The Social Enterprise: A New Paradigm for Business Leadership

Over the past few years we’ve seen an enormous change in the political and social landscape. Topics like nationalism, immigration, discrimination and bias have become CEO-level issues, and business leaders have been pulled into the

Business that lends sight to the blind wins tech award

A phone app that enables blind people to video call sighted volunteers to help them won a technology award on Tuesday, amid growing interest in businesses that support vulnerable groups.

Be My Eyes – a Danish

The Competitive Advantage of Social Enterprises

Ann Yang and Phil Wong were the darlings of their local startup world in Washington, DC. The precocious founders established their venture, Misfit Juicery, while they were still Georgetown University undergraduates. Their idea was simple:

No Fable: ESOPs Gain Favor Among Business Owners Looking to Retire

After 20 years of running her consulting business, Jennifer Wise started to think about her next challenge: how to transition her company and retire. As the sole owner and founder of Wise Consulting — an

This company pioneered a new business structure to preserve its mission

The new owner of Organically Grown Company, an Oregon-based organic produce distributor, isn’t a person but a trust, created to help the company maintain its social and environmental mission as it grows. The company is the

Automated Packaging Systems’ ESOP Valuation Jumps 47%

Automated Packaging Systems, the world leader in high-reliability bagging systems, has announced that its per share stock value in the company's Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) jumped 47% over last year. "This increase is unprecedented

Guardrails For A Sustainable Energy Future

Although a great deal of attention has rightly been paid to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and climate change, there are other equally important planetary boundaries that must also be accounted for if there is to be

Capacity of North American forests to sequester carbon

Researchers have calculated the capacity of North American forests to sequester carbon in a detailed analysis that for the first time integrates the effects of two key factors: the natural process of forest growth and

Apple launches new clean energy fund in China

Apple today announced a new first-of-its-kind investment fund in China to connect suppliers with renewable energy sources. As part of Apple’s commitment to address climate change and increase the use of renewable energy within its

Women Are More Likely To Live In Poverty Than Men – It Doesn’t Have to Be Like This

Poverty has a female face. Women earn less than men, have lower incomes over a lifetime and are more likely to be poor in old age. 47% of single parents are living in poverty –

Obama on wealth inequality: “There’s only so big a house you can have.’”

Former United States President Barack Obama believes that ballooning wealth inequality is a threat to society, and that those who have the means should help those who are less fortunate. “Right now I’m actually surprised by how

Buzzwords and tortuous impact studies won’t fix a broken aid system

Development efforts over the past few decades have not been as effective as promised. Global poverty remains intractable: more than 4 billion people live on less than the equivalent of $5 (£3.80) a day, and

Reviewing the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals for Mental Health

In light of the fairly recent decisions to accommodate mental health services in the Sustainable Development Goals endorsed by the United Nations, there is a call to action from several authors to not overlook social

Immunotherapy doubles survival rates for patients with melanoma brain metastases

Cancer immunotherapies and targeted therapy have revolutionized how clinicians take care of patients with advanced skin cancer and have led to long lasting treatment responses for many of them. However, little is known about the

Sustainable cost control tops list of priorities for healthcare executives

When it comes to a hospital executive's list of priorities, there's a new occupant in the top slot according to Advisory Board's Annual Health Care CEO Survey. Previously occupied by "revenue growth," it's cost control

How ESG investing entered the mainstream

The term “late capitalism”, first used by German economist Werner Sombart in the early-1900s, is coming back into vogue. The phrase is increasingly being used to describe the problems facing the modern global economy. These include gaping

How impact investing can tackle the plastic crisis

Whether we like it or not, plastic is useful. And it’s versatile, used daily to keep food fresh, make contactless payments, hold shopping and to brush our teeth. Yet, despite a turning point in public

Religious Institutions Are Becoming More Involved in Sustainable Investing

The roots of sustainable and responsible investing (SRI) can be traced back to religious movements. As early as the 18th century John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, recognised the extent to which the use of

Take a financial wellness day off

While employee physical wellness has become a priority, with many companies offering programmes to encourage a healthier lifestyle in a bid to reduce absenteeism – said to cost the economy between R12bn to R16bn every

Your financial wellbeing is more than just the money in your bank account

How healthy are you? The answer might make you cringe, but chances are you’ve probably got an answer. “Relatively fit” or “could do with losing a few pounds” will probably sound familiar. But what if

How financial literacy can assist offender rehabilitation

A few weeks ago I received a prepaid debit card in the mail. This was different from the usual credit card offers I receive almost daily. This was not a credit card, but a card

These Poverty-Fighting Startups Are Slaying Silicon Valley’s Sacred Cows

“One of my ambitions is to help our users put more food on the table,” says Jimmy Chen, the founder of Propel. His company makes a mobile app called FreshEBT that helps people among the U.S.’s

Oxford Conference on Business and Poverty

Welcome to the second annual Oxford Business Fights Poverty Conference. As you view this summary of the conference you will read from a series of topics like Responsible Leadership, Honoring Entrepreneurs, Employee Ownership, Mentoring, Crowdsourcing & Addressing Poverty. Please

Isolationism, Business and War

Wars characterize the twentieth century, with the U.S. featuring as a significant player. The self-pronounced reputation of the U.S. as “rescuer of the world” continued at the turn of the century with 9/11 and the