Artwork stating 'Education Destroys Barriers', 'We Demand Treatment', and 'I Need A Chance'

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  • Serving the base of the pyramid: five tips from emerging-market experts

    The Social Innovation Summit, hosted in New York City, examines five key elements that allow the strategy of marketing to the base of the pyramid to actually succeed, and the companies big and small that are leveraging this approach to sustainably break the cycle of poverty in varied industries for communities around the world.

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  • The Robots That Saved Pittsburgh

    Post-industrial cities can re-platform their economies by fostering institutions that drive innovation and attract both financial and human capital. By promoting long-term collaboration between universities, cultural institutions, and entrepreneurs, Pittsburgh has undergone a three-decade-long urban reinvention. With Carnegie Mellon University as an anchor, the city’s robotics research sector has attracted investment from government projects and venture capital, creating a ripple effect of growth and urban development.

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  • Refurbished Wind Turbines to Power the Developing World at a Profit

    The commercially-based Wind for Prosperity initiative may have devised a solution to meet growing demands for electricity in developing economies, where fossil fuels are expensive, difficult to access, and take a toll on environmental and human health. The venture works to refurbish wind turbines from Europe and re-deploy them in the developing world, providing clean and affordable power where it’s needed most.

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  • Playing With Toys and Saving Lives

    Many different people are inventing health devices for resource-poor settings, but some organizations - like M.I.T.’s Little Devices group - are empowering developing communities and increasing access to healthcare by building medical devices that nurses and doctors in very poor settings can adapt themselves — or kits for making their own, often harvesting parts from toys to cleverly rig up medical equipment. It’s part of a major idea shift, one that’s transforming the design of foreign aid.

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  • Smaller-Town Startups: 'Stopping the Brain Drain' in South Carolina

    The "Next" Project in Greenville, South Carolina brings local government and companies together to create a business incubator to encourage new startups to launch -- and stay -- in the area. One such business, called the Iron Yard, acts as a sort of code academy, offering a 3-month bootcamp and guaranteeing that graduates of their program will find a job in the industry. So far, they've followed through on that guarantee.

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  • The women who bear the scars of Sierra Leone's civil war

    The bloody civil war that tore through Sierra Leone for over a decade was one of the most devastating and violent in Africa's modern history. Those that suffered most were usually young woman, forced into combat, displaced, repeatedly raped and beaten. It has taken years for those who lived through the conflict to reclaim a normal life. One of the most powerful tools that many women leveraged were grassroots initiatives, funded by various NGOs, that the girls designed and led themselves, funding small businesses, support groups, and community projects.

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  • Freelance Nation: “The Greatest Economic Transformation in Human History”?

    The 2008 recession’s job losses spurred a development of a Do-It-Yourself economy. With the advent of Uber, Etsy, Airbnb, and others, the marketplace has become full of micro-entrepreneurs who thrive with independent web-assisted businesses.

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  • The Real Future of Clean Water

    Water:Charity assumed that money and celebrity exposure would be able to solve the world’s access-to-clean-water crisis. But this approach often led to more abandoned water pumps. Charities – and journalists who cover them – are now working to concentrate on making their solutions sustainable.

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  • As Detroit Flounders, Its Art Scene Flourishes

    In 2013, Detroit filed for bankruptcy because of a poor economy. While the city’s industrial businesses have floundered, the art scene has thrived, bringing in new sources of income through art galleries and investments in contemporary art. This new art scene is one factor to measure Detroit’s recovery and prospects of growth for the future.

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  • In Lieu of Money, Toyota Donates Efficiency to New York Charity

    Instead of following the traditional corporate model of financial philanthropy, Toyota gave its engineers to the Food Bank for New York City: trained in "kaizen" (Japanese for “continuous improvement). The engineers analyzed and improved the Food Bank's distribution systems, greatly increasing the Bank's efficiency and effectiveness in its anti-hunger efforts. By sharing the business model which made its own business thrive, Toyota's partnership with the city demonstrates how public-private collaboration provides a self-reliant, sustainable solution.

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