One Day, One Job » social investing

Grameen America

Willy Franzen — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 15:42:54 +0000

As my actions show, I’m a strong believer that entrepreneurship can solve most of societies problems. It’s amazing what you can create with your own labor and a little bit of investment. That’s why I find the microfinance movement so interesting. What I don’t understand is why there isn’t more focus on this kind of lending in the United States. Grameen America is a five-year old non-profit that is changing this. They’re based in New York, NY, and they’re aiming for “a market where any individual with a dream can receive affordable financial products regardless of income, previous credit history, education, or business experience.” Grameen America is attacking poverty head on, and it seems like they’re having some great success.

Take a Micro Approach

What’s really cool about Grameen America is that they took something that worked well in addressing poverty in Bangladesh and brought it to America. I feel like it usually goes the other way. To better understand what Grameen America does, you should take a look at their model. There’s a big social aspect to how Grameen America lends, and I think that has to play a big part in why they have success stories like these. If you like what Grameen America is doing, take a look at their Jobs page. Right now they’re hiring Center Manager Trainees. It looks like the perfect opportunity for a new or recent grad who wants to get into microfinance.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about Grameen America?

New Profit

Willy Franzen — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 15:57:53 +0000

Although getting money to fund a startup company isn’t what I called easy, there’s a pretty standard process for seeking investment. When it comes to starting up a non-profit, the process isn’t often so clear. This can make finding funding seem impossible. However, there are some smart people who have taken the venture capital model and adjusted it for the non-profit world. One of these organizations is New Profit, which is based in Cambridge, MA. They were founded in 1998 and they focus “on supporting innovative social entrepreneurs who have brought a pathbreaking, big idea to life in an innovative organization.” They do this through their philanthropy fund, which has funded a ton of non-profit organizations. (I’m having trouble determining whether New Profit is actually a non-profit, but philanthropy funds usually are.)

Make a New Profit

While New Profit does a lot of work behind the scenes, they’re really all about their portfolio organizations. You can take a look at both their current investments and their past investments. We’ve covered quite a few of the organizations that they’ve funded including Freelancers Union, Kickstart, Right To Play, and a few others. You’ll also want to read up on New Profit’s Model and Plan For Impact. If you like what you see, then you’ll want to take a look at New Profit’s Jobs page. Their offerings are a bit limited right now–there are two postings you might want to look at: Communications Fellow (which is really an internship) and a Staff Accountant (which requires a few years of experience). The other option is to check out jobs at New Profit’s portfolio organizations. You should be able to find some pretty interesting options.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you think of New Profit?

The Case Foundation

Willy Franzen — Sat, 30 Apr 2011 15:17:51 +0000

Maybe I’m dating myself, but I was a big AOL user back in the day. It’s where I started learning about the Internet, so it wasn’t just about chat rooms and IMs for me. I remember getting monthly e-mails from Steve Case, who was the Founder and CEO of the company. Believe it or not, I think I actually read them. Anyway, AOL is a very different company these days, and Steve Case is no longer involved. A lot of what he does now along with his wife Jean Case is focused on The Case Foundation, a Washington, DC based non-profit organization that reflects “their family’s commitment to finding lasting solutions for complex social challenges.” That may sound a bit broad, but it’s really about investing some of the wealth that the Cases have accumulated in “people and ideas that can change the world” regardless of whether they fit into a specific category.

A Case for The Case Foundation

The Case Foundation identifies three core goals: Encouraging collaboration; Supporting successful leaders; and Fostering entrepreneurship in the nonprofit sector. They do this by putting capital work towards some of the world’s big ideas. While many non-profits play it safe and try to avoid failure, The Case Foundation is all about “swinging for the fences.” You can see exactly the kind of projects that they get involved with here. They’re working on curing brain cancer, training non-profits to use social media more effectively, and improving the safety and reliability of the world’s water supply. Throughout The Case Foundation’s work, there’s also a big focus on technology, which makes sense considering the Cases’ background. There’s a lot more to learn about The Case Foundation, and luckily their website is loaded with information. Once you spend some time learning more, you can check out their Jobs on Idealist. Right now they’re looking for a Communications Coordinator, and it looks like a perfect position for a new or recent grad.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Did you use AOL back in the day?

Echoing Green

Willy Franzen — Sun, 23 May 2010 16:02:19 +0000

One development that I’ve become more and more aware of since I graduated college is that of social entrepreneurship. The startup culture doesn’t apply solely to for-profit ventures. The tough thing about starting your own non-profit is getting money to run the organization. Early stage businesses can either grow organically by selling products or get investment at the cost of a portion of future revenues. Early stage non-profits don’t have as many options because most donors only want to give money to established non-profits that have a track record of doing good things with the money. That’s where New York City based Echoing Green steps in. They invest in and support “outstanding emerging social entrepreneurs to launch new organizations that deliver bold, high-impact solutions.” Since Echoing Green is already an established non-profit, they’re able to raise money to support upstarts that already have top notch founders and world changing missions, but not much else.

ECHO!

Echoing Green works through a Fellowship Program where they award 12-15 two-year fellowships every year to social entrepreneurs. The fellowships come with up to $90,000 in funding along with consulting support, a network of experienced social entrepreneurs, and an air of legitimacy that most non-profits have to fight for years to get. The video below will give you a little more information about the program.

Obviously, one option beyond seeking out a full-time job is to apply for an Echoing Green fellowship. If you have a big idea and the will to make it happen, then go after it. If you’re not quite ready for that kind of undertaking, you should check out jobs at Echoing Green. Right now they’re looking for a Fellow and Alumni Programs Coordinator. Its requirements go a bit beyond a typical entry level positions, but it’s still worth a look for the socially minded new grads out there.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you know about Echoing Green?

Sparkseed

Willy Franzen — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 15:55:06 +0000

As a member on the Board of Advisors for a startup non-profit, I know how hard it is to get things going. Building a website, raising the first $1,000, and writing a “business plan” are all huge challenges that separate ideas from real non-profits. And that doesn’t even include getting started on the good work that is the organization’s mission. The first few years are filled with ups and downs, and leaders of non-profit startups can use every little bit of extra help that they can get. One way that they can get that help is to work with Sparkseed, a San Ramon, CA based non-profit organization “that exists to develop the next generation of social entrepreneurs and increase their impact on society.” It’s an incubator/angel fund for early stage, student-led social ventures (both for-profit and non-profit).

Spark Your Career

The way that Sparkseed works is that they select up to ten “student-led social ventures” every year to get “six months of high-impact support.” To some extent, it’s a contest, and the prize includes the following:

Mentoring from entrepreneurs and executives
Pro-bono consulting from business and nonprofit professionals
$1,000 in seed money towards start-up costs
Webinars that teach skills such as creating a business plan, managing a team, pitching to investors, leveraging social media, and measuring financial and social impact.
$10,000 in web tools, including web site design, web hosting, & SEO consulting.
A four-day summit in Silicon Valley that includes networking, skill-building, and strategic planning.

After the six months have passed, Sparkseed chooses three ventures to receive ongoing support. I think it’s a wonderful idea, and it has the potential to significantly push forward innovation in the social venture community. As of now, Sparkseed doesn’t have any full-time jobs listed on their website or their Idealist page, but they do seem to have a decent sized staff. My bet is that if you pitched them on why you’d make a great addition to their organization, they’d at least be willing to listen. Give it a try by using their Contact page to reach out to them.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about Sparkseed?

People Capital

Willy Franzen — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 14:49:13 +0000

I was lucky enough to graduate from college without having had to take out any student loans, but even if I had needed to take out a loan, at least it would have been before the “credit crunch.” These days it’s a lot harder for students to finance their educations than it was just a couple of years ago. Credit in general is extremely tight right now, and beyond that, lenders are being very picky about whom they lend to. For students with no credit history, getting a loan can be a big pain in the butt. People Capital is a New York City based startup that is aiming to change that through what they call a “peer-to-peer lending platform.” They’ve developed a Human Capital Score “to assess the creditworthiness of those just starting their credit histories,” and they’re now building out a network of borrowers and lenders to bring the idea to life. It’s kind of like Kiva for education, but with a for-profit incentive keeping things efficient.

Add Your Human Capital to People Capital

When People Capital’s idea catches on, it has the potential to completely change the lending industry—not just the student loan industry. We used to trust banks to make smart financial decisions, but those days are over. Now we can micro-manage our lending and borrowing through peer-to-peer lending. Borrowers can get lower rates based on information that goes beyond the traditional credit score, and lenders can make a profit while financing the educations of promising students. It’s hard to say whether people are ready for this kind of a business model yet, but if they are, People Capital is going to be growing at insane rate pretty soon (if they aren’t already).

If People Capital sounds like the kind of place that you want to start your career, then you should check out their job listings on Startuply. Right now they’re looking to hire people to help them with Business Development in Philanthropic/Endowment/Affinity Channels and in Capital Markets. You can apply for these positions online right now, and keep your eyes peeled for more new jobs as peer-to-peer education lending becomes all the rage in the world of microfinance.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you think about People Capital’s concept of peer-to-peer lending?

Domini Social Investments

Willy Franzen — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 13:00:32 +0000

What are your principles? How do they affect the way that you go about your every day life? Depending on what’s important to you, it can be extremely difficult to live up to your own standards in everything that you do. Everyday decisions are much more complex when you have to think about whether your shirt was made in a sweatshop, whether that hamburger you are about to eat was humanely raised, and whether your investment portfolio is profiting from sales of harmful and addictive tobacco products. Some people don’t really care about these issues, while to others they are of grave importance. Not long ago, you might have had to sequester yourself from society to live what you believe to be a socially conscious life. Now there are thousands of entrepreneurs who are creating products and services that will help make living a life that meets your standards easier.

No, the weekend didn’t come early (if you’re new to One Day, One Job, you should know that we write about non-profit jobs on weekends). Although social investing is often done by non-profits, Domini Social Investments is a for-profit company. They offer financial products for people who put principles over rate of return, but still want their investments to make financial sense. By maintaining global investment standards, Domini takes the need for heavy research (unless you get this job) out of building a socially conscious portfolio.

Domini is currently hiring a Shareholder Advocacy Research Associate at their main SoHo office in New York City. This is a great opportunity for someone who has honed their research and organizational skills in college. In this position you’ll be working with the Director of Shareholder Advocacy to ensure that the socially conscious views of Domini are represented through shareholder activism at annual meetings, in proxy votes, and in public policy. Shareholders have a voice, and Domini’s voice is often louder than those of other private or institutional shareholders. If this sounds interesting to you, take a look at how the shareholder advocacy process works as well as Domini’s history of success. To take the first step in becoming a part of Domini’s Shareholder Advocacy team, send your cover letter and resume to careers@domini.com (they also say a salary requirement is necessary, we think that’s silly, but apparently you have to).

Domini is a small company, but they’re growing rapidly along with the demand for socially conscious financial products. They have a casual, but professional atmosphere with lots of room for innovation and idea sharing. Sounds about right for what they do.

Note: On April 22nd we revisited entry-level jobs at Domini Social Investments.

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Are you socially conscious about your investments? Leave a comment and tell us how you manage your portfolio.