Miscellaneous
A New Path for Social Enterprises Through the “Valley of Death”
Providing a tailored mix of different types of capital and reestablishing a more human-centered sense of accountability is helping social enterprises traverse the proverbial funding gap. People have been talking for years about the “valley of death” between seed money and growth Read More...
Kickstarting college: Students use crowdfunding to help pay for school
Crowdfunding campaigns for tuition, textbooks, and other college-related costs are growing in popularity. But is it a sustainable solution when a student’s financial aid package is not enough? When Abigail Covington, a recent high school graduate from Washington, D.C., got accepted into Read More...
Crowdfunding schools, one project at a time
In 2000, Charles Best was a history teacher in a New York City public high school, spending his own money buying supplies for his students that the school couldn't provide. Then he had an idea. "My students and I just wanted a way for teachers, like myself and my colleagues, to be able to tell the Read More...
How White Students Reap Benefits from Teachers of Color
Nonwhite educators can offer new and valuable perspectives for children of all backgrounds. Noah Caruso, 17, calls South Philadelphia home. Known for cheesesteaks, pizza, and bakeries, South Philly is a close-knit, largely Italian American neighborhood where much of the population has traditionally Read More...
Japanese court rules that bitcoin can't be 'owned'
Tokyo's district court has ruled that it's not possible for people to own bitcoin, and therefore they can't sue for compensation in the wake of Mt. Gox's collapse. The ruling comes a few days after the head of what used to be the world's largest bitcoin exchange was arrested on charges of fraud Read More...
Australia takes first step toward Bitcoin as currency
In a positive sign for financial technology startups, a government inquiry has set the stage for the digital currency Bitcoin to be treated like a regular currency in Australia. A Senate Economics References Committee review into digital currencies in Australia has found they should be treated Read More...
Lawsuits in the public interest now have their own crowdfunding site
Legal aid in the U.K is in a crisis. Government funds that used to be available to people who couldn’t afford to go to court were eviscerated, according to lawyer Julia Salasky. She founded Crowdjustice, a crowdfunding platform where anyone can donate to fund civil cases involving a community Read More...
Giant pulp and paper maker renounces deforestation in Indonesia
Three years ago the rainforests of Indonesia, and the species that rely on them, seemed doomed. This week they received a great piece of news — the latest in a series of recent developments that has the trend now leaning heavily toward their conservation and restoration: Asia Pacific Resources Read More...
Drones to spy on illegal loggers in Peru’s Amazon
Global deforestation has been slowing down in recent years. But the encouraging news doesn’t tell the full story. Illegal logging is on the rise, hard to control and impossible to measure. Until now, that is. Drones are about to become the eyes in the sky of forest guardians in the Peru’s Read More...
Ditch the plastic, drink through a rye straw
500 million plastic straws are used every single day in the world, enough to fill 127 school buses headed for the landfill. They are ubiquitous. Unlike plastic cutlery, no compostable or otherwise sustainable alternative is available to consumers. This may change if the Kickstarter campaign Read More...