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The Rewards of Renewal

David Bornstein

June 16, 2011 |

The New York Times |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, St. Louis, Missouri

Poor neighborhoods in the United States lack quality play spaces for children, also known as play deserts. An organization is enabling communities across the nation to build their own playground.

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Instead of Student Loans, Investing in Futures

David Bornstein

May 30, 2011 |

The New York Times |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Colombia

For millions of students who could succeed in college, the limiting factor is money. Is it possible to finance higher education the way we finance start-up companies? A company called Lumni uses “human capital contracts” to offer loans for students contingent upon 14 percent of the student's salary for 118 months after graduation. There are risks to this approach and not a lot of years or data available to be sure of its efficacy, but results are promising already—with a default rate under 3 percent.

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The Path From Charity to Profit

Tina Rosenberg

May 26, 2011 |

The New York Times |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: Indonesia, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta

In Jakarta’s slums, families can’t buy their children nutritious food. So Mercy Corps started a for-profit chain of food carts selling healthy kids’ meals. A second column highlights the challenges NGOs face when they try to start for-profit businesses.

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In ‘Food Deserts,' Oases of Nutrition

Tina Rosenberg

May 23, 2011 |

The New York Times |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Indonesia, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta

Asian cities are over-crowded and many residences are kitchenless, causing families with children to consume unhealthy food from the street vendors. Mercy Corps, a non-profit organization that advocates nutrition, has initiated some for-profit businesses in Jakarta that provide healthy food to underserved neighborhoods. The food carts are marketed at serving poor children a healthy meal.

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Publishers as Partners in Literacy

David Bornstein

May 19, 2011 |

The New York Times |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

First Book Marketplace, which makes quality, new books affordable for children in low-income families, is providing not only improved access to engaging educational materials, but a sense of dignity and self worth that a hodgepodge of used, donated books cannot. Additionally, the books are often used by nonprofits to further create opportunities for family bonding and to stimulate children's development.

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A Book in Every Home, and Then Some

David Bornstein

May 16, 2011 |

The New York Times |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Lack of reading material is not only a third-world problem – many poor families in the United States lack access to and funds for books. A program that helps get books to into the homes of low-income families can boost literacy, and help publishers, too.

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Save the Poor by Selling Them Stuff — Cheap

Vince Beiser

April 25, 2011 |

Pacific Standard |

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Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Stanford, California

Despite the trillions of dollars of aid money, donations, and goods gifted to impoverished nations each year, the cycle of poverty fails to break, and conventional thinking has shifted to believing that the poor are best served through opportunity, rather than charity. The concept of "marketing to the base of the pyramid' - creating goods and services catered to the wants and needs of the poor that they purchase at an accessible price - started out as somewhat controversial, but is proving in many cases to be more sustainable and empowering than traditional methods of philanthropy.

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On the Web, a Revolution in Giving

Tina Rosenberg

March 31, 2011 |

The New York Times |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States

New crowdfunding options can help even the smallest donor's contributions to have a meaningful impact, bolstering a sense of personal involvement, maximizing knowledge about causes, and inspiring greater participation.

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The Power of Partnerships

David Bornstein

March 10, 2011 |

The New York Times |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Cincinnati, Ohio

Some problems are simply too complex to solve with any single approach. The “collective impact” strategy of creating alliances of civic and business leaders is being applied to social problems across the nation.

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Protecting Health and the Planet With Clean Cookstoves

Jeff Smith

February 16, 2011 |

National Geographic |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Ghana

Less charcoal, faster cook times, energy efficient and healthier: these are all terms that have been associated with a new cooking stove produced by the small Ghana business Toyola Energy. This stove acts as a dual solution to both health risks and environmental concerns surrounding cooking with traditional methods, and is gaining tractions on a broader scale because of this.

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