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Innovating The Brick-and-Mortar Injustice Infrastructure

Mills Scofield

This week''s post is by Andy Posner , Co-Founder & Executive Director of Capital Good Fund ( CGF ), a non-profit microfinance organization targeting the root causes of poverty through innovative micro-loans and personal financial coaching. Maybe you can help! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.

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Learning from Microfinance's Woes

Harvard Business Review

A few weeks ago, I attended a lecture about microfinance, and got sucker-punched. Expecting to hear a litany of pros and cons about the business, and an exploration of good and bad models, I was instead greeted with a knockout punch: Microfinance doesn't work, at least not in the way we think it does. That's nice.

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Making Microfinance More Effective

Harvard Business Review

A major challenge for international development efforts is determining which financial tools provide durable buffers against such setbacks. The Grameen model of microfinance gained a great deal of attention in the international development field after early data showed that it was associated with high repayment and low default.

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Women as Microfinance Leaders, Not Just Clients

Harvard Business Review

We're a network of microfinance organizations; we exist to share practices and develop the leadership skills required by a sector that has grown up fast. And as you might be aware, microfinance is a phenomenon that, while it did not set out to be "for women," has mainly turned out to be.

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The Innovation Mindset in Action: Shantha Ragunathan

Harvard Business Review

Although she was poor in resources, she possessed the innovation mindset shared by many game changers: they see and act on opportunities , use "and" thinking to resolve tough dilemmas and break through compromises, and employ their resourcefulness to power through obstacles. Hopeless as her situation was, Shantha engaged in "and" thinking.

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Transforming Rural India Through Agricultural Innovation

Harvard Business Review

On my last trip to India, I witnessed an innovation experiment, National Agro Foundation (NAF) , that addresses this wicked problem. Addressing the agriculture value chain—soil testing, facilitation of inputs and credit, market linkage, and field advisory services—is part and parcel of agriculture development initiatives.

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Can Technology End Poverty?

Harvard Business Review

Calling himself the ICT4D jester (using the development jargon for "information and communication technologies for development"), he has no shortage of material. That's easier said than done in a world where most product innovations are geared toward the rich. Grapple with the human dimensions of the problem.