Introducing The FORBES 30 Under 30: Social Entrepreneurs, Class Of 2014

As you might imagine, the competition to join our second annual list of 30 Under 30 Social Entrepreneurs was incredibly tough. To arrive at the final list, my colleague Prerna Sinha and I collected and reviewed more than 100 applications. Next the candidates went before our distinguished judges: Jeff Skoll, the philanthropist and social entrepreneur; …

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The Promise of Social Investment in Africa

WHY PHILANTHROPISTS NEED TO CONTINUE TO INVEST IN AND ALONGSIDE AFRICAN ORGANIZATIONS AND LEADERS In the process of drawing parallels between current Africa-focused philanthropy and the colonial era, author Paul Theroux’s recent article, “Africa’s Aid Mess,” ignores much of the success of high-potential organizations and initiatives driven by Africans and philanthropists in Africa and across …

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Africa’s Urban Challenge

Nairobi – My mother, like her mother, her grandmother, and so on, was born into poverty in the rural village of Rarieda, Kenya. I, too, was born in the village, and lived there until it was struck by a brutal famine when I was two years old. With no food, money, or opportunities, my mother …

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Voice from a Kenyan slum: Mandela saved my life

Editor’s note: Kennedy Odede is the president and CEO of Shining Hope for Communities, a nonprofit organization that fights gender inequality and extreme poverty in the Kibera slum of Nairobi, Kenya. He is a 2013 New Voices Fellow at the Aspen Institute. (CNN) — I had many conversations with Nelson Mandela, although I had not …

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