Results for CSI::impactfunding

What does it mean to want to help, to organize humanitarian aid, in times of crisis? At first glance, the impulse to help issue generis a good one. Helping is surely preferable to indifference and inaction. This does not mean that humanitarian interventions entail no ethical or political stakes or that they are beyond engaged critique. We need to critique precisely that which we value, and to ask some hard questions, among them these: What are the differences among humanitarianism, charity, and philanthropy? What of social obligations and solidarities? How does the neoliberal world order currently create structural inequalities that ensure the reproduction of poverty and violence? How does the current order of things resemble or differ from the colonial world order? This course examines the history of humanitarian sensibilities and the emergence of organized action in the 'cause of humanity'. In the early years of humanitarian intervention, political neutrality was a key principle; it has now come under ever greater analytical and political scrutiny. We will examine the reasons for the politicization and militarization of aid -- be it humanitarian aid in natural disasters or political crises; development programs in the impoverished south ('the Third World'), or peace-keeping. We will end with a critical exploration of the concept of human rights, humanity, and personhood. The overall methodological aim of the course is to demonstrate what insights an ethnographic approach to the politics, ethics, and aesthetics of humanitarianism can offer.

How to develop and grow innovative nonprofit organizations and for-profit enterprises which have the primary goal of solving social and environmental problems. Topics include organizational mission, strategy, market/user analysis, communications, funding, recruitment and impact evaluation. Perspectives from the field of social entrepreneurship, design thinking and social change organizing. Opportunities and limits of using methods from the for-profit sector to meet social goals. Focus is on integrating theory with practical applications, including several case exercises and simulations. One-day practicum where students advise an actual social impact organization. Enrollment limited to 20.

An introduction to the study of the financial lives of households in less developed countries, focusing on savings, credit, informal insurance, the expansion of microfinance, social learning, public finance/redistribution, and social networks. Prerequisites- Econ 51 or Publpol 51 and Econ 102B.

(Same as GSBGEN 581) A philanthropist is anyone who gives anything-time, expertise, networks, credibility, influence, dollars, experience-in any amount to create a better world. Regardless of one's age, background or profession, everyone has the potential to lead in a way that both tackles the complex social problems our interconnected world faces and creates greater inclusivity, access and impact. This demanding two-week, compressed course will provide passionate students with a brave space to develop and refine a plan for their own social change journey and amplify their potential to give, live and lead in a way that matters more. Using design thinking, students will challenge their preconceptions and wrestle with their social change approach, their privileged position as future Stanford graduates and philanthropy's role in society. Lectures and class discussions will inspire and prepare students to create social value with greater intentionality and humility. For the first class, students will submit a proposed social impact plan for their professional, philanthropic and civic lives. Over the course's six sessions, students will refine their plan, creating a formal theory of change that strategically utilizes their unique leadership platform and asset portfolio to advance opportunity and justice for a target population. Potential guest speakers include Darren Walker, President of the Ford Foundation; Justin Steele, Principal at Google.org; Crystal Hayling, Executive Director of the Libra Foundation; Rob Reich of Stanford PACS and Laura Muñoz Arnold, Co-Chair of the Laura and John Arnold Foundation.

(Formerly GEOLSCI 307) In this class students will learn how to write rigorous, high yield, multidisciplinary proposals targeting major funding agencies. The skills gained in this class are essential to any professional career, particularly in research science. Students will write a National Science Foundation style proposal (see guidelines) involving testable hypotheses, pilot data or calculations, and broader impacts. The proposal will, hopefully, form the core of your Ph.D. proposal. In addition to a full NSF style proposal, students will develop and exercise science communication skills and contribute to broader discussions about academia and research. Students will present their final proposals in a conference-style format at the end of the quarter. While this syllabus is a useful roadmap, we encourage students to provide input on where they¿d like to see the course go. Expect the instructors to reach out for suggestions every other week. Change of Department Name: Earth and Planetary Science (Formerly Geologic Sciences).

Investing for Good will introduce students to the entire spectrum of purposeful, values-driven, and impact investing. We examine the field from the perspective of an institutional investor (i.e. fund manager, investment advisor, endowment manager, head of a family office, etc). Our goal is to have students emerge with a practical and analytical framework for: 1. evaluating impact and mission-aligned investments across multiple asset classes and sectors; 2. constructing a portfolio using impact as a lens; 3. designing an impact investment company; and 4. understanding the many practical and theoretical challenges confronting this exciting emerging field.We start by exploring some fundamental questions: what is a purposeful or impact investment; can impact investments be defined along a spectrum between conventional investing and philanthropy; whose money is it; what are the constraints and opportunities; how do we (re)define return and/or performance. We briefly analyze impact investing in the context of modern portfolio theory. We then develop a framework for portfolio construction and evaluation across four criteria: risk, return, liquidity, and impact. Through a combination of class dialogues, role plays, and case discussions, we will explore a wide variety of asset classes, impact themes, and investment challenges. A series of team-based investment committee simulations will comprise a significant portion of the course and will provide a significant experiential learning experience.Previous experience in finance, investing, social enterprise, entrepreneurship, or philanthropy is not required, but both helpful and welcomed. While first year students are encouraged to enroll, students who have limited familiarity with the basics of investing and corporate finance are strongly encouraged to purchase David Swensen's "Pioneering Portfolio Management" and cover the recommended chapters in advance of the course. It's is also important to note that this class will require financial modeling and detailed investment analysis.Many of the issues we'll be tackling have no unambiguous answers. Lively discussion and debate will be necessary and expected.

The course will be structured around the perspective of a foundation or a high net worth individual who has decided to devote substantial resources to philanthropy and wishes to decide which philanthropic goals to pursue and how best to achieve them. Although there are no formal prerequisites for the course, we will assume that students have experience working at a foundation, nonprofit organization, impact investing fund, or similar organization, or have taken an introductory course in strategic philanthropy such as GSBGEN 381. (With the exception of several classes on strategy and evaluation, there is no substantial overlap with Paul Brest's course, Problem Solving for Social Change (GSBGEN 367) , which has a different focus from this one.)

Stanford graduates will play important roles in solving many of today's and tomorrow's major societal problems-in areas such as education, health, energy, and domestic and global poverty-that call for actions by nonprofit, business, and hybrid organizations as well as governments. This course teaches skills and bodies of knowledge relevant to these roles, covering topics such as designing, implementing, scaling, and evaluating social strategies; systems thinking; decision making under risk; psychological biases that adversely affect people's decisions; methods for influencing behavior; and pay-for-success programs. The large majority of the course will be devoted to students' working in teams to apply these concepts and tools to an actual problem, with teams choosing whatever problem interests them.

Social ventures require leadership, funding, expertise, skills and networks to get off the ground, grow and scale. This course will focus on the key strategies for building and leveraging a network of champions to capitalize a social venture at early-stage, and for sustaining and growing that network as the venture grows. This class is applicable to intrapreneurs, changemakers within major institutions, (private or public), board members, impact investors, those who aspire to be senior leaders within social ventures and social entrepreneurs (founders). Co-led by a practicing venture philanthropist and a social entrepreneur, this interactive, pragmatic course will: - Discuss the critical financial and human capital needs of organizations and companies at different life stages. - Explore the concept of champions and the different types of champions including board chairs, co-founders, mentors, faculty advisors, donors, investors, community evangelists, and fellow entrepreneurs. - Learn about effective networks and how to build them, including the role of communications, relationship-building, and crisis management. - Explore the concept of a powerful vulnerability and the art of "influence without authority" in attracting financial and human capital to the mission and making social ventures happen. Special emphasis will be given to developing co-founders and founding teams, boards and funders/investors as champions. - Develop a roadmap for the ways you will support social ventures throughout your career. - Meet social entrepreneurs and their champions who promote them within various power structures (major corporations, government, the institutional funding community) to learn about the successes and failures of their partnerships. Guest speakers will be posted prior to start of class. - Invite you to join instructors, guest speakers and fellow students for casual dinner on both Wednesdays after class.- Get to know your fellow classmates who share a passion for addressing the world's intractable problems and for creating systemic change.

This course teaches students how to pursue social change through philanthropy with a focus on sustainable development. Students learn about the approaches, history, and key debates in philanthropy, and apply their knowledge by collaboratively making a substantial class contribution to one or more select nonprofit organizations. This class responds to the reality confronting all philanthropists: There are many ways in which we can change the world for the better, but our money and time is finite. How then can we best use our limited resources to accomplish change? And how will we know we've been successful? By the end of the course, students will understand the fundamentals of effective philanthropy, including how to define problems, develop a theory of change, evaluate outcomes, and reduce unintended harm. Students of all levels of familiarity with philanthropy are welcome to join and no discipline is privileged in the class.

In recent years, we've seen an explosion of innovative business models blazing new trails in emerging markets. Many of these models are achieving commercial success while transforming the lives of low-income populations. Using nine cases of both early-stage, entrepreneur-led ventures and later-stage, public or large-cap firms, this course will examine best practices for scaling new enterprises in emerging markets. It will do so primarily through the lens of a potential investor. It will also explore what is required to spark, nurture and scale entire sectors that serve rapidly growing, often low-income markets. What does it mean to work in markets with limited infrastructure? What common mistakes are made - whether in business model design, in supply chains, or in dealing with government - and how can we avoid them? Which are the best business models to serve markets that corporations have traditionally ignored, and in which government has failed to deliver? Who might be threatened by the success of these new businesses? The seminar is a good match for Stanford students interested in working or investing in emerging markets. It will be taught by Matt Bannick, who led Omidyar Network (a $1 billion impact investing fund) and is the former President of eBay International and of PayPal.