World Business Council for Sustainable Development: WBSCD introduced a presentation and simulation tool, “The Inclusive Business Challenge.” This Power Point-based tool is designed to help guide companies through the process of understanding the risks and rewards of developing and launching inclusive business ventures. It was produced by the members of its 2009 Future Leadership Team, a WBSCD program that brings up and coming business professionals together, both to develop leadership skills and to deepen their understanding of the role business can play in alleviating poverty. “The Inclusive Business Challenge” is available in English, Spanish, French and Portuguese and can be downloaded here. This sounds like a great idea and we hope to hear more about it as companies start to “test drive” it – let us know if you’ve tried it and tell us what you think.
VisionSpring: VisionSpring El Salvador recently completed a pilot program that expanded VisionSpring’s offerings beyond reading glasses, making affordable distance glasses available to its customers for the first time. The new products not only help correct vision problems for a larger number of people, but also increase sales and profits for the Vision Entrepreneurs. The pilot program also established an optical shop in Santa Ana, El Salvador. VisionSpring was pleased with the results from its pilot program and we’ll be watching to see how these innovations are rolled out in other regions.
ANDE Latin America: In late March, the Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE) held its first Latin America conference, in Granada, Nicaragua. Entrepreneurs, investors, development professionals and more gathered to discuss the opportunities and challenges facing small and growing businesses throughout Latin America. NextBillion.net wrote a great piece outlining the significance of the event, and several other NextBillion contributors added their own views on the conference experience. Congratulations to ANDE and we look forward to hearing about their future events in the region.
SEVEN Fund: Michael Fairbanks has participated in several high-level meetings dedicated to rebuilding post-earthquake Haiti, and published a thought-provoking article in the Huffington Post, titled “Haitians Don’t Deserve Our Sympathy.” He warns that well-intentioned but misguided relief programs may end up further stunting, rather than empowering, the Haitian people. He writes, “Everyone in these Haiti meetings in Miami, Washington, and New York has a heart for the poor, but do they also have a mind for the poor? My colleague, faith-based author and entrepreneur Andreas Widmer, draws a distinction between the impact of sympathy and empathy in the development process. He calls it the ‘trap of sympathy.’ It is where overzealous donors bring their own experiences to bear and take decisions away from the recipients. This demeans the poor, creates a paternalistic relationship, and destroys that most precious of human qualities, self-determination.” The whole essay is worth reading and is an interesting complement to Francisco Mejia’s Majority Markets post, “Can Market Based Solutions Ride the Aid Tsunami in Haiti?”
Events in the Spotlight: Majority Markets maintains a list of upcoming conferences and other events that are relevant to people and companies working in the BOP sphere. May 25-26 in Dubai, UAE, the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition is hosting the GAIN Business Alliance Global Forum, with presentations on the latest innovations in business strategies to combat malnutrition. June 2-4 in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA, the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan is holding an Impact Assessment Workshop designed to help companies better track the effectiveness of their BOP-related ventures. More information about these events and many others is available at http://www.majoritymarkets.org/connect/events.
Recommended Reading: McKinsey & Company’s “What Matters” site has had a terrific series of articles about social entrepreneurs. The pieces cover topics from achieving scale to the pros and cons of using the language and practices of traditional businesses to why networks are so important (of course, we agree!).
Welcome! MajorityMarkets.org has four new official partners, all based in Mexico: Un Kilo de Ayuda, Promotora Social Mexico, Mi Tienda and New Ventures. We look forward to featuring them and their work on the site.
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