Nexus

Laureate Feature: PhET Interactive Simulations

EBerkenmeier@scu.edu (Erin Berkenmeier) — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 12:00:00 PST

PhET simulations offer an intuitive game-like environment where students develop their conceptual understanding and build connections to the real world.

Four GSBI alums named to Global Journal Top 100 Best NGOs

EBerkenmeier@scu.edu (Erin Berkenmeier) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 10:49:00 PST

Last week four GSBI alums, Digital Divide Data (GSBI ?04), Gram Vikas (GSBI ?04), International Development Enterprise ? India (GSBI ?06), and Rishi Valley Institue for Educational Resources (GSBI '08) were all recognized by The Global Journal on their Top 100 Best NGOs list. We congratulate them!

Giriama Life- Highlights

kieranhoward@berkeley.edu (Kieran Howard (Guest Post)) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 15:06:00 PST

Kieran Howard guest writes for CSTS again in this post on his recent trip to Kenya where he was most interested in the rural culture of the Giriama tribe in Ganze district; about 1 hour?s drive inland from Kilifi.

Clean Water for Nicaragua - Student Series 8

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 14:08:00 PST

The team reflects on their time in Nicaragua working on a clean water project as part of a Roelandts Fellowship for Science and Technology for Social Benefit.

Photo of the Week: Solar Awareness in Cambodia

EBerkenmeier@scu.edu (Erin Berkenmeier) — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 12:30:00 PST

GSBI alum Kamworks has a mission, "to provide Sustainable solar solutions for off-grid communities. Knowing that about 80% of the Cambodian population are living in the rural areas and have no access to an electricity grid, solar electricity could be an economical and clean solution for these people."

And a Woman Said: Let There be (Solar) Light

TKreiner@scu.edu (Thane Kreiner) — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 09:41:00 PST

Solar Sister is an amazing social enterprise by any standard. Already employing 177 women and affording them economic opportunity through an Avon-style sales model, the team strives to bring ?light, hope and opportunity to even the most remote communities in rural Africa.? They are succeeding, and though their goal of scaling to 5,000 sisters in 5 countries within 5 years sounds ambitious, they may well exceed it.

Clean Water for Nicaragua - Student Series 7

EBerkenmeier@scu.edu (Lizzie Mercado) — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 00:00:00 PST

This was our last day in the community of Sabana Grande and it was time to say goodbye to our host families. We caught the 7:45am bus in Ocotal and began our 4 hour ride back to Managua to meet with the professor from the University Of Central America (UCA).

Clean Water for Nicaragua - Student Series 6

EBerkenmeier@scu.edu (Lizzie Mercado) — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 00:00:00 PST

In the morning, the group headed out to Susan's home to go for a small hike up the solar mountain. As soon as we got there Susan further explained the construction projects around her home that Liz briefly went over on Monday. The men were working on constructing a bodega, solar kitchen, and a classroom.

Clean Water for Nicaragua - Student Series 5

EBerkenmeier@scu.edu (Agustine Perez) — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 00:00:00 PST

After getting up early and eating breakfast with our families, our group reunited that morning at Reyna?s house. Upon arriving there we noticed that one of our group members looked rather sick. We suggested that she stay in for the day to rest up and get better because today was going to be more tedious than others. Soon after, the rest of the group walked outside into El Proyecto, a community of about 45 homes.

GSBI Alumni Holiday Gift Guide

EBerkenmeier@scu.edu (Erin Berkenmeier) — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 10:29:00 PST

Are you out of ideas for holiday gifts and haven't crossed off a single name from your list? Well here is a list of GSBI Alumni organizations that can provide a unique gift for your loved ones and can also create a lasting impact in the life of someone one in need.

An Activist, an Ethicist, and an Economist Walked Into a Bar....or, Making Visible the Hands in the Market

kwarner@scu.edu (Keith Douglass Warner OFM) — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 09:32:00 PST

Kiva.org is the fruit of a philosopher who asked a practical question: what could I do to help very poor people improve their lives? Matt Flannery visited Africa and discovered that a very small amount of money could help people in big ways, and that people in existing communities of trust would ensure that a loan was repaid. With some friends and family members, Matt started making a few loans. Kiva.org is now one of the most visible micro-lending institutions in America. Matt visited Santa Clara on November 9, and told stories of how this came about.

Every time I hear news about the big banks, the ones too big to fail, I get a bit more cynical. The enormous salaries to men whose banks’ bad behavior brought the American economy to its knees, credit default swaps so complex their inventors could not understand them, secret loans made by the feds to banks, government bailouts used to fund lobbyists to fend of regulation...these stories prompt in me a question: is the whole banking industry a parasite on society? The occupy movement does have a point here.

Starting a bank was the farthest thing from Matt Flannery’s mind, but he found, as I have, that one cannot foster human flourishing for poor people without providing them access to some capital. Matt was a computer programmer at TiVo with a Masters degree in philosophy, so he came to banking through a nonconventional path. He didn’t get into this line of work to make money, but rather, to alleviate poverty. Perhaps it was the ethicist in him that perceived economic options where others saw nothing but risky loans. In the Ugandans he met he found people alive with hopes and dreams, and he activated his networks back in America to partner with them. To accommodate the compassion of micro-loaners like you and me, he created a website to share the stories of people who needed credit, and Kiva.org was born.

This form of economics has nothing to do with the predatory or parasitic practices that foster cynicism. Instead, it’s based on mutuality through the international sharing of stories. Micro-loaners here in America learn about the needs of the poor, working so hard -- but unable to escape the traps of poverty without credit--in poorer countries over there. By exchanging stories, Kiva.org fosters practical compassion. People do want to make a difference, and by making a micro-loan, they can. Kiva.org facilitates this exchange.

Matt clearly loves what he does, and he has apparently found his life’s work. He used his computer programming skills to help countless people. From another perspective, his is a very old solution. In response to interest rates of >40% during the late Middle Ages, members of my religious order, the Franciscans, devised and launched local credit unions to provide loans at a fraction of this rate. These were the forerunners of the modern banking system....and this from a religious order that takes its vow of poverty quite seriously!

Fostering practical justice means understanding the economic reality of people who are poor, and just might be able to make it out of their poverty trap with a loan. Cynicism of American banking may be warranted, and the occupy movement may decry greed, but understanding how well conceived economic interventions based on solidarity can make a huge difference in the lives of others seems highly appropriate for a Catholic university that prides itself on teaching conscience. It is my hope that the Global Social Benefit Fellowship can help some Santa Clara students learn this.

Keith Douglass Warner OFM is a Franciscan Friar and the CSTS director of education.

Watch the Video of Matt's Kiva talk from November 9th, here.

Clean Water for Nicaragua - Student Series 4

EBerkenmeier@scu.edu (Agustine Perez) — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 00:00:00 PST

At around 8:30am we met up with Susan Kinne, as planned. We took the long route to the Solar Center in order for us to see the rest of the community. Upon arriving at the center, Julian, a volunteer from Canada, was there awaiting our arrival. We walked to the recently built restaurant at the Solar Center, which has a stove that is powered by biodigester.

Clean Water for Nicaragua - Student Series 3

EBerkenmeier@scu.edu (Kyle Magazu) — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 00:00:00 PST

On Monday morning Susan thought it would be best to meet up at 10AM to give us enough time to rest after our nearly 18 hour travel. We all met at Susan's house, which is basically the hub for the "Solar Mountain".

Clean Water for Nicaragua - Student Series 2

EBerkenmeier@scu.edu (Kyle Magazu) — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 00:00:00 PST

The travel was rough, but after a 5 hour overnight flight to Atlanta, a 5 hour layover, another 3.5 hour flight to Managua, and a 4 hour bus ride to Sabana Grande; we finally made it.

Clean Water for Nicaragua - Student Series 1

EBerkenmeier@scu.edu (Lisa Yabusaki) — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 15:24:00 PST

Introductory blog from Roelandts fellows Hilda Garcia, Kyle Magazu, Lizzie Mercado, Agustine Perez, and Lisa Yabusaki. Their project focuses on water sanitation in Nicaragua.

Happy Holidays from the Center

tkreiner@scu.edu (Thane Kreiner) — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 11:34:00 PST

On behalf of the Center, we wish happy and healthy holidays to all of our GSBI alums, Tech laureates, partners, mentors, advisory board members, supporters, and other friends.

GSBI Alum Whirlwind Wheelchair Awarded $1.7M to expand production

krizack@sfsu.edu (Guest Blog: Marc Krizack) — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 11:30:00 PST

Whirlwind Wheelchair International has been awarded a $1.7 million grant from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) for a 2 1/2-year project to set up 7 sustainable Wheelchair Provision and Assembly Centers (WPAC) in developing countries around the world. Whirlwind is a non-profit social business based at San Francisco State University. Whirlwind was a Tech Museum Laureate in 2004 and Whirlwind’s Executive Director Marc Krizack was a member of the 2006 Global Social Benefit Incubator (GSBI) class.

The USAID award is significant in two respects. First, it gives Whirlwind the capital to expand its franchise network of wheelchair manufacturers to include distributors. By combining the benefits of large scale manufacturing with local provision, Whirlwind ensures high volumes of high quality, low cost wheelchairs that can be properly provided to the beneficiaries in accordance with World Health Organization guidelines. In many locations, the WPACs are expected to become the nucleus of a permanent rehabilitation infrastructure around which other services and programs can be built and monitored.

Second, the grant represents a milestone in Whirlwind’s own organizational development. Most non-profits are forced to shape their activities in accordance with the funder’s goals. Given the limited funding for international disability projects, for example, many organizations have to shoehorn disability projects into programs that have other goals such as development of civil society, promotion of democracy, rule of law, and conflict resolution, to name just a few. Since adopting a social entrepreneurial model in 2006, this is the first grant that Whirlwind has sought in which what Whirlwind proposed to do was exactly what Whirlwind wanted to do and had already started to do. As such, it represents a significant maturation in the organization’s journey from traditional non-profit to innovative social business.

The WPACs will result in increased sales and income for Whirlwind as well as extending the benefits of Whirlwind’s unique and in-demand active use RoughRider® wheelchair to many more people around the world. Each WPAC will make it possible to fill orders of less than a full container of wheelchairs, which is too expensive when fully assembled chairs are shipped from a distant factory. Each WPAC will be able to develop its own local market, especially in advocating for and competing for government tender offers. And many WPACs will have their own international donors and supporters who Whirlwind could not approach but from whom they can request funding to purchase the Whirlwind chairs they assemble and provide.

The USAID award dovetails nicely with Whirlwind’s other income generation effort to sell its flagship product, the RoughRider® wheelchair, in the United States, for which Whirlwind received FDA approval this past January. The wheelchairs will be sold as part of a Buy One/Give One program. For each wheelchair purchased for $800, Whirlwind will donate an identical chair to someone in the developing world. Through this program, Whirlwind hopes to attract and recruit brand advocates among wheelchair riders in the U.S. and Canada who can extend Whirlwind’s reach into every state and province, raising awareness of Whirlwind’s program. All funds generated from the sale of wheelchairs will be used to promote Whirlwind’s non-profit mission in the developing world.

The USAID grant will also allow Whirlwind to set up a U.S. Distribution Center in the San Francisco Bay Area, which will start by providing 3 jobs. The Center will serve U.S. purchasers and provide a reshipment point for nonprofits that ship chairs directly from the U.S. to other countries, and for individual travelers from the U.S. wishing to take a wheelchair to someone in the developing world.

Whirlwind is setting up a business advisory committee (BAC) to help review business plans submitted by applicants seeking to host a WPAC. Anyone interested in volunteering to sit on the BAC should contact Whirlwind Marketing Director Keoke King at keoke@whirlwindwheelchair.org.

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Marc Krizack is the Executive Director of Whirlwind Wheelchair, a non-profit social enterprise dedicated to improving the lives of people with disabilities in the developing world while also promoting sustainable local development.

Every social entrepreneur should apply to the Global Social Benefit Incubator. Period.

cthomassin@scu.edu (Cassandra Thomassin) — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 13:41:00 PST

Learn more about the GSBI by visiting our website, download the application beginning December 6th, and be sure to apply starting January 3, 2012.

Collegiate Entrepreneurs Conference

EGonzalez@scu.edu (Eliza Gonzalez) — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 10:08:00 PST

Guest blogger Eliza Gonzalez writes about her recent experience at the 2011 Collegiate Entrepreneurs Conference In Ft. Worth, Texas.

Whirlwind Wheelchair

marc@whirlwindwheelchair.org (Guest Blog: Marc Krizack) — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 21:34:00 PST

Two former American presidents, Bill Clinton and Martin Sheen (President Josiah Bartlett in the television series ?The West Wing?), were featured at an October 5, 2011 fund raiser in New York City to benefit the Walkabout Foundation. The Walkabout Foundation purchases Whirlwind RoughRider? wheelchairs for distribution in developing countries around the world.