Concordia crafts a family space for such youth daily where they receive the support they need and deserve.
NESsT focuses on improving economic autonomy because it improves community autonomy. As much as "Workforce Diversity and Inclusion" is used to solve this problem, it will not. We must pursue Workforce Equity and Justice.
Meet Victor. Victor is a coppersmith in the Romanian village of Brateiu. There used to be 200 Roma coppersmiths in his village. Now there are only six left. He says he’s proud he can continue to practice the craft of his ancestors and make a living doing so.
NESsT's portfolio director for the Andean Region offers three top tips for social entrepreneurs: (1) Look Deep, (2) Seek Feedback and (3) Test, Test, Test.
In Peru, due to a lack of information and limited access to technology, many indigenous farmers situated deep in the highland regions are exploited by intermediaries who take ownership of and export their products at rates that severely undercut the farmer. Greenbox is a social enterprise that transforms regions in the Amazon Andes of Peru from harvesting coca plants for use in drug trafficking, to harvesting organic fruit for use in value-add products.
The pandemic crisis has brought to light the need for our industry to make frontline investing the new normal. At the SOCAP conference this year, we heard the stories of three resilient entrepreneurs working at the frontlines to keep their businesses strong and their communities safe; and three impact funds that moved quickly to support them in these efforts.
Panelists at the ANDE Conference shared key needs of the SGB sector in the Post Covid-19 reality, which includes resilience funding that is flexible and designed to meet immediate needs and adaptation to e-commerce and digitalization. To address these needs, we need to move beyond transactional partnerships to transformational partnerships that bring unlikely collaborators on board.
As impact first investors, we have a responsibility to be more intentional in our investments and recognize how gender inclusion creates the comprehensive approach that is needed given the urgency of these issues. NESsT strives to achieve gender equality within its internal operations and encourages its portfolio companies to strive for gender parity within their operations.
Gender Lens Investing is an effective strategy to alleviate poverty and reduce gender inequality. Existing gendered inequalities such as lower labor force participation and lower wages, greater unpaid care responsibilities, limited access to resources and education contribute to a gendered poverty penalty that accounts for about 5 million more women living in extreme poverty across the world.
As an impact lender, we view our business assistance as having as much of an impact on these businesses as our capital. By this summer, NESsT’s Business Assistance Facility will have provided advisory services to 20 businesses in South America. Our services focus on two main areas: financial management and social impact measurement.
