Social Impact

Solving problems at the intersection of business and society may pay dividends for a small Bay Area venture capital firm.

The nonprofit sector is developing tools for financing and managing the organization that come largely from the for-profit world. Clara Miller, president and CEO of the Nonprofit Finance Fund discusses both the need for more financial savvy in the nonprofit realm as well as the pitfalls of an overly commercial mindset.

Why is a venture capital firm encouraging the employees in a company it funds to give free music lessons? They’re trying to prove the thesis that companies that engage with their communities also reap a business advantage.

Two decades ago, socially motivated investing accounted for a tiny percentage of worldwide capital. Today, investors representing $14 trillion have signed on to the UN’s Principles for Responsible Investing. What influence are they having?

The wealth generated by the dot-com boom of the 1990s produced a new generation of philanthropists, determined to use their capital and their business savvy to solve social problems. A decade later, have they transformed the world of philanthropy?

Competitive strategy expert Michael Porter, the Bishop William Lawrence University Professor at Harvard Business School, has shaken up the thinking around healthcare reform with Redefining Health Care, a book he coauthored with Elizabeth Teisberg, associate professor at the Darden School of Business. Porter talked with Q3 about his ideas on how to bring the right kind of competition to healthcare and developments since the 2006 release of his book.

A loan might allow you to buy a bike to commute to a new job or to nurse your business through an unexpected setback. But billions of people around the world have little or no access to financial markets. Microfinance is one potential solution to this dilemma.