Green Businesses and Indigenous Peoples Day
Green businesses can replace Columbus Day festivities with Indigenous Peoples Day to demonstrate cultural sensitivity as part of a broad sustainability agenda.
Women Eco-Entrepreneurs in Solar Energy
Women eco-entrepreneurs in the solar energy industry are taking action for empowerment, diversity in careers, and extending access to energy to impoverished areas of the world.
Social Entrepreneurs Must Be Proactive, Author Says
Designer Matt Manos devotes half his time to business customers and half to social entrepreneurs. He claims entrepreneurs do not focus enough on issues that will confront mankind in the future.
Lovin’ Spoonfuls Food Sharing Network Rescues Fresh Food
Food sharing is at the heart of Lovin’ Spoonfuls, a non-profit start-up in the Boston area that has redistributed more than 3.6 million pounds of fresh food since 2010 to help feed the hungry.
Sustainability in Middle America: How Green Franchises Can Build a Better Business World
A few weeks ago I had the chance to attend The Franchise Expo, a huge expo that winds its way across America and Canada each year offering up an array of franchise opportunities. The franchise model holds a lot of promise to aspiring business owners: many people know they want to work for themselves, but don’t quite know what that job looks like or how to start it. Starting a franchise is a potentially easier way to own a business,…
Urban Metabolism and Re-Nuble
In the three years since I founded my own company, I have learned that linkages are borne out of the unlikeliest of places. Five years ago, I was sitting with my colleague, Ranjith Annepu, discussing an idea Karl Marx first introduced – urban metabolism. Urban metabolism studies cities as if they were organisms, which exchange materials and energy from their surroundings to sustain life. This concept, was inspiring to both Ranjith and I because a majority of the human population…
Social Enterprise: Sustainable Business Plan Competition Offers Mentor Capital to Social Entrepreneurs
If your for-profit social enterprise is at the stage where it could benefit from the experience of others, in the form of mentor feedback and coaching, in order to grow the business and expand its reach, plus the chance to win cash and in-kind prizes and connect with potential investors, the 12th annual Sustainable Business Plan Competition might be for you. The Mentor Capital Network (MCN), formerly known as the The William James Foundation, is currently accepting applications for their…
Waste at Work: Indian Entrepreneurs Turn Dung into Dollars
A quiet movement by young social entrepreneurs across north and east India finds ways to turn waste from plants and animals into jobs for the ultra poor. Across India, young entrepreneurs are finding ways to innovate the mundane. Using found technology, they cobble simple machinery together to do more than just recycle: They’re expanding local resources and transforming waste products into profits. This spring, I visited a few small businesses achieving a triple bottom line in achieving financial, social, and…
Action-Oriented Social Network for Social Good Seeks Social Entrepreneurs
If you’re anything like a lot of us, you’re probably a bit jaded with social media and social networks, and couldn’t give a fig about funny cat videos, clickbait titles, “Which character are you?” quizzes, silly memes, or manufactured outrage. If that’s the case, you might be looking for a social network with a loftier aim than garnering “Likes” on selfies and getting lots of views of the pics of your last meal. There’s a new kid on the social…