Skoll World Forum: internet, mobile technology and cross-cultural communication

This session at the Skoll World Foum was a natural choice to me. I met Katrin Verclas at the first ever NetSquared two years ago when I went to research how to set up Mentoring Worldwide. Now, like then, I took leave from my job and paid my own way to the conference [...]

what microloans miss, the business in the middle

From the New Yorker
“The cult of the entrepreneur that the microfinance boom has helped foster is understandably appealing. But thinking that everyone is, and should be, an entrepreneur leads us to underrate the virtues of larger businesses and of the income that a steady job can provide.”
via Ethan – thank you!

Nata Village Blog

Pledger Curt Hopkins alerted me recently to the Nata Village Blog, and put Jon Rawlinson in touch with us at MW.
Jon and I finally met this week and he told me how his travels in Africa, videoblogging along the way have changed his life.
Stopping off in a remote village in Botswana he chanced [...]

serendipity – Kiva and Life in Africa

Friday June 2nd (apologies, blog is so out of synch). I am preparing to meet Fiona Ramsay of Kiva in San Francisco. Researching the organisation I find , on their front page no less, a description of Life In Africa…the project run by Christina Jordan …one of our pledgers! Something is definately [...]

green tea in palo alto

Leaving Cisco and Netsquared behind, back on the Light Rail and Cal Train to Palo Alto where I met with pledgers and supporters John Girard of Clickability and Jan Leeman.
They listened hard and got their impressive brains working on who I should meet in my remaining two days. They suggested three companies and got [...]