Looking for a job? Want to launch a socially conscious business idea? Looking to learn more about CSR and social entrepreneurship? Don’t miss this year’s Net Impact Conference November 13th and 14th at Cornell University. If you want to save on registration and expand your network, then join Net Impact and receive a discount on your tab.

While there is no time limit on registration, the deadline is swiftly approaching to submit your resume to the “resume book.” If you submit your resume by October 26, all the exhibitors will receive a copy. Whether you are looking for a new job or to network for business, this is a great opportunity to get your resume in the pipeline. Read the rest of this entry >>

This year, ad agency Free Range Studios–dubbed the Creative Agency with a Conscience–will be offering their annual Youtopia grant to a progressive nonprofit. But here’s what’s really interesting: for the first time ever, they will also be offering a grant to one socially conscious for-profit business as well.

The design firm, who is known in some circles as the most successful cause-based viral movie maker, is offering up to $15,000 worth of design and/or strategic communications services from their menu of core offerings: strategy consulting, identity design, web design, print design, and online movies. Finalists will be featured on the website, where everyone can vote on their top picks for the best projects trying to change the world. Read the rest of this entry >>

Last week, people from an array of disciplines came together to discuss the intersection of meaning and money at the Social Capital Markets conference. For more info on the conference and new updates, check out SoCap’s site.

Watch Sonal Shah, Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of the Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation, give her keynote on the role of social innovation.

Check out this spotlight on the new project by Acumen Fund and design firm IDEO–Ripple Effect– which was one of the highlights at the conference.

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More than just a natural toothpaste brand, Tom's of Maine is committed to doing good.

Hey, nonprofits, act quick!  There’s just under two weeks left to apply for the new project from Tom’s of Maine–50 States for Good–and chance to be awarded $20,000.

What’s this, you may ask? Just another way Tom’s of Maine is doing good while doing business. Here’s the gist: 501(c)3s of any size can apply until August 30, at which point Tom’s will choose 50 nonprofits to compete for America’s choice. Starting September 21st, you can cast your vote online for the projects you think should be awarded $20,000. There will be 5 winners, totaling $100,000 coming from the pockets of Tom’s profits.

The money goes to charities big and small, depending on the voice of America. And for you nonprofits out there, it’s a win-win situation. The application process is simple and streamlined, so you won’t get bogged down in a lengthy grant application. And even if you don’t receive the $20,000, you gain visibility and online exposure from the voting process that lasts until November. Read the rest of this entry >>

Video games: they encourage violence, enable anti-social behavior, and contribute to weight gain. They further demobilize today’s youth and foster addiction to and dependency on technology…at least that’s what I used to think. But not anymore. Have you ever thought video games could be used to create positive change? Surprised? So was I. There is a movement bubbling in today’s $26 billion gaming industry, and it’s geared at inspiring social action.

Meet Games for Change (G4C), a nonprofit devoted to encouraging the development of digital games for social change. The group provides a platform for developers, gamers, journalists, academics, and nonprofits to connect and exchange ideas on how video games can be used to address some of today’s most pressing social issues. G4C has an annual conference, hosts workshops on creating social issue games, and provides toolkits for nonprofits. They also host local chapters and provide a forum for social networking. They are even working with Microsoft to explore new ways to bring the worlds of digital gaming and social change together.

Though it’s only five years old, the group is growing rapidly and creating a lot of buzz.  They were recently written up in The Christian Science Monitor, SEED Magazine, and The New York Observer. And this month, Social Edge, an online community of social entrepreneurs, is hosting a discussion on the issue of gaming for social good.

Shown here: a whaling game entitled “Harpooned” that seeks to address Japan’s shrouded whaling industry. Catch more highlights of the “serious games” on the market after the jump.

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As you may have heard, last month, Kiva announced they would begin offering microloans to entrepreneurs in the U.S. Traditionally, they have been devoted to enabling small loans to budding entrepreneurs in developing countries to alleviate poverty, but the economic downturn inspired them to lend a helping hand next door. Not surprisingly, Kiva felt some backlash for this decision, as a team of Kiva lenders felt it unfair to lend to individuals who have attended college, have access to health care, and don’t have to build their own homes by hand.

However, microlending in the U.S. is far from new. Accion USA, one of Kiva’s partners in the pilot program, started providing microloans in the U.S. in 1991, and Grameen Bank, perhaps the most renowned microfinance institution founded by Nobel winner Muhammad Yunus in 1976, brought their business model here in 2005 with the founding of Grameen America. Read the rest of this entry >>

As mentioned in my last post, this week we are spotlighting Kiva’s Fellowship Program as an exciting opportunity for people looking to make a difference fighting poverty on the ground level.  In Part II of this week’s series, we talk to Kiva Fellow Sloane Berrent on her experience currently working for Kiva in the Philippines.

Laurel Angelica: What made you decide this was a path you wanted to try?

Sloane Berrent: Well, to be honest, I wouldn’t say this is a path I wanted to try. I would say this is a calling and very serious direction my life is taking and the road in front of me, while not always paved, is nonetheless a full-on road taking me somewhere really special.

What makes people be a doctor or a lawyer or a schoolteacher? There is a mix of skill - something they are good at - mixed with the pleasure of a job well done.

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In the midst of the worst recession since the Great Depression and with unemployment at an all-time high, many job seekers are looking for alternatives to the traditional job market. Though it may seem counterintuitive, volunteerism is on the rise. But instead of volunteering to pass the time, try this option on for size – a fellowship program that will take you abroad and allow you to work in a real business setting to alleviate poverty. The Kiva Fellows Program is an unpaid fellowship that gives individuals the opportunity to work firsthand in the field of microfinance, not only helping you make an impact, but also laying groundwork for a career, especially if you are interested in microfinance or international development.

This week, we talk with Sloane Berrent, a current Kiva Fellow in the Philippines, for a two-part look into the program and what it’s like working on the ground with entrepreneurs in developing countries.  Kiva works with partner microfinance institutions around the world to provide small peer-to-peer loans and connect lenders with entrepreneurs. Currently, Berrent is working with Ahon sa Hirap, Inc. (ASHI), one of Kiva’s partner institutions that makes small loans to local female entrepreneurs.

Laurel Angelica: Can you give us a little background on Kiva, and what Kiva is doing with ASHI?

Sloane Berrent

Sloane Berrent: Kiva was founded in 2005 by Matt and Jessica Flannery as a peer-to-peer based lending nonprofit part of the microlending movement in microfinance.  Kiva is Swahili word that means “unity.” What Kiva offers people is the opportunity to give a “hand up” instead of a “hand out.” You’re making a loan to an entrepreneur (“borrower”) around the world instead of a donation, so in fact, you’ll get that money back. You chose the borrower, and you become part of a group of people that all give in increments to fund their project.

Microfinance is defined as providing financial services to the poor. In most cases around the world, from Uganda to Paraguay to the Philippines and the United States, the poor have little to no access to loans because they lack a credit history. If you have nothing to use as collateral, you’re not a qualified applicant for a loan. Financial institutions don’t like to make small loans because their own returns would be very low. Therefore loans in villages have often been left to loan sharks with extremely high interest rates and no guarantee the loan won’t be recalled at a moments notice. which makes it near impossible to break the cycle of poverty.

Microfinance changes the playing field. Microfinance institutions (“MFIs”) are all over the world now and get their funding from the government, foundations and nonprofits – Kiva is one of those funders to more than 120 field partners now around the world in over 50 countries. Microfinance not only supports the initial business cycle but also can provide savings accounts, loans for house repair or educational loans as well a variety of social development programs like financial literacy classes, seminars on better farming and agriculture, day care and parenting classes, the list goes on. The microfinance institution that I have been placed at is called Ahon sa Hirap, Inc. which means in Tagalog, “To rise up from poverty.” Many MFIs only lend to women, including ASHI. For these women, their fellow borrowers are like a second family that they help, support and look to for guidance. Read the rest of this entry >>

A couple of recent Harvard Business School graduates have created quite a stir lately with their new foray into professional ethics following the financial crisis debacle.  We’ve all heard about the Hippocratic oath for doctors, and the oath lawyers take upon admission to the State Bar, but what about business professionals receiving advanced degrees? This year, U.S. schools will award more than 100,000 MBA degrees, more than twice the number of law degrees and medical degrees combined. So what about business? That’s exactly what Max Anderson, creator of the MBA Oath was thinking. He and a few other students have launched a bit of a social experiment, where MBA graduates promise to act ethically and morally throughout their careers. And it’s growing with wild success.

TakePart sits down for a Q & A exclusive with Max Anderson to discuss the reasoning behind the oath, and what the future might hold.

How did you come up with the oath and why did you chose to write what you did? How did you get involved with Harvard professors Rakesh Khurana and Nitin Nohria on the project? Have you been thinking about starting a business ethics program for a long time?

Max Anderson: I think there were three big things that helped influence the oath. First, Harvard Business School celebrated its 100th anniversary during my first year in school. As part of the commemorative activity, the school wrote cases and held forums on the future of the MBA degree. It made all of us think about what it means to have an MBA and what it might mean 20 years from now. It got me thinking about how the MBA degree needs to stand for something more if it is going to remain relevant in the future. The oath is a step towards professionalizing management.
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As I mentioned in last week’s post about empowering people to bring about social change, this week’s piece is a spotlight on givabit, an upcoming free iPhone app that allows people donate to charities directly from their cell phones.  It makes giving quick and easy, and you can do it from the comfort of your couch to the top of Mt. Whitney, as long as you have your phone (and service).

Here’s the gist of it: Each day you open it you’ll be introduced to a new featured charity. After reading a bit more about what they do you can press a button and donate $1, $5, $10 or “Other.”  It may not seem like a lot of money, but that’s the point.  A lot of people donating just a little bit can make a big difference.

Jake Stolarski and Justin Kazmark, co-creators of givabit, sat down for brunch one day to talk about potential iPhone apps and ended up discussing the presidential campaign. Having seen the immense success of President Obama’s grassroots fundraising, they realized there is a huge opportunity to lever the power of many small donations through new media and technology. Read the rest of this entry >>