I have to agree with Tom Friedman, author of “The World is Flat” that Endeavor’s model is “the best anti-poverty program of all”.

Endeavor’s goal in a nut shell is: to create as many good jobs in emerging markets as they possibly can. The model is simple: provide high-potential entrepreneurs in emerging countries with everything that Venture Capitalists provide the most innovative entrepreneurs in America - minus the capital.

Endeavor’s “mentor capitalist” model breaks down economic and cultural barriers through rigorous screening and strategic advising from a network of world-class business leaders. With their guidance, 266 Endeavor Entrepreneurs have created 79,000 jobs and generated $1.9 billion in revenues.

It’s ingenious and hands down the best bottom-up strategy that a non-profit can use to leverage free-market capitalism in emerging and developing countries. Endeavor’s model fully embraces the truth that the wealth of nations resides in our minds. The explosion in the world’s wealth is simply a product of man’s innovations - a product of his mind. With that said, capital is of course absolutely essential to scale a company quickly, but to think capital first is not the right paradigm. Capital will follow work ethic and innovative excellence.

As a side note Goldman Sachs just released a white paper on July 7, 2008 - “The Expanding Middle:
The Exploding World Middle Class and Falling Global Inequality” (FT commentary).

(more…)

I’ve written about illiteracy previously and I’m going to expand on this topic today. But before we get into the meat and potatoes of this post, we need to define what illiteracy is.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) defines illiteracy as “the ability to identify, understand, interpret, create, communicate and compute, using printed and written materials associated with varying contexts. Literacy involves a continuum of learning to enable an individual to achieve his or her goals, to develop his or her knowledge and potential, and to participate fully in the wider society.”

Did you know that the global illiteracy rate in 1970 was roughly 37% and today (2008) it is roughly 17%? If the world population today is 6,656,137,011, then this represents roughly 1,131,544,000 people who are considered illiterate. On the positive side, it seems that the world illiteracy rate is declining. On the negative side, we are leaving roughly 1.2 billion people behind in terms of literacy. And, it seems that these 1.2 billion people who are considered illiterate are also the poorest people in the world.

Although world society has managed to decrease illiteracy rates despite a tremendously growing world population, it seems that the we are still leaving a significant amount of people behind. One organization, Room to Read, is making great strides to help the poorest people of the world become literate.

(more…)

John wrote a post about whether or not the U.S. is becoming more or less moral a couple of weeks ago. This post leads one to ask if change needs to happen on the individual level. To a certain extent, I and others I have asked believe it needs to happen on the individual level. However, where does one go for guidance on how to change for a better life when we are surrounded by sensational mass media that leads us astray?

This is where The Foundation for a Better Life comes into the picture. The Foundation for a Better Life is a non-profit based in Colorado that is dedicated to sharing the values that make a difference in our communities. The “Foundation wants to remind individuals they are accountable and empowered with the ability to take responsibility for their lives and to promote a set of values that sees them through their failures and capitalizes on their successes. An individual who takes responsibility for his or her actions will take care of his or her family, job, community, and country.”

(more…)

We all know that non-profits usually ask for donations and spend the money raised to further their mission. The end result is that non-profits have to fundraise each year. However, there is a new trend of non-profits that run for profit businesses to help sustain the organization. (John wrote about this topic in an earlier post.) I would like to expand upon John’s post by examining two specific organizations; the Delancey Street Foundation (DSF) and the Mozilla Foundation.

The Delancey Street Foundation’s mission is to rehabilitate and reintegrate ex-convicts into society. (This is not their official mission statement as I was unable to find it on their website.) What makes the DSF so unique is that they accomplish their mission purely on profit and donations to the organization are a bonus. The DSF has businesses in catering, moving, food services, landscaping, and others. When customers purchase a product or a service from the DSF, they are actually making a donation to the foundation. (As one reviewer on Yelp put it, “I still can’t get over the fact that for 350 bucks I didn’t have to rent a U-Haul, figure out how the hell to get my couch out of the door and down the stairs, and get a tax write-off”.) The foundation then uses the money to rehabilitate ex-convicts. And, the beauty of the model is that the entire organization is run by former criminals who want to be a part of society. Each DSF resident is responsible for their neighbor and teaching them what they need to know in order to be a productive member of society. The DSF has been so successful that Tony Blair visited the San Francisco facility in 2007, which prompted calls for the concept to be introduced in the UK. Read more about Mozilla after the jump.

(more…)

Lights out San Francisco was a tremendous success! You can view a few photos of San Francisco during the “lights out” event. Read the original post about this event.

If you missed the opportunity to turn off your lights on 10/20, you can join America in turning off their lights on March 29.

Disclosure: At the time of the writing of this post, I have no financial relationships with any of the organizations mentioned.
__________________________________
About the Author

Jonathan Chang is interested in new technologies which help individuals and organizations make a positive impact on society and the environment. He is also a proponent of long term thinking, supports the creation of renewable resources, and is an ardent advocate of social entrepreneurship. He is involved with and a member of Net Impact and the Commonwealth Club. (Net Impact is an international nonprofit organization whose mission is to make a positive impact on society by growing and strengthening a community of new leaders who use business to improve the world. The Commonwealth Club is the nation’s oldest and largest public affairs forum which organizes events on topics ranging across politics, culture, society and the economy.) Jon received his MBA from Babson College and his BA from Columbia University.

This is a gentle reminder to turn your lights out tomorrow from 8-9 pm (PST). You can read the original post about this event.

Join the revolution, make a statement by turning off your lights, and let politicians know that energy conservation is important.

Disclosure: At the time of the writing of this post, I have no financial relationships with any of the organizations mentioned.
__________________________________
About the Author

Jonathan Chang is interested in new technologies which help individuals and organizations make a positive impact on society and the environment. He is also a proponent of long term thinking, supports the creation of renewable resources, and is an ardent advocate of social entrepreneurship. He is involved with and a member of Net Impact and the Commonwealth Club. (Net Impact is an international nonprofit organization whose mission is to make a positive impact on society by growing and strengthening a community of new leaders who use business to improve the world. The Commonwealth Club is the nation’s oldest and largest public affairs forum which organizes events on topics ranging across politics, culture, society and the economy.) Jon received his MBA from Babson College and his BA from Columbia University.