Abha Malpani

“When it comes to people in crisis, communications can be the bridge between life and death,” tweeted Erin Reilly, vice president of social impact at Twilio and general manager of its social impact arm, Twilio.org, earlier this year, as she described the drive behind Twilio’s social mission that is intertwined with its core business.
Pledging 50 percent of resources for good
Today, Twilio.org pledged to dedicate 50 percent of its resources to nonprofits working in crisis response related to s...

Image: Barefoot College trains women to build, install, maintain and repair solar electrification systems in off-grid villages.

The common goal of reducing the gender gap by investing in women is what brought together law firm Hogan Lovells and social enterprise Barefoot College. The result is an award-winning corporate social responsibility program bringing transformational change to business, society and the environment.

Globally, 1.1 billion people live without power. In India alone, more ...

Social enterprises are a growing force in the global economy and a fierce catalyst for social change. One third of startups globally have social good as their core mission. In the United Kingdom, the startup rate for social enterprises is three times that of mainstream small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
Social businesses focus on providing market-driven solutions that address a social, economic or environmental problem. One Good Thing, for example, sells high-end gifts made from recyc...

Sanitation is “the business of the decade,” Cheryl Hicks, chief executive of the Toilet Board Coalition, said last week on World Toilet Day. “Half the world needs toilets. They don’t have them because the infrastructure is too expensive for governments.”
United Nations and World Health Organization figures show that 4.5 billion people globally lack basic sanitation facilities, and 2.1 billion citizens do not have any safe and secure access to toilets. In addition, at least 1.8 billion people ...

At least 14.2 million acres of land in the Atlantic Forest has the potential to grow trees – and Brazilian company Nucleário has found a faster and more sustainable way to do so. Nucleário’s use of biomimicry resulted in the company winning the 2018 $100,000 Ray of Hope Prize. Biomimicry is the imitation of models, systems, and elements of nature for solving complex human problems.
Championed by the notion of businesses doing well by doing good, the Ray C. Anderson Foundation along with the B...

Micro-lending veteran Kiva is continuing its quest to alleviate poverty by expanding its scope to address the global identity gap.
According to the World Bank, 1.7 billion people are unbanked, and of that total 1 billion of them do not have an official proof of identity. Without the ability to prove their identity, people cannot access basic services like having a mobile phone, enrolling in education or healthcare systems, or participating in local societies, economies and politics. Financial...

As corporate social responsibility (CSR) now often drives business as usual, corporations are under increasing pressure to clean up their operations from inside out. To maintain stakeholder trust, companies need to regain control of their supply chains, ensure their operations adhere to ESG (environmental, social and governance) standards, and become far more transparent than they had in the past.
The lack of resources, inability to track supplier activity, incomplete and inaccurate informati...

Can Private Wealth Close the SDG Funding Gap?

“You have 80,000 Hours in your career. Choose how you spend that time well, and you can have a hugely positive impact on the world.”
A powerful motto of 80000hours.org, a brilliant website that can help you figure out how you can match your skills to a career with impact. It will help you find a job which will allow you to do the most good in the world.
80,000 Hours started in 2011 by Oxford University student Will MacAskill, who was looking for such advice himself, without much luck. Knowing...

I’ve always had an intellectual crush on Richard Branson. He is one of the most fearless high-achievers I can think of today and never fails to surprise. So, when I read that his new idea that involved operating one of Virgin’s Boeing 747’s on jet-fuel (80%) and the oil from...

I never thought I’d be sitting in Madrid, wishing that there was some “dabbawala” to bring me cheap, homemade, Indian food. “Dabbawala” literally translates to “guy with box”; in this case the box is a tiffin full of food. In India, although fast food is popular, Indians always crave home...