Category: Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Building Infrastructure for Under-Served Markets

Finalist for Youth Business International’s Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2013 Award In just three years, Sharad Tandale has created a successful infrastructure engineering company employing 175 people and providing a range of services to meet the huge demand in the neglected and underserved small towns and rural areas of India. Sharad’s business, Innovation Engineers […]

The Future is Yours

Every day, when watching the news, we see pictures of famine and floods, droughts and demonstrations, confronting us with the effects of increasing resource scarcity, climate change, food security, civil unrest and poverty. We see the increasing numbers of people left behind. Many wonder how on earth we are going to address all these challenges. […]

Building Schools & Delivering Quality Education in China

Interview with Huaping Yang, Finalist for Youth Business International’s Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2013 Award Spirited entrepreneur Huaping Yang has overcome failure to launch an education business which today enables hundreds of students to work towards achieving their goals. Chinese company Chengdu Aosite Education (AST) is a three-pronged after-school tutoring chain for students of […]

Building Schools & Delivering Quality Education in China

Interview with Huaping Yang, Finalist for Youth Business International’s Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2013 Award Spirited entrepreneur Huaping Yang has overcome failure to launch an education business which today enables hundreds of students to work towards achieving their goals. Chinese company Chengdu Aosite Education (AST) is a three-pronged after-school tutoring chain for students of […]

Forging a Sustainable Future in Sri Lanka

In Sri Lanka’s Northern Jaffna District, a region ravaged by 30 years of war and unrest, Prinson Thuraiaiya’s unique brass foundry business (producing castings from waste metal) encompasses entrepreneurial spirit, sustainability and a positive social mission. This is Prinson’s story…. I was born into a poor family. I keenly engaged in school education hoping to […]

It's Africa's Time: Encouraging Inclusive Business Models in Africa

While Africa’s challenges are well documented, there’s an increasing recognition that the continent is on an upward trajectory. And yet Africa’s wealth disparities are amongst the biggest in the world and over the long run this will undermine economic growth, productivity and the development of markets. Economic growth alone is not enough. As a result […]

It’s Africa’s Time: Encouraging Inclusive Business Models in Africa

While Africa’s challenges are well documented, there’s an increasing recognition that the continent is on an upward trajectory. And yet Africa’s wealth disparities are amongst the biggest in the world and over the long run this will undermine economic growth, productivity and the development of markets. Economic growth alone is not enough. As a result […]

Youth Unemployment in Sierra Leone

The high rate of youth unemployment is one of the challenges the Business Booster is designed to tackle. Now that my time in Sierra Leone is almost over, having spent 10 weeks surrounded by locals at home, in the office and during my free time, and inspired by the theft of my laptop two days […]

Half the Sky: Change the Way We Talk About Women and Gender Equality

On September 4th 2013, the Women Advancing Microfinance (WAM UK) and Women in Social Finance networks are co-hosting the UK screening of the highly acclaimed documentary Half the Sky. We want to share this landmark film with the change-making Business Fights Poverty community as Half the Sky is a breakthrough on how the world thinks […]

A Sri-Lankan Coconut Entrepreneur’s Story of Success

An Interview with Nimali Gunawardana, Nimali Chips and Fibre Mill, Sri Lanka Nimali Gunawardana (25) and her business, Nimali Chips and Fibre Mill, have been hailed as pioneers. Within a year she has created an environmentally-friendly enterprise producing and exporting coir for mattresses and coir piths and, more uniquely, making coconut husk chips which is […]

6 Ways Businesses Can Be Inclusive and Socially Responsive

The big question that us development professionals who are working at the intersections of development and business faces today is whether private sector led growth can be inclusive and socially responsive. Our experience on that count is mixed. Businesses obviously promote economic growth, jobs and other associated social benefits. However, the business models generally tend […]

Meet Anowara Shuley: Sewing Fabrics and Reaping Success

Anowara Shuley is challenging traditional beliefs, empowering destitute women and educating the poor. Following a family dispute which left her destitute, she embarked on a self-funded tailoring course. At the age of 24 she launched her business, Shawon Hosto Shilpo, producing fashion and handcrafted products for sale in Dhaka in Bangladesh. However, due to a […]

Meet Mohan Singh: Inspiring Entrepreneurship through Mentoring

Do you remember that one teacher or guide who made a positive and lasting impact on your life? If you have ever provided support or advice based on your own life experiences, you have been a mentor to someone. And everyone needs a mentor. “Mentoring” might not be a glossy word but it is a […]

Turning Waste into Wealth – A Young Entrepreneur’s Contribution Towards Community, the Environment, and National Happiness

At just 30 years old, Karma Yonten is Bhutan’s first citizen to turn waste management and recycling into a business. The old saying goes that “one man’s meat is another man’s poison”: Karma saw opportunity in the country’s maligned, unsightly and toxic landfills, which had dangerous side-effects for people’s health. His pioneering enterprise, Greener Way, […]

Accelerating Peace through Youth Entrepreneurship

I recently participated in a conference on fighting piracy in Somalia. The topic: how to combat the thousands of men, AK47’s strapped to their backs, that were taking skiffs into the azure blue waters of the Indian Ocean to hijack and loot ships. The conference had a packed schedule, and international security officials discussed everything […]

Cocoa Life and Verification: A Circle of Learning

By Mil Niepold, Senior Mediator, Consensus Building Institute My job is to listen, and to encourage others to be excellent listeners. Listening means being open to hearing what people need and want, what works and what doesn’t. Listening gives others, especially those who haven’t been heard, a voice, and this is key to creating and […]

Technology Boosting Economic Opportunity in Rural Ghana

Almost half of the world’s people live on less than $2.50 a day. In my country, Ghana, nearly 30 percent of the population and almost 60 percent of those under 25 survive below this grim poverty line—facing stark daily choices between spending on food, healthcare, education and shelter. In a world where the wealthiest one […]

Worldwide enterprise knowledge-sharing is key to tackling youth unemployment

Over the next decade 1.2billion young people will enter the job market globally. But potentially only 300million jobs will be available. The youth unemployment debate has topped UK agendas in recent months. While there has been a slight decline, almost 1 million 16-24 year olds were out of work as of June 2013. Unemployment is […]