By Kayla Vestergaard Undeveloped nations have long been overlooked as potential money-making hotspots for large corporations. Recently, more corporations have been recognizing that low-money transfers in poorer areas add fluidity and strength to nations’ economies. Kenya, for instance, rebased its GDP after realizing that slums actually have a much larger Read more…
By Elodie Kwan “Keep making the world better than you found it.” A good friend gave me this note before I left for Kenya. I’ve kept it in my wallet ever since. It’s a daily reminder of why I came to Kenya in the first place, why I chose to Read more…
Impact investing has recently become one of the most utilized methods to effect social change in the developing world. Many organizations worldwide invest in socially minded businesses, with the intention of generating social and financial returns. One such organization is Invested Development, an impact investment Read more…
“Looking back, it was pretty crazy,” Sarah Hodsdon said of her idea to travel to Kenya. The fifth-year senior, majoring in international affairs with a minor in social entrepreneurship, just returned from a leave of absence during which she journeyed around the African country. When asked how she came up Read more…
Formal and dignified employment eludes billions of people around the world, but Samasource, a highly innovative social business, acknowledges the internet as a democratizing and empowering force that can provide dignified work. Samasource connects women and youth earning under $3 a day to microwork: computer-driven piecework conducted over the internet that provides a fair wage and valuable job training skills to the those formerly excluded from the formal sector.
Nele Groosman, a graduate of International Affairs from Northeastern University, started a new job position eleven months ago in Kenya as a Market Research and Impact Assessment Coordinator at the Paradigm Project. The Paradigm Project is a social enterprise whose mission is to create sustainable economic, social and environmental value within developing world communities. They achieve this by selling fuel-efficient improved wood cooking stoves, which improve health, save time and money, empower women, help slow the rate of deforestation, and create jobs.