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Urban Housing Banks - Jamii Bora is a Microfinance Institution Based in Nairobi, Kenya

Urban Housing Banks Jamii Bora is a Microfinance Institution Based in Nairobi, Kenya

Based in Nairobi, Kenya, Jamii Bora is a microfinance institution—one of the largest and fastest growing in the country—that started out specifically as a way to deal with urban housing.... [More]

Social Business

10 Fuel-Aware Social Businesses - From Car Pool Dating Services to Healthier Cooking Instruments

10 Fuel-Aware Social Businesses From Car Pool Dating Services to Healthier Cooking Instruments

From car pool dating services to healthier cooking instruments, these fuel-aware social businesses pay attention to the “planet” part of the triple bottom line, that is, people, planet... [More]

Social Business

Green Coal Options - Eco-Fuel Africa Works on Creating Sustainable Energy Technologies

Green Coal Options Eco-Fuel Africa Works on Creating Sustainable Energy Technologies

Moses Sanga’s Eco-Fuel Africa is a social enterprise supporting sustainable energy technologies through the creation of green coal. On the Eco-Fuel website, the team explains and shows some... [More]

Social Business

Trio-Aligned Sustainable Shops - EchoStore is Run by Three Women in the Philippines

Trio-Aligned Sustainable Shops EchoStore is Run by Three Women in the Philippines

Based in the Philippines, EchoStore is a sustainable shop that sells a variety of products that are fair trade and environmentally aware. Some of the products that this social enterprise sells... [More]

Social Business

Sustainable Job Accessories - BLISS is a Social Business Based in Pakistan

Sustainable Job Accessories BLISS is a Social Business Based in Pakistan

BLISS is that kind of social business that has a Pinterest account—and by that I mean, it makes sense that it has a Pinterest account. It’s an image-heavy fashion brand promoting its... [More]

Social Business

46 Triple-Bottom-Line Management Mechanisms - From Organic and Local Gastropubs to Biz Incubators

46 Triple-Bottom-Line Management Mechanisms From Organic and Local Gastropubs to Biz Incubators

From organic and local gastropubs in the United Kingdom to biz incubators focusing on high-impact social innovation, these triple-bottom-line management mechanisms highlight the organizational... [More]

Social Business

Microcredit Sanitation Services - The Gramalaya Urban and Rural Development Initiatives and Network

Microcredit Sanitation Services The Gramalaya Urban and Rural Development Initiatives and Network

Gramalaya Urban and Rural Development Initiatives and Network (GUARDIAN) is a not-for-profit organization working in water and sanitation in India. It was founded in Raja Colony, Trichy in 2007 by... [More]

Social Business

10 Maternity-Impacting Social Businesses - From Incubator Substitutes to Market-Based Clinics

10 Maternity-Impacting Social Businesses From Incubator Substitutes to Market-Based Clinics

From market-based women’s clinics to health technology products, this top list of maternity-impacting social businesses include lower-income hospitals for women and children and also products... [More]

Social Business

Lower-Income Maternity Hospitals - LifeSpring Provides Market-Based Health Care

Lower-Income Maternity Hospitals LifeSpring Provides Market-Based Health Care

With a corporate office based in Andhra Pradesh, India, LifeSpring is a social enterprise and maternity hospital that serves lower-income women and children in the country through safe and... [More]

Social Business

19 Garden-Supporting Social Enterprises - From Eco Community Centers to Planet-Loving Marketplaces

19 Garden-Supporting Social Enterprises From Eco Community Centers to Planet-Loving Marketplaces

From eco community centers in Toronto, Ontario, Canada to wholesale printing companies that have an organic food and vegetable patch around their offices for the employees to use, these garden-... [More]

Social Business

23 Social Enterprise Film Uses - From Fair Trade Record Labels to Local Fashion Production Films

23 Social Enterprise Film Uses From Fair Trade Record Labels to Local Fashion Production Films

These socially aware film uses range from Kickstarter campaigns for documentaries about instruments made from recycled trash to an actual clothing line inspired by Al Gore’s documentary, ‘... [More]

Social Business

Trash Orchestra Documentaries - Landfill Harmonic is a Film About Children and Recycled Instruments

Trash Orchestra Documentaries Landfill Harmonic is a Film About Children and Recycled Instruments

While Landfill Harmonic isn’t exactly a social business in the way that we at SocialBusiness.org describe it on our information page, it’s still a way of melding the triple bottom line&#... [More]

Social Business

30 Social Entrepreneurship Videos - From Impact Bond Shorts to Children

30 Social Entrepreneurship Videos From Impact Bond Shorts to Children's Filmmaking

These social business videos consist mostly of entrepreneurs and the start-ups they run using audiovisual as a way to reach their audience—and maybe even the web at large. But it’s... [More]

Social Business

Social Entrepreneurship Vlogs - Cafe Impact Sheds Lights on Individuals

Social Entrepreneurship Vlogs Cafe Impact Sheds Lights on Individuals' Career Paths

Previously known as iOnPoverty, Cafe Impact, which features as its host Jonathan Lewis, is a vlog website featuring individual social entrepreneurs who give insight into their own businesses as well... [More]

Social Business

19 Social Healthcare Innovations - From Micro-Health Insurance to Digital Rural Medicine

19 Social Healthcare Innovations From Micro-Health Insurance to Digital Rural Medicine

Some of these social healthcare innovations respond to governmental policy and funding and others go around them. Many of them are looking to technology as some sort of perhaps not “savior&#... [More]

Social Business

Children

Children's Disease Management Games My Zoo Pets is a Finalist for the Echoing Green Fellowship

Created by Alexander Ryu and Annie Ruy, My Zoo Pets is a finalist for Echoing Green’s very competitive annual fellowship award this year. The social business was located under the health and... [More]

Social Business

8 Snacks Made by Social Enterprises - From Educational Organic Foods to Non-Synthetic Candies

8 Snacks Made by Social Enterprises From Educational Organic Foods to Non-Synthetic Candies

There are a breadth of food-based social enterprises out there (and not to mention all of the overload of fair trade, shade-grown and organic coffee bean roasters and cafes), many of which have been... [More]

Social Business

8 Wildlife-Focused Social Enterprises - From Wholesome Snacks to Animal Habitat Consultancies

8 Wildlife-Focused Social Enterprises From Wholesome Snacks to Animal Habitat Consultancies

While Social Business typically features more socially oriented enterprises that are using hybrid models or adhering to the triple bottom line, these wildlife-focused social enterprises are... [More]

Social Business

Fresh Produce Papers - Fenugreen Keeps Fruits and Vegetables from Spoiling

Fresh Produce Papers Fenugreen Keeps Fruits and Vegetables from Spoiling

Based in Harvard Square, Massachusetts, Fenugreen is a social enterprise that has created an innovation that attempts to keep fruits and vegetables from spoiling thereby minimizing food waste.... [More]

Social Business

Weekly Aquaponic Deliveries - Blacktop Bloom is a Social Enterprise and Urban Farm

Weekly Aquaponic Deliveries Blacktop Bloom is a Social Enterprise and Urban Farm

Based in New Haven, Connecticut, Blacktop Bloom is a social enterprise start-up that was recently announced to be one of the Echoing Green Fellowship Finalists for this year. The urban farm offers... [More]

Social Business

8 Echoing Green Features - From Social Impact Fellowships to Worksite Information Forums

8 Echoing Green Features From Social Impact Fellowships to Worksite Information Forums

Not too long ago, at the end of April of this year, this comprehensive organization released 53 of their Fellowship Finalists, which is the impetus for these Echoing Green features. Echoing Green... [More]

Social Business

Incentive-Based Recycling Programs - Wecyclers Uses Text Messaging to Create an Eco Point System

Incentive-Based Recycling Programs Wecyclers Uses Text Messaging to Create an Eco Point System

Wecyclers is a social enterprise based in Lagos, Nigeria that attempts to tackle the waste problem there. According to Wecyclers, the government collects 40% of the municipal garbage, making it that... [More]

Social Business

Green Energy Upgrading Companies -

Green Energy Upgrading Companies 'Effortless Energy' Invests in Homes and Shares in Savings

Based in Chicago, Illinois, Effortless Energy, which is a 2013 Echoing Green Fellowship Finalist in the environment category, attempts to simplify the home energy industry. The way it works is that... [More]

Social Business

9 Social Business Conference Spaces - From Austrian Innovation Hubs to Community Cafes

9 Social Business Conference Spaces From Austrian Innovation Hubs to Community Cafes

If you work at a social enterprise or are interested in the social entrepreneurship space more broadly, these social business conference spaces might prove useful. More and more, non-profits,... [More]

Social Business

Talent-Focused Education - The Amani Institute is a 2013 Echoing Green Fellowship Finalist

Talent-Focused Education The Amani Institute is a 2013 Echoing Green Fellowship Finalist

The Amani Institute, of which Roshan Paul is the founder and president, was announced at the end of April to be a 2013 Echoing Green Fellowship Finalist under the education category. There are 53... [More]

Social Business

30 Bracelets Made by Social Businesses - From Jewelry-Funded Water Purifiers to Branded Accessories

30 Bracelets Made by Social Businesses From Jewelry-Funded Water Purifiers to Branded Accessories

Bracelets made by social businesses go along with the “wear your cause” activism, made popular—very, very popular—in recent years at least by Lance Armstrong’s... [More]

Social Business

8 Advocacy Social Enterprises - From Equitable Community Designs to Ethical Sourcing Enablers

8 Advocacy Social Enterprises From Equitable Community Designs to Ethical Sourcing Enablers

These advocacy social enterprises carry out their mission through a variety of ways but political process is one such way. For instance, Enterprising Non-Profits, which is a network based in... [More]

Social Business

Member-Driven Advocacy Organizations - The Community Alliance for the Ethical Treatment of Youth

Member-Driven Advocacy Organizations The Community Alliance for the Ethical Treatment of Youth

The Community Alliance for the Ethical Treatment of Youth, also known as CAFETY, is a member-driven advocacy organization that is run and operated by individuals who were in harmful residential care... [More]

Social Business

Debt-Countering Start-up Apprenticeships - Enstitute Matches Young Entrepreneurs with Founders

Debt-Countering Start-up Apprenticeships Enstitute Matches Young Entrepreneurs with Founders

Based in New York City, New York, Enstitute is a non-profit organization that attempts to counter the student debt crisis with matching up-and-coming entrepreneurs with founders through a program... [More]

Social Business

Greater Good Games - Aroundsquare is a Certified B Corporation for Children

Greater Good Games Aroundsquare is a Certified B Corporation for Children

A comprehensive social enterprise that adheres to the triple bottom line, Aroundsquare is a B Corporation based in Calgary, Alberta that creates wooden blocks and other toys but also is involved in... [More]

Social Business

Wildlife Voluntourism B Corps - Animal Experience International Connects Students and Professionals

Wildlife Voluntourism B Corps Animal Experience International Connects Students and Professionals

Located in Barrie, Ontario, Canada, Animal Experience International (AEI) is a certified B Corporation that connects students, professionals and others with voluntourism travel experiences around... [More]

Social Business

Community-Oriented Game Studios -

Community-Oriented Game Studios '1st Playable Productions' Vows to Make Positive Entertainment

Based in Troy, New York, 1st Playable Productions is a game studio that attempts to create positive and community-oriented creations for children. They are a certified B Corporation but a very... [More]

Social Business

Relationship-Based Distribution Companies - 100km Foods Inc. Offers Local Goods in a Dynamic Way

Relationship-Based Distribution Companies 100km Foods Inc. Offers Local Goods in a Dynamic Way

100km Foods Inc. has a common story. Back in 2007, Paul Sawtell and Grace Mandarano, who are now the founders and owners of the social business, quit their jobs to travel around Asia for a bit... [More]

Social Business

Resident-Run Shops - Barford Village is a Collective Offering Community Services

Resident-Run Shops Barford Village is a Collective Offering Community Services

Barford Village doesn’t simply specialize in one thing but rather, it offers a variety of community services. The shop itself—a social enterprise—is run and owned by the those who... [More]

Social Business

Boreal Forest Coffee Roasters - Bean North is a Social Enterprise Near Whitehorse, Yukon Territory

Boreal Forest Coffee Roasters Bean North is a Social Enterprise Near Whitehorse, Yukon Territory

Located in the Northern boreal forest in Takhini Valley, which is in Canada’s Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, Bean North is a coffee roaster that has been around since 1997. The social enterprise... [More]

Social Business

Technology-Free Business Retreats - Reboot is a Weekend Social Incubator with No Gadgets Allowed

Technology-Free Business Retreats Reboot is a Weekend Social Incubator with No Gadgets Allowed

Perhaps obvious due to its name, Reboot is a technology-free retreat program that lasts a weekend (or it can also be done in half days or full days). Essentially, the idea is to mix education with... [More]

Social Business

Free Stuff Finders - Ditto is an Online Platform Fostering Collaborative Consumption in the UK

Free Stuff Finders Ditto is an Online Platform Fostering Collaborative Consumption in the UK

Ditto is an online web platform that allows you to browse through people’s goods that they’re giving away. It’s more specific, simple and convenient than Craigslist because you won&#... [More]

Social Business

14 Fish-Focused Social Innovations - From Fresh Seafood Subscriptions to Localized Renewable Energy

14 Fish-Focused Social Innovations From Fresh Seafood Subscriptions to Localized Renewable Energy

From fresh seafood subscriptions to localized renewable energy and fish leather watch straps, these fish-focused social innovations have clean and sustainable oceans in mind. There is also... [More]

Social Business

31 Social Enterprises Valuing Transparency - From Project-Building Teams to Ethical Sashimi

31 Social Enterprises Valuing Transparency From Project-Building Teams to Ethical Sashimi

From project-building charity teams to ethical sashimi restaurants, these social enterprise valuing transparency take the ubiquitous buzz word somewhere else. Where transparency seems like an... [More]

Social Business

Global Sustainability Restaurant Ratings - The Sustainable Restaurant Association Expands Worldwide

Global Sustainability Restaurant Ratings The Sustainable Restaurant Association Expands Worldwide

Earlier this month, the Sustainable Restaurant Association (SRA), which has as its president chef Raymond Blanc, expanded its verification rating system to the world. It was previously only for... [More]

Social Business

8 Conscious Culinary Companies - From Ugly Food Catering to Virtuously Veritable Dining

8 Conscious Culinary Companies From Ugly Food Catering to Virtuously Veritable Dining

From ugly food catering from a social enterprise called Culinary Misfits that uses food that supermarkets and food stores won’t sell because of small aesthetic bumps in the road to fanatical... [More]

Social Business

Non-Synthetic Candies -

Non-Synthetic Candies 'Pure Fun' Offers Fair Trade, Organic and Vegan Treats

Based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, ‘Pure Fun’ is a social business that was featured on the Clearly So company directory. While fair trade, organic, vegan candy might seem antithetical... [More]

Social Business

Vegetable Export Enterprises - AAA Growers Takes Both Social Responsibility and Produce Seriously

Vegetable Export Enterprises AAA Growers Takes Both Social Responsibility and Produce Seriously

Based in Nairobi, Kenya, AAA Growers is a company that exports vegetables and is currently the largest commercial export of chillies in the country. In 2011, they expanded to offer roses on their... [More]

Social Business

12 Organic Food Social Enterprises - From Local Delivery Software to Rights-Based Produce

12 Organic Food Social Enterprises From Local Delivery Software to Rights-Based Produce

From local delivery software emphasizing simplicity and rights-based food and vegetable companies that focus on affordability and accessibility to social entrepreneurship retreats serving healthy... [More]

Social Business

67 Rural Social Biz Innovations - From Comprehensive Vision Care Access to Smallholder Partners

67 Rural Social Biz Innovations From Comprehensive Vision Care Access to Smallholder Partners

Rural social biz innovations are highlighted her in an effort to draw attention to business models and social and environmental oriented enterprises that are working in and around rural areas around... [More]

Social Business

Absurd Organic Food Videos - The Abel & Cole YouTube Channel Promotes Its Deliveries

Absurd Organic Food Videos The Abel & Cole YouTube Channel Promotes Its Deliveries

Abel & Cole is an organic food delivery service but what’s more, they’ve been around for over 20 years, which is longer than you think if you take note of the influx of weekly or... [More]

Social Business

Annual Summer Co-op Festivals - The Co-operatives Fortnight is a UK-Based Campaign

Annual Summer Co-op Festivals The Co-operatives Fortnight is a UK-Based Campaign

Co-operatives Fortnight was launched in 2010 and attempts to draw attention to the United Kingdom’s growing co-op industry while at the same time supporting those already in the sphere. This... [More]

Social Business

Rural Distribution Networks - Drishtee is an Indian Social Enterprise Improving Access

Rural Distribution Networks Drishtee is an Indian Social Enterprise Improving Access

Drishtee is a social enterprise based in India that attempts to improve access to people living in rural communities through a series of distribution networks. Like many organizations working in the... [More]

Social Business