This blogpost was originally published in the CASE Notes blog by Erin Worsham. Click here for the full post.
If we all did the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves.
~ Thomas Edison
A university-wide Ebola Innovation Challenge that inspired 160+ students to think about how they can use their skills to solve real world challenges. Twenty-five global health social entrepreneurs who are touching tens of millions of people – saving and improving lives through maternity care, insurance, mobile clinics and more. Inspiring speakers including the US Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez and City Year founder Michael Brown. Tracking $1.5 billion dollars in impact investing commitments on behalf of the White House. Publishing books and articles. Helping practitioners be more effective in their work in the field. Inspiring the next generation of leaders to use the power of business and management skills to change the world. What a year!
I am consistently astounded by – and truly honored to be a part of – CASE’s work. Thank you to our incredible team, our partners and our supporters who help us drive towards a world in which purpose and profit are not mutually exclusive; where nonprofits, businesses and government partner to make significant progress on solutions to social problems. Read on below for more details of our year of impact and progress.
Accelerating Impact in Global Health
Through our Social Entrepreneurship Accelerator at Duke (SEAD), CASE, IPIHD, DGHI, Investors’ Circle and USAID are helping to support and scale social entrepreneurs working in global health. This past year, we brought on our 3rd cohort of innovators, bringing SEAD to 25 entrepreneurs working in microinsurance, mobile technologies, clinics, health education, and more.
Ashoka recognized us for our efforts, awarding us the 2015 Ashoka U Cordes Innovation in Social Entrepreneurship award (more here). We hosted our annual SEAD Summit, bringing together the SEAD innovators for several days of discussion and mentoring around common challenges in scaling impact and capital readiness. SEAD opened a new office in Nairobi, Kenya, in collaboration with the USAID East Africa regional office. This office will work to support global health innovation in East Africa, particularly innovations that will improve the lives and health of women and girls.
Leading the field of impact investing
Our work through the CASE Initiative on Impact Investing (CASE i3) continues to build momentum. CASE i3 was selected by the White House to track and report on $1.5 Billion in impact investing commitments. Our student fellowship included five successful CASE i3CP projects (with 100% satisfaction from our clients!), eight CASE i3 second-year Fellows and 27 first and second-year associates. We continued our course on impact investing, hosted speakers including Maya Chorengel, Managing Director of Elevar Equity, and Mike Dorsey, Managing Partner at Bay Area Growth Fund, and hosted sessions at the Skoll World Forum and a Fuqua Faculty Conversations with Professor Cathy Clark.
CASE i3 Director Cathy Clark was selected as one of America’s “Top 20 Women in Philanthropy, Social Innovation, and Civic Engagement” (along with Oprah and Gates Foundation President Sue Desmond Hellmann). Clark, Jed Emerson and Ben Thornley published The Impact Investor (along with e-book and audio book) and went on a multi-city book tour to spread the lessons learned about how to make impact investing successful…
This blogpost was published in CASE Notes by Erin Worsham. Click here to read the full post.
