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Social Enterprise
by Editor on July 25, 2006
Since we only had two votes in the last round I've cast the deciding vote for who goes on from that round to this one. So the winner is Robert Graham of NamasteDirect. Please remember to cast your vote by putting the person's name in the comment section below. I'd also always like to hear from you about suggestions of people to highlight as social entrepreneurs.
For this week's Audeamus Awards ...
*In the microcredit arena, there is Robert Graham's NamasteDirect, a project of the Namaste Foundation, a not-for-profit organization that connects individuals who wish to fund small loans to first-time borrowers, primarily women, in some of the most marginalized communities in Central America. The organization was originally founded as the Katalysis Partnership (now the Katalysis Microfinance Network of Central America) in 1984 by California businessman Graham.
*Next up is Melissa Michaels, a model and social entrepreneur, was recently named a San Diego Magazine's 2006 Woman of the Year nominee. Her work has seen her support BookPALS (Performing Artists for Literacy in Schools), an all-volunteer literacy program and one of the fastest growing literacy programs in the U.S. with 20 chapters around the country serving some 100,000 children a week. I guess this could be a co-award, since the group BookPALS was founded by Barbara Bain in 1993. So this is more of a group vote.
*Another literacy program is FirstBook, though I'm not sure who founded it, so it should be a group vote here. FirstBook gives news books to low income children
*From Brazil comes Fabio Rosa, a social entrepreneur who has spent the past two decades electrifying rural areas in Brazil. More on Rosa here at The New Heroes.
*Next up is Susan McDowell, executive director of LifeWorks, who was named the Ernst & Young Social Entrepreneur of the Year. LifeWorks helps families transition from crisis to safety and success in the Austin, Texas area.
*Our youngest entry this week is Ashley Gunn, an 18-year old founder of a non-profit business that buys, renovates and sells abandoned homes to families in need. Gunn recently won the 2006 National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB)/Visa USA "Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award."
That's it for this week. Please vote for your favorite below. For further information on others who are changing the world, see Fast Company's list here.
Permalink: Audeamus Awards Round #6
Tags:
social
entrepreneurship
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audeamus
awards
awards+round
social+enterprise
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Vote for Audeamus Awards Round #6:
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Rating: 6.00 out of 2 vote(s) cast.
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Response from:
Lori
(09/04/06 12:37am)
Hooray for Bob Graham and Namaste Direct!
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