Re-thinking Business

We’ve been having some interesting discussions on “philanthrocapitalism” as a group and I thought I’d share this article from The Huffington Post. The author, Michael Kinsley, is writing a book about “creative capitalism” and wants opinions.

To read the thoughts of some of the Ashoka interns, check out this post on Blazing Trails.

What do YOU think? Can new business models really help solve some of our society’s most dire problems? Or are businesses, in the end, just money-grabbing entities? Might there be room for something in between?

The Monsoon, I assume – Greetings from Delhi!

Namaste everyone, hope all is well. Greetings from the FEC office here from Kalpana and myself.

While she is running around taking photos in Delhi slums and schmoozing high-powered government officials and motivated NGOs – excuse me, CSOs - about the housing project, I have been pounding away on a presentation and am getting ready to head to Bangalore and Hyderabad next week to meet the Ashoka Fellow to talk about her microinsurance business.

The first heavy rainfall set in today since my stay, and I remembered to bring the flip flops just in case. Roop, I hope you are getting a nice tan down in Madurai, Kalpana says it’s “beautiful.” Too bad you’re not here with us, we’re planning on starting a badminton club (together with Aditi) and visit some local Fellows.

How is life with the Fellows for everyone? And what happenend to that facebook page?? didn’t get the invite yet.

Thien (on behalf of Kalpana’s Office)

What is Beautiful Chaos?

Beautiful Chaos is the collective blog of twelve Ashoka interns, trying to create a world in which everyone is a changemaker. Together, as social entrepreneurs, we’re spending our 2008 summer in India, Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Egypt, Turkey, the U.S., Indonesia, and Venezuela.

This is our space to share our experience with you, whether we’re helping to scale up maternal health clinics, convincing businesses to partner with citizen sector organizations, creating housing solutions for slum-dwellers, or training women to be carpenters. It will be messy, infuriating, and confusing — but we’re sure it will also be compelling, amusing and inspiring. Such is the Beautiful Chaos for those who seek to change the world for the better. We hope you’ll follow our journey!

Even our organization, Ashoka, can reflect a bit of this beautiful chaos, so rather than try to explain the world of social entrepreneurs and what they do, we’ll leave you with a video instead. Yeah, it’s a bit cheesy but it’ll serve as a fine explanation. Enjoy!