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Dear friend of social business, July has been a busy month at The Grameen Creative Lab and we want to share with you what we have been up to. Please enjoy this issue of our monthly Newsletter and do not hesitate to contact us with questions, comments, and ideas! Inside this month’s issue: - Prof. Yunus discusses social business and politics with Guernica Magazine
- Rockefeller Innovation Forum 2011: Prof. Yunus and GCL meet with global leaders
- YY Mumbai spreads the social business spirit // IED students doing research in India
- Colombia: Grameen Caldas gears up // Bienestar makes contest final // OpenIDEO announces winners
- The first ever German Social Business Forum to be held in November
- Social innovation and social business workshop in New York in September
- Japan trip: Research center and second Social Business City unveiled at first Social Business Forum Asia
- Prof. Yunus travels to Europe to meet political and business leaders
- Save the date: Upcoming events in 2011
Going into August we are heading into a number of new projects at full speed and look forward to tell you all about them in our next issue. Until then, we invite you to get involved in our projects by contacting: Mr. Hans Reitz (Co-Founder) hans.reitz@grameencl.com
Ms. Saskia Bruysten (Founding Member, co-CEO) saskia.bruysten@grameencl.com We look forward to working together with you! Do it with joy! The Grameen Creative Lab
Prof. Yunus discusses social business and politics with Guernica Magazine - In a recent interview Prof. Yunus talks about the political situation in Bangladesh, his plans for the future and the importance of social business.
- Asked about the source of the hostilities against him, Yunus argues that he had broken up archaic structures not only of religion and gender roles, but also of dependency and ownership by loan sharks. In the process some groups with vested interests in the status quo have sought to discredit him in an attempt to restore these structures.
- The founder of Grameen Bank also takes position against a possible government takeover of Grameen Bank and its associated family of social businesses. He explains that Grameen Bank is 97% owned by its borrowers and that the effects of nationalization could be devastating.
- You can read the full interview here.
Rockefeller Innovation Forum 2011: Prof. Yunus and GCL meet with global leaders - Professor Yunus together with other representatives of GCL traveled to New York to take part in the inaugural Rockefeller Innovation Forum 2011.
- The Innovation Forum convenes some of the most creative and inventive minds from the realms of business, government, the non-profit sector and journalism to bring innovation to bear on urgent challenges facing poor and vulnerable people around the world.
- Challenges tackled at the forum were water security, urban economic security and food security.
- It was a great and inspiring meeting where we successfully introduced GCL to the Rockefeller Foundation and to Bill Clinton, founder of the William J. Clinton Foundation and former President of the United States. We talked to him about Haiti and other interesting projects and invited him to the Global Social Business Summit taking place in Vienna this November.
YY Mumbai spreads the social business spirit // IED students on research trip in India - Global Changemakers Asia Summit: This month, the head of GCL India, Aarti Wig, conducted social business workshops for 60 young people at the Global Changemakers Asia Summit in New Delhi funded by the British Council. There was tremendous talent in the audience of young changemakers working on a variety of initiatives ranging from anti-human trafficking to climate change and education for girls. The response was overwhelming with many new social business converts being gained! GCL is planning to collaborate with the Global Changemakers on many initiatives going forward including our YY MillenniumTour.
- IED Master in Design for Social Business: GCL India is hosting a team of students from the IED School in Milan for 2 weeks in August. They will be researching social problems associated with sanitation in schools. They will be visiting many schools and social businesses working in relevant sectors. As part of their visit, GCL is also hosting a networking evening at the Bombay Hub where the students with get a chance to meet experts and ask questions. So far Pooja Warier (Director Unlimited India), Akhil Shahani (Director, Kaizen PE) and Aditi Thorat (COO, Edelgive Foundation) are confirmed to speak.
Colombia: Grameen Caldas gears up // Bienestar makes contest final // OpenIDEO announces winners - Grameen Caldas: GCL is going ahead with the development of Grameen Caldas despite substantial delays in planned government financing for the project. The team in the field is currently working at developing the processes that will allow Grameen Caldas to recruit, select, and make investment decisions on social businesses. In depth investigations have been conducted that diagnose the main issues in the areas of health, nutrition, and education, in order to structure our investment priorities and maximize out social impact.
- Social Business Generation: Along with these processes, we are creating an Idea Pool which will gather social business ideas for potential entrepreneurs. We currently have five social businesses in the pipeline, which are at different stages of their development ranging from proposal to pilot project.
- Investor Research: Due to delayed government funding, we have launched an intensive search for investors last week. We are already looking into some interesting opportunities and talking to local and international organizations and are open to any other ideas!
- Winning ideas on OpenIDEO: The OpenIDEO challenge has selected and announced ten winning concepts! These concepts are social business ideas that will improve healthcare in low-income communities of Caldas, while taking into account the reality of the region. Among them is a program that involves mothers in the community acting as health mentors in rural areas as well as selling basic health supplies from door to door. Other winning ideas include projects that tackle food security, disseminate mobile information technology, connect people in rural areas to doctors in the cities, provide access to lower-cost medication while monitoring children’s growth and connect doctors to rural areas. We are looking forward to implementing one or more of these ideas, either as an expansion of the Bienestar program, or as brand-new social businesses. Look up a video message by Prof. Yunus and the winning concepts here.
The first ever German Social Business Forum to be held in November - The German Social Business Forum 2011 will connect an audience of representatives from politics, academia, business and civil society to develop action plans to rally political support for social business in Germany.
- In its role as the first Social Business City, the City of Wiesbaden is partnering with The Grameen Creative Lab to conduct the first German Social Business Forum.
- Contact us now to register for the German Social Business Forum, 21st of November in Mönchengladbach and 22nd November in Wiesbaden and help us shape the social business landscape in Germany! Anke.Fleischer@grameencl.com
Social innovation and social business workshop in New York in September - The two-day workshop entitled ‘Change Model’ is organized by ITP, Tisch School of the Arts at NYU and The Grameen Creative Lab.
- The event will bring together leading technologists, representatives from NGO’s, international development experts, industry professionals, academics and practitioners in order to explore approaches to development, share perspectives and best practices, and develop concrete social business ideas.
- Speakers confirmed as part of the program of talks and working sessions include Clay Shirky, ITP Faculty and prominent author, Bill Moggridge, Director of the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum and co-founder of IDEO, Utku Teksoz, economist and advisor to Ban Ki Moon on the Millennium Development Goals, Gabriel Brodbar, Director of the NYU Reynolds Program in Social Entrepreneurship, and, of course, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Prof. Muhammad Yunus who will close the event and give his feedback to the social business ideas generated.
- The participant fee for the event is $250 ($95 for students) and registration for the limited spaces begins August 15th. To register please email changemodel@itp.nyu.edu
Japan trip: Research center and second Social Business City unveiled at first Social Business Forum Asia - Prof. Yunus visits Japan: As in 2010, GCL@Kyushu organized a very successful trip with Prof. Yunus and GCL to Japan. The visit included high level meetings with politicians and business leaders as well as interaction with the public. The highlight of the week, however, was the first Social Business Forum Asia, organized by GCL@Kyushu. In workshops, speeches, and panel discussions over a hundred participants were able to learn about social business and to design specific social business ideas.
- Prof. Yunus met distinguished politicians such as Mr. Yokomichi, Chairman of the House of Representatives, Dr. Jimi, Minister of the Financial Services Agency and Mr. Aso, former Prime Minister of Japan. These meetings were very productive and all participants were very happy to endorse social business and discuss how it could be implemented in helping to support the Tohoku region, which was severely devastated by the earthquake and the tsunami on March 11, 2011.
- Talks were also organized with business leaders such as Carlos Ghosn, CEO of Renault-Nissan, as well as various ICT companies one of which was NTT Data.
- With an ever-busy schedule Prof. Yunus spoke at the United Nations University, addressing how social business might help to achieve the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. He also talked to about 200 enthusiastic schoolgirls, was part of a public symposium attended by over 900 people, and participated in a series of panel discussions with Japanese and international leaders from companies such as UniQlo, Yukiguni Maitake, Veolia Water and Danone Japan. On top of these very rewarding events, Prof. Yunus also had the special honor of meeting Yuzu Kayama, a famous Japanese singer and film star, but also a social business enthusiast. As if this busy schedule wasn’t enough, there were also two very important announcements made during the trip:
- Fukuoka to become newest Social Business City: Prof. Yunus and the Mayor of Fukuoka Mr. Takashima signed a declaration that Fukuoka will officially become the world’s second Social Business City. Following the successful model of the Social Business City Wiesbaden, the objective of the strategic urban development concept is to equip the city with the necessary networks, competence, and infrastructure to funnel creative energy into overcoming social challenges through social business solutions. For more information on innovative urban development approaches or to discover ways of working with us as a strategic partner please contact Daniel Nowack at Daniel.Nowack@grameencl.com
- First of its kind research center announced: Prof. Yasuura, Vice President of Kyushu University, had another piece of exciting news: Kyushu University is establishing the Yunus & Shiiki Social Business Research Center. The center will be focused on facilitating research projects on social business. It will raise the concept’s profile and add to the already significant academic achievements at Kyushu University. The center was made possible by the support of Mr. Shiiki, a Japanese businessman.
Prof. Yunus travels to Europe to meet political and business leaders - Prof. Yunus recently traveled to Strasbourg to meet with EU leaders. The meetings were very constructive with EU Commission President José Manuel Barroso proclaiming that strengthening social business and promoting innovative methods of accessible finance are not only a matter of justice, but also a concrete way to help the poorest of the poor. Yunus and Barroso discussed the role of the EU in promoting microcredit and social business as well as the introduction of appropriate laws and regulation.
- Parliament President Jerzy Buzek also received Prof. Yunus, praised the concept of social business, and joined Barroso in expressing his support for the founder of Grameen Bank and his work.
- Buzek, who is also a former Prime Minister of Poland, invited Prof. Yunus to introduce social business to the business leaders in his country and offered to organize a tour.
- Part of the visit to Europe was also a meeting with OTTO Group to discuss how to take OTTO Grameen, a textiles project, forward after the company had faced some administrative challenges in investing in Bangladesh.
- Prof. Yunus then spoke at a meeting in Paris as part of the French presidency for the G20. He also used the chance to meet members of the Elysee and Crédit Agricole.
Save the date: Upcoming events in 2011 Please save the date in your calendars for the following exciting upcoming events in 2011: - German Social Business Forum: The first ever German Social Business Forum will take place on November 21st in Mönchengladbach and November 22nd in Wiesbaden, Germany. It will bring together representatives from politics, academia, business and civil society to rally political support for social business in Germany. To register contact Anke.Fleischer@grameencl.com now!
- Global Social Business Summit // 10th-12th of November 2011: This year the Global Social Business Summit will move on to a new location in Europe! Save the date for 10-12 November 2011 in Vienna, Austria and check out the official website www.gsbs2011.com. To get an idea of what happens during GSBS take a look at the video about last year’s summit here.
- Academia Meeting // 9 November 2011: All interested academic GSBS participants are invited to register for the Academia Meeting being held one day before the conference. For more information see the newsletter entry above or go to www.gsbs2011.com.
- Change Model // 17th -18th of September 2011: We invite you to an inspiring two-day workshop about social innovation and social business in New York. The event is organized by ITP, Tisch School of the Arts at NYU in collaboration with The Grameen Creative Lab. To find out more and please contact changemodel@itp.nyu.edu
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