USAID and Global Development Commons have announced the 2008 USAID Development 2.0 Challenge. The competition beckons participants to come up with an idea to use mobile technology for social good. In their own words: Mobile technology, including everything from inventive applications for smart phones to simple text messaging, is increasingly ubiquitous in the developing world. USAID [...]

Today, October 15th, is Blog Action Day, and as Aishwarya mentioned before, the theme this year happens to be “poverty” – a topic that TC-I touches on in all of its posts and through the belief that social innovation and social enterprises can contribute to alleviating poverty. TC-I is rife with examples of how social enterprises [...]

ThinkChange India had earlier covered Fab India’s innovative business model for bringing the riches right at the doorsteps of the skilled and isolated rural weavers. A similar opportunity now knocks the doors of  tribal artisans of Jharkhand. Parichay, a non-profit founded by six first-year MBA students within the XLRI Jamshedpur campus, has inaugurated its ‘Design and Learning [...]

The ThinkChange India Team is proud to introduce Badhri as one of our new part-time bloggers. An avid blogger in the social entrepreneurship space already, Badhri will bring a unique perspective and energy to the TC-I community. He is a graduate of the University of Madras, Chennai and has a MS from Wright State University. [...]

Poverty! That is the subject of discusion for Blog Action Day 2008. Into its second year, the aim of Blog Action Day is to bring together bloggers and create a discussion. Every year a subject is selected – last year the topic was environment. Rules are very few and the idea is to initiate a discussion [...]

India Post has inked an agreement with National Bank of Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) to facilitate micro-credit to women-run Self Help Groups (SHG) in eight states and north eastern states. In this strategic partnership, India Post will lend the unparalleled reach it has gained into India’s remote villages and the credibility as a reliable family [...]

A quick insight from Ryan Gunderson of Riches for Good: India is the most favored country for social entrepreneurs around the world. According to his research, India has “over 75% of the top organizations [in the field] working there.” Why is India the clear favorite for social entrepreneurs? The obvious answer is market opportunity. India has [...]

PepsiCo Foundation has awarded two grants, totaling $76 million, to sustainable water and sanitation efforts by WaterPartners and Safe Water Network. The PR release describes each program. WaterPartners will use the award to implement their WaterCredit program: The WaterCredit program in India has two main components: first, to provide traditional grant funding directly to local non-government [...]

Recently, I attended a talk by Acumen Fund Fellow and Harvard Kennedy School alumna, Catherine Casey, who worked in Kenya with the Sustainable Healthcare Foundation, a micro-franchise healthcare and drug distribution chain based in Nairobi, Kenya. The Acumen Fund fellowship is a relatively new program, with a vast array of opportunities in India. Just this [...]

Want to be part of a group of emerging leaders and learn about the latest innovations in corporate social responsibility and social entrepreneurship? Apply to StartingBloc! StartingBloc’s mission begins by training tomorrow’s most promising young leaders with a new mindset towards value creation. Each year, working with an admission committee composed of MBA admissions directors, [...]