I've been thinking about this for the last few days, and I'd love your contributions to this thought experiment. It seems to me, I've only come across 3 types of business models for serving low-income/impoverished people.
Community Investment
I'm not sure why some non profit leaders, advocates and academics dismiss the growing social finance developments so readily and without serious consideration. This lack of curiosity is irresponsible. We can learn a lot from successful social, economic and environmental justice movements. They give us clues, tips and inspiration about tactics and strategies we can adopt.
A small group of us had dinner earlier this week with one of the world's greatest economists, Professor Stefano Zamagni. I first met him several years ago when he proved, using economic graphs, that the smile of a person with severe disability is an important source of social capital which encourages a stronger climate of trust which is in turn essential for the operation of a healthy economy. I've been hooked on his writing ever since!
There are often gaps between theory and practice in new and emerging areas, and often it is theory struggling to catch up with developments on the ground. Given the relatively nascent state of play around social finance in Canada, I would propose that this description fits accurately. A positive sign, however, is the emergence of more Canadian-focused academic literature on social finance, as was recently the case at the Association for Nonprofit and Social Economy Research (ANSER) conference in Montreal.
SRI Monitor featured comprehensive coverage of last week's Canadian Responsible Investment Conference 2010. Below are excerpts from the blog's reporting.
Jeff Mowatt on Three Business Models for the Bottom Billion
Sep 03, 2010