Center for Social Innovation

Navigating Through Conflict

Gayle Lemmon discusses how entrepreneurs conduct business in some of the world’s most difficult and dangerous environments.

Resource: News Article

Topic :

"A Thoughtful, Systemic Approach"

How Scholarship Can Help Alleviate Extreme Poverty.

Resource: News Article

Topic :

Globalizing Entry-Level Business Processing Employment

A hybrid social enterprise offers employment and skills training to rural youth in Cambodia, Laos, and Kenya.

Resource: News Article

Topic :

Economic Development, Healthcare

Building Affordable Health Care in China

In an interview with Kewen Jin, the serial entrepreneurs discusses the rapid growth of China's health care industry and the idea of "innovation by subtraction."

Resource: News Article

Topic :

Tony Blair Urges Stanford Students to Help Out in Africa

The former prime minister of Great Britain said that much-needed economic development in Sub-Saharan Africa cannot go forward without improvements in governance.

Resource: News Article

Topic :

Navigating Through Conflict

Gayle Lemmon discusses how entrepreneurs conduct business in some of the world’s most difficult and dangerous environments.

Resource: News Article

Topic :

"A Thoughtful, Systemic Approach"

How Scholarship Can Help Alleviate Extreme Poverty.

Resource: News Article

Topic :

Globalizing Entry-Level Business Processing Employment

A hybrid social enterprise offers employment and skills training to rural youth in Cambodia, Laos, and Kenya.

Resource: News Article

Topic :

Economic Development, Healthcare

Building Affordable Health Care in China

In an interview with Kewen Jin, the serial entrepreneurs discusses the rapid growth of China's health care industry and the idea of "innovation by subtraction."

Resource: News Article

Topic :

Public-Private Alliances Transform Aid

Stanford Social Innovation Review: Fall 2009

The dual goals of scalability and sustainability have eluded many development projects. In recent years, however, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has reached out to corporations, nonprofits, and even private citizens to build alliances that are making large-scale, long-term change. In this article, the former head of USAID describes the public-private partnership model that his agency forged, the successes that the model has won, and the struggles that it continues to face. —By Andrew S. Natsios

-Subscription Required

Resource: Stanford Social Innovation Review Article

Topic :

Economic Development, Human Rights

Behind the Curve

Stanford Social Innovation Review: Fall 2009

Corrupt governments cash in on the Millennium Challenge Corporation’s outdated metrics. —By J. Peter Pham

Resource: Stanford Social Innovation Review Article

Topic :

Microfinance for the Most Marginalized

Stanford Social Innovation Review: Fall 2009

How small loans are tipping the social scales for Roma people

-Subscription Required

Resource: Stanford Social Innovation Review Article

Topic :

The House That BRAC Built

Stanford Social Innovation Review: Fall 2009

Freedom from Want pays well-deserved tribute to an exemplar of indigenous development and its magnificent leader.

Resource: Stanford Social Innovation Review Article

Topic :

Corporate Social Responsibility, Economic Development

Just Say “No”

Stanford Social Innovation Review: Summer 2009

DEAD AID: Why Aid Is Not Working and How There Is a Better Way for Africa by Dambisa Moyo Review by Jane Wales

-Subscription Required

Resource: Stanford Social Innovation Review Article

Topic :

Live from CoF: Immigration and Philanthropy

If we take away the jobs of undocumented workers, how will they survive?

Resource: Blog Post

Video/Audio : All | Audio | Video

Topic:

Fair Wage Guide Software and Social Enterprise

Audrey Seagraves has a passion for international development and social enterprise. In this audio interview with Stanford Center for Social Innovation correspondent Sheela Sethuraman, the director of programs at World of Good talks about the creation of Fair Wage Guide software, a free tool that tells the viewer how wages being paid to any artisan worldwide compare to international wage standards.

You are missing some Flash content that should appear here! Perhaps your browser cannot display it, or maybe it did not initialize correctly.

Resource: Audio

Topic:

Promoting Fair Trade as Social Entrepreneurship

Social entrepreneurship may be the most promising avenue for solving global problems, says Paul Rice, CEO of TransFair USA. In this audio lecture, sponsored by the Stanford Center for Social Innovation, Rice details his own work to establish Fair Trade. The movement has opened the U.S. market to more than 1.4 million small family farmers around the world who are now getting a fair price for their harvests and making dramatic gains in their living standards.

You are missing some Flash content that should appear here! Perhaps your browser cannot display it, or maybe it did not initialize correctly.

Resource: Audio

Topic:

Creating a Social Enterprise

When Priya Haji put her mind to helping reduce global poverty, social entrepreneurship took a quantum leap. In this university podcast, sponsored by the Stanford Center for Social Innovation, the plucky founder of World of Good shares how she created a social enterprise that now empowers women in communities around the world by helping them sell their artisan goods in stores and online. She talks about strategies for using educated consumer choice and inspiring business competition to do good.

You are missing some Flash content that should appear here! Perhaps your browser cannot display it, or maybe it did not initialize correctly.

Resource: Audio

Topic:

Economic Development, Education

International Development Through Youth

The future of international development may lie in the hands of children. In this audio interview with Sheela Sethuraman, Jeroo Billimoria talks about how her organization, Aflatoun, provides social and financial education to youth ages 6 to 14 in 31 countries. She discusses Aflatoun's work with partners to create and disseminate innovative curricula to mainstream schools, and its vision for continuing to empower young people over the next five years.

You are missing some Flash content that should appear here! Perhaps your browser cannot display it, or maybe it did not initialize correctly.

Resource: Audio

Topic:

Economic Development, Environment

Examining the 21st Century Oil Company

The Saudi Arabian Oil Company exemplifies how an organization may go from good to great through a focus on innovation. In this audio lecture, CEO Abdallah Jum'ah shares with an audience of Stanford MBA students how he has harnessed the brainpower of his people to come up with breakthrough solutions in areas such as technology, tools, processes, and organizational management. His talk demonstrates how living the values of innovation, insight, and principle can transform an organization and change the world.

You are missing some Flash content that should appear here! Perhaps your browser cannot display it, or maybe it did not initialize correctly.

Resource: Audio

Topic:

Bill Gates Says Foreign Aid is Threatened, but Big Ideas Can Turn the Tide

Just off a plane from Africa, Bill Gates visits Stanford to talk about innovation, but not the software kind. Scientists and engineers, he said, need to focus on products that help improve the lives of the world's poor even though the market directs people to help the wealthiest.

Resource: Video

Topic:

Innovative Design Saves Tiny Lives

Jane Chen, MBA '08, has a vision of a place “babies no longer die from being cold, where people no longer die from preventable causes. And where every person has the ability to choose [his or her] own fate.”

Resource: Video

Topic:

Optimism for Developing Countries

"There is, perhaps for the first time in history, a reasonable chance of transforming the quality of life and the creative opportunities for the vast majority of humanity."

Resource: Video

Topic:

Enhancing Business Education for Rural Entrepreneurs

In 2006, Stanford's Graduate School of Business students Scott Raymond and Katherine Boas took a service learning trip to Thailand and Cambodia. The result? A program that helps to alleviate poverty in Thailand that is now being duplicated at microlending organizations around the world.

Resource: Video

Topic:

Fox Sees Bright Future for Mexico

Americans are mostly unaware of the enormous progress Mexico has enjoyed since a devastating collapse in the peso in 1994. Former Mexican President Vincente Fox highlights the opportunities, and also addresses the challenges, resulting from the collapse.

Resource: Video

Topic:

Economic Development, Environment, Social Entrepreneurship

Providing Environmental Sustainability Solutions

The unique advantages of zinc air fuel cells have been harnessed as an environmental sustainability measure to deliver reliable, renewable, and affordable electricity to rural communities off the grid. In this audio interview, Stanford Center for Social Innovation correspondent Sheela Sethuraman talks with 2009 Tech Award winner Rolf Papsdorf to find out how his company, Alternative Energy Development Corporation, combines sound economics, customer service, and social responsibility to tangibly improve the lives of people around the world.

You are missing some Flash content that should appear here! Perhaps your browser cannot display it, or maybe it did not initialize correctly.

Resource: Audio

Topic:

Economic Development, Education

A Social Enterprise to Reduce Hunger in India

Akshaya Patra USA is an innovative social enterprise, a food program that is changing the face of education in India. In this audio interview with Stanford Center for Social Innovation correspondent Sheela Sethuraman, President and CEO Madhu Sridhar talks about how the enterprise grew from a small organization to a massive, well-run entity. She discusses its noble goals and its strategically oriented approaches to meeting high-volume demand at low cost.

You are missing some Flash content that should appear here! Perhaps your browser cannot display it, or maybe it did not initialize correctly.

Resource: Audio

Topic:

Fair Wage Guide Software and Social Enterprise

Audrey Seagraves has a passion for international development and social enterprise. In this audio interview with Stanford Center for Social Innovation correspondent Sheela Sethuraman, the director of programs at World of Good talks about the creation of Fair Wage Guide software, a free tool that tells the viewer how wages being paid to any artisan worldwide compare to international wage standards.

You are missing some Flash content that should appear here! Perhaps your browser cannot display it, or maybe it did not initialize correctly.

Resource: Audio

Topic:

Promoting Fair Trade as Social Entrepreneurship

Social entrepreneurship may be the most promising avenue for solving global problems, says Paul Rice, CEO of TransFair USA. In this audio lecture, sponsored by the Stanford Center for Social Innovation, Rice details his own work to establish Fair Trade. The movement has opened the U.S. market to more than 1.4 million small family farmers around the world who are now getting a fair price for their harvests and making dramatic gains in their living standards.

You are missing some Flash content that should appear here! Perhaps your browser cannot display it, or maybe it did not initialize correctly.

Resource: Audio

Topic:

Creating a Social Enterprise

When Priya Haji put her mind to helping reduce global poverty, social entrepreneurship took a quantum leap. In this university podcast, sponsored by the Stanford Center for Social Innovation, the plucky founder of World of Good shares how she created a social enterprise that now empowers women in communities around the world by helping them sell their artisan goods in stores and online. She talks about strategies for using educated consumer choice and inspiring business competition to do good.

You are missing some Flash content that should appear here! Perhaps your browser cannot display it, or maybe it did not initialize correctly.

Resource: Audio

Case Studies : All | Academic Cases

No Results Found

Topics:

Entrepreneurs in a Harsh Business Climate: Reform-Era Vietnam

By the mid-1990s, a few years into Vietnam’s tentative market-oriented reforms, the country’s private sector was at a crucial point. Three owner-managers discuss their initial success in such an unreceptive setting.

Resource: Academic Case

Topics:

Economic Development, Human Rights, Nonprofit Management, Philanthropy, Responsible Investing

Grameen Bank

Grameen Bank lent hundreds of millions of dollars to millions of poor entrepreneurs in Bangladesh. Managing Director Muhammad Yunus faced tremendous challenges brought about by political upheavals and natural disasters in this country.

Resource: Academic Case

Topics:

Global Fund for Women

The CEO of the Global Fund for Women, an organization that seeds and supports women’s rights groups, must examine how to guide the fund’s growth without having it lose its connections with donors and grantees. She also wonders how the fund could do better at assessing grant outcomes and sharing success stories.

Resource: Academic Case

Topics:

Economic Development, Nonprofit Management, Philanthropy, Responsible Investing

Mirae: Charitable Giving in North Korea

Mirae, a group of affluent housewives in Seoul, is working to prepare for the reunification of the North and South by raising strategic funds. The group ponders how to create a nonprofit in a society that has traditionally thought of charity as an intra-family issue.

Resource: Academic Case

Topics:

Economic Development, Education, Nonprofit Management, Philanthropy, Responsible Investing

Beginning with Children

An innovative public school’s foundation considers new strategic directions in the wake of the school’s conversion to an independent charter. Will it become an advocacy organization, a think tank, an educational consultant—or choose another path?

Resource: Academic Case

Topics:

Economic Development, Philanthropy, Responsible Investing, Social Entrepreneurship

Robin Hood

In 2005, Robin Hood was the largest private poverty-fighting organization in New York City, and its venture philanthropy model had inspired various foundations nationwide. The management team hoped to have an even greater impact by improving the application of best practices and metrics.

Resource: Academic Case

Topics:

Economic Development, Nonprofit Management, Philanthropy, Responsible Investing

The Amy Biehl Foundation Trust

In February 1999, the Amy Biehl Foundation Trust was preparing to expand its operations outside Cape Town, South Africa. However, a strike at one of their revenue-generating enterprises, and financial irregularities at one of their newest programs, threatened to thwart the Foundation's plans.

Resource: Academic Case

Topic :

Economic Development, Healthcare, Nonprofit Management

PacifiCare's African American Health Solutions (AAHS)

By early 2006, PacifiCare's African American Health Solution had made significant headway in its two primary markets of Dallas and Los Angeles. Now the health insurance program had to define its purpose more clearly in the face of growing competition for the business of African Americans.

Resource: Academic Case

Topic :

Economic Development, Healthcare, Social Entrepreneurship

Napo Pharmaceuticals

Napo was developing a compound to treat diarrhea while arranging an innovative public-private partnership to distribute it in the developing world. When that partnership proved difficult to arrange, the founder had to decide whether to continue pursuing it.

Resource: Academic Case

Topic :

Social Entrepreneurs: Correcting Market Failures

A new breed of entrepreneurs is prioritizing social impact over the creation of wealth. This video case examines the insights, aspirations, and impact of three leading social entrepreneurs and the challenges they face in distributing products and services in hard-to-reach places. It is meant to be used in conjunction with cases SI72 A and SI72 B.

Resource: Academic Case

Topic :

Economic Development, Environment, Social Entrepreneurship

Waste Concern

Waste Concern in Bangladesh had earned an international reputation for its innovative approach to waste management in Dhaka. The organization needed to consider two opportunities to raise capital for expansion from large foreign firms.

Resource: Academic Case

Topic :

Social Entrepreneurs: Correcting Market Failures (B)

This case, part two in a two-part series, explores the challenge of distribution, particularly for nonprofit entities seeking to bring their products and services to hard-to-reach places around the world.

Resource: Academic Case

Research Papers : All

Topics:

Debt Relief: What Do the Markets Think?

This paper argues that while markets respond favorably to debt relief in countries under the Brady Plan, there is no evidence to suggest that current debt relief efforts for highly indebted poor countries will achieve similar results.

Resource: Research Paper

Topics:

Helping the Poor to Help Themselves: Debt Relief or Aid?

This paper argues that the principal obstacle to investment and growth in the world’s poorest countries is a lack of institutions to provide a foundation for profitable economic activity. If the goal is to help poor countries build the institutions that best suit their development needs, then direct foreign aid, rather than debt relief, is the answer.

Resource: Research Paper

Courses : All

Topic :

Strategic Thinking in Action - In Business and Beyond: STRAMGT 373

This seminar helps participants develop strategically informed action plans that are imaginative, inspiring, and workable in highly dynamic environments. Through informed debate and the writing and presentation of position papers, participants evaluate and hone their views on the seminar's critical themes.

Resource: MBA Course

Topic :

Design for Extreme Affordability: OIT 333/4

Students apply engineering and business skills to design product prototypes, distribution systems, and business plans for entrepreneurial ventures in developing countries. The aim is to address challenges faced by the world's poor.

Resource: MBA Course

Topic :

The International Economy: Policies and Theory: MGTECON 334

This course gives students an understanding of international trade economics, and analyzes the political processes by which international trade policy is determined. It combines lecture and mini-case studies.

Resource: MBA Course

Topic :

Growth and Stabilization in the Global Economy: MGTECON 300

This course gives students the background they need to understand the broad movements in the global economy. Key topics include long-run economic growth, technological change, wage inequality, international trade, interest rates, inflation, exchange rates, and monetary policy.

Resource: MBA Course

Innovators : All

Topic :

Economic Development, Human Rights, Nonprofit Management, Social Entrepreneurship

An interview with Federico Lozano (MBA '09)

Federico Lozano is working to alleviate poverty by connecting poor, semi-skilled laborers from the developing world with jobs in the developed world.

Resource: Fellow

Topic :

Economic Development, Environment, Social Entrepreneurship

An interview with Sam Goldman (MBA '07)

Sam Goldman is bringing cutting-edge technologies to rural families all over the world. His passionate goal is to help them improve their standard of living.

Resource: Alumni

Topic :

Arts, Culture, and Religion, Economic Development, Education, Healthcare, Nonprofit Management, Philanthropy, Responsible Investing, Social Entrepreneurship

An interview with Peter Hero (MBA '66)

Peter Hero has been helping philanthropists make a social impact for two decades. He's now inspiring students to get involved in social entrepreneurship.

Resource: Alumni

Topic :

Economic Development, Education, Nonprofit Management, Philanthropy, Responsible Investing, Social Entrepreneurship

An interview with Katherine Boas

Katherine Boas created the Barefoot MBA curriculum with her classmate Scott Raymond while a student in the Stanford MBA program. Her ambition? To teach the world’s poorest entrepreneurs the basic business skills they need to make better decisions with their microloans.

Resource: Alumni

Topic :

Economic Development, Nonprofit Management, Philanthropy, Responsible Investing, Social Entrepreneurship

An interview with Jessica Jackley (MBA '07)

Jessica Flannery created Kiva to connect lenders to small entrepreneurs without access to financial resources. Her goal? To alleviate poverty.

Resource: Alumni

Topic :

Economic Development, Healthcare

Birth Control Counseling May Reduce AIDS Transmission in Africa, Say Researchers

Family planning counseling could prove to be a cost-effective way to help minimize the number of children born HIV-positive in sub-Saharan Africa, suggests a new study by Medical School researchers, presented this week in Washington, D.C., at the International AIDS Conference.

Resource: News Article

Topic :

Mobile and Branchless Banking

In a country that lacks formal financial services but contains over half a billion cell phone users, two brothers saw a unique opportunity. In this audio interview, Sheela Sethuraman speaks with Abhishek Sinha, co-founder of Eko India Financial Services, about their efforts to lower the barriers for end-consumers in India. As The Tech Awards 2011 laureates of the Flextronics Economic Development Award, Sinha discusses Eko India's breakthrough developments in branchless banking.

You are missing some Flash content that should appear here! Perhaps your browser cannot display it, or maybe it did not initialize correctly.

Resource: Audio

Topic :

Big Business in Bhutan: How the Humble Hazelnut Could Help Bhutan

Mountain Hazelnut of Bhutan has set its sights on a triple bottom line: financial gain for investors, alleviating poverty among farm families, and restoration of an eroded, hilly landscape.

Resource: News Article

Topic :

Global Transitions

Condoleezza Rice discusses political power in Russia, social stability in China, the “essence of democracy,” and “the most surprising place in the world.”

Resource: News Article

Topic :