We're taking a few days away from research, writing, blogs and all the rest.  Back in 2009.  Until then...

Position: Research Associate / Consultant

Location: Home based with two missions to New York

Time frame: 1 January 2009 - 31 April 2009

Organization: Growing Inclusive Markets Initiative, United Nations Development Programme.  The UNDP Growing Inclusive Markets Initiative seeks to create understanding and awareness about how doing business with the poor can be good for poor people and good for business. During its first stage, the initiative studied 50 business solutions that successfully create mutual value between business and the poor. The insights were captured in the report 'Creating Value for All – Strategies for Doing Business with the Poor', which has been launched in more than 20 countries since July 2008.

The goal of the second stage of the Growing Inclusive Markets Initiative is to identify successful business models that are good for the poor, the planet and profit and to understand their real and potential impact. The initiative will operate as a multi-stakeholder dialogue of experts in the field of sustainable business and development. These will include practitioners from business associations, multilateral institutions, civil society organizations as well as academics from leading research institutions.

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A couple of friends of mine have already asked me "So what if a couple of banks go bankrupt? Who cares about bad mortgages? What is all the big deal about?" It is hard to explain in few words why the financial sector is so vital in modern economies, when countries are as strongly connected by trade ties as it is currently the case.

Probably the best way to explain its importance is by thinking of the economy as a machine and the financial sector as a lubricant. The financial sector's role is to efficiently allocate capital from savers to investors.  Financial markets lubricate the rest of the economy's productive activities.  Thanks to this lubrication, the economy is able to "work harder" and make fuller use of all the cogs in its machinery. If financial markets stop functioning, then the machine would not be able to work as efficiently as before, because it would lack the lubrication needed to keep full speed. This is in a nutshell why Washington has bailed out the financial sector, without even thinking about it, but appears much less willing to help the collapsing US automobile manufactures.

A second important aspect to take into account of financial markets is that banks are strongly connected to each other. If GM closes down tomorrow, other surviving businesses, such as Toyota, will probably benefit. However, in financial markets, if one financial agent, for example a bank, suffers, due to the interdependencies in the system, many other banks will suffer too. If one bank fails, other banks will tend to fail as well. This domino effect is something characteristic of industries with businesses which are tightly connected with each other and strongly dependent of each other's actions.

As financial markets have grown increasingly global, the allocation of capital from savers to investors has become global. As a consequence of the US financial crisis, BoP markets will probably suffer in the coming year.

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Attending the "VI Inter-American Conference on CSR: The Business of Inclusion" in Cartagena was a great opportunity to draw a parallel between the nascent BoP/ Development through Enterprise movement in Latin America and the one in the English-speaking world, which I've had the chance to dive deeper into in the course of this year.

Following is a brief summary of my impressions and three main takeaways from the conference.

1. Lots of "top down"; not as many "bottom up" approaches

Most of the Latin American examples of business activity tackling the problems of poverty still come from MNCs and big corporations, in general. In fact, most of the panels, sessions and exhibition stands at the conference featured big companies that are the usual suspects of BoP activity in these countries (think CEMEX, Codensa, Colcerámica, etc.)

It is thus understandable that the title of the conference blends the concepts of CSR and BoP activity. Slowly but steadily, CSR is being viewed as a stepping stone towards making low income markets part of the business strategy of corporations. However, the conversations about entrepreneurial solutions to the problems of poverty are still not as strong, which shows that the ecosystem of support for these ventures (investment funds, venture philanthropists, enterprise development organizations, etc.) is still in the process of formation and will hopefully learn from the path walked by its counterpart in countries like the United States or India.

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"What's new in the base of the pyramid world?"  My colleague Omer had just returned from a week-long vacation to Santa Fe, New Mexico (he went for a film festival).  I was quiet, thinking about how to answer him.  Frankly, I didn't know where to start - there were a number of articles, reports, news updates and announcements that came to mind.

So, in honor of Omer's return to the office, and in recognition of the sheer quantity of activity in the base of the pyramid space, here's a quick roundup:

The Stanford Social Innovation Review is discussing much more than Romanticizing the Poor, Aneel Karnani's latest article criticizing BoP theory and practice.  In fact, the Winter 2009 edition of SSIR is full of other articles relevant to the NextBillion community:

• "Clean Sweep" - a profile of NextBillion ally E+Co, the green energy investment fund for the BoP;
• "Eyeing Talent" - its pun-tastic title gives away this article's subject: VisionSpring, the social enterprise working with Vision Entrepreneurs to get eyecare services to the BoP in 13 low-income countries around the world;

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Guest Blogger Lesley Pories is a Deshpande Foundation Sandbox Fellow, working with the Water Literacy Foundation in India.

Before taking on this role, Lesley worked as a Research Analyst with the People and Ecosystems Program at the World Resources Institute. A graduate of Emory University, she double-majored in International Studies and English and minored in French.

By Lesley Pories

Social entrepreneurship is the key to growth in India.  So believes Gururaj "Desh" Deshpande, one of a notable number of Indians who honed their own entrepreneurship skills to profit from India's burgeoning IT sector back in the 1990s.  Co-founder and Chairman of Sycamore Networks, Deshpande is convinced that it is social entrepreneurs who will push India to the next level, and he's doing his part to ensure that this happens.

The Deshpande Foundation, the family foundation of Desh and Jaishree Deshpande, is headquartered near Boston, MA and focuses on promoting innovation, entrepreneurship and growth in the northern part of the southern Indian state of Karnataka, the native region of both husband and wife. The Foundation focuses its efforts on five districts of northern Karnataka, which it has nicknamed the "Sandbox."  This name was not given because of the area's desert composition (it's not a desert), but rather as a symbol of what it hopes to achieve through its programs in the area.

A sandbox (a popular playground structure in America which, ironically, does not exist in India) is a space, defined by four walls, in which children use the sand to create.  In the same way, The Deshpande Foundation strives to nurture local people and organizations to create new structures that can lead to positive development within a confined space. 

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It's been a while since I last posted an entry on NextBillion.  My apologies to the community.  I have been wrapped up on a number of projects at work.

 
I'd like to use this post to wrap up the discussion on talent management at the BoP with some personal reflections.  

I was at UC Berkeley a little less than a month ago, speaking on a Net Impact panel on the base of the pyramid topic.  At the conclusion, each of the panelists was given a few minutes to make a closing statement.  When the time came for me to speak, I challenged the students to bring up BoP issues in the classroom, to press their professors to incorporate more of this teaching in their syllabi, and to take untraditional jobs upon graduation. 

Afterwards, I ended up having a really interesting conversation with Mike Lee (a second year MBA student at UC Berkeley who also blogs on Social Edge.)  We started to have a conversation about what it means to be an Asian American in a typically "non-Asian" field and the challenges faced to getting there.  (The topic was of such interest that we ended up having a follow-up conversation over Skype a few days later.) For those of you who are of the Asian decent, I’m sure you know what I mean by "non-Asian" field.  For those of you who are not, a brief digression.

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Today we are announcing the launch of NextBillion en Español, a new forum to promote and discuss inclusive business models that enhance and dignify the lives of the poor in Latin America.

As said in my last post, we are launching it with the coverage of the Interamerican Conference on Inclusive Business, whose opening ceremony kicks off in exactly 10 minutes, in Cartagena Colombia. 

Conceptually, it shares the spirit and intention of this site NextBillion.net, although focusing on the specific challenges of Latin America. Visually, you can consider this new blog a modest preview of what the "new NextBillion.net" will look like once we launch it it early 2009. In fact, the Spanish section will be fullly integrated into NextBillion.net under the new website.

A big THANK YOU goes to Rob Katz and and Manuel Bueno for their support and ideas. Also to the members of the Network for Inclusive Markets (AVINA and FUNDES) who are key promoters of this initiative and will be instrumental in the purpose of developing local and relevant content for the site.  

If you are interested in reading more about the thinking that went behind the decision of launching this new effort, I encourage you to read past the break.

Your ideas, suggestions, criticism, etc. are more welcome than ever.

Hasta pronto!

Yesterday, we bid a fond NextBillion farewell to Nitin Rao, a staff writer here for the past two years.  Well, the transitions aren't done yet!  We at NextBillion are thrilled to welcome our newest Staff Writer, Jenara Nerenberg.

Like Nitin, Jenara is based in South Asia - Nepal, to be precise.  She is an entrepreneur, journalist, policy expert and researcher.  Jenara will cover a range of topics for us, including but not limited to the latest market research and BoP trends in and around Asia.

Please join Francisco and me in welcoming Jenara to the team; her bio follows the break.

As one of the editors of NextBillion.net, I am privileged to work with a cohort of talented, committed staff writers.  I am consistently impressed by the staff's ability to generate high-quality analysis of base of the pyramid trends again and again - often during their nights and weekends, as most have full-time jobs in addition to their NextBillion responsibilities.

It wasn't always this way.  When NextBillion started, back in May 2005, it didn't have "Staff Writers" - it was just the co-founders and our bosses at WRI writing from time to time.  We solicited guest posts, sure, but there wasn't a staff, per se.

That all changed with Nitin Rao.  At the time we met, Nitin was a student at NIT-Karnataka, deeply passionate about the base of the pyramid and a regular NextBillion reader.  We began an e-mail correspondence, which led to an invitation to join NextBillion as its first Staff Writer. 

In the months and years since, Nitin has graduated from NIT-K, taken a job at SKS Microfinance, and been accepted by the Sloan School of Management at MIT for a MBA program.  Oh, and he's also a social entrepreneur in his own right, launching Engineers for a Sustainable World Engineers for Social Impact and Let Me Know, two sites that encourage students to join the social enterprise movement.

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Like the year before, it was cold, it was early and it was at the Rubin Museum of Art. But that’s where the 2008 Acumen Fund Investor Gathering ceased to be like the 2007 version, at least on the surface.

On a personal, micro level, there were obvious differences: last year, I attended representing my then-boss, an Acumen Fund advisor; this year, I am an Acumen Fund employee. To be sure, the change in vantage point (from audience member to staff member) accounts for some of the differences I observed between IG 2007 and IG 2008.

With a little time and distance, however, I’ve decided that substantive changes – in Acumen Fund’s world and the global community at large – account for the bulk of year to year differences.

From November 2007 to November 2008:

• The global financial system experienced turmoil unlike any in our lifetimes, precipitating massive asset devaluations worldwide;
• Kenya went through a period of post-election violence that it is still working to recover from socially, politically and economically;
• Pakistan struggled to fight terrorism, saw its former president assassinated and watched as its military ruler peacefully ceded power to a democratically-elected government;
• India continued to boom, saw income inequality explode, and experienced its own 9/11 moment when terrorists attacked multiple sites in Mumbai;
• The United States’ housing market meltdown precipitated a global recession; amidst economic turmoil, the country elected a new president.

To be sure, the challenges facing Acumen Fund and our community are arguably as great as they have ever been. Fortunately, and if last year is any indication, it appears that we are prepared to face them head on.

How prepared? Here are some notes from the Investor Gathering, outlining how Acumen Fund has continued to invest in businesses serving low-income customers, and how we plan to ramp up our work again in 2009.

After breakfast – and a state-of-the-state address by Jacqueline Novogratz, which she covers in her autumn update – Brian Trelstad gave the audience a thorough update on Acumen Fund’s portfolio. Acumen now has 33 investments under management, as well as 5 exited investments, meaning we’re beginning to learn more and more about housing, drip irrigation, anti-malarial drugs, LED lights, health clinics, ambulance services, clean drinking water – the list goes on – and that’s Brian’s point.

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For those of us in the United States, tonight marks a tradition - the tradition of Thanksgiving traffic.  This is especially true on the eastern seaboard, where air and car traffic get particularly bad as families attempt to gather and celebrate the holiday.

So, since NextBillion.net is based in Washington DC, we're taking a few days off.  Who knows, we might just log on and do some blogging from the airport or while stuck in traffic - you never know.

See you Monday.

(Full disclosure: I wrote this post last year on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, and am simply re-posting it today.  You might call me lazy, but I would characterize it as efficient...)

Although gender equality is a desirable aim in itself, there are also underlying economic reasons for female empowerment. In the words of the 2007 Global Monitoring Report (partially devoted to gender issues) from the World Bank: "Improving gender equality reduces poverty and stimulates growth directly through women’s greater labor force participation, productivity, and earnings, as well as indirectly through beneficial effects on child well-being."

Plainly speaking, improving the status of women has two effects. On the one hand there is a short term economic effect, since women seem to be better investors and bookkeepers than men – and there are many studies out there to prove it.

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Guest blogger Katherine Yue is a second-year MBA student at Thunderbird School of Global Management where she has assisted in research on business and capacity growth in microfinance and health microfranchises. She interned for FINCA Jordan in its founding year, strengthening business risk management disciplines.

Prior to Thunderbird, Katherine was a project manager at the largest health care organization in the US, leading process redesign and enterprise risk management systems. She graduated from UC Berkeley with a degree in economics with a focus on society and technology.

By Katherine Yue

The second day of the 2008 Net Impact Conference took me from an interactive workshop on scaling enterprises at the base of pyramid to a session on strategic philanthropy.  Bringing it all home was a session called Social Entrepreneurship At Work, Moderated by Mark Milstein from Cornell University, with panelists Jordan Kassalow, Co-Founder and Chairman of Vision Spring, Christine Eibs Singer, Co-Founder and Executive Vice President of E+Co, Nand Kishore Chaudhary, Founder of Jaipur Rugs Company and Jaipur Rugs Foundation.

In the audience, Jordan Kassalow pointed out Neil Blumenthal and Jocelyn Wyatt's attendance and their instrumental participation in the initial growth of VisionSpring.  Tal Dahtier, who started MBAs Without Borders, was also on hand to encourage MBAs to pursue their passion in social entrepreneurship.

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