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 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?
Episode 19: The Evolution of a Social Enterprise – Diana Sierra, Be Girl (30:46)
Diana Sierra, co-founder and CEO at Be Girl, joins Rupert Scofield to discuss the evolution of Be Girl since the last time the two spoke more than three years ago. This episode: What have been the successes and challenges of scaling an early-stage social enterprise? How have you gone about attracting investment for growth capital?
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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Looks like #INGO and #impinv are two peas in a pod. I enjoyed hosting @marienau_turpin from @fhi360, @BrianDVo from @PactWord and Chris Walker from @mercycorps on The Social Enterprise #Podcast. Don't miss our full discussion: https://t.co/EZSV5wxjDH #socent #amplifyii
A bright twist on the library concept. @Signifycompany #OffGrid #solar #EnergyAccess
Lending Out Light in Africa
BrightLife's new "Lamp Library" project was successfully implemented at select schools in Uganda to provide students with accessible solar lamps.
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I can hear the sputter of diesel generators as more affordable, cleaner, quieter and scalable energy alternatives emerge. Time to amp up investments in #solar. @IFC_org @humboldtstate #EnergyPoverty #EnergyAccess
The Dirty Footprint of the Broken Grid
To better understand the impacts of generators on health, economies, and the climate, IFC has partnered with the Schatz Energy Research Center at Humb...
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One of the most important things @FINCA does to support farmers is give them loans to improve production and food security. Here are 3 other ways we are helping farmers and consumers in #Africa strike against hunger. #socent #ZeroHunger #WFD #WorldFoodDay
Three New Ways FINCA Is Fighting Hunger in Africa
For World Food Day, here are three new things that FINCA is doing to fight hunger in Africa and the rest of the world.
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We know that families work so hard to better their lives & later miss catching up with current affairs. Our #solar powered easy-to-use TV brings along unlimited entertainment & better visual access to information through its inbuilt free-to-air decoder. Here is how it works:
