[The weekly wrap] The top social entrepreneurship stories from the week that went by
![[The weekly wrap] The top social entrepreneurship stories from the week that went by](https://images.yourstory.com/cs/wordpress/2013/07/social-entrepreneur-word-cloud-1.jpeg?mode=crop&crop=faces&ar=16%3A9&format=auto&w=1920&q=75)
Every week we bring you the best social entrepreneurship stories from around the world. This week we have stories about why gaining access to the fortune at the bottom of the pyramid might be tough, Infosys’ V Balakrishnan joins MicroGraam, the top social entrepreneurship research reports of 2013 and the quantum of CSR money that will be invested into the social sector.
1) Curb Your Social Entrepreneurial Enthusiasm
C. K. Prahalad’s was the first to suggest that there millions of dollars to be made by serving the world’s poor. A new book by Paul Polak and Mal Warwick supports that theory. Daniel Altman thinks that the opportunity that the duo describe may not be all that simple.
This is his argument.
2) XLRI to host the ‘6th National Conference on Social Entrepreneurship’ in January 2014
Xavier School of Management (XLRI) is hosting the ‘6th National Conference on Social Entrepreneurship’ from 31st January to 2nd February, 2014 at its campus in Jamshedpur.
The 2014 theme is ‘Rethinking Development: Strengthening the Grassroots’. The conference will put a spotlight on social ventures that are promoting a holistic and “grounds-up” model of development.
3) Around Rs 22,000 crore to enter social sector as India Inc steps up CSR plans
With the Companies Act, 2013 having become a reality, starting next financial year, about Rs 22,000 crore is expected to pour into the social sector. Companies with a net worth of Rs 500 crore or a turnover of Rs 1,000 crore or a net profit of Rs 5 crore have to spend at least 2 per cent of their average net profits made over three preceding years on CSR programs.
4) Infy’s Balakrishnan to be MicroGraam chairman
Peer-to-peer lending company MicroGraam pulled off a coup when they got former Infosys board member V Balakrishnan, to join them as chairman. He will be appointed at a board meeting to be held in the city on January 3.
5) Top 10 social enterprise stories of 2013
The Guardian Social Enterprise team present the top ten social enterprise stories over 2013.
They include David Beckham’s social enterprise contributions, ancient Muslim teachings on ethical capitalism and five social media lessons for social entrepreneurs.
6) Greg Dees, social entrepreneurship pioneer, dies at 63
J. Gregory Dees, a Duke University professor who was a key figure in developing social entrepreneurship as an academic field, died at the age of 63.
Besides being a professor of the practice of social entrepreneurship and a Rubenstein Senior Fellow in Social Entrepreneurship with Duke’s Innovation and Entrepreneurship Initiative (I&E), Dees was also the founding faculty director of the Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship (CASE) at Duke’s Fuqua School of Business.
7) Charity pays with social investing
Social funds are a new breed of funds that seek financial returns while cultivating social good. They maybe an alternative to grant giving in NGOs. This article talks about the emergence of these new types of impact investing funds that look at profits, people and planet.
8) Everybody climb aboard the Jagriti Yatra: A train journey for social change
Is it the people who make a journey or is the journey that makes the people? That’s a very difficult question, especially if the trip that we are talking about is Jagriti Yatra. This is a 15-day train trip starting today, which gives an opportunity to 450 young people to travel all over India meeting 15 role models, which include the likes of Bunker Roy and Anshu Gupta in 12 different cities — Mumbai, Hubli, Bangalore, Madurai, Chennai, Vishakhapattanam, Bhubaneshwar, Patna, Deoria, Delhi, Tilonia and Ahmedabad.
9) These are the must-read social entrepreneurship research reports from 2013
Every year foundations, research organizations, think tanks and academic institutions bring out in-depth reports on the social enterprise industry. We sifted through a great many to bring you a list of reports that make mandatory reading for anybody interested in the sector.
