Innovation for Development

Meghan is the CEO and cofounder of the social organization Dare to Innovate. They are tackling unemployment youth problems in West Africa. Meghan knows that it is impossible for government or private sectors alone to solve these problems, and she is trying to help youth to go from job seekers to job creators. Dare to Innovate is helping youth to see the potential in new ideas or businesses. For Meghan, calling things by their name is fundamental. She says that if we name “youth as a problem, they’re going to be a problem, but if we name them innovators they are going to be innovators” (talking about self-fulfilling prophecy, right?). How is Dare to Innovate tackling the opportunities in West Africa? The first thing has been creating the compelling need for new businesses to measure both financial and social impact. And the second is that they focus their training and conversations around a human-centered ideation process. This latter step helps entrepreneurs and innovators to understand a problem they are passionate about and want to be working on and “dedicate their careers to fix it”, as Meghan says. This approach empowers youth to become problem solvers. Dare to Innovate’s program has a very, very interesting component: it includes mindfulness at the beginning of each session as a cornerstone of the learning process. Meghan says that they send the participants of their programs “to spend one hour in nature to reflect about what they’ve learned”. Fascinating! Also, the program includes people from very different backgrounds. As Meghan says, “the way ideas come into this world is bringing different perspectives and skillsets together… and it’s the unique combination of these elements what helps create something new…”. You can contact Meghan McCormick via her LinkedIn profile. And click here to visit Dare to Innovate. Listen here:   Share and Enjoy • Facebook • Twitter • Delicious • LinkedIn • StumbleUpon • Add to favorites • Email • RSS The post EP022: Dare to Innovate with Meghan McCormick appeared first on Innovation for Development.

Did you recently take a selfie? Or a groupie? Say thank you to Steven Sasson, one of the engineers who created the early versions of digital photography. Steven is one of the inventors who truly transformed the world. My conversation with him in the podcast shows how innovation and invention are rather a long-term journey that requires a lot of patience and resiliency. Steven says that you have to “believe in your idea and pay attention to the challenges”. There are many entrepreneurs in the same place where Steven was 41 years ago: working on something they love, without any certainty about future success. Steven says that even though he couldn’t be sure about the future of his invention, nobody ever told him why it wouldn’t work. And so, he says to believe in your idea and its potential. That is actually the first takeaway of my conversation with him: believe in your ideas. “Nobody is going to believe in a new idea if you don’t” says Steven. Steven also says that inventors need to be open-minded and always listen to things and people challenging the ideas. It is very likely that with every development of a product, the initial idea would have evolved into something better, and different from the original version. Entrepreneurs need to be comfortable with that. It’s a combination of believing in your idea, and being open-minded to see it evolve and become better. The third idea is that entrepreneurs need to persevere. Steven says that very often entrepreneurs will have face roadblocks, and they won’t have an answer for them. He also comments that all around the world there are many people inventing something somewhere, even in different fields. And that one of those inventions could remove the roadblock ahead. The fourth takeaway is about building patience. Steven says that “perseverance is absolutely critical and that you to have the evangelist of your idea”. He also says large organizations are inherently uncomfortable with new ideas. He says that innovators can’t expect an organization to embrace a new idea right away. Together with patience, innovators need an understanding of the culture of the organization or the industry they are working with. Steven suggests presenting ideas in the simplest way possible, making them as “culturally palatable” as possible, in order to make them more familiar. Steven also suggests to enlist help. To find people that resonates with idea. People who can be early supporters of the idea, knowing that there might not be enough data to validate it. Finally, Steven explains that selling idea for which there’s not supporting data requires understanding of the audience, paying attention to their needs and crafting the message accordingly. He mentioned how he used the title “filmless photography” when he presented digital photography technology to Kodak Eastman’s Executives… a company that depended 100% on filmed photographs! Some of Steven’s ideas that I loved the most during our conversation are: “…not everybody is against you… it’s just that everybody wants to see what the limits of your idea are. So, be comfortable working at the limits of your ideas…” And “most inventors spend most of their time being wrong… Inventors know more about why don’t work than why they do, because they usually explored all the ways something shouldn’t work before they find the one that does…” and my favorite one “experts know the limits of an idea, they know the limits of a technology on an area of expertise… what you are proposing is something that goes over that fence and lands considerably in the field beyond it… The expert to some extent can tell you why you can’t get over that fence right in front of you, but they can’t explain to you why you can’t make progress once you are over that fence… And to some extent you’ve listened to the expert, but also you’ve balanced that with your own belief in your idea…” You can contact Steven via his LinkedIn. Listen here: Share and Enjoy • Facebook • Twitter • Delicious • LinkedIn • StumbleUpon • Add to favorites • Email • RSS The post EP021: Believe in Your Idea and Pay Attention to the Challenges with Steven Sasson appeared first on Innovation for Development.

Alejandra Lopez and Nisma Elias are young entrepreneurs working in social innovation and development. They and other colleagues created an initiative sponsored by the World Bank called Connect to Implement Development (C2IDev). The initiative started in Uganda by providing support and business training to 27 entrepreneurs. They targeted youth, since 77% of the Ugandan population is young, and youth unemployment is high. Their focus on women was especially relevant in the project. The goal of C2IDev is to tackle youth unemployment through entrepreneurship, technology and innovation. They have a special focus on targeting women and marginalized youth. Its aim is to empower youth to grow their ideas into jobs through training, mentoring, and financing. Exciting features of the project included hosting a “Shark-Tank” inspired pitch competition. Finally, they also used design thinking to push the young entrepreneurs out of their comfort zone. I asked Alejandra and Nisma what was unique about their project. One of the unique factors was their partnership with Stanford Design School and local development organizations. Most importantly, they implemented a “multiplier” effect. That means that every entrepreneur participating in the program had to train at least two more of their team members. Therefore, this would ensure knowledge and information reaching out to more people. As a result, they expect increased collaboration and ideas. Nisma Elias is a Junior Professional Associate at the World Bank. Alejandra Lopez is a Consultant at the Inter-American Development Bank. Check out these links: Short video on the project, Featured Article at the World Bank, Website, Blog and Facebook. You can contact Alejandra or Nisma via their LinkedIn profiles. Listen here:   Note: The Cooling Hut project was not done by Grameen Intel, but another team. Share and Enjoy • Facebook • Twitter • Delicious • LinkedIn • StumbleUpon • Add to favorites • Email • RSS The post EP020: Developing Ugandan Entrepreneurs with Alejandra Lopez and Nisma Elias appeared first on Innovation for Development.

Marcelo Cabrol is close to turn 50, and with more curiosity than ever for the ideas that can transform the world. He is especially interested in the ideas to solve the many compelling social issues that our world faces. I asked Marcelo how to achieve transformation in the world in order to solve social issues. He says that there are two fundamental elements: understanding the problems we are trying to solve and listening. Marcelo tells the story about how the conversation about development has dramatically shifted over the past ten years. There are more participants in the dialogue around poverty and that’s a huge opportunity to enrich the conversation. That is why “everyone interested in development must become a student of the problems”, says Marcelo. And that means deeply understanding the causes of those problems. There’s no substitute for deep understanding of the problems when entrepreneurs are getting ready to sale their ideas for development. Then, the ability to listen is essential to find a solution, together with an open mind to the many ideas that are sprouting everywhere to solve the problems. In Marcelo’s words, achieving social transformation is a combination of deep understanding and deep listening. He uses one of his dearest fields, education, to explain how this powerful combination can transform an entire sector and adapt it to the new demands and needs of the 21st century. You can connect with Marcelo via his LinkedIn profile or email him at marceloca@iadb.org. Listen here: Share and Enjoy • Facebook • Twitter • Delicious • LinkedIn • StumbleUpon • Add to favorites • Email • RSS The post EP019: How to Achieve Social Transformation Through Innovation with Marcelo Cabrol appeared first on Innovation for Development.

Richard Hull says that real social innovation needs empathy and understanding of the people and context upon which we want to make a difference. Richard is the Director of the Master’s Program in Social Entrepreneurship at Goldsmiths in the University of London. One of the things that I found most interesting about his program is the motto of thinking of social entrepreneurship “outside of the box”, which Richard explains during the podcast. Richard describes the strong connection that exists between creativity, which is the foundation of the program, and social entrepreneurship. Particularly, even though there’s a lot of innovation, creativity and technology that is very visible, Richard says that there’s a lot of work going on quietly in the background and it is important to understand its lessons. Richard talks about the example of participatory market development approaches, where the design of innovation revolves around the poorest and most marginalized people. He mentions how some western technologies are dumped in developed markets, becoming totally inappropriate. Richard highlights that it is fundamental to create the innovations with the people who are going to end up using them, rather than imposing on them. Richard mentions that real social innovation comes from immersing into the context in which we want to work and that we want to change. Social innovation requires the full development of empathy with the context in which we want to make a difference. If you want to contact Richard, you can find in him in Twitter or Goldsmiths at the University of London. Listen the podcast here:   Share and Enjoy • Facebook • Twitter • Delicious • LinkedIn • StumbleUpon • Add to favorites • Email • RSS The post EP018: Real Social Innovation Needs Empathy and Understanding with Richard Hull appeared first on Innovation for Development.

Alison Gold is a cross-sector changemaker. She brings together people from different industries, areas of expertise and knowledge, because collaboration is fundamental to solve complex problems. Alison says that on tackling complex problems (also known in design thinking jargon as “wicked problems”) there are many things that need to be tried to understand the type of solution that can make a change, and that truly matters. Alison tells us how one of her mentors once told her that “you have to start somewhere, and follow it everywhere” as a way to understand that problems are interconnected with many variables, and others problems. She says that it is fundamental to incorporate people with diverse perspectives in order to understand all of those connections, rather than seeing only one cause or perspective. Collaboration is critical to successfully implement change and solutions. And Alison says that this type of high level collaboration is not only between the experts in certain areas, but also includes those who are actually living within the conditions created by those problems. Alison thinks that just building such a strong team is profound in itself. That is why building relationships is one of the fundamental steps in solving complex problems. One of Alison’s role in Presidio Institute is helping individuals within organizations to develop their abilities and skills to build alliances and relationships in order to be able to collaborate more effectively. She explains that people in an organization with the task of solving complex problems must bring to the table other people and build a common understanding around that problem, regardless of why they came to the table in the first place. I particularly love when Alison says that very often people see collaboration with a deficit mentality, meaning that when they can’t do something themselves they seek to collaborate. Collaboration actually generates more work, and at the same time more sustainable, well-thought and relevant solutions. Alison is the Manager of Leadership Education, Presidio Institute at Presidio Trust and you can contact her via email agold@presidiotrust.gov, Twitter or LinkedIn. Listen podcast here: Share and Enjoy • Facebook • Twitter • Delicious • LinkedIn • StumbleUpon • Add to favorites • Email • RSS The post EP017: Why Collaboration is Fundamental to Solve Very Complex Problems with Alison Gold appeared first on Innovation for Development.

Amy Kaherl is the Executive Director of Detroit Soup, in Detroit. Amy started SOUP in 2010 as a place for connecting people, and a “safe space to explore what matters for the individuals and the community”. Amy calls it a place to practice real democracy. And she explains how Detroit Soup is helping transform a city. Detroit Soup funds creative projects in the city of Detroit. Amy created it as a place for people to present ideas on how to solve the most compelling problems of the city. What makes Detroit Soup so unique and different from other crowdsourcing opportunities? Well, Amy explains that in the Soup people come personally to present their ideas, and give others the opportunity to ask questions. Potentially funders see the passion in them and decide whether to fund them. Detroit Soup is a fantastic example of how it is possible to create safe, useful and creative spaces to connect people with people. Detroit Soup is the catalyzer of these connections, and Amy thinks that these connections are even more important than the money raised in the events. Why is Detroit Soup so important and what can we learn from it? Amy says that is one of the initiatives of revitalization of the city. She thinks that people want to connect, participate and make their city a better place. Amy also says that Detroit Soup gives voice and a platform for exchange and empowers people. When I ask Amy about her three top recommendations for entrepreneurs getting ready to pitch their ideas, she says: 1) be yourself; 2) be passionate and 3) know that you will be working harder than in anything you have done before. You can contact Amy and Detroit Soup at http://detroitsoup.com/ or Twitter. Listen the podcast here: Share and Enjoy • Facebook • Twitter • Delicious • LinkedIn • StumbleUpon • Add to favorites • Email • RSS The post EP016: How Detroit Soup is Helping Transform a City with Amy Kaherl appeared first on Innovation for Development.

Rania Anderson talks about her book Undeterred, The Six Success Habits of Women in Emerging Economies. Rania walks us through the habits. 1) to be undeterred, not to give up in the face of obstacles; 2) to prepare yourself with your confidence and courage, and externally through the skills; 3) to be focus, having goals and plans; 4) work and life integration; 5) accelerate, taking the actions that propel you forward and advance and 6) lead, from wherever you are and whatever you do. For the book, Rania interviewed ordinary woman who in normal environments and circumstances are being successful. She purposefully wanted to showcase women from emerging economies who have overcome the challenges around them to build successful ideas. Rania wanted to share her findings and the ideas that apply for women in developing countries. When I ask Rania if she could say the top three recommendations to advance women’s careers and professional development she says (hey, these recommendations apply for everyone, regardless of gender!!!): Have a 360 degree network: a comprehensive network with people who are more influential than you, less experienced and peers, inside and outside your industry Make sure that your experiences are leading you to the path you want to go on. To have results, something tangible to show and make sure people know about it. Rania says that “women who make their achievements and their aspirations known by others get further faster”. You can contact Rania through her website: The Way Women Work. Listen here: Share and Enjoy • Facebook • Twitter • Delicious • LinkedIn • StumbleUpon • Add to favorites • Email • RSS The post EP015: Undeterred, Success Habits of Women in Emerging Economies with Rania Anderson appeared first on Innovation for Development.

Guillaume makes three recommendations for entrepreneurs. The first one is that behind every success there are often struggles, failures and mistakes. He says “successful entrepreneurs are people who have failed many times, and tried many times, and one day got successful”. Guillaume emphasizes that we should not see successful entrepreneurs as invincible heroes that don’t cry or fail. If we do so, we are setting ourselves for failure because that image is not true. The second recommendation is to find the calling within. Taking time to really think about it, because as an entrepreneur you will probably dedicate your life to a project or an endeavor so you need to make sure it is aligned with your purpose. The third recommendation is to get a mentor or a coach; a professional who can support you and have failed before you. Guillaume says that these support networks are like GPS; “they don’t tell you where to go, but where to turn” to avoid getting in the wrong places. Guillaume also talks about the hero’s journey. A life quest with many challenges that help people become what their potential is. He talks about finding and deploying our purpose as a way to have true lasting happiness in the corporate and nonprofit worlds, and explains how many people seem to be successful, but in reality might be unhappy as lacking a true purpose. They have a calling inside them that they are not answering. And this is what Guillaume considers their life purpose. Guillaume explains the work he does coaching and mentoring business people, CEOs and entrepreneurs to find their own voice and purpose. You can contact Guillaume via his website, LinkedIn or twitter.  Listen the podcast here:   Share and Enjoy • Facebook • Twitter • Delicious • LinkedIn • StumbleUpon • Add to favorites • Email • RSS The post EP014: The Hero’s Journey and Finding Balance in Life with Guillaume Gauthereau appeared first on Innovation for Development.

Susan McPherson is one of those inspiring women working at the wonderful intersection of business and social impact. Susan explains why storytelling is fundamental for success, in the business and nonprofit worlds. Susan believes in the power of information and knowledge to drive more positive change in the world. Susan and I talk extensively about the power of storytelling for successful communication campaigns. And she gives important tools to effectively implement communication strategies for nonprofits and social entrepreneurs. Susan develops the fundamental communications advice: make it simple, shareable, and fill with empathy. And, most importantly, set up goals and measures of success from the very beginning. Susan also talks about the great things going on in diversity and inclusion, and also the challenges ahead. She thinks that we know what to do to make more young women embrace math and sciences, and that now is time to move to action. Susan says that you “can’t be what you can’t see” and that more funding is needed for women-led tech companies and ventures. Susan is a serial connector, cause marketer, angel investor, and corporate responsibility expert. She founded McPherson Strategies. Susan works as a communications consultant focused on the intersection between brands and social good, providing storytelling, partnership creation and visibility to corporations. You can contact Susan via Twitter or her website: http://www.mcpstrategies.com/  Listen the podcast here: Share and Enjoy • Facebook • Twitter • Delicious • LinkedIn • StumbleUpon • Add to favorites • Email • RSS The post EP013: Why Storytelling is Fundamental for Success with Susan McPherson appeared first on Innovation for Development.

Michael Brennan is the former CEO of United Way Detroit. He is the Cofounder and CEO of Civilla, a center for social innovation based in Detroit. Michael talks about the importance of design thinking for social impact and social innovation.  He describes the work they do in Civilla with courageous leaders, building some core capabilities such as storytelling, pilot design, research and insight. Above all, Michael is passionate about human-centered design as the fundamental way to have sustainable social impact. He talks about human-centered design in this way “it is seeing the problems from the eyes of those that we are trying to serve”. You can contact Michael via twitter or via Civilla.   Listen here: Share and Enjoy • Facebook • Twitter • Delicious • LinkedIn • StumbleUpon • Add to favorites • Email • RSS The post EP012: Using Design Thinking for Social Impact and Innovation in Detroit with Michael Brennan appeared first on Innovation for Development.

Marco Pasqua has one of those stories that anybody would call impossible. Marco was born three months premature and later diagnosed with cerebral palsy. Unfortunately, in our world full with preconceptions and self-imposed limitations, Marco wouldn’t have gotten too far. But he used all the power of his creativity and proved those preconceptions wrong! Today, Marco is a very inspiring and successful entrepreneur and speaker. He is an accessibility advocate and created the CUBE principle. One of Marco’s most inspiring messages is that we need to approach people not beginning with their disabilities or challenges, but from the great things that they can bring and contribute. C.U.B.E. is an acronym that stands for “Creatively Utilize your Best Energy”. It is seeing opportunities where others don’t, which one of the most fundamental premises of social entrepreneurship and innovation. The idea behind the CUBE principle is that “anyone can overcome life’s challenges whether big or small by following that simple credo… it offers a practical system that can be applied to these challenges that allows you to recognize the challenge, assess what is needed to overcome it and how to put your positive energy into action to help you reach any milestone. You can contact Marco Pasqua via LinkedIn or Twitter. You can listen to the podcast here: Share and Enjoy • Facebook • Twitter • Delicious • LinkedIn • StumbleUpon • Add to favorites • Email • RSS The post EP011: How to Creatively Utilize Your Best Energy with Marco Pasqua appeared first on Innovation for Development.

From minimum access to energy and fuel to using solar stoves which is equivalent to planting 4 trees per family! How is this possible? Catlin Powers is passionate about making the world a better place. She is the founder and CEO of One Earth Designs, a company that invented unique technology for solar stoves. Catlin is a master in the foundations of design thinking! Her company, One Earth Designs started in the Himalaya. She listened and lived among people, understood their problems and ideated a practical solution. The technology it uses, Soul Source, not only provides solar stoves, but decreases pollution inside people’s homes. And also helps reduce the time people spend collecting fuel. Catlin found that the air inside their houses was ten times more polluted than the air in Beijing. That inspired her to do something about it! Catlin and her team designed the most efficient reflector in the world (and it took 54 prototypes!) You can contact Catlin Powers via Facebook and the website https://www.oneearthdesigns.com/. Listen here: Share and Enjoy • Facebook • Twitter • Delicious • LinkedIn • StumbleUpon • Add to favorites • Email • RSS The post EP010: From Energy Poverty to the Imaginative Solution of Solar Stoves with Catlin Power appeared first on Innovation for Development.

Why social networks of support are essential for entrepreneurs and innovation? Susan Kolodin is the Nicaraguan’s Chief of Operations of the Inter-American Development Bank. She talks about a book called “Asuntos de Familia” (Family Matters). The book is about a research developed in five countries of Central America. It highlights the importance and relevance of social networks for pregnant women. Susan says that development is innovation, and innovation is development. And then she defines development as the process to move forward and improve our quality of life. Susan has a very powerful message for social entrepreneurs, particularly around building social networks and innovation. You can download the book “Asuntos de Familia” (Family Matters – Only in Spanish). Click Here.  Listen here   Share and Enjoy • Facebook • Twitter • Delicious • LinkedIn • StumbleUpon • Add to favorites • Email • RSS The post EP009: Why social networks of support are essential for entrepreneurs and innovation with Susan Kolodin appeared first on Innovation for Development.

Diversity is essential to unleash innovation. Francesca Molinaro is the Diversity Advisor at the Inter-American Development Bank. Francesca is a mother of two kids and explains she is trying to find balance between work and her personal life. She also talks how technology has enabled people to have more flexibility in their work and lives, but also the importance of setting boundaries to avoid making it intrusive. Francesca helps us understand the wonderful concepts of diversity and how it helps unleash innovation (and not only demographics diversity, but all the factors that make people think different). Francesca says that diversity can be disruptive! When all the people think the same, it is very comfortable to conform, even when that means going along with a wrong answer. Diverse teams outperform homogeneous groups, because the bring different variables to the table. Francesca helps us answer the question of how to create a workplace where people can be their authentic selves. Listen here:   Share and Enjoy • Facebook • Twitter • Delicious • LinkedIn • StumbleUpon • Add to favorites • Email • RSS The post EP008: Diversity is essential to unleash innovation with Francesca Molinaro appeared first on Innovation for Development.

Keith Ives is the Co-Founder and President of Causal Design (twitter handle @causaldesign), an organization with vast experience in social impact monitoring and evaluation. Keith talks about the importance of focusing on the outcomes of a social impact, rather than the outputs. He tells us about his experience with donors and NGOs, in the field and in the office, and how to improve the quality of social impact through good planning. You can connect with Keith via LinkedIn or Twitter. Listen here: Share and Enjoy • Facebook • Twitter • Delicious • LinkedIn • StumbleUpon • Add to favorites • Email • RSS The post EP007: Outcomes or Outputs with Keith Ives from Causal Design appeared first on Innovation for Development.

Dave Kramer is the Senior Manager for Impact, Learning and Innovation at EcoLogic. EcoLogic is an organization that is empowering communities and indigenous people. They are restoring and protecting tropical ecosystems in Central America and Mexico. Dave works promoting conservation and resilience. He is also focusing in making sure that there are basic agreements in how to preserve resources communities depend on. Dave also talks about the amazing Zen concept of the beginner’s mind, a concept practiced by many revolutionary innovators like Steve Jobs. He mentions how environment and innovation are linked to happiness. You can connect with Dave via LinkedIn. Listen here: Share and Enjoy • Facebook • Twitter • Delicious • LinkedIn • StumbleUpon • Add to favorites • Email • RSS The post EP006: Empowering Communities for Environmental Preservation with Dave Kramer appeared first on Innovation for Development.

Justin Otero talks about his experience with OYE (Organization for Youth Empowerment) and how they are empowering youth in Honduras. OYE is a youth-led development NGO based in El Progreso, Honduras. Through academic scholarships, leadership and life skills workshops and youth development programs in the arts, media and sports, OYE provides opportunities for promising disadvantaged youth to break the cycle of poverty and develop into young leaders who inspire positive change in their homes, schools and communities. OYE received the U.S. President’s Arts and Humanities award, and it was the only international organization honored with that award in 2015. You can connect with OYE via Twitter or their website http://www.oyehonduras.org/en/. Listen here: Share and Enjoy • Facebook • Twitter • Delicious • LinkedIn • StumbleUpon • Add to favorites • Email • RSS The post EP005: Empowering Youth in Honduras with Justin Otero appeared first on Innovation for Development.

Wayan Vota, Technical Advisor at FHI360 (one of the largest technology nonprofits in the world), explains the power of technology and information in the development world, and how social entrepreneurs can leverage their work by using applications, internet and technology. Also, Wayan talks about the role of Big Data in the development world. And one the best quotes: “accept feedback, even if it’s ego crushing, and make adaptations based on it”. You can connect with Wayan at @wayan_vota or  through his website http://wayan.com/. Listen to the podcast: Share and Enjoy • Facebook • Twitter • Delicious • LinkedIn • StumbleUpon • Add to favorites • Email • RSS The post EP004: The Power of Technology for Social Impact with Wayan Vota appeared first on Innovation for Development.

Michele Cantos, Program Manager at The Future Leaders Foundation based in New York City, talks about her experience connecting young social entrepreneurs from around the world. And how providing leadership training today will help them become stronger leaders for the future. You can contact Michele via LinkedIn or in Twitter: @michele_cantos Listen to the podcast: Share and Enjoy • Facebook • Twitter • Delicious • LinkedIn • StumbleUpon • Add to favorites • Email • RSS The post EP003: The Future Leaders Foundation with Michele Cantos appeared first on Innovation for Development.