Blog
Why a blog?
This blog provides musings and travails ranging from visits to far off places touching on international development, information about the field of Social Enterprise, content from conferences attended, and relavant insight learned through daily interactions. We at Social Enterprise Associates believe in metrics and measurements, but we also believe in connecting this quantifiable data to the real outcomes of our work. After all, it's easy to lose sight of the end result when you're caught up in the process.
Submissions welcome that share humor, engagement, and advance understanding for a better tomorrow.
Manufacturing bikes for Uganda’s poor
Julian Rochlitz travelled to Uganda with fellow students to learn about economic activities and development. He found particular interest in how crucial bicycles are to life in the country.
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An Experiment in Rural Employability
Anand Kumar Padmanaban discusses the REAP program in rural India, which addresses strategies for education and training for gainful employment. READ MORE
A New Form of R&D
Sarah Hine discusses a unique challenge in entrepreneurship, particularly in India, through her experience co-founding a successful start-up. READ MORE
Understanding B Corporations and Benefit Corporations
Elle McPherson explains exactly what B-Corporations and Benefit Corporations are, and how they are challenging our business world to do better. READ MORE
Democracy In Brazil
Laura Tulchin set off to Brazil on a Fulbright Scholarship to study affirmative action in the public university setting. Her cultural revelations expand beyond. READ MORE
What can students do, anyway?
Dan Jodarski writes about his experience traveling to Japan this summer for the 63rd Japan-America Student Conference. READ MORE
Educational Social Enterprise Efforts in Peru (3)
In her final piece, Katie Marney describes how microbusinesses empower people in ways one might not imagine. READ MORE
Educational Social Enterprise Efforts in Peru (2)
Continuing her blogging series, Katie Marney illuminates her experience co-leading the Conectados project with the Peruvian NGO, Wasiymi Wasiki. READ MORE
Educational Social Enterprise Efforts in Peru
Katie Marney is a recent graduate of McGill University, where she studied Political Science and Economics. Spending much of her life outside of her native US, she comes with a unique vantage point of issues related to development, particularly seen through her three part blog. READ MORE
Is there more then just fishing in Mopti, Mali?
Social Enterprise Associates' client Alex Stainburn of New Caledon recently traveled to Mali to consult on the country's fishing industry. He discovered a vibrant local and even international market for fish in the region, but entrepreneurs often struggle to find capital to fund startup businesses. READ MORE
Social Innovation or Inherent Irrelevancy?
By Gina LaCerva on July 21, 2011

Gina LaCerva is excited about the possibility of leveraging policy and business to achieve environmental goals.
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More than Milk: Organic Valley Enjoys Growth While Maintaining Values.
Dan Jodarski writes of his experience growing up in rural Wisconsin and the market paradigm shift in organic farming. Specifically he looks at Organic Valley(R) as the catalyst and how this sustainable business movement has transformed today's farming industry. READ MORE
Hiring staff for mission or experience: The Triple Bottom Line Conundrum
Drew Tulchin asks what the proper balance is between primarily skills hiring and seeking out passionate staff. The thinking is that while many people can do accounting, for example, not everyone can do accounting and be super psyched about helping indigenous plants (as just one for instance). READ MORE
Understanding International Social Enterprise (6) – Health Improvement
The last field we'd like to highlight is a bonus to our list of five business approaches we're introducing. Development through Global Health Improvement is a critical model as impoverished populations deserve the right to proper medical treatment, health services, and insurance. READ MORE
Microfinance in the Honduran Mountains
by Mikela Trigilio on April 7, 2011
Mikela Trigilio is a 2nd year masters candidate at the Johns Hopkins University School for Advanced International Development. She recently traveled to Honduras to work with microfinance in the Honduran mountains. READ MORE
Understanding International Social Enterprise (5) – Education Empowerment

The fifth of the five business approaches we're introducing is development through energy Education Empowerment. Education has been regarded as the most long-term solution to poverty in the developing world, as it provides low-income people with essential skills and resources to increase financial self-sufficiency and even generates social mobility. READ MORE
Understanding International Social Enterprise (4) – Energy Efficiency
The fourth of the five business approaches we're introducing is development through energy efficiency. Energy efficiency is a booming sector of international development, with the goal of improving the quality of life of those living in poverty worldwide. READ MORE
Understanding International Social Enterprise (3) – Fair Trade
The second of the five business approaches we're introducing is Fair Trade. Fair Trade is a current trade model to improve the social and environmental effects of comodity exghange throughout the world. READ MORE
Microfinance and the Benefits of “Skillanthropy.”
by Mikela Trigilio on November 20, 2010
Bankers without Borders® is a skills-based volunteer initiative founded by the Grameen Foundation, which draws upon a global reserve corps of more than 5,000 business professionals and recent retirees from Fortune 500 companies, trade associations, and higher education institutions.
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International Social Enterprise: What’s really happening out there?
by Sarah Austrin-Willis on November 17, 2010
Sarah Austrin-Willis, of the Net Impact chapter at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), writes about today's social enterprise and explains the current state of affairs.
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Understanding International Social Enterprise (2): Microfinance
The first of the five business approaches we're introducing is microfinance. Microfinance is a model in which financial institutions provide banking, lending, and insurance to the poor and disadvantaged who otherwise have no access to these financial services. READ MORE
Understanding International Social Enterprise (1): Introduction

This
series of 10 blog posts aims to enhance understanding about international
social enterprise. When we talk about international social enterprise, we
generally refer to non-profit, for-profit or hybrid entities working outside
the U.S. Within this broadly defined category, many organizations work in
developing countries in the ‘Global South' to serve the four billion people at
the bottom of the pyramid (BoP) who live on less than USD $2 per day, and
therefore, have been called "BoP enterprises." READ MORE
Joe in Cartagena
by Joe Tulchin & Andres Lafe on June 15, 2010
Joe Tulchin writes of a recent trip to Cartagena, Colombia, where, despite social and economic improvements, the work of co-op groups like La Liga de Mujeres Desplazadas remain critical.
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Viva Moçambique
By Carmen Mauriello on July 12, 2010
Carmen Mauriello is a former Peace Corps Volunteer who served in Mozambique from 2004-2006, and currently teaches high school global history and journalism in Brooklyn, N.Y.
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Why Weddings Pose a Green Problem...And How You Can Solve It
by Sarah Ewing on June 30, 2010
ShoreBank's Sarah Ewing blogs about the importance of being a green guest when attending a wedding...domestically or abroad!
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Grameen Shakti Village Trip
by Aneri Patel on July 7, 2010
Aneri Patel blogs of her time in Phulpur, Bangladesh, where she traveled with a CNN film crew and interned with Grameen Shakti.
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The World Through Photos
by Moses Ceaser on June 22, 2010
J. Moses Ceaser has dedicated most of his life to support just causes including community activism raising awareness of the plight of powerless, marginalized people in the United States and abroad.
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Project Abeni
by Matt Kopac on June 2, 2010
Matt Kopac shares his experience in the Peace Corps, where he worked with an organization called Project Abeni, which focuses on education for girls.
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Social Enterprise Associates announces our blog partnership with ShoreBank
by Social Enterprise Associates on April 30, 2010
Social Enterprise Associates announces our blog partnership with ShoreBank. Enjoy!
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Don't Just Give...Invest
by Cristina on April 28, 2010
A simple guide for engaged citizens who are looking to make a lasting impact through social investing.
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Understanding Your Carbon Footprint
By Cristina Roman on January 27, 2010
Calculating your carbon footprint is a first step to attaining a net zero carbon emissions lifestyle and balancing the amount of harmful carbons you release.
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Anti-Corruption, Exploring Indonesia
By Jodi Fischer on January 15, 2010

Jodi Fischer traveled to Jakarta, Indonesia for a preliminary desk audit
and pre-closeout mobilization plan for the Indonesia Control of Corruption
Project (ICCP), oppereated by USAID and funded through the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC).
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Afghan ARIES Project
By Drew Tulchin on November 25, 2009
Drew Tulchin recently traveled to Afghanistan for a USAID ARIES project for AED. He facilitated a workshop on financing small and medium businesses and growing the sector.
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Taiwanese Influence
By Sunny Yi-Han Lin on October 10, 2009
Sunny
Yi-Han Lin is a second-year graduate student at the LBJ
School of Public Affairs, UT at Austin. Last summer she traveled on an internship to Taiwan with Flow, Inc. and started
to explore social innovation and social entrepreneurship.
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Trekking up to Machu Picchu, Peru
By Nicole Furman on September 30, 2009
Nicole Furman is a student at Brown University. Last Spring, she joined a group of friends who set off to explore Peru for spring break. She writes of her wonderful experiences.
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Changing Farming Practices in Nicaragua
By Rachel Lindsay on August 20, 2009

Rachel Lindsay is a 2009 Fulbright Grantee working with a US based sustainable investment organization called SosteNica, the Sustainable Development Fund of Nicaragua. She is based in the Pacific region of León.
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Colombia Chronicles
By Reid Sassman on July 13, 2009

Health Program in the Congo
By Mike and Nancy Haninger on May 13, 2009

Mike and Nancy Haninger were appointed in June 2000 to the Good Shepherd Hospital in Tshikaji. Mike is a physician, educating nursing and medical students. Nancy carries out direct patient care and educates village health workers..
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Ugandan Adventure!
By Lauren Simkulak on April 9, 2009

On Tuesday, February 11, 2009, Lauren Simkulak embarked on a 2 year Peace Corps adventure in Uganda where she will be a Business Advisor in an Economic Development program.
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Consulting In Indonesia
By Shoshana Hecker on March 9, 2009

Shoshana Hecker recently left Washington, DC to take a 3 to 5 month
consulting assignment in Banda Aceh, Indonesia with CHF International.
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Travel to the Philippines
By Drew Tulchin on February 3, 2009

Due to popular demand following the stories from Afghanistan, I am pleased to share pithy travel and work insights from my recent trip to the Philippines. READ MORE
Life Stitches Project
By Katherine Gnauck on October 31, 2008
Katherine Gnauck is a doctor from New Mexico who is working in Uganda with HIV/AIDS mothers. READ MORE
Journey Through Morocco
By Erich Dehart on May 28, 2008

Erich Dehart is in the middle of his 3rd year in the Naval Academy, having just experienced a French language rotation to Morocco.
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Teaching in China
by Judy Tulchin on November 6, 2008
Judy Tulchin is volunteering to teach English in Xi’an, China. Xi’an is in the heart of the country, near the Terra Cotta Warriors.
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Musings from Mozambique, Africa
by Drew Tulchin on February 24, 2008
Drew Tulchin was recently in Mozambique, Africa helping to launch a trade association of microfinance institutions.
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Tales From Afghanistan
by Drew Tulchin on January 7, 2008
Drew Tulchin was in Afghanistan in 2007 for his second time. He was working
for the DC based Making Cents on a USAID project with DAI. READ MORE
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