CDCs, non-profit organizations commissioned to provide services or programs in a certain geographic location, are a particularly good way for ioby to deepen its focus on local solutions to environmental problems in communities. “Any New Yorker can post their project on ioby, but we have a special interest in supporting the ideas and initiatives of New Yorkers in neighborhoods that have a greater burden of environmental problems and fewer resources to address them,” says Erin Barnes, executive director and co-founder of ioby, in a press release about the partnership with Deutsche Bank. #

“This partnership came about through conversations with Deutsche Bank about how our mass campaigns were working for us. Deutsche Bank has long been dedicated to working with CDCs. When I was saying to Sam Marks, the program officer we work with at Deutsche Bank, how match campaigns work with ioby, he immediately drew the conclusion that [we could work with] CDCs, since their target focus is the neighborhood level, and that would be a perfect opportunity for ioby to improve its reach,” Barnes, told Dowser. #

“CDCs bring a comprehensive point of view to neighborhood development, and in many neighborhoods, they are playing a leading role engaging their constituents in local environmental issues,” said Marks, the Vice President, Deutsche Bank Americas Foundation, in ioby’s press release.  “We were compelled by the notion that ioby could provide a platform to allow CDCs to take advantage of grassroots crowd-resourcing for block-level sustainability projects aligned with their broader community visions.” #

Two innovative projects will lead off the match campaign. The Cypress Hills Local Development Corporation (CHLDC) is working on raising $5,940 for an urban farm in the low-income East New York/Cypress Hills neighborhood of Brooklyn. The project, Pollos Del Pueblo, will transform an unused, city-owned vacant lot into a resource for the community, by installing a chicken coop, a chicken run, a storage shed, and a community compost station. #

Pollos del Pueblo will provide healthy food in a food desert.

“This project and grassroots fundraising campaign offer the opportunity to take a real blight on the community – one of many vacant, overgrown lots – and transform it into a site for exciting, important community building and expanded access to fresh food – including organic eggs.” added MacLean. #

The second pilot project will be a partnership between Living City Block Gowanus and the Gowanus Community Development Corporation. The Gowanus neighborhood is the site of the Gowanus Canal, which was declared a polluted and hazardous Superfund site in 2010. These groups will together host a series of design charettes and contests, with the goal of creating the best wayfinding signs for visitors and residents of the Gowanus neighborhood. “The signs will lead pedestrians, cyclists and car traffic to various green infrastructure sites in the area, such as bike racks, solar panels, bioswales and micro-wind turbines,” according to ioby’s press release. #

The polluted Gowanus Canal (Brooklyn, NY), a superfund site.

ioby’s crowdfunding efforts so far fully funding nearly 100 projects in all five boroughs of New York City through small, individual donations. The average donation is $35 and the average project budget is $1,200. #

“The Obama campaign in 2008 helped people see how they could fund the things they believed in by pooling large numbers of small donations. Typically the wealthy gave charity--now people can support change in the very neighborhoods they live in. It shifts the ideology from hand-outs to community engagement,” said Barnes. Most ioby micro-donors live within two miles of the project they are supporting, which helps foster a local sense of community and responsibility. #

“After finding matching campaigns to be a very effective way for us to support the work of ioby’s project leaders, we couldn’t be happier about this initiative,” said Brandon Whitney, COO and co-founder of ioby, in the press release. “Matches embolden project leaders and micro-donors alike.” #]]> http://dowser.org/ioby-partners-with-deutsche-bank-to-fund-projects-by-community-development-corporationss/feed/ 0 http://dowser.org/dc-comics-time-warner-warner-bros-announce-campaign-to-increase-aid-to-horn-of-africa/ http://dowser.org/dc-comics-time-warner-warner-bros-announce-campaign-to-increase-aid-to-horn-of-africa/#comments Mon, 30 Jan 2012 17:54:37 +0000 Dowser http://dowser.org/?p=18126 On January 23, DC Comics announced a new campaign to support to humanitarian work in the Horn of Africa, where a confluence of drought, famine, and Islamist militia rule have led some 13 million people to starvation. The campaign, called “We Can Be Heroes,” is a partnership with Time Warner and Warner Bros., and features iconic characters from DC Comics’ “Justice League.” These familiar faces, including Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, The Flash, Aquaman and Cyborg, will be broadcast widely on television, inviting viewers to go to the campaign website, where they can donate directly to aid humanitarian efforts in the Horn of Africa, or purchase goods like mugs or t-shirts whose proceeds partly (fifty percent) will go to the campaign. #

“While many individuals may feel powerless to effect change on their own, as part of a global campaign such as this, their efforts, combined with those of other donors, can create a world of change,” stated the campaign’s press release last week. #

Alongside the advertising campaign, $2 million in cash donations, employee matching funds and consumer matching funds will be donated to Save the Children, International Rescue Committee and Mercy Corps over the next two years for their work in the Horn of Africa. #

“We're launching ‘We Can Be Heroes’ now because the situation in the Horn of Africa is dire, and the people there are suffering the worst drought and famine in 60 years.  There is urgency to the crisis and we want and need to help now,” Diane Nelson, the president of DC Comics, told Dowser. “We feel fundamentally, that the more people know about what's happening in the Horn of Africa, the more they will want to help. DC Comics' Justice League characters are the perfect heroes to motivate awareness and action for this urgent crisis,” she added. #

Critics of Western aid programs like Dambisa Moyo have argued that ongoing flows of aid to African countries have done nothing to reduce poverty there. The famine in the East Horn is a crisis of a deep, structural nature; it rests on pre-existing, interlocking problems such as the rule of Al-Shabaab, climate change, and agricultural production systems that lack resilience. What can two million dollars do to alleviate a crisis like that? #

“I hope the campaign will draw more attention, more public awareness, and donations,” Michael Kocher,vice president of international programs at the International Rescue Committee, told Dowser. “It is difficult in situations where the onset of an emergency is slow, unlike the tsunami in Japan or the earthquake in Haiti, which got peoples’ attention very quickly,” he added. “Ethiopia was pre-provisioning livestock before the drought, which helped to avert crisis there. But without good governance and security, these preventative measures only do so much.” #

The idea of “corporate social responsibility” (CSR) -- and the DC Comics initiative is a good example of CSR -- was birthed in the last few decades as companies began to envision their stakeholders—and not just their shareholders—as important beneficiaries of their services. But CSR has not gone uncriticized. A few years ago, Forbes Magazine ran a series debating the idea: “Proponents insist that companies should take into account the interests of society as a whole while conducting business and claim they can do so profitably. Critics say only people can have moral obligations, and that companies are already helping the world by providing jobs for workers and goods for consumers. Others dismiss CSR as cynical marketing by rapacious, profit-maximizing multinationals,” Forbes explained in the series overview. #

A recent study by Forbes suggests that CSR may be evolving—perhaps, it could be argued, due to some criticism that it is no more than “window-dressing” or greenwashing. The study looked at CSR in the cases of Eli Lilly, MasterCard, and Hewlett-Packard, and also surveyed a wide array of companies worldwide, and observed a few trends. One of them is that volunteerism has become more important in recent years, indicating that companies seek to engage in social impact projects beyond philanthropy alone. Another is that philanthropy can be most helpful to business goals when the CEO is actively involved in the program. #

Janine Schooley, senior vice president of programs at PCI, a California-based organization dedicated to supporting sustainable development efforts worldwide, shared with Dowser her views on the potential impact of corporate social responsibility campaigns. "Here at PCI we have found partnering with corporations or corporate foundations to be quite strategic and helpful in addressing the needs of the vulnerable communities we serve in Sub-Saharan Africa.  Corporate Social Responsibility provides us with yet another tool, another set of much needed resources, whether they be cash, in-kind, or human resources.  It takes effort to find the right intersection between a particular CSR focus and PCI's mission, but once we find it, the partnership can be very beneficial to all concerned,” she said. #

How effective will DC Comic's CSR initiative be? Stay tuned. In the coming months we'll be monitoring the implementation of the initiative, tracking what happens from the idea of the aid program to the execution  - in the US and in the Horn of Africa. #]]> http://dowser.org/dc-comics-time-warner-warner-bros-announce-campaign-to-increase-aid-to-horn-of-africa/feed/ 1 http://dowser.org/waste-farmers-a-company-aims-to-put-nutrients-from-food-waste-back-into-the-soil/ http://dowser.org/waste-farmers-a-company-aims-to-put-nutrients-from-food-waste-back-into-the-soil/#comments Tue, 24 Jan 2012 18:11:32 +0000 Dowser http://dowser.org/?p=18040

The United States has a topsoil problem. About 75 percent of it is gone, primarily because the large, single-crop farms that dominate American agriculture rely on chemicals and synthetic fertilizers to produce their harvests, depleting natural soil systems in the process. #

John-Paul Maxfield thinks compost can help solve this problem. Environmentalists love compost for several reasons, including that it helps divert waste from landfills -- the world's largest source of human-produced methane, a greenhouse gas 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide. But for Maxfield, composting organic matter isn't so much a waste-reduction issue as it is an ecological and agricultural one. He wants to create a market solution to get compost back into the soil. #

He's part of a small but growing community of people and companies around the country that recognizes the lifecycle of the food supply, and the need to link the production of food with what happens to the scraps of food after it is consumed. #

"We have been losing topsoil across the planet at an alarming rate over the past 50 years, largely due to poor agricultural practices," Dan Sullivan, managing editor of BioCycle magazine, said in an email. "Amending our soils with compost, basically recycling organic waste back into the earth just as natural ecosystems such as forests function, is really the only way we can correct that damage." #

He said he's starting to see a transition even on conventional (non-organic) farms from petroleum-based farming to compost, largely because of increasing costs of petroleum, but also because the advantages of compost are becoming ever-clearer. "Compost use improves water infiltration and storage capacity, thereby protecting agricultural lands long-term from drought, while chemical farming tends to dry out the soil, deplete nutrients over time and cause erosion," Sullivan said. #

Dan Matsch, compost program manager at Eco-Cycle, put it this way: "Any land from which nutrients are harvested, whether it’s a lawn from which the clippings are removed and leaves are raked up, or a giant agricultural field, needs to have those nutrients replaced one way or another or the soil becomes depleted over time." #

But the transition is relatively slow, particularly in urban areas, where farming is on the rise around the country but where soil tends to be nearly devoid of nutrients and microbial activity, which Maxfield says is the key difference between soil and dirt. Urban areas also produce huge amounts of food waste that are, in most cities around the U.S., treated as trash and sent to a landfill -- preventing the nutrients from ever reaching the soil again while also contributing directly to climate change. #

So Maxfield started a company, Waste Farmers, that takes organic waste collected from around Denver and produces organic agricultural inputs like fertilizer, potting soil, biochar, and compost tea. Waste Farmers currently sells products in bulk, and is preparing to move into the retail home and garden market in 2012. Ultimately, the objective is to develop a stronger market demand for compost. The products that Waste Farmers make are essentially a delivery mechanism for getting compost back into the ground and part of the food production system again. #

"At the retail level most people don’t really know what to do with straight compost, so it makes good sense to package it in a more ready-to-use form as [Waste Farmers] is doing," said Matsch. "The company is "not marketing straight compost – tea, char, and castings are all ‘value-added’ additional ingredients that make it an entirely different product." #

By getting compost into people's hands in these more usable forms, the company is essentially creating a closed-loop process for agriculture and the organic waste stream. #

To explain the function of Waste Farmers to people without an agricultural background, Maxfield asks you to picture a farmer using biodynamic principles, which are designed to be self-sustaining: #

"What he can't consume, he feeds to his pigs and his cattle, and then they poop. And then a chicken comes through and picks through the poop," he said. "That becomes a refined product that then goes back to feed the soil. We kind of play the role of the chicken in this system, refining and adding value to this soil." #

Matsch, whose organization has worked with Maxfield and is the largest community-based recycling organization in the country, chose to describe Waste Farmers another way, commenting on the shared goals of the company and Eco-Cycle. "What both [Waste Farmers] and Eco-Cycle are doing is to try to create an association in people’s minds between food waste and soil fertility and to create a very local circle of resource recycling – from plate to compost pile to soil and back to the plate." #

The other thing that Waste Farmers' potting soil has going for it is that the presence of compost displaces the need for peat moss, a plant material sourced from limited supplies in sensitive ecosystems -- and is found in just about every retail potting soil. #

Waste Farmers, now about three years old, has seen impressive growth. Maxfield said at six months, they were operating with a pickup truck and processing about one ton of compost a month. Now they're up to about 300 tons a month. But the more notable achievement is the quality of the product they're retailing. Maxfield said that side-by-side comparisons of plants grown in Waste Farmers' potting soil and in their competitors' soil have produced double yields for the Waste Farmers soil. #

Maxfield said the company brought in about $500,000 this year, and expects to grow to between $3 and $5 million by 2014. He bases that largely on the growing demographic of urban farmers, the support he has received so far from the local food community and from the city -- Maxfield sits on the Denver Mayor's Seeds Task Force, which is focused on developing the infrastructure for urban agriculture, and the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce named Waste Farmers the "2010 Green Business of the Year" and on the interest that local retailers have expressed in selling his product. #

"Costco said, 'let's talk.' Independent lawn and garden centers have said, 'let's talk," Maxfield said. "The conversation's the same: 'Tell us when you have your packaging.'" #

The packaging isn't easy: "We tried compostable packaging. It composted. We tried a burlap sack, it composted the burlap sack," Maxfield said in the Waste Farmers testing lab. They expect to have a solution in time to start selling sometime this year. #

For Maxfield, the big-picture plan for Waste Farmers is to expand to other cities, so that organic waste is collected, turned into compost, and put back into the soil all in a closed-loop, localized system. #

Establishing smaller and more distributed systems in this way makes financial sense. "The current economics of compost have a lot to do with proximity to agricultural markets. Compost is heavy (and so is food waste), and most commercial composters will tell you that 100 miles is about the farthest you can haul it and have the numbers line up," said Sullivan from BioCycle. #

But for Waste Farmers, setting up shop in multiple cities is also part of the quest for sustainable answers to agricultural -- not just financial -- problems. He said, "What we want to do is decentralize a very centralized, failing agricultural system." #

Photo: Waste Farmers #]]> http://dowser.org/waste-farmers-a-company-aims-to-put-nutrients-from-food-waste-back-into-the-soil/feed/ 5 http://dowser.org/new-california-law-combats-human-slavery-via-supply-chain-transparency/ http://dowser.org/new-california-law-combats-human-slavery-via-supply-chain-transparency/#comments Mon, 23 Jan 2012 18:10:34 +0000 Dowser http://dowser.org/?p=18019 January is Human Trafficking Awareness Month, a time to educate people that slavery exists today and build support for the fight to stop it. But this January also happens to be the month that a new law in California has come into effect, the first of its kind in the U.S., and one that has the potential to do more than just raise awareness of human trafficking and actually make a real dent in the problem itself. #

Human trafficking and forced labor are largely hidden problems, but they persist in just about every country in the world (including in the U.S.) whether it's in cotton fields that feed our demand for clothing or in factories where our electronics are assembled. As consumers, we are all connected to human trafficking and slavery through the goods we use every day. But a large hurdle in eradicating slavery is how disconnected those final products are from the conditions that produced them. #

The supply chains that companies rely on to bring consumer goods to the market have become so fragmented that a grocery or apparel company has no idea -- sometimes by design, sometimes inadvertently -- that it is enabling the forced exploitation of workers. The retail clothing chain Gap was the target of activist campaigns and got a lot of bad press in the late 1990s for using exploitative child labor in factories that produced Gap clothing. But because stores like Gap outsource labor to factories and do not own them outright (and Gap was never the only one to take this route), they can shirk responsibility for what happens within those facilities. #

A new rule in California seeks to put some of that responsibility back into the corporate offices of large businesses, so that it's no longer enough for a company to say it doesn't know the conditions in which its products are grown or manufactured. The California Transparency in Supply Chains Act, which was signed into law last year but only went into effect this month, requires companies to disclose, in a prominent place on their websites, what they are doing to combat forced labor and human trafficking in their supply chains. #

The law applies to any manufacturing and retail company with $100 million or more in sales that does business in California; one estimate predicted the law would impact 3,200 global companies. To return to Gap as an example -- in part because a report tailored to the California legislation, Effective Supply Chain Accountability, said Gap has exhibited several model practices in terms of cleaning up its supply chain -- the company created a vendor code of conduct that meets core International Labor Organization standards, followed years later by a human rights policy, and has charted its level of influence over each stage of its supply chain. #

Disclosing exactly those types of efforts is what is now required by the new law. A company must indicate the extent to which it: audits suppliers for trafficking and slavery; verifies supply chains to evaluate and address risks of human trafficking, and whether an independent third party is used for the verification process; maintains internal accountability standards; trains employees on this issue; and certifies that materials used in a product comply with human trafficking laws in the countries where business is conducted. #

There are still some fuzzy points: certification, for example, has no standard definition. And there is no certifier for slavery-free, the way there is for organic or fair trade. But the law is in effect, companies have started publishing the information necessary to comply -- and they have been advised not to make false or exaggerated claims that misrepresent what they're actually doing. There can be legal consequences. #

According to Patricia Jurewicz, director of the Responsible Sourcing Network, the area that needs the most work is the origin of a product's supply chain: in the fields and mines that supply raw materials like sugar and coltan, a mineral used in just about every gadget in the world. #

Power in Numbers #

The potential for significantly changing conditions in these areas falls to the number of companies involved in calling for that change. #

"One company can't really impact these challenges," she said. "Some of what we're aiming to do is create industry-wide efforts to address the challenges around slavery and trafficking at the raw commodity level." She said the most egregious practices are hidden, and can stay that way if there is no incentive otherwise. When there is a demand for better practices by more than one player, suppliers have greater incentive to change. #

In a way, the California legislation augments efforts already underway by organizations and companies focused on this issue, and could potentially work in the same way. Jurewicz used cotton, and a coalition of companies that have been working to clean up the cotton supply chain, as an example. #

"Now that we have this group of over 60 brands saying that practice is unacceptable, we can take that coalition and go to the spinners, to the traders," she said. That process and those discussions can then serve "as a driving mechanism to reward or support production, or harvesting in this case, that does not use forced child labor and to minimize the demand for the cotton that does use forced child labor." #

Now, initiatives like the one Jurewicz highlighted with cotton are created on a voluntary basis, while the California legislation is mandatory. But the California law doesn't require a company to change its policies at all; it just requires companies to disclose what they are doing to identify and eliminate human trafficking from their supply chains. If a company is doing nothing and chooses to turn a blind eye, it simply has to say as much on its website. #

Organizations like the Responsible Sourcing Network and Christian Brothers Investment Services (CBIS) feel that the negative public image that could result from admitting total inaction will be incentive for a company to start paying attention to this issue. #

"Investors will be evaluating how companies are addressing the challenges facing workers in complex global supply chains, seeking evidence that companies are considering the long-term impact of these issues. Non-compliance with SB 657 may lead to certain legal and reputational risks," said the Effective Supply Chain Accountability report, which was released by CBIS and the socially-responsible Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility and Calvert Investments. #

Julie Tanner, assistant director of socially responsible investing for CBIS, pointed to the recent spotlight on conditions in the factories that produce iPhones and other Apple products. #

"It's happening in everybody's factory. That's why it's so critical that the companies do this kind of risk assessment," Tanner said. "Not only for moral reasons and ethical reasons, but as an investor, we're saying for shareholder value reasons, reputational risk issues -- it's so critical." #

A similar bill has been introduced at the federal level that could make California just the first actor in a series of significant steps requiring companies to not only pay attention to slavery and human trafficking, but to recognize and take responsibility for their involvement in it. #

Photo: marissaorton/Flickr #]]> http://dowser.org/new-california-law-combats-human-slavery-via-supply-chain-transparency/feed/ 2 http://dowser.org/first-person-jennifer-chan-of-exhibit-change-on-early-lessons-as-an-entrepreneur/ http://dowser.org/first-person-jennifer-chan-of-exhibit-change-on-early-lessons-as-an-entrepreneur/#comments Thu, 19 Jan 2012 20:05:48 +0000 Dowser http://dowser.org/?p=8595 Jennifer Chan founded Exhibit Change to encourage impact through design thinking and to promote community building. The organization serves as a think tank for people to share ideas and designs, and to create healthier communities and neighborhoods. Here she tells Dowser what she learned in getting Exhibit Change off the ground. #

Dowser: What's something concrete and tangible you've learned in the last three months?
Chan: Make your ideas happen. I had an idea floating around in my head for a few weeks and I realized that the impact could only truly be realized when I set my fears aside and pushed forward, asked for help and executed my idea into an event. The event was called 'Greening Ward 27', it was a hands on community design charrette where we hosted 40 people. We brought together city councilor candidates, school trustee candidates, residents, activists, business owners and facilitators to talk about our vision for Ward 27, a downtown Toronto neighborhood with a wide range in economic status. We focused the areas live, work, play, eat and learn, around the concept of greening. We were able to get hundreds of community led ideas generated and a proposal of 5 project areas to increase community development and civic engagement. #

#

What is a mistake or mishap you've learned from?
The sweetest juice is in the smallest fruits. Time is very valuable and there is always a really good event, conference, session, meeting, or person to meet, but that I can only do so much effectively. So, I am learning to say no. I am learning that things happen for a reason. And that the most value and sweetest juice is going to come from my most passionate and diligent work. #

Photo courtesy of Jennifer Chan #]]> http://dowser.org/first-person-jennifer-chan-of-exhibit-change-on-early-lessons-as-an-entrepreneur/feed/ 1 http://dowser.org/get-an-mit-education-for-free-with-soon-to-launch-mitx/ http://dowser.org/get-an-mit-education-for-free-with-soon-to-launch-mitx/#comments Tue, 17 Jan 2012 17:44:31 +0000 Dowser http://dowser.org/?p=17876

Online learning can't replace the classroom experience, but it could replace the burden of student debt.

Some universities, like Stanford and MIT, are showing that there might be another option out there—thanks to the Internet. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) recently announced the spring 2012 pilot of an online learning initiative called MITx, which will offer the online teaching of MIT courses free of charge to anyone who wants to take them. Those who are able to exhibit a mastery of the subjects taught on the platform will receive an official certificate of completion, bearing, rather than MIT’s coveted credential, the MITx name (there will be a small charge in exchange for a certificate acknowledging completion of a course). #

For about ten years, MIT has been providing thousands of free online courses to over 100 million students through a free, open-source online platform called OpenCourseWare, and their new courses will build on this platform. Now, they are enhancing their offerings by making them more interactive: student-to-student discussions will facilitate learning and collaboration amongst peers—an important aspect of education—and students will have access to online laboratories and self-assessments so they can track their progress as they work at their own pace. (MIT’s on-campus students are also expected to benefit from MITx courses, which they can use to enhance their in-class learning.) #

Stanford, like MIT, has been trying to provide access via the Internet to its world-class educational offerings. Last fall, a free online course on Artificial Intelligence attracted 58,000 participants. If they completed the course, they received a ranking in comparison to enrolled Stanford students, as well as a certificate. #

Another option is the website Academic Earth, which brings together free online courses from various top universities like Yale and Stanford, with video instruction (but no coursework or interaction, unlike MITx will), in one place. It was recently acquired by technology company Ampush Media, so site developments are likely in the near future. #

Perhaps these online courses won’t be suitable for everyone, particularly those who are interested in the socializing experience of college or graduate school—simultaneously an important source of networking opportunities, and a problematic contribution to the “summer camp” atmosphere that pervades many campuses. But for people who are already working and want more knowledge about their field, or who are confident, self-motivated learners, these online learning platforms could provide access to elite education—at zero percent of the cost. #

Thanks to Misha Lepetich for the valuable story tips here. #]]> http://dowser.org/get-an-mit-education-for-free-with-soon-to-launch-mitx/feed/ 7 http://dowser.org/weekly-roundup-haitis-road-to-recovery-and-indias-recent-milestone/ http://dowser.org/weekly-roundup-haitis-road-to-recovery-and-indias-recent-milestone/#comments Fri, 13 Jan 2012 17:20:01 +0000 Dowser http://dowser.org/?p=17926

Two Years Later, Haiti is Regaining her Strength

Wash Post reports: "Almost a million people have moved out of the increasingly dangerous tent cities. Some were pushed. But most were pulled away by programs that offered rent subsidies or home-repair assistance. #

But 500,000 people remain under tarps. About 20,000 still live in a squalid camp in downtown Port-au-Prince, their once-crisp tents, stamped USAID, now soiled gray and sagging in the heat in front of the collapsed National Palace. #

Some of their kids are at least going to school. Haiti is providing free education for 900,000 children, many of whom have never been in a classroom before. The program is immensely popular, as are the free school buses." #

Guardian points out that Haiti, which has been largely aid dependent to get back on its feet, is moving away from that model to one of sustainability and self-sufficiency.  How so? #

"[T]he island's narrative may be slowly shifting from one of aid dependency to one of proactive self-help. The government is embarking on a multipronged initiative to combat cholera, permanently rehouse the displaced people, improve infrastructure, and stimulate the economy through a drive on job creation." #

A significant portion of that growth seems to be coming from the private section, according to the Guardian, which cites that a number of multinational corporations have invested in the country, hoping that their commercial ventures will bring social and economic impact to the fractured economy.  Is it social enterprise?  In the traditional view, no.  Can it have social impact?  Yes.   Is it the best route?   Here’s a counterargument from the Guardian’s Doucet, placing caution ahead of praise for Haiti’s route ahead: #

"'Haiti is open for business' is the new government's motto: but more than half a million people displaced by the earthquake still languish in two-year-old tent camps with no water and sanitation facilities, while almost 80,000 houses deemed damaged beyond repair have been reoccupied." #

Doucet goes on to explain that textile manufacturing has become the source of employment for many Haitians.  Yet, it pays little, barely enough for food and transportation. #

Canada’s CBC News also pointed to the country’s struggle to rebuild homes and rebuild them smartly to avoid future earthquakes.    One proposal included using shipping containers and refashioning them as homes, even temporary ones - a design that’s being used by eco-friendly businesses in the US even.  But, cost and feasibility are the focus and that’s not necessarily cheaper or more feasible given the poor infrastructure. #

So, the debate is still on - did the international aid money work, did it go to the right places, will Haiti have a sustainable, self-reliant future, will the private sector drive the economy ahead -- all questions are yet to be answered. #

India Touches a New Milestone: One Year, Polio-Free

India just completed the first year without a single case of polio.  The country that was considered the hotbed of the disease and the origin of many other cases around the world is now one step closer to be polio-free.   The UK’s Globe and Mail narrates how it happened. #

Bill Gates, who came on board with the polio effort in more recent years, has become a face for the cause in many ways, meeting with foreign dignitaries, traveling to polio-endemic towns, speaking at conferences - all to bring awareness to a disease that’s been largely forgotten in the developed world.  Here’s what he had to say to Forbes on this milestone. #

Weekend Reads:

• A special report on Haiti by GOOD’s Alex Goodmark.
• National Geographic’s photoessay of a story from Haiti of hope and restoration.
• Does social enterprise need a stronger definition to avoid misrepresentation?  The Guardian Socent blog explores this question.
• Why do social entrepreneurs and government come into conflict? Sree Kumar of Intellecap cites examples from India’s microfinance scare in SSIR.

Cheryl Heller's background in business consulting taught her the importance of collaboration and a client-focused perspective.

A former graduate student (and student debtor) myself, I am skeptical when I hear about new programs. Why, I ask myself, should students trust that this program will get them ahead in life—and that it will be worth the price tag? #

What makes me warm up to a program is one thing: an emphasis on practice alongside theory, or, more specifically, a way for students to do concrete work that matters before they finish their degrees. In previous centuries, young people would have become apprentices to masters of their craft, gaining valuable experience doing real tasks while learning along the way; graduate programs that replicate this model are, I believe, most likely to lead their participants to successful careers. #

Cheryl Heller, the pragmatic dreamer who created and will be chair of the new MFA in Social Innovation program set to launch in 2012 at the School of Visual Arts (SVA) in New York City, couldn’t agree more. After years working as a consultant to Fortune 100 companies as well as non-profit organizations with a social change focus, Heller had seen various approaches to ideas like sustainability. It was enough to make her skeptical toward the whole concept. “With sustainable design, we either don’t go far enough, or we are in danger of convincing ourselves that just focusing on sustainability is enough,” she told Dowser. Heller had seen how “sustainability” could become one of those soundbites our culture loves—like “green,” and like “social innovation.” #

But Heller also strongly believes that this is the moment for people to focus on sustainability, because “the world wants purpose now,” she explained, adding that the definition of sustainability should be very clear: “Social innovation has to benefit both society and the environment.” #

The new MFA program will take students (twenty-five per cohort) through two years of learning--in and out of the classroom--with a diverse group of practicing designers and experienced educators. Learning will take place through three principal methods: immersion in the world where a student wants to make a social impact; developing the concrete business and design skills necessary to implement innovation; and an understanding of how to integrate social transformation into a business model, through design. #

Above all, the program is designed to get people working out of the classroom. Many of the courses will be structured so that students are working with an actual client, like a corporation or non-profit organization, to deliver a product or service. This enables an important shift to a “client perspective” that revolutionizes how students do their work. And students will be working together, rather than just individually. Collaboration, Heller says, reflects a “problem that the world needs to solve.” Looking around the world, an inability to collaborate is one of the main obstacles to social innovation, she explained. The MFA in Social Innovation is recruiting internationally in the hopes of fostering a cross-cultural environmental that helps students get hands-on experience with teamwork in a diverse environment. #

Many of Heller’s life experiences—such as her work with Paul Polak, a leader in the social enterprise movement and founder of the social innovation company D-Rev and the non-profit iDE, have led her to hold strong convictions about social design, which have shaped the MFA program at SVA. As a result, Keller not only values a focus on client perspective and collaboration; she also believes in a for-profit model as the best approach to social impact. That’s why so much of the MFA program will be geared toward corporate clients. #

“Opportunities are never guaranteed in this world,” explained Heller. “But there is a growing awareness of corporate social responsibility, and a huge appetite for innovation and practical application of design to social problems.” The program will reflect this need by connecting students to clients in the corporate world who are looking for innovative solutions to sustainability challenges. #

Applications for the first class of the MFA in Social Innovation are open until January 30^th, 2011, and students are encouraged to apply through the program website. Those who are interested but not ready to matriculate this year can follow the program through its public online webinars, such as this recent one, where Cheryl Heller describes her vision of design for social innovation. Another exciting, similar approach to graduate education can be found in the MFA in Products of Design program, also set to launch at SVA in 2012, and also currently accepting applications. #]]> http://dowser.org/new-mfa-program-in-social-innovation-seeks-to-create-social-entrepreneurs/feed/ 2 http://dowser.org/in-ohio-esop-pilots-a-fresh-approach-to-mortgage-modification/ http://dowser.org/in-ohio-esop-pilots-a-fresh-approach-to-mortgage-modification/#comments Mon, 09 Jan 2012 17:08:40 +0000 Dowser http://dowser.org/?p=17759

Nationwide, around 25 percent of mortgage holders owe more than their homes are worth.

Martin had previously struggled with his mortgage, years ago, when he found that the adjustable rate loan he had taken on was making his payments skyrocket.  The organization ESOP had helped Martin renegotiate that loan; now, unemployed and in fear of losing his family’s home, he turned to ESOP again. The result, after Martin enrolled in a principal reduction modification loan from Ocwen Financial Corporation, was that his mortgage payment went down to $640 per month. On top of that, the principal loan on the house—which is rapidly depreciating in value—will be reduced by $34,000 each year for three years, for a total reduction of $112,000. #

“I went to ESOP and filled out the packet for the loan modification program offered by the Obama administration—we had to try that first. But I didn’t get approved for that, for some reason. Then ESOP told me that they would approve me for a modification to my loan,” Martin explained to Dowser. “It was pretty simple because the relationship that ESOP has built with these loan companies—working with them on behalf of homeowners—makes the process easier. This is the easiest process I’ve gone through in dealing with the loan companies.” #

The Obama administration created the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) to help underwater homeowners, but not all who need assistance are eligible (such as Antonio Martin). ESOP is charting a new path for helping underwater homeowners by striking a deal with the lenders that benefits all parties. #

ESOP (Empowering and Strengthening Ohio’s People) is an Ohio-based HUD-certified foreclosure prevention counseling agency. It works by engaging loan servicers or lenders and borrowers, and acting as a good-faith intermediary between the parties. There are two unique aspects to ESOP’s work: one is how it holds lenders accountable, using a “tough love” approach and having a strict policy regarding homeowners’ compliance to information requests;  the other is getting large companies (including Bank of America, CitiMortgage, Ocwen Financial Corporation, and Litton Loan Servicing) to see the element of human experience behind all the paperwork of a mortgage. #

ESOP provides this human element by bringing executives from banks and loan servicers on community tours, where they get to meet their homeowners and see the effects of their policies. In one case, reported by David Bornstein in the New York Times last year, the lending agency Countrywide “signed an agreement after senior executives took a tour of Slavic Village, an area on the east side of Cleveland where a third of homes, many of them foreclosed by the lender, remain vacant, boarded up, stripped and ransacked, demolished, or occupied by squatters and drug dealers.” Once lenders have seen these neighborhoods with their own eyes, they are more apt to agree to ESOP’s “fair lending agreements,” under which they enter into a working relationship with underwater homeowners. #

For Martin, Ocwen’s principal reduction loan plan wasn’t just the best option; it was also the only one available, since he wasn’t approved for the government’s Home Affordable Refinance Program. Ocwen began offering their principal reduction loan plan about a year ago; the Washington Post reports that “79 percent of the customers who were offered the test program signed up, and the re-default rate has been 2.6 percent — far below the 40 to 50 percent rates within similar periods in some federally sponsored loan-modification efforts.” Ocwen hopes to take the program national, and is close to having regulatory approval in every state. #

ESOP would also like to see their unique approach go national—but there are barriers to expanding the lending agencies they work with. “The main reason this can’t happen on a large scale to make a significant impact on the housing market is because FHFA, the conservator of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, will not use principal reduction on mortgages that it owns or underwrites," Deonna Kirkpatrick, ESOP’s Director of Communications, told Dowser. But the FHFA's position is being contested. "Some members of Congress are challenging the acting Director Ed DeMarco on this [with a letter and a YouTube video asking DeMarco to change his position on principal reduction loans],” she said. #]]> http://dowser.org/in-ohio-esop-pilots-a-fresh-approach-to-mortgage-modification/feed/ 5 http://dowser.org/weekly-roundup-b-corps-in-california-and-indias-new-rickshaw/ http://dowser.org/weekly-roundup-b-corps-in-california-and-indias-new-rickshaw/#comments Sun, 08 Jan 2012 03:40:14 +0000 Dowser http://dowser.org/?p=17804