I had an opportunity recently to share an introductory presentation on social intra/entrepreneurship with a class of high school seniors at The Culver Academies on March 10, 2010. These students were sharp and did a great job of outlining the case for “Good Business” at the beginning of the presentation and asked fantastic questions throughout! Despite a few technical glitches (Mac vs. Windows), I think the presentation went very well — all thanks to the students’ awesome participation.

At the risk of being fact-checked, I’ve posted video of my presentation (available exclusively through blip.tv and iTunes this time) as well as the SlideShare of the presentation itself. In fact, I want you to fact-check the presentation and leave your comments on this page!

I know the video is long, but I hope there is some value in it for some readers!

The Presentation Itself:

Videos Embedded in Presentation:

1.) TOMS Shoes

2.) D.Light

3.) VisionSpring

Just a few weeks ago — Feb 11-15th — I had the great opportunity to join fellow social innovators from around the world at the 2010 StartingBloc Social Innovation Institute in Boston. I absolutely love attending events such as this (including GES, SOCAP, The Feast, and the upcoming SVC/SE Conferences). It’s a rare opportunity for like-minded entrepreneurs, intrapreneuers, and social-change enthusiasts to come together and share passions, ideas, and talents/resources. StartingBloc has done a great job recently in carving out a nice market in the field focused on not only students, but young-professionals in the field as well (serving as the middle-ground between GES and SOCAP).

The Institute was broken down into several components: Speakers, a Social Innovation Competition, and an “Ideas Marketplace” pitch competition.

The Speakers

The lineup of speakers included:

Houston Spencer – an inspirational speaker who I unfortunately missed on the first day due to travel failure, but really enjoyed hearing him speak a few days later about unconventional leadership and staying motivated in the field of social change.

Scott Sherman – One of the most excited and energetic people I’ve ever met whose Transformative Action Institute is spreading to colleges and universities across the world “training a new generation of social entrepreneurs, innovators, visionaries, and problem-solvers for the 21st century.” Scott’s presence alone is enough to get you out of your seat and want to change the world, and I had an awesome opportunity to chat with him on the second morning as we took the bus to Tufts.

Bob Tomasko – A professor at American University that I never had the opportunity to meet while I was there, but who is passionate about social enterprise and corporate social responsibility and integrating this into the curriculum. He has an extensive background consulting for companies like Coca-Cola, Ford, Mariott, and Toyota. I can’t wait to continue talking with Bob once I move back to DC!

Corey Szopinski – A social media guru who shared social media strategies for social change. Corey has been involved with developing interactive marketing initiatives for brands among the likes of Coca-Cola, Anheuser Busch, Volkswagon, Virgin Atlantic, and the Nelson Mandela Foundation. His company, Core Industries, brings “award winning interactive marketing to organizations that are leading the green economy and that focus on the triple bottom line: people planet and profit.”

Tom Szaky – An entrepreneur I’ve been hearing a lot of lately — the co-founder of TerraCycle — talked “trash” at StartingBloc. It was actually very interesting hearing him talk about some of the legal challenges TerraCycle has faced in reusing a product like an old Coke bottle as a container for another re-branded product because Coke owns the patent on the shape of the bottle! He shared some interesting insight between “little guy” vs. “big guy” battles that can come with entrepreneurship and the need for legal protections that can support innovation and keep “big guy” companies from holding-up startups in court. Plus, TerraCycle is a very interesting case study of a social startup!

Jeff Chapin – Probably has the coolest job in the world as a “Social Impact Designer” for IDEO. Jeff provided awesome insight into the product design process, particularly BOP-focused design. He shared some projects he’s worked on with IDEO around the world, and I think inspired a lot of to either pursue design-focused careers or at least focus more attention on design approaches to problem solving.

Patrick Meier – A member of the Ushahidi team, Patrick shared an awesome overview of Ushahidi and its involvement in the recovery effort of Haiti. It was really amazing seeing pictures and video “behind the scenes” of the massive volunteer effort of people tracking down information across the web and mapping it on the database. Text messages, tweets, news reports were all dissected to get accurate information to rescue teams on-the-ground. I think everybody in the room was just in awe and inspired by the massive undertaking and work that Ushahidi and the teams of volunteers managed to do in the wake of one of the largest crises of our lifetime (so far).

Dan Pallotta – Author of the book Uncharitable, Dan talked about how the way that we measure and perceive how nonprofits should run dramatically impacts their effectiveness. High overhead and compensation packages are not necessarily bad or signs of corruption — especially when you compare them head-to-head with the budgets and salaries of private-sector companies. We need to move beyond these misconceptions of the social sector and provide them with the tools they need to maximize impact. This involves developing more results-oriented metrics that do not punish charities for running more like businesses. This is something that I’m very interested in and hope to talk more with Dan about.

Colette Stanzler – Building off the need for more results-oriented metrics, Colette shared how her organization — Root Cause — approaches building a social impact market that blends the nonprofit, private, and public sectors through cross-sector partnerships and collaboration. A major part of their work is focused on measuring social impact, identifying successful programs, and spreading and scaling those programs effectively through cross-sector partnerships.

Cheryl Kiser – Cheryl shared her experience as a consultant for businesses’ CSR and sustainability initiatives. She is just now settling into her new role as Managing Director of The Lewis Initiative at Babson College.

Ryan Allis – Co-Founder of iContact, Ryan is actually very much engaged in the concept of social entrepreneurship and CSR. Ryan shared how his company has integrated a 1% Time/Product/Equity/Payroll model for its CSR initiatives. Ryan is somebody to keep your eyes on as an emerging player in the social enterprise space. I’m looking forward to seeing where he goes down the road.

Mindy Lubber – Mindy’s work as the President of Ceres is focused on integrating sustainability into the capital markets, encouraging and helping companies outline and publish sustainability initiatives (and ideally metrics as well). Having recently returned from the World Economic Forum in Davos, she told us how sustainability is becoming a more serious and central issue for business leaders — leading top business executives to attend her session at Davos.

Mitchell Wade – Concluding the Institute, Mitchell left us all with a quote that really resonated: The only change that really matters is that which happens after you leave. This is something that’s so important for us to remember as we build organizations or programs around the world focused on sustainability. From the very beginning we need to be focused on training others to build and grow the organization on their own! It seems like common sense, but you’d be surprised by how often this principle is forgotten.

Social Innovation Competition

One of the conference features was an event called the Social Innovation Competition. It was definitely an innovative way to help fund the institute — using the collaborative power of the fellows to serve as a consultancy to a corporate sponsor. I’m not sure how much I can talk about publicly about the client and the strategy we put together, but we put together a cross between a communications strategy and sustainability initiative for a major US corporation with offices around the world. My team had a blast working on the project, and actually made it to the final round!

Ideas Marketplace

This aspect of the conference allowed anybody to give a 1-minute pitch about their project or something they were passionate about. It was an awesome opportunity to hear everybody talk about their passions and interests! Three finalists were selected to give a longer pitch. Among the finalists were Maria Springer (Kito International) and Leticia Jauregui (CREA).

Final Thoughts

There is a lot of room for StartingBloc to grow as a network of social innovators and as an Institute. It would be nice to see more speakers at a TED-style pace (quick and to the point) as well as more workshops (a la GES).

Where StartingBloc really shines is in attracting an awesome group of fellows that have been vetted through the application process, and developing a strong life-long network connecting like-minded individuals and organizations. This is what attracted me to StartingBloc and was by-far my greatest take-away. As I return to Washington, DC in just a few weeks, I plan on being as active and engaged with this network as possibly by volunteering and helping organize events. Already in the last couple of weeks, I’ve had amazing phone calls and conversations with several fellows. They inspire me with every conversation, and I hope that I can bring some value to their work and their lives. That said, I really look forward to having a continued relationship with the StartingBloc community!

Regular readers of this blog know that Coca-Cola is one of my favorite companies. Here’s an update on what they are up to in Africa:

At Coca-Cola, we believe that the private sector can play a powerful role in reducing poverty – particularly by concentrating on core operations in a profitable but inclusive and responsible way.

In an earlier post, I described our commitment, as part of the Business Call to Action , to grow our network of Manual Distribution Centers – or MDCs – small independently owned businesses that now deliver over 80% of our drinks in the region. Under that commitment, we plan to increase the number of MDCs by up to 2,000 new independent distribution businesses by 2010, creating up to 8.400 new jobs and generating up to US$520 million in new revenues for local economies.

Complementing this project that focuses on our downstream supply chain, I am pleased to announce a further initiative that we will be taking in East Africa around our upstream supply chain.

In partnership with our bottling partner Coca-Cola Sabco, Technoserve and the Gates Foundation, we are launching a four-year $11.5 million initiative that will enable over 50.000 small mango and passion fruit farmers in Uganda and Kenya to increase their productivity and to participate for the first time in our Company and bottling system's supply chain, leading to a doubling of their incomes by 2014.

This initiative is part of our desire to go beyond traditional philanthropic CSR initiatives, important as they are, by leveraging our core business activities and operational expertise to facilitate economic empowerment and entrepreneurship in developing countries, and ultimately to bring about more jobs and more prosperity.

Post written for Business Fights Poverty by Euan Wilmshurst, Manager, International Government Relations, Coca-Cola

via The Coca-Cola Company partners with Gates Foundation and Technoserve in East Africa – Business Fights Poverty.

00:00 – 01:00 Introduction
01:00 – 03:11 About John Kim and Interest in WorldCupCSR
03:11 – 05:37 Creating Sustainable Infrastructure
05:37 – 07:08 How Did You Decide to Explore This Topic Via Blogging?
07:08 – 10:17 Trends and Major Players
10:17 – 12:43 How Are Sponsors Engaging in CSR?
12:43 – 13:31 Nike
13:31 – 15:03 One Goal Campaign
15:03 – 16:20 Nestle
16:20 – 17:07 MTN
17:07 – 19:13 IBM
19:13 – 21:21 ADIDAS
21:21 – 23:07 Do Firms Look At South Africa or Africa as a Viable Market?
23:07 – 24:44 Why Should Companies Engage in CSR / Cause Marketing Efforts Around the World Cup?
24:44 – 26:32 While in The Global Spotlight, What Does South Africa Have to Gain?

This is a video I’ve been excited about doing since I came up with the idea for my podcast! For the last couple of months, John Kim has been blogging and tweeting about Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) around the 2010 World Cup hosted by South Africa. I’ve been following his writing for a while now, and wanted to invite him to talk on the matter — to help give us an overview of what companies are doing in the CSR / Cause Marketing field surrounding the event!

In our discussion, we covered a lot of ground (hence the length of the video!) and some key points came up:

1. Building sustainable infrastructure around the event. Not just environmentally, but economically! Roads, trains, and the like — things that can last beyond the event and serve to drive forward the country’s economy.
2. Aligning CSR initiatives with the company’s brand! And,
3. The precedent that this sets for the Rio Olympics in 2016 — how should companies engage sponsorship, CSR, and cause marketing in a poverty-stricken country? (Less included in the video, maybe a good topic for future discussion after the event!)

What John pointed out to me was a disappointment that the potential for successful CSR campaigns wasn’t being entirely fulfilled. Now, granted, this could be because it is still early (he made sure to note). But he gave an example of how car manufactures like Kia, for example, could be investing in building roads or transportation infrastructure to help garner greater market share — I think it’s brilliant! There is still a lot to be seen!

John is going to be in attendance at the games, so keep an eye on his blog and twitter for updates and more awesome related content!

• WorldCupCSR Blog
• Follow @WorldCupCSR on Twitter

As always, this video is available through the following sites (subscribe, comment, and rate! Oh, and share!):

• YouTube Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3
• Vimeo
• blip.tv
• iTunes

Coca-Cola is a company that I closely follow — their growing focus on sustainability and their global reach and programs in emerging markets really fascinates me. Coca-Cola is sold in 206 countries, has created an amazing distribution network in Africa (giving way to new possibilities like ColaLife), and supports entrepreneurs around the world. More recently, it teamed up with Honest Tea to expand and diversify in the organic beverages and foods market. It’s also one of the most popular topics on this blog, continually bringing in readers from around the world. So I was excited to find this CNBC special that takes a look at the company as a whole. Below, I’ve cut up some video clips that look at Coca-cola in Africa and the Emerging Brands Unit which takes a look at the future of the company:

Segment on Coca-Cola in South Africa

This segment takes a look at Coca-Cola’s South African operations and discusses the role the company plays across the continent and the marketing angle that it takes. Coke is represented in 56 countries and territories across Africa, operating 160 bottling plants on the continent. Success in Africa is deemed critical, as overseas markets make up 80% of global sales. Of all the markets in Africa that Coca-Cola has entered, it has never pulled out. The company, seen as a progressive and loyal partner in South Africa, holds a 90% share of the soda and water market.

Here is the World Cup advert featured in the clip above:

Coca-Cola’s Ventures and Emerging Brands Unit: The Next Big Wave

I mentioned above Coca-Cola’s partnership with Honest Tea; The company’s Ventures and Emerging Brands Unit is tasked with finding the next big trend — which seems right now to be leaning towards organic and healthy foods and beverages. Seth Goldman of Honest Tea has spoken in the past about the challenges for an emerging beverage company to distribute their products. Coca-Cola’s established and expansive distribution network will place it as global leader for bringing up new emerging products and brands.

Catch the entire CNBC special on Hulu

Here’s your Daily Brief for November 17th:

The School for Social Entrepreneurs: Scaling social entrepreneurship (or why many molehills make a mountain) – Many people are talking about “scale” these days – as it pertains to their individual enterprises and social entrepreneurship on the whole. This article presents 5 key points to be considered before focusing too much attention on the scale issue.

Secrets of Successful Social Intrapreneurs: Advice From Three Major Brands (via Triple Pundit) – One of the challenges I’ve come up against is that there aren’t many job positions available that focus directly on sustainability or CSR. This article presents advice from three corporate sustainability leaders on how to create your presence.

Bill Gates’ Plan for Fixing the World (via Mashable) – This post from Mashable takes a look at Bill Gates’ strategy for maximizing the social impact of his attained fortune. Through his foundation he has focused on investing in health and education — core investments that can yield tangible results and have a multiplier effect (healthy children learn better, learned children turn into an educated workforce, etc). This is definitely an interesting article to read.

Take a look at Bill Gates’ TED Talk on Malaria, Mosquitos, and Education (Yes, the one where he unleashed mosquitos on the audience!):

Starbucks launched its (RED) campaign in the U.K. and Ireland this week — donating 5p/5cents for every purchase made with the promotional (RED) Starbucks card. And remember the cool (RED) tumbler? It’ll land you a 25 cent discount every time you use it at the store instead of using the paper cups. The tumbler costs £9.95/€12.00 with £3/€3 being contributed to the Global Fund to help eliminate AIDS in Africa — a much higher donation ratio (25% in €) than the US campaign I reported here which was only 6%.

The program will run through 31 December 2010. Check out the promo video for the launch:

Check out this documentary trailer that takes on some of the tough-hitting questions surrounding the ethics and social responsibility of South Africa’s hosting the 2010 World Cup:

Here’s your Daily Brief for October 19th:

Charlie and the Chocolate Co-Op (via SocialEarth) – I’ve been hearing a lot about chocolate as of late. I’ve written previously about Madecasse and their approach to keeping the entire production value chain in Madagascar where the cocoa beans are farmed. Recently I saw this excellent post on the SocialEarth website about Divine Chocolate and the Kuapa Kokoo coop in Ghana.

World Cocoa Foundation Announces Launch of Cocoa Livelihoods Program in Ghana (via CSRwire) – And then today on CSRwire, I saw this press release announcing the World Cocoa Foundation’s launch of the Cocoa Livelihoods Program in Ghana, funded by the Gates Foundations and 12 chocolate companies.

Activities in Ghana will focus on improving production and quality at the farm level, equipping farmers with business skills, promoting diversification of income, and improving access to inputs and support services. In Ghana, 21 districts in the Ashanti, Eastern, Brong-Ahafo, Western and Central Regions will benefit from the program. Accra will serve as the headquarters for the program.

Cola Life makes the GOOD 100 list! – I was happy to see that one of my favorite up-and-coming non-profits, Cola Life, made the GOOD 100 list put out by Good Magazine. Love the write-up:

There aren’t too many places in the world where you can’t buy a Coke, and that includes some of the remotest parts of developing countries. Coincidentally, that’s often where aid organizations have the hardest time delivering medicine and other supplies. That’s why ColaLife is lobbying the international beverage behemoth to open up its distribution channels for some constructive piggybacking. The nonprofit is working on a wedge-shaped package that can deliver goods in the space between the bottlenecks in a full crate of Coca-Cola, and in partnership with another NGO, it has already performed a successful test of the idea in Tanzania. In its quest for global beverage dominance, Coca-Cola may have inadvertently built the best tool for international aid. You can’t beat that.

The GOOD 100: One Block Off the Grid (via Good) – Another GOOD 100 organizations is the up-and-coming venture One Block Off the Grid (1BOG), which is a venture being backed and supported by the relatively new social enterprise incubator Virgance.

One Block Off the Grid, founded in 2008, brings together groups of people who want to buy solar and walks them through the process together. It solicits bids from different installers, negotiates group discounts, and helps consumers make informed decisions. The service is free—1BOG gets a fixed referral fee from whichever company lands the contract—and consumers get an expert advisor and advocate.

Here’s your Daily Brief for October 12th through October 13th:

Can ‘The Simpsons’ Really Improve Lives in Africa? (via SocialEarth) – This is an awesome look at a startup in Kenya selling “Hand Made African Stone Sculpts” as Simpsons memorabilia. I think it’s awesome what 20th Century Fox saw the social benefit associated with the merchandise and agreed to grant the rights to sell and distribute the products! This is also an awesome opportunity to begin bringing artisans from the informal sector into the formal economy.

The lives of these artisans have drastically improved since the company started. The artisans are paid 450 shillings or $6.50 per statue, which has allowed many workers to put their children to school. But the one the biggest improvements for workers is the regularity of work. Prior to Craft Village, artisans would go for weeks without work, but now there is a steady flow of work for not only the sculptors, but also the miners who dig up the soapstone rocks for carving, and the female assistants.

Did You Know: BMW Has Been In South Africa Since 1968!? – Well it’s true! Since 1968 BMWs have been assembled in Rosslyn, South Africa! If you have a 3 Series, it may very well have come from that plant! Africa Business Source reports that BMW will invest around ZAR 2.2 billion to increase production in SA by 45% from 60,000 to 87,000 cars.

Women in Social Enterprise: Sweta Mangal, CEO “Dial 1298/108 for Ambulance (via Beyond Profit) – The social enterprise magazine Beyond Profit is running an awesome series on “Women in Social Enterprise”. This post takes a look at Sweta Mangal, the CEO of a venture called “Dial 1298/108 for Ambulance”. What I particularly like about this post is that it takes a look at an even larger question that is often asked: What makes a social entrepreneur?

Portfolios of the Poor – a great new book (via Poverty to Power) – One of the keys to BOP business strategy is truly understanding the dynamics of poverty. Duncan Green does a good job of summarizing “Portfolios of the Poor” — an examination of poverty that goes beyond the stereotypes and takes an honest perspective on how the poor manage their money.

Kagame Praises China’s Role in Africa (via BBC) – It’s interesting to see Rwandan President Paul Kagame praising the role China is playing in Africa. I’ve written frequently about this topic (most notably here and here), and I agree with Kagame when he states that Africa needs business investment rather than sympathetic aid.

“The Chinese bring what Africa needs: investment and money for governments and companies,” he told business newspaper Handelsblatt.

“China is investing in infrastructure and building roads,” he said, adding that European and American involvement “has not brought Africa forward”.

But where I strongly disagree with Kagame is that China’s role in Africa is one to be praised. It’s exploitative and does nothing to stimulate local economies. Business investment in African and the whole of the developing world needs to be responsible and ought to seek to promote local economic development.