A social enterprise is a business that, rather than just focused on making money, tries to address a social problem.
It has a double bottom line — to be financially sustainable and to have a measurable impact on a societal issues such as poverty, health and the environment.
In this podcast, Rupert Scofield explores the challenges of starting, building and running a social enterprise. Guests include other social entrepreneurs and impact investors who share their insights and experience.
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Recent Podcasts
Episode 22: Productive Use Power for Off-Grid Communities – Andi Kleissner, Amped Innovation (42:18)
Andi Kleissner, co-founder and co-CEO of Amped Innovation, chats with Rupert Scofield about affordable energy solutions for off-grid communities. Amped Innovation is a social enterprise that designs solar-powered home energy systems and productive use appliances to help those living under $4 per day grow their wallets. This episode: How did the social enterprise get started? What is the go-to-market strategy for a hardware company? What are the unique challenges faced by a woman entrepreneur looking to raise early-stage capital?
Episode 21: Moving Smallholder Farmers into the Middle Class – Carl Jensen, Good Nature Agro (37:25)
Carl Jensen, co-founder and CEO of Good Nature Agro, chats with Rupert Scofield about agricultural solutions for smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa. Good Nature Agro is a Zambian-based social enterprise that aims to grow farmer net incomes and bring smallholder families firmly into the middle class. It does so by partnering with farm families to improve their productivity through soil-enriching legume farming and links them to a high-value legume seed market. This episode: How did the social enterprise get started? What’s it like tackling the entire value chain? How do you go about developing a market?
Episode 20: Solving Problems in Global Sanitation – Andrew Foote, Sanivation (16:10)
Andrew Foote, co-founder and CEO of Sanivation, joins Rupert Scofield to chat about market-based solutions to global sanitation. Sanivation provides waste-to-energy sanitation services to local governments and refugee camps, turning fecal sludge into environmentally-friendly fuel alternatives to charcoal and firewood. This episode: How did the social enterprise get started? How is it possible to perform waste treatment in developing countries profitably? What partnerships have been key to successful growth?
About Rupert
Rupert Scofield is a social entrepreneur and an agricultural economist with over 40 years of experience in developing countries.
He is President, CEO and Co-founder of FINCA International, the founder and majority owner of 20 community-based microfinance institutions and banks across Africa, Eurasia, Latin America, the Middle East and South Asia. Rupert now leads FINCA International on the next leg of its journey: supporting the rise of social enterprises delivering basic service and financial innovation.
An expert on microfinance, social enterprise and impact investing, Rupert is an author, podcast presenter and frequent speaker, offering insights and guidance on market-based solutions to global poverty.
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Everything we do at @FINCA contributes in some way to one or more of the Sustainable Development Goals. By our count, we've got 15 of them covered. #Microfinance #impinv #socent @GlobalGoalsUN #GlobalDev #SDGs
Sustainable Development Goals - FINCA International
Learn how FINCA International actively contributes to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, or SDGs, across all its programs and investments.
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Keeping the Promise of Financial Inclusion for Women
FINCA is innovating in financial product and service delivery to expand women's financial inclusion, proving that women are responsible, loyal custome...
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What are the links between #financialservices and young people's educational and job opportunities? This blog highlights three insights:
Mapping a Pathway to Improved Well-Being for Young People
What are the links between financial services and young people's educational and job opportunities? Here are three insights.
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Access to clean #energy can save lives. Quite literally, as @BrightLifeFINCA’s client Rose Nayiga and her family in #Uganda can attest to. #solar #EnergyAccess
A New Hope with Solar Energy
After tragedy, Rose and her family found a new hope with access to BrightLife's solar energy lighting.
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Wow, @venky04 posts something positive about my new book and it shoots up 300,000 places in Amazon's overall best-seller list & lands back at #34 in the charity/philanthropy genre. Great job, Venky! Thanks so much ! #venkyeffect