few benefits, and have unstable employment. Adults with physical disabilities are often treated as problem consumers who cost too much. The number of adults with physical disabilities continues to increase as people live longer with their disabilities than previously imagined. Finding the right high-quality care for them remains an imperative for Rick Surpin and the organizations with which he is associated.
Rick Surpin
Cooperative Home Care Associates (CHCA) Independence Care System (ICS) Paraprofessional Healthcare Institute (PHI)
Founded in 1985 (CHCA), 1990 (ICS), 2000 (PHI), US www.chcany.org; www.icsny.org; www.phi.org A family of organizations in New York City that is dedicated to transforming the quality of direct care worker jobs and the quality of care in the long-term healthcare sector.
Cooperative Home Care Associates, Paraprofessional Healthcare Institute and Independence Care System are affiliated complementary organizations, which are transforming home healthcare in the United States. ICS and CHCA serve as local models and PHI broadens their reach through its work on a national basis. CHCA is the first worker-owned home healthcare agency in the US. Its owner-employees are African-American and Latino women, 70% of which were previously dependent upon public assistance. Today CHCA has 1,600 workers and US$ 40 million in revenues. The agency has historically paid wages and benefits that are 20% higher than the industry average, resulting in high morale that contributes to higher quality services. It has succeeded in cutting characteristic health aide worker turnover to approximately 20% annually compared to the 40% industry average. Employees elected by CHCA worker-owners comprise the majority of its board of directors, and a labour-management committee is the primary vehicle for balancing worker ownership, labour union members and management issues. ICS supports low-income individuals with physical disabilities to live independently in a community setting. It has established unique programmes in wheelchair purchases and repair, wound care and specialized care management for adults with multiple sclerosis and spinal cord injury in addition to home care aide services. ICS serves 2,000 members, 90% of which are Latino or African-American, and has 165 staff and US$ 100 million in revenue. As a contractor for aide services, it has been the driver of CHCAs growth over the last 10 years. PHI conducts policy analysis at both the national and state levels and provides organizational development and training services to improve practice in both homecare and nursing home settings. It has 35 staff and US$ 10 million in revenue.
Focus: Health, Labour Conditions, Unemployment Geographic Area of Impact: US Model: Hybrid Non-Profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 1,600 home care aides-CHCA; 2,000 consumer members-ICS (2011) Annual Budget: US$ 150 million (2011) Percentage Earned Revenue: 90% Recognition: Social Entrepreneur of the Year, US, 2003
The Entrepreneur
Rick Surpin started CHCA 26 years ago with the basic premise that home healthcare clients would only receive higher quality care if healthcare aides were offered higher quality jobs. And, if workers owned the company on a one-person, one-vote basis, they would create the possible jobs for themselves. The result was a successful worker-owned company few people thought was possible. Surpin is a passionate believer in an individuals ability to be their own agent of positive change if provided with the right opportunities and support. He served as President of CHCA for 15 years before becoming President of ICS, and currently serves as the board Chairman of CHCA and PHI.
201
North America
Background
Forty percent of US schools have eliminated or reduced recess (playtime) for their young students. It has been demonstrated that a lack of free playtime increases aggression and anti-social behaviour in children. Outside of schools, public play spaces across the US have fallen into neglect or disrepair, and 82% of parents feel their children lack adequate outdoor play areas or recreational facilities near their home. Only one in five children live within a kilometre of a public park. This has tremendously adverse effects on childhood obesity rates, which are on the rise in North America.
Darell Hammond
KaBOOM!
Founded in 1996, USA www.kaboom.org

KaBOOM!s stated mission is to help provide a great playspace within walking distance of every child in America. Since its founding, it has mobilized communities to eliminate the play deserts, and has built nearly 2,000 play areas across the US and Mexico. It has also provided citizens with do-it-yourself resources that have resulted in more than 5,000 community-built parks. KaBOOM! is a strong proponent of the National Campaign for Play, a policy group advocating for systemic change in the way the US fosters healthy play for children. Leveraging the power of community mobilization for a common cause, KaBOOM! projects have noticeably built momentum for other community revitalization efforts. In an effort to scale its impact and cultivate community development, KaBOOM! has opensourced its mobilization knowledge and provides webinars, organizer toolkits, and a strong alumni and staff support network for those wishing to create community playspaces. One of the most significant tools is the Playspace Finder, a crowdsourced map of areas lacking play areas, to better target resources and activity. It has an online community of +30,000 members sharing stories and photos of relevant activities. Partner organizations include the YMCA, Boys and Girls Clubs, battered womens shelters and charter schools. KaBOOM! also enjoys the support of 300 committed corporate sponsors, including Kraft, Dr Pepper Snapple Group, JetBlue, Disney, MetLife, Forresters and the National Basketball Association. It recently developed the mobile Imagination Playground in a Box framework to sell to day care centres, childrens museums, and park and recreation departments.
KaBOOM! seeks to create a great playspace within walking distance of every child in America, improve childrens health and mobilize communities around a common cause.
Focus: Children and Youth, Health Geographic Area of Impact: US, Mexico, Canada Model: Hybrid non-profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 5.5 million Annual Budget: US$ 22 million Percentage Earned Revenue: 92% Recognition: Social Entrepreneur of the Year, US, 2011
The Entrepreneur
Darell Hammond is a firm believer in the power of volunteerism and community mobilization. He grew up as a foster child in a group home in Chicago, and since that time has dedicated himself to community development. He studied community development at Northwestern University before heading the CityYear programme in Chicago in the 1990s. In 1995 Hammond read about two young people from a low-income area of Washington DC, who suffocated in an abandoned car they used as their only available playspace. This story, and the ensuing political debate, motivated the launch of Hammonds KaBOOM! idea.
North America
202
Background
Farming is a way of life for nearly half of the worlds people, and in many developing countries rural families comprise a substantial majority of the population. For these families land represents a fundamental asset: it is a primary source of income, security and status. But almost half of these rural families either lack any access to land or secure legal rights to the land they till. As a result, stagnant economic growth, acute poverty and related problems of hunger, social unrest and environmental degradation persist. Secure land rights can help to provide a broad range of benefits for these families, including increased incomes and economic growth, increased agricultural output, improved nutrition and health, a repository of wealth, reduced social conflict and greater political stability.
Roy L. Prosterman and Tim Hanstad

Landesa
Founded in 1967, US www.landesa.org

Landesa (formerly the Rural Development Institute) is an international non-profit organization that partners with governments and NGOs to help the rural poor in developing countries obtain secure land rights. In particular, Landesa uses the rule of law to help developing country governments provide their poorest citizens with secure land rights, the foundation for economic growth, food security and stability. A welldesigned and implemented law, backed by local leaders, has the power to affect millions of lives at a time. Landesa enters countries at the invitation of governments or international agencies when opportunities for reform are most possible. It serves as a bridge between policy-makers and poor farm families, consulting with a wide range of stakeholders and then recommending enforceable and politically viable reforms. Landesas work began with a land to the tiller programme in South Vietnam in the early 1970s, providing land ownership to one million tenant farm families, that led to a 30% increase in rice production, an 80% decline in indigenous Vietcong recruitment, and laid the groundwork for Hanois decollectivization of all agriculture. Since then Landesa has gone on to develop and apply democratic approaches to land rights reform in Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. Over the last four decades Landesa has worked in over 45 countries, partnering with governments on reforms that have helped provide secure land rights to more than 100 million families.
For over 40 years Landesa has partnered with governments around the world on reforms that have helped provide secure land rights to more than 100 million families.
Focus: Land and Property Rights, Poverty Alleviation Geographic Area of Impact: Global Model: Hybrid Non-Profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 2.4 million (2010) Annual Budget: US$ 13.64 million (2011-2012) Percentage Earned Revenue: 15% Recognition: Schwab Fellows of the World Economic Forum
The Entrepreneurs
In 1966, led by a passion for fighting the structural causes of global poverty, Roy Prosterman left his Wall Street law career to devote his life to applying the law to build a better world. He took an entrepreneurial and new approach to help poor countries with land rights reform, combining robust research, policy and legislative advice and advocacy. Tim Hanstad joined those efforts in the 1980s, initially as a research assistant and eventually led efforts to expand, institutionalize and attract sustainable funding for the work. Under Hanstads leadership the organization has grown 100-fold, opened eight new offices in Asia and Africa, generated tens of millions of dollars of earned income and significantly expanded its reach and effectiveness. Today, Prosterman serves as Chairman Emeritus of Landesa and Hanstad as President and CEO. Together they have authored numerous publications on land policy, hunger and agricultural development. They both teach at the University of Washington School of Law, where they introduced the Law of Sustainable International Development programme.
203
North America
Background
Womens health is an area of severe neglect. A specific example of market failure in womens health is highly-effective contraception. More than 215 million women around the world lack access to reliable contraceptive options, resulting in 20 million unsafe abortions every year. Instead of intensifying the quest for gender-specific medical solutions, pharmaceutical companies have allocated less of their time and resources to the research and development of products created solely for women. Further, by 2025 the worlds population is projected to increase to 8.1 billion. It is a global imperative to increase both the availability of contraception and womens access to healthcare services, as well as to empower women with the tools and knowledge to make informed decisions for themselves and their families.
Victoria G. Hale
Medicines360
Founded in 2009, US www.medicines360.org

Founded in 2009, Medicines360 is a non-profit pharmaceutical company that exists to disrupt the status quo in womens health needs and outcomes. It will do so through a novel, hybrid non-profit/for-profit business model, since existing options exclude many women of low socio-economic status. Medicines360 will address womens health disparities from inadequacies through subsidization, and offer health innovation to all women. Medicines360s first products will centre on reproductive health, with a new contraceptive under development. Through the model created by Victoria Hales first non-profit pharmaceutical company, OneWorld Health (www. oneworldhealth.org), the pharmaceutical industry and universities can share and/or donate intellectual property, lend experts and make financial contributions. Medicines360, a second generation non-profit pharmaceutical, is expanding this model by adding self-sustainability and a hybrid business model as its business strategy.
Medicines360 is a non-profit pharmaceutical company that addresses the unmet needs of women and children by developing innovative, affordable and sustainable medical solutions.
The Entrepreneur Focus: Public Health Area of Impact: US, Developing World Model: Hybrid Non-Profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 2,000 (2011) Annual Budget: US$ 18 million (2011) Recognition: Schwab Fellow of the World Economic Forum
Victoria Hale established her expertise in pharmaceutical development at the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and at Genentech. She earned a PhD in Pharmaceutical Chemistry from the University of California, San Francisco, where she presently maintains an adjunct associate professorship in biopharmaceutical sciences.
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Background
New Foundry (formerly Rubicon National Social Innovations) believes that for social enterprise to have a significant impact on poverty in America, it must be re-imagined on a much greater scale. Its goal is to create and support the next generation of social enterprises that improve the wellbeing of low-income individuals and communities. By building businesses that create jobs and provide greater access to healthy food, good credit and energy efficiency for low- and moderate-income communities, it is creating sustainable and systemic solutions to some of the most pressing challenges facing the US.
Rick Aubry
New Foundry Ventures
Founded in 1973, US www.newfoundryventures.org

New Foundry is the Social Enterprise 2.0 evolution for Rubicon, one of the first Social Enterprise organizations in the US. It builds upon the lessons learned from this pioneering organization over its 25 years of creating and scaling social businesses. New Foundrys progenitor, Rubicon, created two thriving social enterprises: Rubicon Bakery, an award-winning San Francisco dessert bakery brand distributed to over 2,000 US supermarkets; and Rubicon Landscape. In aggregate these two businesses have brought nearly US$ 200 million in revenues into an impoverished US community. New Foundry is moving its work forward significantly by acting as a social business incubator for the enterprises it spawns, and working in partnership with global businesses and academic institutions to build the field of social entrepreneurship by creating opportunities in new places, whether low income communities, major corporations or leading research universities. Its work focuses on increasing the success and scale of social enterprises by implementing business practices that optimize financial sustainability and expand the sphere of impact created by these businesses. New Foundry Ventures works collaboratively with nonprofits, businesses, universities and community organizations to launch sustainable business models that have undergone extensive piloting and prototyping. It also works as a convening hub, bringing together players in the social change ecosystem to create innovative solutions regardless of who owns or is credited with the work. The focus is on social impact rather than brand building.
New Foundry Ventures creates and supports the next generation of social enterprises that improve the well-being of low-income individuals and communities.
Focus: Enterprise Development, Labour Conditions and Unemployment Geographic Area of Impact: US Model: Social Business Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 11,250 (2011) Annual Budget: US$ 610,822 (2010) Percentage Earned Revenue: 85% Recognition: Schwab Fellow of the World Economic Forum
The Entrepreneur
Rick Aubry has run New Foundry and its predecessor Rubicon for over 25 years. A psychologist by training, he applied his skills to business and for two decades has been a leader in the field of social entrepreneurship in the US. To help create the next generation of social entrepreneurs Aubry is also working with Tulane University as Assistant Provost for Social Entrepreneurship, developing the first US undergraduate major in Social Entrepreneurship. He continues on the faculty of Stanford Universitys Graduate School of Business teaching Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation.
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Background
Traditionally, handmade goods from developing nations pass through a lengthy process before reaching primary retail markets. Artisans in rural villages typically work with local intermediaries who then sell to nationallevel ones. Customers purchase the goods at retail stores, often at more than 10 times the producer price. Usually very little of the profits go to the artists, and as a result, they are faced with dire economic situations. In many cases they have two options: either they abandon their labourintensive traditions to suit local tastes and purchasing power, or they enter new forms of labour. Among artistically talented younger men and women, few see the possibility of making a living from their work, even when they are passionate about their craft.
Armenia Nercessian De Oliveira and Roberto Milk

Novica
Founded in 1998, US www.novica.com

Novica works directly with artists and artisans to reduce the effect of the two most significant factors that prevent them from earning a living from their craft and keeping traditions alive: geographic distance and multiple layers of middlemen. Novica has opened up global markets to those long restricted by local distribution, and has helped artists set their own prices, often earning 10-50% more than the going local rate. In addition, consumers benefits by paying below-market prices. Novica works with a growing pool of over 3,000 artisan groups representing over 15,000 artisans and their families worldwide. Novica taps into a growing market for handcrafted home decor, gifts and apparel that exceeds US$ 10 billion in the US alone. It takes advantage of two effects of globalization: one is a social phenomenon, wherein more consumers care about how their items are made, who made them and under what conditions; the second is technological, the increasing speed and potential of the Internet. Novicas website not only promotes handmade goods but also the people whose inspiration is embodied in their works of art. One of the major goals of Novica is to communicate the personal stories of the artisans on the website. This allows artists to see the actual price their work is being sold for and receive feedback from buyers. Novica is strengthened through key partnerships that include National Geographic, eBay, Amazon and National Public Radio. In 2009, Novica announced a partnership programme with the Grassroots Business Fund, which started with Guatemala in 2010.
Novica seeks to improve the economic prospects of artists in some of the worlds poorest areas, preserve traditional art forms and provide a platform for personal expression.
Focus: Culture, Handicrafts, Enterprise Development Geographic Area of Impact: Brazil, Ghana, Guatemala, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Peru, Thailand, US Model: Social Business Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 75,000 (2010) Percentage Earned Revenue: 100% Recognition: Schwab Fellows of the World Economic Forum
The Entrepreneurs
Roberto Milk, a Peruvian-American, and Armenia Nercessian de Oliveira, a Brazilian, co-founded Novica. From a young age Milk loved going to local markets and collecting indigenous artefacts. He met Nercessian de Oliveira in 1995 when he was finishing his undergraduate degree at Stanford University. Within a week of their meeting they had created their idea for Novica. Armenia Nercessian de Oliveira has been a lover of traditional handicrafts all her life. A sociology professor at the Universidade Federale of Rio de Janeiro, she served as a UN officer for 16 years, primarily working with refugees. Both travel extensively to the regions to work with Novica artists and to discover new ones.
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Background
Teach For All supports and connects a global network of national organizations to advance educational opportunity in their countries. Each organization in the network, launched by a local entrepreneur, enlists its nations most promising leaders to teach in high-need areas for two years and, in the long term, drive systemic changes from within and outside the education sector. The networks founding partner organizations, Teach For America and Teach First, have over the past combined 32 years demonstrated an ability to increase student achievement while building a national leadership force to drive systemic change.
Wendy Kopp
Teach For All
Founded in 2007, US www.teachforall.org
Teach For All was launched in response to demand from entrepreneurs around the world seeking to start Teach For America and Teach First-like enterprises in their own countries. These enterprises provide high-calibre teachers who lead students to significant academic achievement, despite poverty and the limited capacity of their countries schools. These enterprises also address long-term educational needs by cultivating future leaders with the perspective and conviction that comes from teaching successfully in high-need communities. Teach For All helps these organizations learn from each other by sharing resources and experience, enabling them to have a greater impact sooner. Since 2007, 21 countries have launched new programmes supported by Teach For All, while entrepreneurs from other countries explore the model.
Teach For All expands educational opportunity internationally by increasing and accelerating the impact of independent social enterprises that enlist their nations most promising future leaders in addressing educational need.

Teach For All exists to address global educational needs and enable students to realize their full potential. A childs background often determines their educational and life prospects. Poverty, discrimination, social mobility and political structures create challenges for students, and in certain cases, entire societies. Many school systems lack the capacity to help students attain a quality education, and prevailing beliefs have not led to the necessary policy investments to address these issues. Teach For All supports a network of partner organizations that are growing leaders within their countries to ensure all children have access to an excellent education. These network organizations are enlisting outstanding university graduates to commit two years to teach in areas of educational need; providing significant training and ongoing support to enable these teaching participants to succeed with students; and fostering a community of alumni who become leaders in the classroom and education, to effect the fundamental changes necessary to ensure educational opportunity for all. In fiscal year 2012 alone, the Teach For All network will collectively field more than 14,000 teachers who will impact the lives of nearly one million students. Meanwhile, a force of roughly 26,000 alumni are now serving as advocates for educational equity, working from across professional sectors to ensure all children have the educational opportunities they deserve.
Focus: Education Geographic Area of Impact: Latin America, Asia, Europe, Middle East, North Africa Model: Hybrid Non-Profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: +800,000 students Annual Budget: US$ 14.8 million (2012) Recognition: Schwab Fellow of the World Economic Forum
The Entrepreneur
Wendy Kopp is CEO and co-Founder of Teach For All, and the CEO and Founder of Teach For America. She proposed the creation of Teach For America in her undergraduate senior thesis in 1989 and has spent +20 years working to grow the organizations impact. She is the author of A Chance to Make History: What Works and What Doesnt in Providing an Excellent Education for All (2011) and One Day, All Children: The Unlikely Triumph of Teach For America and What I Learned Along the Way (2000). She holds a Bachelors from Princeton University.
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Background
Millions of people across the developing world lack access to food, clean water, housing, healthcare and education. Where such essentials are available, they often depend on foreign aid, creating an unsustainable and undesirable situation. Businesses, most notably small and medium enterprises, drive sustained economic growth by offering secure employment and new job skills, and injecting economic vitality into communities that can then afford their own social services. TechnoServe assists entrepreneurs throughout the developing world plan and manage their enterprises, find markets and financing, and overcome technical challenges. Today TechnoServe has helped create or improve thousands of businesses, benefiting millions of people in more than 30 countries.
Bruce McNamer
TechnoServe
Founded in 1968, US www.technoserve.org

For four decades TechnoServes programmes have focused on developing entrepreneurs, building businesses and industries, and improving the business environment in developing countries. The organization identifies entrepreneurs and guides them in planning, marketing, operating and expanding businesses that are likely to succeed and help the poor. It accomplishes this by using world-class business techniques and input from strategic partners, including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Peets Coffee & Tea, Nestl and Google. TechnoServe then leverages leading entrepreneurs to grow competitive, self-sustaining industries. TechnoServes impact can be seen in the way it transformed the cashew sector and lives of hundreds of thousands of poor people in Mozambique. It determined that Mozambique could create a competitive cashew market by establishing small-scale rural processing plants located close to farmers, equipping those plants with the technology needed to extract premium nuts, and providing both farmers and employees incentives to produce a better product that yields higher profits. Building on the success of its pilot project, TechnoServe helped a dozen more Mozambican entrepreneurs open factories and form a commercial association that will ensure the sustainability and continued advancement of the industry after TechnoServes departure. In 2008 these firms purchased US$ 9.7 million worth of cashews from more than 102,000 small-scale farmers, and provided jobs for thousands of people living in areas with little formal employment. Employees children, freed from having to help their parents with subsistence farming, can now attend school and further improve their lives. This successful model is now being replicated in other countries.
TechnoServe provides strategic management and marketing services to poor families who want to start their own businesses in Asia, Africa and Latin America.
Focus: Enterprise Development, Rural Development Geographic Area of Impact: Africa, India, Latin America, Poland Model: Hybrid Non-Profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 1.2 million (2008) Annual Budget: US$ 44 million (2008) Recognition: Schwab Fellow of the World Economic Forum
The Entrepreneur
TechnoServe was created by the late entrepreneur Ed Bullard. Today Bruce McNamer leads the organization, which has continued to grow and evolve over time to address emerging challenges. McNamer became President and CEO of TechnoServe after building a career in the private and public sectors. He has worked as an investment banker, a consultant at McKinsey & Company, a White House Fellow and director at the National Economic Council. After serving as a Peace Corps volunteer in Paraguay, he was eager to use his business skills to combat poverty. He is now steering TechnoServe through an unprecedented growth phase and finds enormous satisfaction in how TechnoServes dynamic, market-based approach is transforming peoples lives in the developing world.
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Background
According to the UN, more than 450 million people are low-wage agricultural workers, 165 million children work, 12 million people are slaves and 105 million people cross borders each year in search of work. At least 10% of these are exploited by labour brokers as modern day slaves. The structure of modern manufacturing and agriculture supply chains is a key obstacle to implementing international labour standards and ensuring that these migrant workers, children and low-wage employees are guaranteed their rights.
Dan Viederman
Verit
Founded in 1996, US www.verite.org
Verit uses management systems to link business objectives with social outcomes. Verit is the first and only organization to create a scalable programme that targets Tier 1 vendors and licensees who have largely escaped accountability in labour standards. Verit also innovated a new use for mobile technology to provide workers an outlet for their grievances and information for their benefit. Verits programmes recognize that workers must thrive for businesses to succeed, and business must succeed for workers to thrive. Verit began as a group of social auditors using innovative off-site worker participation in company assessments, and has grown to a wide-reaching research, consulting and advocacy programme with offices around the world. It has achieved institutional change at the CEO/executive level in 40 client corporations. The US Department of State, Department of Labor and a variety of foundations have called on Verit to pursue audits and accountability programmes as part of their own efforts. In addition to its work with corporations and governments, Verit conducts campaigns to end debt-bondage through the certification of labour vendors, and to date it has improved the labour conditions of 8-10 million vulnerable workers through higher wages, better safety regulations, union membership, compensation for past wages and the elimination of exploitative brokerage relationships.
Verit creates incentives for sustainability practices for large corporations, ensuring better labour conditions for millions of workers around the world.
Focus: Labour, Human Rights Geographic Area of Impact: South-East Asia, China, India, Bangladesh, Latin America Model: Hybrid non-profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 12 million (1996-2011) Annual Budget: US$ 4,400,000 (2011) Percentage Earned Revenue: 75% Recognition: Social Entrepreneur of the Year, US, 2011
The Entrepreneur
Dan Viederman first felt a calling to work in the international non-profit sector after teaching rural children in Chongqing, China in the mid-1980s. Compelled by the childrens desire to improve their circumstances and the significant institutional obstacles they faced, Viederman attended Columbia Universitys School for International and Public Affairs, which solidified his desire to work for deep social change in China and elsewhere. After completing a public service fellowship he returned to China to lead two international NGOs and further clarify his ideas about building local institutions, and stimulate private sector mechanisms to become sustainable. Viederman joined Verit in 2000 and has spent the past decade developing the organizations current approach to empowering workers around the world.
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Our Partners
Social Entrepreneur of the Year Selection Partners Partners
The Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship provides unparalleled platforms at the regional and global level to highlight and advance leading models of sustainable social innovation. It identies a select community of social entrepreneurs and engages it in shaping global, regional and industry agendas that improve the state of the world in close collaboration with the other stakeholders of the World Economic Forum.
World Economic Forum 91-93 route de la Capite CH-1223 Cologny/Geneva Switzerland Tel +41 (0) 22 869 1212 Fax +41 (0) 22 786 2744 contact@weforum.org www.weforum.org

Outstanding Social Entrepreneurs 2012 - Schwab Foundation

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