Innovators In Action Masterclass — Social Entrepreneurs in Rural Development
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Session Description
Innovators In Action Masterclasses
Join Skoll social entrepreneurs for a series of lively masterclass discussions on real world innovations from the field. These practitioners generously share their approaches, insights, impact and examples of success. Pick your issue area and take advantage of this opportunity to learn and be inspired!
Time & Location
Time:
12:40 - 13:40, Wednesday, March 28, 2007
BST
Speakers
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Speaker
As a pioneer in using business models to solve poverty, Martin is the co-founder & CEO of KickStart, a non-profit SE with a mission to enable millions of smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) to pivot from rainfed to irrigated farming, earn a lot more money, adapt-to-climate-change & climb out of poverty. KickStart designs & promotes lowest-cost irrigation technologies & to-date over 390,000 farmers have used its pumps to grow, harvest & sell high-value crops year-round, independent of rains. Their highly profitable & resilient farms have lifted 1.5M people out of poverty. With almost no irrigation in SSA, millions more can irrigate & gain income & food security. KickStart partners with hundreds of organizations to promote irrigation, develop new technologies, innovate new ways to reach & finance farmers, & advocate for system changes. With a Cornell BSc, a Stanford MSc & PhD, a Fulbright in Kenya, and many awards, Martin is a Skoll & Schwab SE & a Stanford Engineering Hero.
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Speaker
Writer & Broadcaster,
Isabel Hilton is a London based writer and broadcaster. She has reported from China, South Asia, Latin America, Africa, the Middle East and Europe and has written and presented several documentaries for BBC radio and television. She has authored and co-authored several books and holds honorary doctorates from Bradford and Stirling Universities.
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Speaker
Willy Foote is founder and CEO of Root Capital, a nonprofit that offers farmers around the world a path to prosperity by investing in the agricultural businesses that serve as engines of impact in their communities. Since its founding in 1999, Root Capital has provided more than $1.7 billion in loans to 770 agricultural businesses in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Together, these businesses have bought and marketed crops for 2.4 million smallholder farmers, reaching over 10 million people in rural communities. Willy is a Skoll Entrepreneur and an Ashoka Global Fellow. He served for nearly a decade on the Executive Committee of the Aspen Network for Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE) and serves on the Strategic Advisory Council of the Erb Institute for Global Sustainable Enterprise at the University of Michigan. Willy holds an MS in development economics from the London School of Economics and a BA from Yale University.
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Speaker
Since launching the Fair Trade Certified™ label in 1998, Paul has helped establish Fair Trade as one of the fastest growing segments of the food and apparel industries. To date, Fair Trade USA has partnered with over 1,500 leading companies, including Green Mountain, Nespresso, Whole Foods, Costco, Kroger, and Target. Fair Trade USA now certifies coffee, tea, cocoa, sugar, coconut, fresh produce, and seafood. Through groundbreaking partnerships with Patagonia, Athleta, West Elm and J. Crew, Fair Trade has begun certifying apparel and home goods. In 2022, consumer recognition of the Fair Trade Certified label hit 65%. To date, Fair Trade USA and its partners have generated over $1 billion in additional income for farmers and workers in 51 countries, allowing them to care for the environment and steadily improve their livelihoods. Paul has been named Ethical Corporation’s 2019 Business Leader of the Year and is a four-time winner of Fast Company magazine’s Social Capitalist of the Year.
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Speaker
In 1966, as a young post-graduate student from a privileged urban background, Bunker Roy volunteered to spend the summer working with famine affected people in Bihar, one of India’s poorest states. This experience changed him. He committed himself to fight poverty and inequality. He founded the Barefoot College in Tilonia (also known as Social Work and Research Centre) in 1972 to bridge the inequality gap and demystify technology with the people and put it to good use in the hands of poor communities. This radically simple approach to ending poverty, by tapping the wisdom, skills, and resourcefulness of the poor themselves, is less expensive and more successful than approaches that rely on external experts. Barefoot College recruits illiterate villagers and trains them to build and maintain life-changing technologies and systems such as solar electricity, water and sanitation, schools and clinics, artisan businesses, and community engagement.
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Speaker
We promote market based approach to poverty reduction. Till date 1.7 million smallholder farmers households moved out of poverty by adopting our small scale irrigation technology
