Innovative Entrepreneurs for the Greater Good: List of Companies
by Breese | December 1, 2011 at 5:00 PM
Innovative technology and entrepreneurship combined with charity is becoming more and more popular. There are several companies now with "buy one, give one" business models so that when you purchase something, you also give back to someone in need.
TOMS Shoes:
In 2006, American traveler Blake Mycoskie befriended children in Argentina and found they had no shoes to protect their feet. Wanting to help, he created TOMS Shoes, a company that would match every pair of shoes purchased with a pair of new shoes given to a child in need. One for One. Blake returned to Argentina with a group of family, friends and staff later that year with 10,000 pairs of shoes made possible by TOMS customers.
Learn more: http://www.toms.com/our-movement/
BoGo Lights:
BoGo Lights are solar powered flashlights. When you buy one, another one will be donated to one of BoGo Light's affiliated organizations in need. To learn more about how to buy and give light, or how to become one of BoGo Light's beneficiaries, click here: http://www.bogolight.com/
Warby Parker Glasses:
Approximately one billion people don’t have access to affordable glasses. Glasses can increase one’s income by 20%, enable students to see a blackboard and offer dignity to those with poor eyesight. Warby Parker works with experienced non-profit partners to ensure that each sale of our frames will give someone in need access to affordable glasses.
Learn more: www.warbyparker.com/do-good/#home
NextDriop
"Turns out, water makes an appearance only once a week or even just once in two weeks in Hubli [India]. "Here people don't have large storage devices so they can't hold water for much longer. So when it comes, it's important that they're at home to collect the week's supply," Sridharan [NextDrop's founder] clarifies.
That's where NextDrop comes in. The utility board sends out a text notifying residents that the water was being turned on. A live dashboard keeps track of the water flow (with a little help from Google). And individuals send a message back or call to confirm that indeed the water is trickling in. That feedback helps identify any leaky pipes and breakages along the way. In tech terms, that's referred to as crowdsourcing to collect data."
Read more: http://www.inc.com/esha-chhabra/testing-a-start-up-in-india-nextdrop.html
Computer Aid International
Computer Aid International is a UK registered charity that aims to reduce poverty through practical ICT solutions. It provides only the highest quality, professionally refurbished computers and laptops for reuse in education, health, agriculture and not-for-profit organisations in developing countries.
Read more: http://www.computeraid.org/default.asp
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