Argentina Shoe Drop (7355 views, 1.9394 rating, 1001 votes) Blake Mycoskie wanted to get away from it all. After founding and running four businesses and losing by a sliver on The Amazing Race, he escaped last January to Argentina, where he learned to sail, dance the tango and play competitive polo. He also visited impoverished villages where few, if any, children had shoes. "I was sitting on a field on a farm one day, and I had an epiphany," says Mycoskie, who had taken to wearing alpargatas--resilient, lightweight slip-on shoes with a breathable canvas top and soft leather insole traditionally worn by Argentine workers. "I said, I'm going to start a shoe company, and for every pair I sell, I'm going to give one pair to a kid in need." After he sold his first 10,000 pairs, he went to Argentina to give away 10,000 pairs. See what happened....
Executive on a Mission -- Save the Planet (4910 views, 2.1091 rating, 598 votes) As Ray Anderson was preparing to give a speech at Interface, the billion dollar carpet company he founded, he had a stark realization."I was running a company that was plundering the earth," he recalls. While Interface fully complied with the law, Ray knew that wasn't enough. So he challenged his employees to find ways to turn it all around, and forestalled objections from his own stockholders. "He bet his entire company," remembers one colleague. And the bet paid off. Today, Interface has cut fossil fuels by 45%, reduced water usage by 49% and slowed its landfill contribution by 80%. Plans are underway for it to be a fully "restorative enterprise" by 2020. Oh, and along the way? Interface has saved over $336 million....
The People's Grocery: Healthy Food For Everyone (6471 views, 2.1530 rating, 620 votes) In West Oakland, California, where liquor stores have replaced markets, The People’s Grocery is creating a healthy alternative by offering access to organic produce. Through urban gardens and local farms, The People's Grocery supports a culture based on connection to the land, sustainable agricultural practices, and regenerating community....
Rose Mapendo: Moving from Fear to Forgiveness (3957 views, 2.0438 rating, 343 votes) Rose Mapendo and her husband and seven children lived in the Democratic Republic of Congo when the Rwandan Tutsi army invaded their country in 1998. Four years after the Rwandan genocide claimed the lives of one million, Mapendo and her family were imprisoned. Soldiers forced Mapendo to listen as they tortured and executed her husband. She delivered twins in darkness on a cold cement floor, and scores of others she knew were killed or else died of disease or malnutrition. After being unexpectedly rescued some sixteen months later and fleeing to the United States with her remaining family, Mapendo taught herself to read and write, and went on to help found a humanitarian aid organization that identifies, protects and cares for people fleeing war and violence. How has she managed this, in the wake of all that she has experienced? "I forgive," Rose Mapendo says, through her tears. "And when I forgive, it makes me very, very strong."...
Carrotmob Makes it Rain (6225 views, 1.9567 rating, 579 votes) Everyone needs to buy things. But we tend not to spend our money in a way that is both collective and socially conscious. So Carrotmob, a new environmental advocacy group, had an idea: what if those seeking the same kind of product got together, pooled their dollars, and used them to collectively support local companies that were also doing the most for the environment? Watch what happened when Carrotmob pulled a big crowd together to spend a lot of money at the local liquor store with the strongest environmental commitment. If we live our values, business can--and does--listen....
Victoria Hale (408 views, 2.2557 rating, 223 votes) To take her skills as a pharmaceutical scientist out of the world of big business and into the realm of public service, Victoria Hale founded the non-profit Institute for One World Health. Her initial success was stunning: she began producing a so-called "orphan" drug that was no longer profitable enough for the large pharmaceuticals to manufacture, but was cheap, safe and mightily effective against black fever, a disease that still rages in parts of rural India. Hale tells her inspiring story....
John Bird: The Big Issue (244 views, 2.0447 rating, 90 votes) Flamboyant British entrepreneur John Bird tells his story, from living on the streets as a child in a London slum, to current success in promoting innovative products that have both commercial and social payoffs. His latest is the Wedge Card, which provides discounts for shopping in a specific local community, with part of the discount going to local institutions or projects that address local needs. ...
Joe Madiath, Gram Vikas (1080 views, 2.0760 rating, 171 votes) Joe Madiath is all about the basics. Founder and director of Gram Vikas, Madiath has brought clean water, indoor bathroom facilities and electricity to a number of India's most marginalized villages in one of India's poorest states. Leveraging government money with strong community support, which must be unanimous, his grassroots work is transforming lives. ...
Reducing poverty through cell phones (203 views, 2.0845 rating, 71 votes) Iqbal Qadir, an advocate of business as humanitarian tool, gives an informative talk on the idea of reducing poverty through technology and connectivity. He discusses the causes of poverty and reasons why we have not been able to eradicate it in the past. He shares his experience with Grameen Phone and how it is helping fight poverty and empower people in Bangladesh....
5-year-old Phoebe's Food Bank (7038 views, 2.0503 rating, 179 votes) After seeing a person holding a cardboard sign begging for food, Phoebe wondered, "Why does that man look so sad, and why is he holding a sign in the street?" That question to her parents, during her daily ride to daycare, sparked an idea that has helped feed nearly 18,000 hungry San Franciscans. Oh, and Phoebe is five years old!...
Social Entrepreneurs - Those That Believe In Order To See (330 views, 2.0094 rating, 106 votes) It has been said that 'Social Entrepreneurship is the cause of our generation' - but what is it??? This video by the Skoll Foundation describes the field to us and provides excellent examples.
Its a great overview of the progress made over the last three decades....
MLK's I Have a Dream Speech (576 views, 2.0682 rating, 176 votes) Historical footage of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s famous "I Have a Dream" speech at the foot of the Lincoln Memorial....
Truth in Numbers: The Wikipedia Story (168 views, 2.0448 rating, 67 votes) Wikipedia is a multilingual, web-based, encyclopedia project, operated by the Wikimedia Foundation, a non-profit organization. Many language versions of Wikipedia are free content, while others, such as the English version, include non-free material. As of September 2007, Wikipedia had approximately 8.29 million articles in 253 languages, comprising a combined total of over 1.41 billion words for all Wikipedias. The English Wikipedia edition passed the 2,000,000 article mark on September 9, 2007, and as of October 14, 2007 it had over 2,047,000 articles consisting of over 890,000,000 words....
The First Barefoot Women Solar Engineers in the World (109 views, 2.2258 rating, 31 votes) A program that trains rural, middle-aged women from developing countries to electrify their villages using solar power is featured here. The women go for six months of training in Tilania, India. Central to the approach of the Barefoot College is close involvement and support of the village residents. So far, 50 villages in six countries have been electrified. ...
The First Rural Women Heroes of Timbuktu (124 views, 2.1177 rating, 34 votes) Thanks to the Barefoot College in Tilonia, India, villagers in Timbuktu, Mali have electricity. Part of a broader international effort, two women from Timbuktu went to India for six months of training and returned to their village in July of 2007. Once all the necessary equipment arrived, the two women spent 7-10 days assembling a system that now provides electricity for villagers, a grand success celebrated by the village. ...
12 Year Old Entrepreneur (353 views, 2.1161 rating, 43 votes) At age 7, Leanna Archer started bugging her parents to start a business selling the all-natural hair product she developed and used. Despite parental resistance, she persevered and by 12 she was fulfilling 15 orders daily from the basement of her home in Long Island, New York, with the help and support of her parents. ...
Personal Sacrifice (126 views, 1.9756 rating, 41 votes) Robert Shillman, or "Dr. Bob" the CEO of Cognex corporation, did the unthinkable. In a defiant stance against corporate greed, and despite the suffering economy, he gave up his salary to save the jobs of his employees. Watch as he talks about the his business and surviving in America. ...
See-LA (183 views, 2.1849 rating, 54 votes) According to the US Commerce Department, America imported over $23 trillion in food commodities last year. Of these imports, the FDA inspects less then 1%. The rising cost of fossil fuels used to transport such goods along with threats of contaminated foods have spurred Americans' interests in clean and affordable foods. Watch how the Sustainable Economic Enterprises of Los Angeles (SEE-LA) has successfully addressed this problem by creating the Hollywood Farmers Market, an enterprise aimed at providing fresh, chemical free, affordable, and locally grown produce to the Los Angeles Community....
Bankrupt, and Yet Wealthy (5779 views, 2.0567 rating, 195 votes) We've heard the Enrons of the world file for bankruptcy. Massachussets based Malden Mills did the same -- but for entirely different reasons. In 1995, when the Malden Mills caught fire, the CEO and owner of the family run business decided to continue to pay his thousands of idled workers for a full six months! It was a decision that ended up bankrupting the three generation old company, but Aaron Feuerstein, the CEO and owner, says: "Maybe on paper our company is worthless to Wall Street, but I can tell you it's worth more." Watch this inspiring video as Aaron shares his rationale for making the ethical choice....
Bill Drayton and Ashoka (136 views, 2.1272 rating, 55 votes) What is a social entrepreneur? Business people? Do-gooders? Bill Drayton isn't the first one, but he's one of the most famous. Watch this interesting talk where he SHOWS you what it means to be a social entrepreneur, and why social entrepreneurs are the biggest hope humanity has to ensure basic health and welfare for everyone....
Rising Tide Capital (132 views, 2.1081 rating, 37 votes) Having grown up against the backdrop of torture and murder in the Ethiopian military regime, Alfa Demmelash went on to be inspired by her mother, who worked as a waitress during the day and seamstress during the night to support the family.
This inspiration led to the founding of Rising Tide Capital, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting entrepreneurial development in low income groups....
TOMS one for one (68 views, 2.1577 rating, 38 votes) Billions of children can't afford something as simple as a pair of shoes. Without shoes, these children are prone to disease, can't travel to clinics or food, and can't get in to some schools. In 2006, Blake Mycoskie started TOMS Shoes, a movement to end this problem. His company matches every pair of shoes purchased someone purchases for their own use with a pair of shoes given to a child in need. The company has already given 150,000 children shoes, and hopes to give twice as many in the coming years....