Sao Paolo: Scaling Social Tech Through Partnerships and Social Enterprise
"The event promoted by Artemisia, Ashoka and Lemelson was an excellent opportunity for debates, dialogues, and learnings on the experiences and challenges of social entrepreneurs in the different contexts of Latin America.
An adequate business model for a country's reality is not always the best model for other countries. But an evident fact is that, in the social business environment, difficulties with governance, with finding adequate financing, and with the "profesionalization"of these organizations pearmeate throughout. If the challenges are diverse, the creative solutions are even more so!
At the social investment panel, entrepreneurs and investors had the opportunity to mutually get to know one another, creating a dialogue able of influencing social business and of contributing to their growth and strengh starting from the commercial relationships that go beyond donations." --Fabio Santiago, Executive Director, Artemisia Foundation
Ashoka, the Lemelson Foundation and the Artemisia Foundation are bringing together Ashoka Fellows and social venture investors to discuss innovations in technology and social enterprise in Sao Paolo, Brazil from the 14th to the 16th of September 2009.
The meeting is a small gathering exclusively for Ashoka Fellows and several other invited guests. Among the participants will be Ashoka-Lemelson Fellows including:
Augustin Woelz: Reducing the inefficient use of electricity for hot water heating through a do-it-yourself system disseminated by young people
Carlos Simao: Adapting new shallow tube wells for Brazil’s semiarid regions
Howard Weinstein: Manufacturing and distributing low-cost hearing aids with extended battery-life options allowed by solar-powered batteries
Rebeca Villalobos: Developing a participatory system of eye care that enables Costa Ricans of all classes to access affordable medical services
Greg Van Kirk: Engaging rural entrepreneurs in distributing essential products through a "micro-consignment" approach
Albina Ruiz: Working with Lima's waste management workforce to design products that improve their work flow - custom tricycles and a variety of trash collection and composting tools
Gustavo Gennuso: Designing and Distributing appropriate technologies for low-income communities, including a manual rope pump for water extraction.. Gustavo is also battling unemployment among Argentina's young people by growing and inspiring inventors and entrepreneurs
To read the blog series detailing what happened at the Sao Paolo event click here.
