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 [...]

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 [...]

Here’s your Daily Brief for September 23rd: Cause Marketing: Social Responsibility Is Dead (via GoodWorks) – In this article, Tim Sanders argues that Corporate Social Responsibility (as he defines it) died (or is on life support) in our current economic state. He argues that there is a need to fuse CSR and core business operations [...]

Just a few months ago, Starbucks announced a $20 million Small Farmer Sustainability Initiative (SFSI) to grow the amount of “Fair Trade Certified” coffee that they purchase and invest more in the social and economic development of small-scale coffee farmers. The press release announcing the program reads: The SFSI will allow Starbucks and the Fairtrade [...]

For one month mid-June to mid-July of 2010, 500+ million diehard football/soccer fans will have their eyes fixed on one place: South Africa. The country will be hosting the 2010 FIFA World Cup, and many of us in the development world have been wondering how the event will be used to shed light on Africa’s [...]

I recently published a post on B-Corporations and the role they play in separating the socially responsible businesses from those that simply market themselves a such. “Cause Marketing” is a proven effective technique at creating a more loyal consumer base and earning a competitive advantage. Look at the (RED) Campaign and TOMS Shoes. With a [...]

Here’s your Daily Brief for August 26th: “An idea whose time has come” (via Acumen Fund Blog) – I enjoyed this piece written by Chris Bennett, a rising senior at Stanford and recent participant in Acumen Fund‘s Student Leader Workshop. The Workshop is an awesome opportunity for students to interact with the social capital movement [...]

Here’s your Daily Brief for August 10th: There is a real shift taking place in our world today: a shift toward sustainable, meaning-driven innovation. This shift, however, is without doubt across a generational divide. Our generation, the younger generation, is fed up with the irresponsible short-term driven actions of the 20th century. We continue to [...]