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Could carbon-removal tech make travel more sustainable?

Sarah Reid

July 27, 2020 |

BBC |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Iceland

Climeworks, a Swiss start-up, is using technology to suck carbon out of the air and turning it into stone, essentially cutting greenhouse gas emissions from the atmosphere permanently. Their plant in Iceland is able to turn 50 tonnes of carbon to stone per year. While that amount of carbon won’t solve the climate crisis, they are expanding their work to other countries and are launching a personal carbon removal subscription service as a way for the travel industry to help offset the carbon that they emit each year.

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Mosaic Development Partners works to bring people of color into the real estate market

Jessica Blatt Press

July 08, 2020 |

The Philadelphia Citizen |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Mosaic Development Partners (MDP) seeks to create wealth for the black community in Philadelphia by providing affordable housing and creating opportunities in neighborhoods that are considered risky investments for typical real estate companies. The black-owned company has created housing as well as retail opportunities for minority and women-owned businesses who historically have a harder time accessing capital and loans. The company is mission-driven but operates on a for-profit model, finding economic solutions for systemic problems that have kept black communities from creating generational wealth.

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Sewing circle: How Women of the Global South helps refugees stitch together new lives in Brazil

Pedro Lira

June 19, 2020 |

Pioneers Post |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Brazil, Rio de Janeiro

Refugee women arriving in Brazil have been able to achieve financial independence through the work of an organization called Women of the Global South, an organization that provides women with the tools and skills to sell textiles. In addition to providing entrepreneurial skills, it also helps refugee women with transportation, classes, sewing machines and even provides cash for emergencies and help getting in touch with family members they have been separated from.

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For Indigenous Zapotec Families, Spinning Becomes a Lifeline

Tracy Barnett

June 17, 2020 |

Yes! Magazine |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Mexico, Oaxaca

Mark Brown has brought Ghandian economic principles of economic justice and local autonomy to the Mexican countryside to form a farm-to-garment textile business that employs villagers who once made woolen textiles until the industrial clothing era started producing cheap synthetic clothing and rendered their craft unprofitable. Khadi Oaxaca aims to regenerate the village way of life in a sustainable way and employs several hundred villagers who grow the cotton, spin the thread, design the clothing and bring it to market for tourists - bringing a previously economically depressed village out of poverty.

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Can social enterprise fix Pakistan's waste problem?

Asad Pabani

May 26, 2020 |

Pioneers Post |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Pakistan, Islamabad

Two organizations in Pakistan are working to tackle the country’s waste problem. Saaf Suthra Sheher in Islamabad set up partnerships with offices and schools to process their dry waste like plastics and glass. TrashIt, a Karachi-based group, collects organic waste from vegetable sellers and restaurants and then processes and sells it as compost. Although the two organizations can only process so much of the waste produced in cities, they argue that until an effective municipal waste collection system is implemented, they can educate individuals and businesses about how to recycle properly.

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Lifelines: Farming Program Helps N.H. Refugees Move Forward From Past Trauma

Peter Biello Alex McOwen

May 06, 2020 |

New Hampshire Public Radio |

Radio |

3-5 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Manchester, New Hampshire

Fresh Start Farms is a program by the New Hampshire Organization for Refugee and Immigrant Success that invites refugees in the state to apply their farming skills here in America to earn an income. Many of the refugees in New Hampshire are from Somalia and witnesses to the Civil War there—and they carry that trauma with them. Having this outlet, where you can do what you know how to do alongside people who have similar experiences as you, is therapeutic. The program is now moving forward with opening up a storefront despite the COVID-19 restrictions.

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Mask sewing project among Chicago refugee groups leads to new career goal: ‘This is my job'

Elvia Malagon

May 06, 2020 |

Chicago Tribune |

Text |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States, Chicago, Illinois

What started out as a way to help provide face masks to those who needed them during the Covid-19 pandemic, turned into a job skill training opportunity for some refugees in Chicago. Although the funds earned from participating in the project don't necessarily provide a living-wage, the participants have been able to learn skills – such as learning how to navigate public transportation – that increase independence.

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Pandemic pivoting: how Malaysia's social enterprises are responding to the Covid-19 crisis

Julie Pybus

May 05, 2020 |

Pioneers Post |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur

As COVID-19 challenges businesses around the world, two Malaysian social enterprise companies have seen success in shifting their offerings. The Biji-biji Initiative, a fashion producer linked with the grassroots Social Textiles movement, quickly pivoted to making face shields and have been able to keep people employed while making the PPE for essential workers. PichaEats, a catering company, quickly shifted to making and delivering food for families and healthcare workers, delivering over 20,000 meals so far.

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Community Development Lenders Turning to Fintech for a Boost During Crisis

Oscar Perry Abello

April 30, 2020 |

Next City |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States

CNote has provided a source of funding for federally certified Community Development Financial Institutions by pooling cash from foundations, bigger banks, philanthropists, and donor-advised funds to counter the lack of available cash flow experienced by CDFIs, which are lenders but not banks. Federal COVID-19 funding set aside $30 billion specifically for CDFIs that overwhelmingly lend to women- and minority-owned businesses, which face persistent racial and gender biases and are unable to successfully tap into lending and grants such as the Paycheck Protection Program through traditional lenders.

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How an emergency food network grew out of the coronavirus crisis to deliver 90,000 free meals to Coloradans

Moe Clark

April 27, 2020 |

The Colorado Sun |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Denver, Colorado

To provide community support during the coronavirus pandemic, several businesses and organizations in Denver joined together to create the Denver Metro Emergency Food Network. Using donations, the newly founded nonprofit prepares and delivers free meals "to hungry and homebound Coloradans."

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