Author: Patrick Starr
Venturing into Impact Investing
After serving for 2 years in the Peace Corps in Peru, I came back to the US and started a career in traditional investment management. I enjoyed the rigor of the work and the pace at which I was improving my financial skill set, but my impact roots from the Peace Corps called on me […]
Lorraine Orr: Using Data to Drive Mergers and Mission
For many people, finding passion in their work means switching companies until finding the perfect fit. But this was not the case for Lorraine Orr, COO of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America. Now into her 31st year at the organization, Lorraine has spent her career working to level the playing field for disadvantaged […]
Feeling Uncomfortable: First Reflections on our DEI Journey
At CASE, we believe in the power of individuals and organizations to create positive social change. And there has been much progress (I often revisit the 2017 Gates Foundation annual letter when I need some reminding about all the progress being made). But we also know that many of the social and environmental challenges that […]
Emily Bancroft: Government Partnerships, Impact vs. Costs
For the past 20 years, VillageReach has kept its vision of improving access to quality healthcare in some of the world’s hardest to reach communities, continually evolving and adapting its relationships to achieve this vision. Now led by Emily Bancroft, VillageReach has prioritized the organization’s collaboration with and support of local governments as a key […]
How can we help more entrepreneurs raise the right impact investment capital?
Announcing special discounts for all users of CASE Smart Impact Capital through 8-15-2019 Since our public launch in 2017, we’ve had a lot of traction with CASE Smart Impact Capital. Our online toolkit has helped thousands of entrepreneurs around the world learn how to raise the right kind of impact investing capital at the right […]
The Role Angel Networks Can Play in Economic Development
If you have been following CASE’s work over the last 5+ years, you know that we have been fortunate to undertake a number of projects for USAID, the US government’s international development agency and a catalytic actor driving development results. As part of USAID’s Higher Education Solutions Network (HESN), our Social Entrepreneurship Accelerator at Duke […]
How Can You Tell If You are Ready to Scale?
Even the most successful social enterprises face challenges as they expand into new geographies, expand their product offerings, partner with others, or grow the size of their operations. Social enterprise growth often requires evaluation and evolution among multiple dimensions, including customer-facing criteria such as market size and product-market fit; operational and business model considerations such […]
Ann Mei Chang: Innovating and Experimenting for Outsized Impact
From Google to startups to the US Agency for International Development, Ann Mei Chang has seen how thinking big and taking calculated risks can lead to large scale change in any sector. As a tri-sector leader, Ann Mei was able to leverage her tech industry experience and think about how “Silicon Valley” tools could be […]
Social Impact Minded MBAs Engage with Clients
CASE’s social impact program supplements the Fuqua core curriculum to help impact-motivated students build on their own experiences and identities to develop competencies, connections, and community in the impact space. One of the primary ways we do this is through the Fuqua Client Consulting Practicum (FCCP) and CASE i3 Consulting Practicum (CASE i3CP). In these programs our MBA […]
Elisa Villanueva Beard: On Centralization vs. Decentralization
We continue our conversation with Elisa Villanueva Beard, CEO of Teach For America (TFA). We ask how, as an organization expands geographically, it can be challenging to find the balance between centralization for brand control and decentralization for local adaption. We know that local context is critical, but we also worry about controlling quality, brand […]