I am in Miami, meeting some incredibly creative people at a Global Summit sponsored by Ashoka. With over 3000 innovators around the world, and more being added every year, Ashoka nurtures social entrepreneurs who work on solutions to the world's social and environmental problems. Each of Ashoka's "fellows." as they are called, identifies a problem and works on a way to solve it. www.ashoka.org
Here are just two examples:
Nicole Rycroft established Canopy which safeguards the world's forests by harnessing the power of the marketplace to change business practices. Canopy is best known for greening the Harry Potter book series globally. Nicole engages the paper companies' largest customers like book publishers and newspapers like the New York Times to reduce their environmental impact. As she puts it, it's hard to ask a paper company not to cut down a 1600 year old tree, opting for a rapid grower. But, when the paper company's customer raises the issue, it's compelling. www.canopyplanet.org
Felipe Vergara made up a whole new system for student loans by removing the fear of debt. Instead of a traditional loan repayment plan, Felipe's idea requires students to repay a fixed percentage of their income for a fixed number of months after graduation. The student obligation ends at the end of that period regardless of the sum paid. If the student can't get a job, they don't have to be saddled with the debt. If they get a well paying job, they repay the loan. Moreover, Felipe's company, Lumni, operates at a profit. www.lumni.net
Ashoka's founder, Bill Drayton, was honored the previous day at the Kennedy School at Harvard for dedicating his life and career to pursuit of knowledge and serving the public good.
Here are just two examples:
Nicole Rycroft established Canopy which safeguards the world's forests by harnessing the power of the marketplace to change business practices. Canopy is best known for greening the Harry Potter book series globally. Nicole engages the paper companies' largest customers like book publishers and newspapers like the New York Times to reduce their environmental impact. As she puts it, it's hard to ask a paper company not to cut down a 1600 year old tree, opting for a rapid grower. But, when the paper company's customer raises the issue, it's compelling. www.canopyplanet.org
Felipe Vergara made up a whole new system for student loans by removing the fear of debt. Instead of a traditional loan repayment plan, Felipe's idea requires students to repay a fixed percentage of their income for a fixed number of months after graduation. The student obligation ends at the end of that period regardless of the sum paid. If the student can't get a job, they don't have to be saddled with the debt. If they get a well paying job, they repay the loan. Moreover, Felipe's company, Lumni, operates at a profit. www.lumni.net
Ashoka's founder, Bill Drayton, was honored the previous day at the Kennedy School at Harvard for dedicating his life and career to pursuit of knowledge and serving the public good.