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The Promise of Social Impact Bonds

Tina Rosenberg

June 20, 2012 |

The New York Times |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United Kingdom

When a government needs to invest in an expensive capital project — a new sewer system, bridge or highway — it issues bonds. The hot new idea in social programs – finance prevention programs to cut recidivism, reduce homelessness or keep kids in school by selling bonds, to be paid only if the program is a success.

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The Microinsurance Revolution

Tina Rosenberg

June 06, 2012 |

The New York Times |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: India

If rich people need life insurance, poor people need it more. Here’s how millions of poor people are getting it – including people with AIDS.

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Green Roofs in Big Cities Bring Relief From Above

Tina Rosenberg

May 23, 2012 |

The New York Times |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, New York, New York

New York City black tar roofs cause a number of environmental problems, including air pollution, heat absorption that raises energy consumption, and storm water runoff in the sewer system. Efforts to turn these old roofs into green spaces cool the buildings, enable the containment of more rainfall, reduce sewer discharge, generate energy, and absorb carbon emissions. New York City has a pilot program offering financial help for green roofs.

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The Multiplier Effect: Driving Haiti's recovery by spending aid dollars locally

Jacob Kushner

May 11, 2012 |

Public Radio International (PRI) |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Haiti

Building Markets, an NGO, has connected Haitian businesses with foreign NGOs who can funnel humanitarian aid through the local suppliers and manufacturers in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake of 2010. Typically, the majority of contracts are granted to international contractors which are easier for foreign NGOs to vet but when contracts are granted to local vendors, the "multiplier effect" allows more money to flow through the local economy and employ Haitians. A directory built by Building Markets allows foreign investors to easily find trustworthy local businesses.

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One Acre Fund: a Nonprofit's Business Approach to Helping Small Farmers

Fred de Sam Lazaro

April 03, 2012 |

PBS NewsHour |

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Under 800 Words

Response Location: Kenya, Bungoma

International development organization One Acre Fund opts to set up shop in rural locations like Bungoma, Kenya rather than major cities like New York and Nairobi and treat its stakeholders as customers instead of beneficiaries. This non-profit's business-like approach has helped it grow from 5,000 farm families in 2006 to 125,000 in 2012, and around 99 percent of families repay their farm loans. As One Acre Fund farmers sell their excess produce, they can invest in basic necessities like education for their children.

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From Young Adult Book Fans to Wizards of Change

Courtney E. Martin

March 21, 2012 |

The New York Times |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Los Angeles, California

Global social and economic problems are difficult to change. However, fan-activism fuels the interests of fans of popular young adult fiction. Books such as Harry Potter and the Hunger Games have inspired activist groups that raise awareness of global hunger, reading, and relief supplies to impoverished nations, among others. Being a fan has served as a bridge to become politically active and solve the world’s problems.

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Innovations in Light

Tina Rosenberg

February 02, 2012 |

The New York Times |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Brazil, São Paulo

Solar lighting will revolutionize Africa - but access infrastructure is a difficult thing to build. Three different, innovative business models get lights into the hands of the people who need them most.

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Helping Where Help Is Wanted

Tina Rosenberg

January 10, 2012 |

The New York Times |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, New York, New York

Vacant positions exist in many employment sectors, including in education and in hospitals. ReServe is a program that joins retired professionals to part-time paid positions in non-profits to perform duties. A controversy has emerged that suggests these positions should be paid at a professional-rate salary.

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To Maintain Water Pumps, It Takes More Than a Village

Tina Rosenberg

December 13, 2011 |

The New York Times |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Oklahoma

Water pumps often break and no one locally has the skill or parts to fix them. Two columns on Water Aid’s program in India to train women to be handpump mechanics.

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Outsourcing Is Not (Always) Evil

David Bornstein

December 08, 2011 |

The New York Times |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

The United States can outsource certain kinds of "microwork," such as accurately digitizing large swaths of information, to developing countries without taking jobs from Americans ― if it’s done carefully, and ethically, as some organizations are working to do. As the author Robert Wright has argued, we no longer live in a zero-sum world, where one person’s, or one country’s gain, must be another’s loss.

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