“Making Ideas Move” at ComNet 2015

Posted on October 19, 2015October 31, 2018 by Case Foundation

More than 500 social sector communications professionals from foundations and organizations across the globe gathered this month for engaging dialogues on using the power of digital storytelling to drive social impact, demystifying design and the making of movements. They joined together for the Communications Network conference in San Diego themed “Making Ideas Move.” Fellow communicators from organizations like the Ford Foundation, Grantmakers for Effective Organizations, Carnegie Corporation of New York, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Center for American Progress, Rockefeller Foundation, World Wildlife Fund, ONE Campaign and many others trekked to sunny California for the two-day learning event.

Here are highlights from two of the sessions that I participated in over the course of the convening and takeaways on how to move ideas forward, by making big bets and failing forward.

Fireside Chat with Soledad O’BrienI had the pleasure of joining Soledad O’Brien, one of the most well respected working journalists of our time, on stage for a fireside discussion on opening day. Our talk included a discussion on: the changing dynamics of news agencies; the rise of Millennials and how they are consuming news; and her launch of Starfish Media Group. A multi-platform media production and distribution company, Starfish Media Group is dedicated to uncovering and producing empowering stories that take a challenging look at the often divisive issues of race, class, wealth, poverty and opportunity. O’Brien produces two hit series “Black in America” and “Latino in America,” which are among CNN’s most successful domestic and international franchises.
O’Brien also created the Starfish Foundation, an organization that sends young women to and through college. The organization has supported dozens of young women in their educational pursuits, believing that they too can succeed when faced with difficult circumstances. In her book, The Next Big Story: My Journey through the land of possibilities, O’Brien shares valuable lessons and insights into her journalistic career, many of which we discussed during our time on stage.

“My storytelling is an exploration of the world’s problems—that people have the potential to do good and make good and seize from the bad if they will only make a choice to do it,” she noted. O’Brien also shared her lessons on failure with the audience, saying, “Making mistakes should be about learning lessons, not wallowing in failure.” You can watch the complete interview, below (beginning at 14:55):

https://vimeo.com/142297055

“You’ve Got the “Big Idea”, How the Heck Do You Execute It?”I also joined the panel discussion “You’ve Got the “Big Idea,” How the Heck Do You Execute It?” with Kate Emanuel of the Ad Council, Alex Kennaugh of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and Amy Levner of KaBOOM! We shared with attendees how communications can turn big, audacious goals into a tangible, executable and measurable strategy—that doesn’t take years to achieve—and how to use smart research to achieve those goals.
Case in point, NRDC aims to combat food waste in the U.S., where 40 percent of food goes uneaten equating to more than $165 billion in wasted food each year. Kennaugh explained how the NRDC published an essential guide called the Waste-Free Kitchen Handbook, packed with “engaging shopping checklists, creative recipes, practical strategies and educational infographics” offering an easy ways to save food and money. Meanwhile, Levner explained how research confirms that play—physically active, imaginative and interactive play—is a powerful, healthy living solution that benefits the whole child. KaBOOM! has teamed up with the 50 Fund and the NFL Foundation to support nine counties of the Bay Area alone, helping to transform sidewalks and spaces that encourage activity.

I look forward to joining Communications Network in 2016 as they head to Detroit and gather social sector leaders from foundations and nonprofits who share the belief that big ideas, coupled with smart and strategic communications, have the power to transform society, improve lives and change the world.

Economic Mobility: What Can We Do?

Posted on October 15, 2015October 31, 2018 by Case Foundation

Economic mobility is defined as the ability of an individual, family or some other group to improve (or lower) their economic status. This term has been featured more and more frequently in recent reports about education, employment, criminal justice and political institutions, and for good reason. According to recent research like the Pew Charitable Trust’s Economic Mobility Project, “the ability to move up the economic ladder from one generation to the next is more limited in the United States than many think.” In his recent novel, Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis, Robert Putnam explains the correlation between the growing opportunity gap, another highly discussed topic, and stagnant economic mobility and the devastating effects it has had in declining American neighborhoods since the 1970s.

Last month, Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy (EPIP) and the Case Foundation brought together multi-sector representatives to lead a conversation on this very topic. Given current reporting and statistics, the problem of economic mobility can seem insurmountable, but we wanted to focus on action-oriented opportunities. Our goal was to identify how organizations can start chipping away at some of the large and small elements of this growing problem of increasing inequality in social and economic opportunity.

So what did we learn?

Sarah Koch, senior director of Social Innovation at the Case Foundation; guest speaker Christopher Upperman, senior advisor at the U.S. Small Business Administration; and the EPIP members had a lively discussion about one particular opportunity gaining traction in communities across the country—the development of pathways to entrepreneurship. Three major themes surfaced over the course of the discussion on small business ownership and entrepreneurship, including: multi-sector, multi-lingual partnerships; examples of success that represent diverse demographics; and easier access to resources like startup capital.

Multi-Sector, Multi-Lingual Trust Building

Both Koch and Upperman stressed the importance of community-centric collaboration to implement strong entrepreneurial ecosystems. Together, the group addressed the reality that cross-sector partnerships are not easy to develop; however, for government and philanthropic efforts to be effective, local organizations are vital. Community organizations speak the language of the city and of the neighborhoods, and they bring credibility and community trust to programs. Koch specifically cited the dangers of only working from a perspective of privilege, which came up when evaluating some of the risks associated with small business ownership—loan default and loss of savings, both of which have very different implications depending on your socio-economic status. This point in the conversation reaffirmed the importance of including the voices of local organizations in philanthropic efforts.

Filling the Resource Gap

At age 18, Upperman started his own business, a communications company in Atlanta, GA. He achieved short-term success, but admits that his team lacked the management skills to sustain a business. This experience fuels his work at SBA with Millennials and young people of color because he understands what new entrepreneurs need to get from idea to launch to sustainability. For example, many new entrepreneurs’ initial funding comes from small business loans and friends and family. Meaning, if you don’t qualify for credit and have a low-income network, you can’t access this traditional startup capital—putting you behind before you even begin. So he is driven to connect these entrepreneurs to stronger capital and infrastructure resources.

Upperman mentioned some of SBA’s efforts aimed at filling these gaps, including work with local organizations and institutions like banks, community development financial institutions (CDFIs), universities, chambers of commerce and other nonprofits to help entrepreneurs access small business loans and financial and credit literacy training. These resources prepare new entrepreneurs to manage their businesses responsibly for greater longevity, providing the kinds of opportunities that Upperman, himself, lacked as a young entrepreneur.

The Need for Inspiration

Beyond capital and infrastructure, underrepresented groups often lack positive influence from relatable stories of inspiration. Upperman pointed out that right now most young people of color from poor backgrounds couldn’t identify a prominent success story involving a person that looks like them. These stories are hugely important in creating visions for their own success as entrepreneurs, or in any other field. Compared with the frequency and regularity that affluent young people engage with relatable “hero” images or success stories, lower-income youth of color are largely at a disadvantage. This gap presents an opportunity for both more investments and more reporting on entrepreneurs from a wider range of backgrounds.

It was exciting to see, over the course of the discussion, the number of new philanthropists who are prioritizing economic mobility issues in their approach to work. We were happy to engage in a discussion of how to take action on this very persistent social problem. Many of the themes that surfaced during the conversation are highly relevant beyond a mission of increasing access to entrepreneurship. For any philanthropic, government, nonprofit or cross-sector program focused on economic empowerment in an underserved community there is value in speaking the community’s language, improving the representation of demographically relevant examples of success and increasing access to capital and other supportive resources.

We at the Foundation are inspired by the agility and creativity of entrepreneurs and are dedicated to creating greater inclusivity in the dream of business ownership. For more information on our efforts to level the playing field for all entrepreneurs check out our page on Inclusive Entrepreneurship.

If you are interested in learning more about economic mobility and the opportunity gap, here is a short list of resources:

Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis – Robert Putnam
The Roots of the Widening Racial Wealth Gap: Explaining the Black-White Economic Divide – Institute on Assets and Social Policy
Equality of Opportunity Project – Harvard University
A Place at the Table – Magnolia Home Entertainment

Be Fearless Spotlight: Krochet Kids intl.

Posted on October 14, 2015October 31, 2018 by Case Foundation

This Spotlight is authored by guest writer Caitlin Kelly as part of a special blog series by the Case Foundation featuring Be Fearless stories from the field. Follow along with us as we meet people and learn about organizations that are taking risks, being bold and failing forward in their efforts to create transformative change in the social sector.

The affluent shoppers in upscale stores like Nordstorm, Whole Foods, Anthropologie or Canada’s Holt Renfrew may not realize that the backpacks, baby booties, wool scarves and T-shirts they’re buying are employing 175 women in Uganda and Peru.

For Kohl Crecelius, CEO and co-founder of Krochet Kids intl., a seven-year-old nonprofit based in Costa Mesa, CA, the focus is training workers in new skills they can eventually use on their own—not simply hitting his firm’s production numbers, or making sure there’s enough inventory.

That’s what makes Krochet Kids intl. so fearless—their willingness to make a wager. “We’re in the process of making a big bet that people will truly care about how our products are made,” says Crecelius.

While many organizations focus on teaching skills, Krochet Kids intl.’s approach is riskier and embodies the notion of fearlessness by making sure their clients will eventually leave Krochet Kids, often to open a wholly different sort of business on their own.

That’s fine with Crecelius. His longer-term goal is to teach entrepreneurial values and skills, no matter how they’re eventually put to use. “What we saw far too much of when we were creating Krochet Kids intl. was a cycle of dependency. Hundreds of aid organizations focus on short-term need, but not on equipping their clients to be self-reliant individuals.” So far, the program has graduated 50 women into their own businesses.

Like many working in the nonprofit field, he was first inspired by his own travels, the aid work he witnessed in Uganda spurring him to experiment and create a different model. “I saw how short-sighted that was and how it needed to be done differently. The women I met wanted to work and to be capable of changing their own circumstances,” he says.

Crecelius’ brother had learned to crochet while attending college in San Diego, CA, a skill he passed on and which they decided might be a skill useful to women in northern Uganda, where they started with 10 workers. This realization sparked the creation of Krochet Kids intl., and over the course of the last eight years Crecelius’ big idea has been refined through experimentation and a series of unlikely partnerships.

His ethos informs how Krochet Kids intl. combines running an apparel company with a larger, long-term goal of teaching its workers the skills they need to eventually leave and run their own businesses. Their program gives the women a three-to-five-year commitment of consistent employment at a set wage based on piecework, a three-year educational curriculum that includes literacy, numeracy and financial planning and one-on-one mentorship.

That long-term commitment is essential because, like many such organizations, they work within a larger cultural context, one in which women are often more highly valued for keeping their labor within the family for its benefit. That requires its own sort of fearlessness on the part of their women workers; the women who choose to work with Krochet Kids intl. need to know that other income they may be giving up will be consistently replaced for several years—their families rely on it.

Working with local in-country partners, Krochet Kids intl. aims to break the cycle of poverty through rigorous and ongoing measurement of its impact. Every month, they track 45 indicators of progress across six areas: economic health, educational progress, physical health, social well-being, psychological well-being and spiritual well-being. Local social workers act as mentors to the women, insuring they can count on ongoing personal support.

“One of the questions we ask the women is ‘What are your perceptions of poverty?’ ranking their answers from 1, (the depths of poverty) to 10, (feeling completely free of it),” says Crecelius. “All the way through, we see a trend towards them having more confidence.”

Their metrics also indicate that the women they employ enjoy incomes 10 times higher than before, savings 25 times higher and—crucially for women earning good local wages—are 40 percent less likely to suffer from domestic violence. They are 25 percent more likely to participate in major family decisions, and their children are eight times more likely to attend high school.

“Impact is results, not action,” he says. “We have chosen to put impact first, through offering jobs, education and mentorship. That’s one of our main differentiators, that we’re a nonprofit and we have led with impact.”

The two regions they work with are culturally and economically very different—rural northern Uganda and the outskirts of a major city, Lima, Peru. Local churches, government agencies and local staff make home visits to find and select women who most need to learn new skills and boost their incomes. In Uganda, the attrition rate is less than two percent because they work in rural areas with few other competitors for labor. That rate is higher in Peru, which has a higher rate of transience and many more employment options available there to urban women. When the women leave, however, they may choose to use their new business skills and confidence beyond apparel production, like buying a motorcycle and renting it out as a taxi, or purchasing a piece of land and farming it.

The women now also make a much wider array of products, from T-shirts to backpacks, which “helps to smooth out seasonality from a business perspective,” Crecelius explains. “Our whole premise is based on a lot of risks—like, who makes headwear out of sub-Saharan Africa?” Yet product sales today bring in 80 percent of the group’s revenue.

An unlikely bet in 2012, fueled by urgency and a potentially huge win, meant heading briefly in an unusual and unlikely direction. The “most nerve-wracking night of my life” came for Crecelius then as he waited to learn the winners of a competition created by Chase Bank’s American Giving Awards whose top prize was $1 million. Krochet Kids intl. won second prize—taking home $500,000, which they used to create a new sewing floor in Peru. The contest, he admits “was not merit-based. It was a popularity contest,” but the potential gain was great enough that “we just shut down and went all hands on deck,” gaining “millions of impressions” on Facebook and other social media sites.

His business model also includes partnering with a wide range of others, from sneaker manufacturer Vans—using Krochet Kids intl.’s Peruvian fabric—and the consumer products distributor Birchbox, to VSCO, a photo-sharing app. “They’ve allowed us to reach unique and specific audiences,” he says. “Partnership is a two-way street and we’ve realized the amount we have to offer. It’s a really beautiful thing. It’s a win-win.”

Feeling inspired? If you’re ready to begin your own Be Fearless journey start by downloading our free Be Fearless Action Guide and Case Studies.

Women’s Venture Xchange-Africa: Expanding Women-led Businesses in Africa

Posted on October 13, 2015October 31, 2018 by Case Foundation

Global Entrepreneurship Network is now accepting applications for Women’s Venture Xchange-Africa!

This year’s Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES) in Nairobi, Kenya put a spotlight on the rising stars of entrepreneurship and the burgeoning entrepreneurial ecosystem in Africa. The summit showed how the people and companies of Africa are ripe for real financial investment to grow their businesses, strengthen their communities and provide solutions for some of the world’s most pressing problems. The Case Foundation was honored to join GES and get a first hand look at the individuals, communities, policies and programs driving competitive and novel business ideas to scale. And we were particularly honored to pivot the main spotlight to shine on women entrepreneurs and the economic and business case for investing in their success.

Part of that spotlight includes a new partnership with the Women’s Venture Xchange-Africa (WVXA), a pilot launched at the Summit with Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN), the Mara Foundation and U.S. Department of State, WVXA will provide four African women entrepreneurs the opportunity to scale their business through access to strong mentorship and capital networks in Nairobi. The program is designed to help established women-owned businesses expand beyond the borders of their own countries—gaining access to new regional markets, research and insights into best practices.

The entrepreneurs will be selected based on their company’s likelihood of successful regional expansion, the business’s growth stage, the uniqueness of the concept and their professional ambitions for their time in Nairobi. WVXA will be focused on drawing entrepreneurs who have established their businesses locally and are poised for cross-border expansion within East Africa.

We look forward to seeing the results of the first cohort of entrepreneurs and building upon the evidence base from our own work in driving more inclusive entrepreneurship – entrepreneurship that is more inclusive of under-represented groups, more inclusive of under-leveraged places and more inclusive of businesses that shoot for financial AND social impact returns. We are thrilled to see the belief in the power of entrepreneurship continue to thrive in every corner of the world, and look forward to seeing how WVXA unlocks the huge potential in the four women entrepreneurs selected to participate this year.

For more information or to apply to the WVXA program visit the Global Entrepreneurship Week website. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis until October 23, 2015. Stay tuned for more updates as the application and selection process develop!

Social Entrepreneurs Win $1M in Prizes at Forbes Under 30 Summit

Posted on October 9, 2015October 31, 2018 by Case Foundation

This post was contributed by Heather Wise, intern at the Case Foundation.

The Case Foundation recently teamed up with Forbes and several other leading organizations committed to supporting social sector change to host the Forbes Under 30 Change the World Competition, the largest-ever competition for young social entrepreneurs leading both nonprofit and for-profit organizations. More than 2,500 young social entrepreneurs from around the world entered the Change the World Competition and shared with us their disruptive and scalable ideas.

After reviewing the submissions, organizers chose six finalists—who would each receive $100,000—and who would advance to participate in a special pitch competition on stage at the Forbes Under 30 Summit for the chance to win an additional $400,000 in prizes.

This past Tuesday, the finalists took the stage to present their fearless ideas aimed at tackling chronic challenges in the areas of education, extreme poverty, sustainability, global health and other complex global issues. Competing in front of an audience of 1,500 thought leaders, influencers and game changers, the finalists pitched captivating plans in the hope of winning over the judges, which included: Hugh Evans (Founder, The Global Poverty Project), Mike Perlis (CEO, Forbes Media) and Lynn Taliento (Principal, McKinsey and Company). The judges noted that they were looking for ideas that could not only potentially solve problems, but that were also scalable, realistic and world changing.

Kiah Williams, the 29-year-old co-founder of SIRUM, won the grand prize. SIRUM’s co-founders have built a platform for matching unopened, unexpired surplus medication to people in need. So far, with a staff of only five people, they have distributed $4.7 million worth of prescription medications by collecting unexpired medications from pharmacies, hospitals and nursing homes where patients no longer needed them. How do they plan on using their winnings? They intend to scale up so that by 2019, they will have a network of 1,000 donor organizations that are donating a total of $19 million worth of drugs.

SIRUM was the big winner of the competition but the other five finalists proved to be exceptional as well and will be able to use this competition as a springboard for other great opportunities:

Daniel Yu, 22, Reliefwatch– works with health centers in the developing world to manage inventory using simple mobile phone technology.

Amara Humphry, 27, Gooru– Non-profit that helps teachers and students improve educational outcomes through a free data and tech-enabled personalization website.

Govinda Upadhyay, 27, LEDsafari– distributes cheap solar LED lamp kits so kids in developing countries can both learn about physics and have an electric light to study with.

Paul Duan, 23, Bayes Impact– uses big data to help governments and non-profit organizations operate more efficiently.

Heather Concannon and Elizabeth Nguyen, 27, Unitarian Universalist Community Cooperatives– Co-founders of an organization that runs the Lucy Stone Co-Op house in Roxbury, Massachusetts.

The Case Foundation was proud to sponsor this event alongside Forbes, the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation, the Pratt Foundation, the Keywell Foundation, Echoing Green through a grant from the John Templeton Foundation and entrepreneur Bob Duggan in an effort to support next generation social entrepreneurs. To learn more about the Forbes Competition, check out this blog post by Jean Case in which we announce the finalists and highlight some of the ideas submitted that captured our imagination.

A New Generation of Social Entrepreneurs

Posted on September 21, 2015October 31, 2018 by Case Foundation

Earlier this summer, the Case Foundation teamed up with Forbes and several other leading changemaking organizations to put out a call for the world’s most innovative social entrepreneurs under the age of 30 who are changing the world with their groundbreaking ideas. More than 2,500 of them answered and shared with us their disruptive and scalable ideas in the hopes of winning the Forbes Under 30 $1 Million Change the World Competition.

From this talented pool of both for-profit and nonprofit organizations, six finalists were chosen. Each of the finalists represents a bold new idea that has the potential to catalyze solutions in the areas of education, extreme poverty, sustainability, global health and other pressing social problems.

It is awe-inspiring to see what this gifted group of changemakers from all around the world is bringing to life. Determined to tackle the world’s most difficult and chronic challenges, these bright young social entrepreneurs are forging new solutions and creating meaningful impact along the way.

Meet our six finalists and learn about their organizations:

Amara Humphry, Gooru: Humphry, age 27, co-founded Gooru, which helps students in underserved communities where there is a lack of support and limited resources both at home and in the classroom. The Redwood City, CA, based organization provides students with access to crowd-sourced courses, as well as actionable data, enabling immediate insight into their strengths and weaknesses related to learning. Gooru is free and open to anyone, and is currently focused on serving California public schools and planning on expanding to the rest of the US and to the world.

Daniel Yu, Reliefwatch: Yu, age 22, founded Reliefwatch, which provides stock level data for organizations in the developing world. The Chicago, IL, based company uses basic mobile phones for inventory management, overcoming the need for computers or Internet access. Medical stock outs and expirations are a pervasive problem across the developing world, impacting more than $4 billion dollars of medical aid each year. The Reliefwatch platform creates transparency, allowing organizations to prevent stock outs and track expiration dates. Reliefwatch’s platform reduced wasted medication by 90 percent while working with Global Brigades in Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama.

Govinda Upadhyay, LEDsafari: Upadhyay, age 27, founded LEDsafari, a Switzerland-based organization which provides low cost solar LED lamp kits for secondary school students in un-electrified areas of developing countries, enabling children to make and use their own lamps. LEDsafari’s instructions allow for the complete understanding of the physics behind the circuit and the design process. As the penetration of smartphones is increasing, LEDsafari is developing an app that students can use to measure their own impact.

Heather Concannon and Elizabeth Nguyen, Unitarian Universalist Community Cooperatives: These two 27-year-old clergy members co-founded the Roxbury, MA, based Unitarian Universalist Community Cooperatives. The organization offers cooperatively-owned affordable housing communities and opportunities for individual investors or organizations who value cooperation, and justice, but who struggle to find places to invest their money in ways that reflect their values.

Kiah Williams, SIRUM (Supporting Initiatives to Redistribute Unused Medicine): Williams, age 29, co-founded SIRUM, an online platform that provides life-saving medications to low-income people. Based in Stanford, CA, SIRUM taps into a new source of medications: unopened, unexpired surplus that would have been destroyed. The company leverages technology to identify surplus medications at institutions like nursing homes and pharmacies, find a matching need and then ship the medications directly to safety-net clinics that serve low-income populations.

Paul Duan, Bayes Impact: Duan, age 23, founded Bayes Impact, which provides technology solutions for improving critical social services around the world. Incubated at Y Combinator, the San Francisco, CA, based Bayes Impact brings data science solutions to governments that have never had access to them before.

These organizations will advance and compete on-stage at the Forbes Under 30 Summit in Philadelphia on October 6, 2015—where more than 2,000 of the world’s top young entrepreneurs and game changers, as well as world-class mentors will come together to celebrate the next generation of leaders. Each of the finalists will receive $100,000 in awards and the overall winner will walk away with an additional $400,000 in awards. Finalists will also be invited to participate in the Forbes Under 30 Impact Lab—an afternoon during which the attendees at the Under 30 Summit will work with challenge finalists to help them solve problems and accelerate their growth.

Through its global brand and trendsetting reputation, Forbes is actively lifting up the next generation of talented makers and movers. For these finalists, participation in the Change the World competition can provide an important spotlight on their work, as well as access to networks and resources that may ultimately help advance their social enterprises and bring them one step closer to sustainably scaling their ideas. It is our passionate belief at the Case Foundation that this new generation of changemakers holds tremendous promise for building a better world, and it is the reason we are so pleased to sponsor this important competition.

Given this, I would be remiss if I stopped there and only highlighted these six finalists. Indeed, in the review of the 2,500 applicants there were numerous, exciting examples of young leaders with bright, innovative ideas that can change the world. While six may be recognized here today, and one will win this competition, my hope is that this challenge will not only inspire those with big ideas to make them a reality, but also encourage those looking to mentor, fund or champion a next gen changemaker to take action.

Looking for a way to get started? Check out a few of the other revolutionary ideas submitted for the competition that inspired us:

1DocWay provides a platform that enables Americans in remote or underserved areas to access psychiatric care. 1DocWay brings doctors to communities they were not providing care in otherwise through telemedicine, potentially serving millions.

Eko Devices provides the first smartphone-connected stethoscope that integrates with a patient electronic health record for clinicians. Clinicians are helped with diagnosing heart sounds and are able to record, save and analyze them.

LuminAID makes sustainable and space-efficient solar lights that pack flat and inflate into lightweight, waterproof lanterns ideal for disaster relief and more. The portable, waterproof, solar lights are also useful for families living without access to reliable electricity, and LuminAID’s Give Light Program lets anyone contribute to providing sustainable light.

MetaMixis provides biological tools for chemicals and materials producers; to help them transition from petroleum products to biomass (plants and waste). The company has developed a rapid discovery platform that combines biology, computation and automation to harness solutions from nature.

Ensibuuko Tech Limited provides the means for Savings and Credit Cooperative Societies (SACCOS) and credit unions to grow and scale rapidly as they reach underserved communities in Uganda. Ensibuuko provides a customized mobile banking software for SACCOS that improves how these institutions manage data and makes possible the use of mobile banking to make financial services accessible anytime.

Kinvolved provides mobile and web apps that enable instant SMS and email communication between teachers and parents of kids in disadvantaged schools. Kinvolved’s technology and coaching improves family engagement through more efficient and effective communication, which has been proven to increase student attendance.

LearnLux provides educated customers for financial institutions. LearnLux educates Millennials for free through an online personal finance hub and connects them to financial institutions able to help them grow and manage their money.

Soko is creating ethical fast fashion and providing sustainable income to artisans in emerging markets. Soko’s virtual factory provides artisans with market research, mobile enterprise tools and an online marketplace to sell their products to a global customer base.

Universidad Mexicana de Innovacion en Negocios (UMIN) provides the best-applied and theoretical education to the Mexican and broader Latin American population. UMIN provides affordable high-quality education to Mexican and Latin American students that combines theory and practice—so that students are more prepared to secure full-time employment when they graduate.

Check back after October 6th to find out which organization won the competition!

The Case Foundation is proud to sponsor this competition alongside: Forbes; the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation; the Pratt Foundation; the Keywell Foundation; Echoing Green through a grant from the John Templeton Foundation; and entrepreneur Bob Duggan.

Breaking Down the Barriers for Women Entrepreneurs

Posted on September 1, 2015October 31, 2018 by Case Foundation

This post was contributed by Aaron Coleman, intern at the Case Foundation.

When she was only 22 years old, U.S. Marine Ramona Pierson was hit by drunk driver. The accident put her into a coma for 18 months. When she awoke, she weighed 64 pounds was bald, blind and couldn’t move nor speak. Through her grit and determination, Pierson fought her way back–learning once again how to breathe, walk and talk. Her journey of learning how to live again inspired her to found the personal learning tech startup Declara. In only three years, Declara has grown to 65 employees, attracted $32.5 million in funding and even impressed the President of the United States.

Pierson’s story runs against many of the implicit biases women entrepreneurs face. “They are unambitious, they are afraid of risk, they bring in less returns.” These are words we hear echoing in conversations around the world and they reflect an implicit bias against women as entrepreneurs—who in reality are just as ambitious, eager and creative as their male counterparts. As the recent Kauffman Foundation’s Entrepreneurship Policy Digest report succinctly states, “research shows that women make great entrepreneurs.” The Kauffman Foundation’s report follows both the disparities and the opportunities surrounding women entrepreneurs, concluding, that while they “remain underrepresented among the ranks of entrepreneurs” the facts show that “women entrepreneurs are key to accelerating growth.”

Here at the Case Foundation we too believe in the power and potential of women in business, and are committed to leveling the playing field for underrepresented communities. We are inspired by Pierson’s story and the prospect of so many more like her. To help organizations get involved with supporting women entrepreneurs, we have included Kauffman’s top five policy recommendations below.

Top Five Policy Recommendations to Support Women Entrepreneurs

Develop and Report Metrics for Entrepreneurship Programs and Initiatives: To understand how entrepreneurship programming serves women, attendance, participation, drop off rates and entrepreneurial outcomes should be collected and reported by gender. Armed with this information, program coordinators and funders can make adjustments to better assist women entrepreneurs.

Increase the Number of Women Represented in Entrepreneurship Programs: When women are leaders at organizations that support entrepreneurs, they can help develop gender inclusive events that attract women entrepreneurs, as well as use their networks to help women entrepreneurs access mentors and financial capital. And in order to level the playing field for women, they need to be included and have equal representation in successful on-ramps for entrepreneurs.

Increase Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Funding to Women-owned Businesses: In 2012, only 15 percent of SBIR awards went to women-owned businesses. Federal agencies should continue to increase awareness of the availability of these awards by partnering with women’s professional organizations and unifying outreach efforts to women entrepreneurs.

Celebrate Successful Women Entrepreneurs: Stories of entrepreneurial success tend to be male-dominated. Government leaders can help deconstruct the false narrative that only men are successful entrepreneurs by lifting up stories of successful women entrepreneurs.

Decrease the Risk of Becoming an Entrepreneur: Explore how various policies can help alleviate pressures and risks facing women, particularly those with young families, that can deter them from entrepreneurial ventures. For example, policymakers should examine whether subsidized child care or preschool could create a stronger environment for entrepreneurship.

Want to learn more about how to support women entrepreneurs? Read the Kauffman Foundation study in its entirety and join the conversation on Twitter with the hashtag #Ent4All.

How Millennials are Driving the Future of Social Entrepreneurship

Posted on August 20, 2015October 31, 2018 by Case Foundation

Editors note: Entries for the competition described below are now closed.

Social entrepreneurship is the next generation’s secret weapon for tackling chronic social challenges and creating the change they want to see. What do they know that many others have yet to realize? As Jean Case, CEO of the Case Foundation notes, “Like other young generations before them, they are idealistic, but what sets this generation apart is that they are turning their idealism into action.” Millennials after all are known for their collective ability to pave their own pathways, create new solutions to old problems and advance the issues about which they feel passionate—in order to foster meaningful impact on a scale unlike anything we’ve ever seen.

To help catalyze this growing movement, the Case Foundation is proud to join Forbes and several leading foundations and entrepreneurs in the Forbes $1 million Change the World competition. We are looking for for-profit and nonprofit leaders from around the world (under the age of 30) who have disruptive and scalable ideas with the potential to change the world. If that sounds like you or someone you know we encourage you to apply before August 26!

To really understand what makes next gen social entrepreneurs special I talked with a 2015 Forbes 30 Under 30 awardee, Fagan Harris, CEO and President of Baltimore Corps. As a recognized changemaker Harris is actively changing the way we think about leadership and professional development. Through the work of Baltimore Corps, his team is cultivating the next generation of social impact leaders by placing talented young professionals at organizations that are at the forefront of social change. His team is transforming the city of Baltimore—one fellow at a time. Harris is also a passionate evangelist for Baltimore and is proud to work every day strengthening America’s “greatest city.”

What makes the next gen—under age 30—uniquely positioned to create transformative change in today’s world? What do they know that others don’t?

Harris: Apart from perhaps the rise of the middle class in China, the coming of age of the Millennial Generation is the biggest activation of talent anywhere on Earth. For the first time in decades, Baby Boomers have been surpassed in numbers by a younger generation—a generation that I think is defined by its ambition, interconnectedness and deep eagerness to engage in solving important problems.

I think both as a product of technology and of their immense talent, Millennials have tremendous options. If they aren’t happy in their roles or if their skills are not being fully utilized, this generation is particularly savvy in its ability to pivot and seek out new opportunities. The dream of working for a single employer for one’s entire career is a thing of the past. I think a product of that fluidity and wealth of options is that Millennials are more active in seeking out work that is highly meaningful to them, and that often translates to cause-driven work.

It is something of a perfect storm. You have a huge population of people that is highly mobile, extremely capable and deeply values-driven. And they’re up for grabs. Whatever cities, causes and industries can secure Millennials as they develop and plant roots will be in an amazing position to succeed.

What is the biggest obstacle or challenge facing Millennial social entrepreneurs today that keeps them from ultimate success?

Harris: Our biggest obstacle was our own mentality: our mistake was waiting to grow our team. Our initial philosophy was to establish the model, grow slowly and gradually expand our capacity. While it is certainly necessary to grow at an intentional rate, and there is security in gradual expansion, our greatest limiting factor by far was our hesitation to invest in and grow our staff. One of the most important lessons we learned in the early-goings of our organization’s life cycle was that our team is the single greatest investment we can make in our future—that the expansion of our core team doesn’t depend on the capacity we’ve built, but rather our ability to expand our capacity depends on the contributors we add. There will likely be times when you don’t feel ready to make the leap, but it may be the most important thing your organization can do.

What advice do you have for the next gen applicants to the Forbes Under 30 $1 Million Change the World Competition?

Harris: Be bold, take risks, don’t be afraid to fail, and if you know your idea can change the world, be ready to prove it.

Are you a social entrepreneur ready to prove you can change the world? Enter the Forbes Under 30 $1 million Change the World Competition by August 26!

Celebrating Inclusive Entrepreneurship at White House Demo Day

Posted on August 4, 2015October 31, 2018 by Case Foundation

American innovation has long been the envy of the world. Throughout our country’s history, thanks to our free enterprise system, people from all walks of life have brought forth innovations that benefited society broadly—in all sectors such as energy, transportation, health care and more. These innovations often came about from those who “lived the problem” and dreamed great solutions that could benefit the masses. These were entrepreneurs who built young enterprises to bring their products and services to market and who often changed the world in the process.

Today, we need to ensure that American innovation isn’t simply about providing more convenience for the privileged—such as easier hotel bookings, more and comfortable ways to get from point A to point B or same-day delivery of groceries from an upscale market. To build solutions for the future, we need to move beyond the “app culture” and engage a new class of entrepreneurs—many who have lived real problems and are building real solutions to the challenges in our communities, and around the globe. But in recent years, this segment of entrepreneurs has often been left on the sidelines of innovations, with no steady flow of capital, mentorship or celebration focused on them.

It is well known that the vast majority of today’s celebrated startups continue to be founded by white, well-educated, well-networked males. And while we celebrate all startups and new innovations—we are underleveraged as a nation if those in more marginalized communities are left on the sidelines. There is, for instance, immense potential for women, people of color and those who don’t live on the coasts or graduate from our nation’s most elite schools. Women are leading 36 percent of all businesses in the U.S., but only receive 10 percent of venture capital funding. Minority-owned businesses are growing at a faster clip than non-minority owned businesses, but are receiving an even smaller fraction of investments. Seventy five percent of venture capital today goes to three states—California, New York and Massachusetts. There is a growing realization that this has to change, including at the highest levels in our nation and among those who are driving this change.

For example, today in New Orleans, PowerMoves, a minority-focused incubator, is backing young enterprises that reach across socio-economic barriers to bring opportunities to those often the last to benefit from innovation. In the first year of operation, PowerMoves worked with 87 companies to create 350 jobs in New Orleans and Detroit. Because of PowerMoves’ work, these companies were able to secure $14M in additional capital commitments to high growth, high tech startups led by entrepreneurs of color. Crystal McDonald, a PowerMoves entrepreneur, developed GoToInterview, a service to connect hourly workers with companies that have demand for them, and won the Rise of the Rest pitch competition in New Orleans.

And there are many more examples of entrepreneurs from underrepresented populations that are seeking solutions to problems that benefit all, like Pashon Murray, a dynamic entrepreneur of color in Detroit. Inspired at an early age by her father’s waste hauling company, Pashon turned family knowledge into a scalable business that takes food waste from companies, including General Motors and the Detroit Zoo, and transforms it into rich soil for local farmers to enhance crop productivity and create jobs. For Pashon, it’s not just about the hauling of waste—she is also a fellow at the MIT Media Lab studying the science of composting and waste reduction. She is combining science, engineering, the needs of a community and her entrepreneurial spirit to create a viable, scalable business in Detroit.

The opportunity to tap into the potential of these entrepreneurs is top of mind for us at the Case Foundation, and why we are delighted that today, the White House will host its first ever Demo Day, with a focus on inclusive entrepreneurship—bringing together entrepreneurs from all walks of life and from all across the country. We look forward to joining President Obama today in a commitment to see “more startup hotbeds emerge in every corner of America, and that those underrepresented in entrepreneurship are being tapped to fully contribute their entrepreneurial talents.”

In fact, here at the Case Foundation, we’ve long believed in the potential for unleashing entrepreneurs—and entrepreneurial approaches—as a clear path for making the world a better place. Over the past 18 years, we’ve developed and supported a range of initiatives—many of them in partnership with the White House, with Presidents of both parties—that put entrepreneurs in the middle of solving big problems, from the West Bank to Detroit, from DC to Nairobi. These initiatives include the U.S.-Palestinian Partnership, an effort to bring entrepreneurship opportunities to the West Bank that I was asked to co-chair in 2007 by President George W. Bush, and the Startup America Partnership, focused on celebrating and accelerating entrepreneurs here in the U.S., which we launched in partnership with the Kauffman Foundation and the Obama administration in 2011. More recently, our focus has shifted to an effort to unleash new capital for entrepreneurs building businesses that seek to address significant social challenges, through our work to catalyze the burgeoning impact investing movement.

Our efforts to support entrepreneurs and the role they play in driving innovation and job growth in the U.S. and around the world have certainly been rewarding. But in the past year, we began to ask ourselves, what role can entrepreneurship play in bringing new opportunities to those left on the sideline? How can we level the playing field for underrepresented communities—including women and people of color—to become entrepreneurs and grow thriving businesses? And how can we facilitate the creation of more businesses that address the challenges that marginalized populations are facing? To help us answer these questions, we began an exploration at the beginning of the year into potential opportunities for inclusive entrepreneurship, and funded two organizations doing important work in this space—Forward Cities and Opportunity Nation. We also joined the most recent Rise of the Rest tour, supplementing the visits to Richmond, Raleigh-Durham, Charleston, Atlanta and New Orleans with conversations focused on how to expand entrepreneurship as an opportunity for all. And we just returned last week from exploring these topics on a global scale during a trip to Africa, focused on exploring burgeoning entrepreneurial ecosystems in Kenya, Ghana and Nigeria.

We are committed to expanding our support for inclusive entrepreneurship, and in the coming months you will hear more from us on our efforts to build upon the momentum from national conversations around diversity, reduce common barriers to entrepreneurship faced by diverse entrepreneurs and scale local pilots into national programs serving women and entrepreneurs of color.

We have a tremendous opportunity today to tap into the uniquely American legacy of leveraging entrepreneurs to grow our economy, strengthen communities and solve intractable problems. But we’ll never recognize our full potential if we don’t focus on ensuring that we give all people—no matter their gender, ethnicity or economic background—the opportunity to be a part of growing entrepreneurial ecosystems, and tap their unique experiences to solve significant challenges. Imagine what is possible when we have a full team and all fields in play!

Announcing a New Partnership to Support Young Social Entrepreneurs

Posted on July 22, 2015October 31, 2018 by Case Foundation

The Case Foundation has long been a believer that entrepreneurs can change the world, and that young people have a particular set of skills and impact-oriented ambitions to build great social enterprises.

Today, we’re excited to announce our sponsorship of the Forbes $1 Million Change the World Social Entrepreneurs Competition – the largest ever competition for young social entrepreneurs.

Through our participation, we will support the most promising of the for-profit entrants into the competition with disruptive and scalable ideas who can best demonstrate how business can change the world.

Check out Jean Case’s blog announcing the competition—Searching for the Next Big Thing—for more information and to learn how you can get involved. Please share this opportunity with your networks of young changemakers far and wide!

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