iOnPoverty
Wall Street is facing a recruiting problem, reports the New York Times. The latest reminder that big banks are corrosive for careers of conscience comes from a NY Times op-ed piece by former Goldman Sachs executive Greg Smith who sharply describes a “toxic and destructive” workplace. Covet a career building economic opportunity and justice? Want […]
Goldman Sachs Versus Careers of Conscience
Wall Street is facing a recruiting problem, reports the New York Times. The latest reminder that big banks are corrosive for careers of conscience comes from a NY Times op-ed piece by former Goldman Sachs executive Greg Smith who sharply describes a “toxic and destructive” workplace. Covet a career building economic opportunity and justice? Want […]
Beyond Microfinance: Can Government Cash Transfers Scale Up Financial Access for the Poorest?
What next after microcredit? The last few years of news scandals in the microfinance arena has created a gap in the credibility and viability of providing effective, low-cost and impactful financial services to the poor. Newer studies calculating the impact of microcredit find controversial development impact. SKS Finance’s $347 mn IPO (coming after Compartamos’ record-breaking […]
Oxfam – Gender Equality
Gender issues have long been key to Oxfam’s mission to fight poverty, but we have not previously given great prominence to the role of business in gender and development. Earlier in the month, to coincide with International Women’s Day, we rectified that by launching Gender Inequality: it’s your Business. We recognise that many companies do […]
Financial Exclusion #FirstWorldProblem?
13.5 million people in the UK live in poverty, with over 1 million without access to bank accounts (4% of Britain’s population) and a further 8 million (15%) underbanked – that’s a lot of people who have to find a way to survive in the 6th richest country in the world. Recognising this reality, Women […]
Fashion: A Catalyst for Change
The potential of the private sector to reduce poverty is well recognized; however, this has not been evident in the fashion industry. Fashion is one of the most globalized sectors, providing employment to more than 60 million people, mainly women and unskilled workers from poor economies. And it is expanding. According to Datamonitor, 2010, the […]
Global Entrepreneur Week
Youth Business International (YBI) is a global network helping aspiring entrepreneurs in 34 countries, so helping to promote a culture of entrepreneurship is a full time job for our hundreds of staff. Nevertheless the few months leading up to the end of each year are particularly hectic. In November 2011 we celebrated our International YBI […]
International Development – The Role of an Enabling Business
FRSA, Head of Corporate Responsibility, Herbert Smith LLP Global law firm Herbert Smith is currently engaged in a transatlantic experiment, one that is connecting lawyers from our London office with the Government of Sierra Leone. The experiment is designed to answer a question about what professional services firms can do to help developing countries grow […]
Made in Bangalore: How Social Enterprise is Transforming Business-As-Usual
As someone who grew up in Bangalore, I have seen my city undergo a startling transformation, from the Pensioners Paradise to the Silicon Valley of India. I am almost a pensioner myself now – I started writing this blog on my 60th birthday. Sometimes I feel stupefied and amazed by the changes – but I […]
UK Parliamentary Investigation into The Integration of Smallholder Farmers into Supply Chains: Call for Evidence
Co-ordinator, All Party Parliamentary Group on Agriculture and Food for Development The All Party Parliamentary Group on Agriculture and Food for Development (APPG) has recently launched a new UK Parliamentary Inquiry examining existing how smallholder producers can sustainably and equitably be integrated into supply chains. The APPG would welcome the views of Business Fights Poverty […]
Does your business fight poverty? Get recognised and inspire other companies.
At Business in the Community we believe that profiling best practice is one of the most powerful ways to bring about change. This is at the heart of how we support business to address global poverty. 65% of our members think that learning from case studies of initiatives of other companies help them contribute better […]
Report: Improving Business Ethics and Reducing the Risk of Corruption
Download this compelling report on business ethics and countering corruption, jointly authored by IBLF, Siemens and PwC.
Trust: The License to Operate – 7 Steps Companies Can Take to Rebuild It
IBLF’s framework identifies 7 Steps of company behaviour that can influence the trust of its customers, suppliers, investors and regulators.
Villages in Action
It has been just over a year since we held the first ever globally broadcast Villages in Action conference. We did what had previously seemed impossible and a non-factor in the development complex. We dared to build a stage for “the poor” and handed over the microphone so they could be part of the global […]
The SAB Foundation Invests in Social Innovation
The inaugural SAB Foundation Innovation Awards recently recognised innovators who are helping improve the lives of low-income South Africans. The Awards are part of the SAB Foundation’s focus on igniting a culture of entrepreneurship in South Africa as a source of economic growth, job creation and innovation. The awards aim to showcase and scale commercialisable […]
Empowering Women Through Business
At a recent event in London organised by Business Action for Africa, UK Department for International Development and the Institute for Development Studies titled: “Advancing Gender Equality through Business and Partnerships”, we discussed the compelling economic and business case for investing in the economic empowerment of women. We know that improving the economic position of […]
Women Entrepreneurs in Mobile Retail Channels
Last week I launched my Foundation’s pioneering research study in partnership with STC and TNS on the inclusion of women entrepreneurs in the retail channels of mobile network operators. We consulted 14 leading mobile operators from 11 markets across Asia, Africa and the Middle East, in addition to stakeholders including NGOs, government representatives and select […]
New Ventures to Promote Clean Energy
Photo: Curt Carnemark / World Bank More than 12 million low-income people in Africa, Asia, and Latin America will gain access to clean energy following four companies’ commitments made today to the Business Call to Action, a global leadership initiative that promotes sustainable economic and social development. The companies also expect to create approximately 42,000 […]
Four Companies Announce New Ventures to Promote Clean Energy
Photo: Curt Carnemark / World Bank More than 12 million low-income people in Africa, Asia, and Latin America will gain access to clean energy following four companies’ commitments made today to the Business Call to Action, a global leadership initiative that promotes sustainable economic and social development. The companies also expect to create approximately 42,000 […]
Richard Branson, Founder, Virgin Group: Screw Business as Usual
Through my experiences in my life and more recently with Virgin Unite, the nonprofit foundation for Virgin Group, I’ve learnt about the power that business has to drive change, whether that is simply creating thousands of jobs and a company where people love to come to work every day, or building a company to tackle […]