by nowchar | Apr 21, 2015 | Endeavor, Kravis Prize
Listening to Fernando Fabre at a recent Athenaeum event offers a sneak peek into the power and potential of entrepreneurship and social impact. Fabre is the President of Endeavor, the recipient of the 2015 Henry R. Kravis Prize in Nonprofit Leadership. Endeavor identifies and supports high-impact entrepreneurs whose work creates jobs and pumps revenue into emerging and growth markets. Under the roof of Endeavor, entrepreneurs are exposed to mentorship, networks, strategic advice, and inspiration. In return, these entrepreneurs launch their own businesses and create lasting impact in the job market. Fabre’s Athenaeum talk focused on what makes the Endeavor formula work. Endeavor acts as a catalyst in empowering entrepreneurs to create high impact in their business markets. More important, Endeavor bridges entrepreneurial initiatives through networks. What starts off with two or three entrepreneurs proliferates into a network of hundreds of entrepreneurs who support and mentor each other to create new businesses, more jobs, and even more connections. In addition to providing insight into Endeavor’s operations, Fabre also showed us the current landscape of the entrepreneurial sector. Endeavor faces many challenges in launching entrepreneurs. For example, there is a prevailing gap in revenue generation in growth markets. Nearly 90% of companies in Mexico generate only 10% of total revenue. On the other hand, Endeavor also has advantages in the present world of entrepreneurs. Small businesses and enterprises are on the rise. In New York City, for instance, 85% of tech firms were created in the last 10 years. Endeavor responds to two big-picture questions: How can entrepreneurs scale big...
by nowchar | Mar 31, 2015 | Kravis Prize
Endeavor, an organization devoted to supporting and catalyzing entrepreneurial projects around the globe, has been selected as the recipient of the 2015 Henry R. Kravis Prize in Nonprofit Leadership. In a statement released earlier today, the organization (which works in some 22 countries to assist entrepreneurs in stimulating local economies) was hailed by the Kravis Prize Selection Committee for providing the catalyst behind countless community ventures such as Beleza Natural salons, which is employing and empowering countless women in Brazil (see photo above). “Endeavor is a perfect example of a nonprofit that has significant influence on the ground and great success creating a sustainable ecosystem for future impact,” said Henry R. Kravis, an alumnus and trustee of the College who is co-founder of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. L.P., and founder of the Kravis Prize. Visit here to read more about today’s announcement of the 2015 recipient of the Henry R. Kravis Prize in Nonfprofit...
by nowchar | Mar 26, 2015 | Education, FAWE, Female Empowerment, MasterCard Foundation
What career paths do young African girls have? For many across Sub-Saharan Africa, opportunities have been limited primarily to a life spent in poverty in the roles of mother and wife. But the Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE) is working with The MasterCard Foundation to increase educational chances for girls in villages across the continent. The 2008 recipient of the Henry R. Kravis Prize in Nonprofit Leadership, Fawe’s efforts (since its founding in 1992) have included an ongoing partnership with The MasterCard Foundation Scholar Program to provide scholarships in some of the neediest countries, such as Rwanda, and now that partnership is extending its support to Ethiopia with a new scholarship program. According to an announcement by Fawe, the MCF Scholars Program has been launched this month in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and will provide comprehensive scholarship packages to some 800 young students. While Fawe has impacted the lives of an estimated 24 million school-age African girls over the past 23 years, the organization’s work with the MCF extends to school children of both genders as a way of improving the general welfare of all people in these towns and villages. The 800 Ethiopian awards will go to 600 girls and 200 boys as a part of the NGO’s mission to promote “gender equity and equality in Africa by fostering positive policies, practices, and attitudes towards girls’ education” by extending opportunities to all members of their communities. To read more about FAWE, visit the Kravis Prize...
by nowchar | Mar 10, 2015 | Johann Olav Koss, Right 2 Play
In late 1993, just a few months before the opening ceremonies of the 1994 Lillehammer Winter Olympics, a young speed skater by the name of Johann Olav Koss led a humanitarian trip to the small African country of Eritrea. Working as an ambassador of the organization Olympic Aid (later to become Right To Play), the Norwegian athlete found himself face-to-face with the realities of life in a country emerging from decades of war. As children played amidst burned-out tanks, under the watchful eyes of war martyrs exalted in surrounding posters and murals, it was one boy who crystallized the epiphany for Johann that would inspire the future of Right To Play. “I met a group of boys, who were about 12 years old, and one of them was very popular,” says Johann. “I asked, ‘Why are you so popular?’ and he said, ‘Can’t you see? I have long sleeves.’ ” The boy then took off his shirt, rolled it up, and, using the sleeves to tie a knot, he turned the shirt into a ball that they used to play in the streets. The game ended when it was time for the boy with the long sleeves to go home. Traumatized, these children had lost family and friends to the violence, and yet, surrounded by a legacy of war, they only wanted one thing: the opportunity to play. Johann promised the boys he would return after the Olympics with a proper ball for them to play with, and in that experience the idea that would become Right To Play was born. RELATED Visit here to learn more about Right To...
by nowchar | Feb 11, 2015 | Education, Kravis Prize, Poverty Reduction, Pratham
Are education efforts and outreach to children in rural India producing positive results? The answer is both encouraging and troubling, according to NGO Pratham’s 10th Annual Status of Education Report (ASER), released this week in New Delhi. “While more than 96 percent of children in the 6-14 age group are attending school,” reports Indian media site IBN, Pratham’s analysis suggests that “there are still some worrying signs as reading and mathematical abilities are still not up to the mark.” Pratham was honored in 2010 with the Henry R. Kravis Prize in Nonprofit Leadership for its literacy efforts throughout the country, particularly the program Read India, which has reached more than 34 million children. But as the organization’s latest ASER indicates, much work remains to be done even though the report presents substantial success. Among the findings announced this week: for the 6-14 age group, the percentage of children enrolled in schools across the nation remains at more than 96% for the sixth year in a row; the percentage of children not enrolled for that age group is 3.3% in older age groups, particularly for 15- and 16-year-olds, the number of children not enrolled in school jumps to much higher percentages: 15.9% for boys, 17.3% for girls simple reading and basic arithmetic skills continue to be “a serious and major source of concern,” with increases in various age groups of children struggling with number and character recognition daily attendance percentages for primary and upper primary schools continue to climb, which is a hopeful sign, as are improvements in facilities (availability of clean drinking water, toilets, equipment) which is improving the...
