Reading Responses 3

THE POWER OF UNREASONABLE PEOPLE
This article was all about the different kinds of social change organizations and how they tend to operate.

The first level are the non-profits, which leverage available resources so they can measure up to the nature and scale of their challenges. They usually get philanthropic-based funding, which makes it difficult to expand, and they work to deliver public goods to the economically under-served. An example of this is Barefoot College, a program that infuses local traditional knowledge with the skills to provide with rural villages in India.

The second consists of hybrid non-profit ventures, which have businesslike aspects that are familiar and appear reliable to most standard companies. They also serve to deliver goods & services to the under-served, but with the possibility of profit, which would help them cover the costs of working. Examples include Aravind eye care in India, which charges medical patients on a sliding scale--those who can afford it pay more, while the less financially advantaged receive heavily subsidized but still excellent eyecare.

The third level are social business ventures, which are structured for profit yet are also in business to drive change. Profits are generated but often not as the end goal, and many times these profits go to benefit lower income groups. Micro financing is very popular in this field, but Whole Foods is one of the most famous examples as it considers business as a way for people to recognize valid and legitimate concerns.

BREWING A FUTURE

A brewery in Namibia is making changes to produce absolutely no waste in their production process. Taking the phrase "one man's trash is another man's treasure," the scientists are taking the production of raw materials and finding ways to use the by-products to benefit the country. This is a new way of looking at zero waste, as it turns existing protocol into opportunities for development.