What Works

The Skoll World Forum features  a special series on evaluation.

+	Annie Duflo from Innovations for Poverty Action on the power of randomized evaluation.
+	Using the Moneyball approach to measuring impact is dangerous because it can lead donors to seek out only the most easily provable results, write Caroline Fiennes of Giving Evidence and the Skoll Foundation's Ehren Reed.
+	How Grand Challenges Canada uses their theory of change to drive bigger impact in global health.
+	Tanya Beer and Julia Coffman from the Center for Evaluation Innovation rethink accountability for adaptive initiatives.

Theory Of Change?

The Smile of Empowerment?

Is this empowerment?

How do we know when a person becomes empowered?

How is it measured? How do you know it has been achieved? There is no definitive answer.

According to Nina Strandberg,  The Project Manager for the Foundation of Women’s Forum,"Empowerment is like obscenity, you don't know how to define it, but you know when you see it." 

Some contend the best way to measure empowerment is to ask those directly affected by the project. Can you walk into a rural village and ask 'do you feel empowered?’
Click here to learn more about approaches to measuring empowerment.

Millions Learning

Nominate your favorite education project by August 15 2014.
Millions Learning seeks to identify where and how learning has improved at a national or sub-national level and to understand the main factors and forces that contributed to this progress. Click here to learn more.

Live Webcast Today

The African Growth Initiative will host "The Game Has Changed: The New Landscape for Innovation and Business in Africa" today, beginning at 9:15 EDT. Click here to join the live webcast.

Girl Rising Video

Inaugural Girl Summit

UNICEF is hosting the first ever Girl Summit , ongoing in London today.

Pledge your support to end forced marriage and FGM today

Better Education?

All of us know we need "Better Education", but defining what that looks like is the challenge. Here's a link to spark some thought.

Compassion Week

Compassion fuels our work - "sympathetic consciousness of others' distress together with a desire to alleviate it".  Without it, our efforts are meaningless.

The Charter for Compassion is holding a "Compassion Week" conference in San Fransisco, November 10-16. Click here to learn more or register.

Seven Pieces of Advice from Rumi In generosity and helping others be like the river. In compassion and grace be like the sun. In concealing others' faults be like the night. In anger and fury be like the dead. In modesty and humility be like the soil. In tolerance be like the ocean. Either you appear as you are or be as you appear.

My World 2015

Faisal Azim's award-winning depiction of poverty in Bangladesh reminds us - this IS our world!

As the UN works to rethink the post 2015 Millennium Development Goals, please click here to vote for the world you want to see. 

What's Next For Girls' Education

Since 1990 the percentage of girls enrolled in primary school has increased dramatically. On June 17th The Brookings Center for Universal Education hosted
Celebrating Progress and Asking What's Next for Girls' Education.

The live webcast featured:
- Julia Gillard, Nonresident Senior Fellow, Brookings Center for Universal Education
- Catherine M. Russell, Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women's Issues, U.S. Department of State
- Rebecca Winthrop, Director, Brookings Center for Universal Education


Click here for a recap of the event.

Education Reform & Teacher Tenure

I hear my teacher can now be sacked.

On Tuesday a monumental ruling in CA that teacher tenure deprives students of their constitutional right to a quality education, has now made education reform an urgent issue.

Click here to learn more.

Teachers in CA received tenure after less than two years on the job. But due to a stunning victory in a lawsuit brought by Students Matter, this may now change.

In the case, brought against five state laws governing the hiring and firing of teachers, education reformers used a new tactic: framing their case as a defense of children’s civil rights, not an attack on teachers.

Click here to learn more.

Understanding Poverty

Is this child destined to a life of poverty?

Research suggests that pivotal and permanent brain development occurs from birth to three-years, when signals from the environment add  “epigenetic marks” onto DNA during sensitive periods of early brain development. To learn more about the “Biological embedding of early childhood adversity: Toxic stress and the vicious cycle of poverty in South Africa”  Click here. .

Regardless of the causes, understanding the perceptions of those living in poverty and chronic hunger is essential to developing effective solutions. A new IDS/Oxfam report, " Help Yourself" examines how the poor understand their right to food.  Click here to learn more.

ASAP Newsletter

Click Here to read ASAP's most recent newsletter.

Africa Progress vs. Boko Haram

Yesterday the 2014 Africa Progress Report, released by The Africa Progress Panel, shed light on the promise of this wealthy continent. By outlining the cooperation required to overcome  her major challenges, the report makes the goals of sustained growth and improved life for all Africans, attainable.

But for many of us, the insights and hope of the report are negated by the recent dastardly deeds of Boko Haram in Nigeria.  Thanks to The Brookings Institute for helping shed light on this group and it's activities in this recent feature. As MLK warned : "Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity."

Free Global Entrepreneurship Program

Do you want to learn more about entrepreneurship and starting a business? GCASE has the world’s first online global entrepreneurship program. Click here to learn more.

Startup Visas for Immigrants

A recent Kauffman Foundation report estimates that a startup visa for immigrant entrepreneurs could create between 500,000 and 1.5 million jobs or more. Click here to learn more, or here to read the report.

Read ASAP's 2013 Annual Report

Click Here and thanks for your interest.

Click to help Aid for Africa win $10,000

Click For A Cause is giving away $30,000 in prize money. All you have to do is click here, and select the Aid for Africa "Like" button. Contest ends Friday, April 25th. ASAP has been an Aid for Africa member since 2003 - a group of grassroots charities working to improve life for women and children in Africa. All members have very low overhead costs and direct their donations where they benefit families in Africa.

11th Annual Skoll World Forum

Beginning today, April 9 – 11, nearly 1,000 of the world’s most influential social entrepreneurs, key thought leaders and strategic partners gather at the University of Oxford’s Saïd Business School to exchange ideas, solutions and information at the 11th annual Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship. Click here to learn more. Click here to join the live stream.

Achieving Gender Equity

Gender equity is a goal whose time has come. Thrust into the global consciousness by "Half The Sky", today many, like Gary Barker of ICRW, believe gender equity will only be achieved when men and boys do 50% of the world’s unpaid care work. But the evolution from housewife the breadwinner is a struggle. Click here to learn how Women in Zambia are "Holding Up Half the Sky."

Year of Family Farming

Home-grown solutions are cheap and effective: Children in Namibia eat a meal made from products sourced from their field

The UN declared 2014 the International Year of Family Farming. The goal of the campaign is to place family farming at the centre of agricultural, environmental and social policies in the national agendas worldwide.
Click here to learn more.
Click here to see the various activities The FAO (Farm and Agriculture Organization) has planned.
This new approach may have been influenced by the impressive results achieved by Rwanda using "home-grown solutions". Click here to learn more.
As both obesity and starvation plague our planet, FoodTank is working to develop new strategies to address these issues in todays changing world. Click here to watch the video.

New Learning Opportunity for Teachers. Safe Schools

A new six week online course will be begin April 1st - Safe Schools: Building a Climate of Achievement. Through a partnership with Teachers Without Borders and the Organization of American States, the course will support teaching and learning throughout Latin America. Applications for scholarships will be accepted until March 15th. Click here to learn more.

ASAP Winter Newsletter

Click here to read ASAP's winter newsletter.

Thank you for your interest!

Randomized Control Trials

Randomized Control Trials are coming of age. It's been 10 years since Abdul Latif Jameel launched Poverty Action Lab; introducing an evidence-based approach, changing thinking about measuring impact. Now The Kauffman Foundation and Nesta have teamed up to offer funding for innovation, entrepreneurship and growth experiments using RCTs. The deadline for submissions is Feb. 24th. Click here to learn more. 

‘Schooling Ain’t Learning’

Thanks to the world's focus on MDG #2, achieving universal primary education, school enrollment is up. But there is a crisis in education - evidence shows that children are not learning nearly enough. For example, only 1 in 20 fifth graders were able to perform basic arithmetic and less than 1 in 4 could read a simple sentence in rural India.
With technology and access to web-based platforms such as Khan Academy,  more of the same is not the best option. In fact, the Online Learning Institute currently is calling for proposals to lead roundtable discussions during the 10th annual conference to be held July 1st in Atlanta.
Worldwide, our approach to education is in need of an overhaul. A new book by Lant Prichett "The Rebirth of Education"  advocates for education systems to evolve locally.  Mr. Prichett gives us plenty of food for thought, as we rethink our education system to prepare children for today's world and to be tomorrow's leaders.

Women Empowerment

On 14 Feb World Citizens will dance to end violence against women and girls.  

Women's empowerment a the driving force behind ASAP's work; created as a result of my personal experience as a Peace Corps volunteer teaching in rural Africa. Here I witnessed the local acceptance of my roommate being raped. As a result, we're proud that over 85,000 women are now actively involved in ASAP Savings Groups in Zimbabwe and Malawi -  and now have their own power and voice in the home.

But global change takes generations. Today the statics are staggering. One in three women on the planet will be raped or beaten in her life time. That's one billion women.

ASAP in Zimbabwe and Malawi are proud to participate in  One Billion Rising. On Feb. 14th, together  we will harness the power and imagination, coming together to tell stories, dance and speak out to stop violence against women.

This is a start, but some say the deck is stacked against true equality for women.  Here are some resources.

Click here view "50 years of Women's Legal Rights"
Click here to view the 2014 key findings from the World Bank report "Women, Business and the Law"

There is so much work to be done!

Africa - Looking Ahead

The beginning of the new year is a time for reflection and planning. The Brookings Institute has released their report outlining some of the major challenges and opportunities Africa will face in the coming year.Click here to read the Foresight Africa report.

Join the conversation on twitter using #ForesightAfrica. 

Don't miss the exciting opportunity to attend the live webcast on January 7th from 10-11:30 am EST

Top Priorities for Africa in 2014 

Leading Africa experts will discuss the most important challenges the continent will face in 2014. The panel will include: Robin Renee Sanders, former U.S. ambassador to the Democratic Republic of Congo and Nigeria; Bright Simons, Ghanaian social entrepreneur and founder and president of the mPedigree Network; and Amadou Sy, senior fellow with the Africa Growth Initiative. Helene Cooper, New York Times White House correspondent, will moderate the discussion.

Social Change

Jonathan Lewis - social entrepreneur extraordinaire - has produced a series of thirty videos to help empower your social justice career. Click here to learn more about Cafe Impact.

Latin America Savings Groups Forum

Beginning tomorrow, the SEEP Network will host the first ever Latin American Savings Groups Forum in Bogota, Columbia. From December 4th to the 6th, academics and practitioners will share experiences and results. Participation, live or virtual, is FREE. To learn more, click here.

Wear Orange Today

Wear orange. Say NO to violence against women.

November 25th is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. The facts are staggering:

• Up to 70 per cent of women experience violence in their lifetime.
• Between 500,000 to 2 million people are trafficked annually into situations including prostitution, forced labour, slavery or servitude, according to estimates. Women and girls account for about 80 per cent of the detected victims
• It is estimated that more than 130 million girls and women alive today have undergone FGM/C, mainly in Africa and some Middle Eastern countries.
• The cost of intimate partner violence in the United States alone exceeds $5.8 billion per year: $4.1 billion is for direct medical and health care services, while productivity losses account for nearly $1.8 billion.
• Click here to learn more.

ASAP Fall Newsletter

    Click here to read ASAP's autumn newsletter.

Teachers on Pinterest

Teachers on Pinterest is a great place for teachers to find and share creative ideas. In an effort to promote lively learning, this is a place that will inspire our hard-working teachers - who make a difference in the lives of our children everyday.  Click here.

Healthy Money Summit

The Shift Network Healthy Money Summit begins today. "Navigating the shift to our shared prosperity.

• If you want to know specifically what to do to increase your personal prosperity – and also create abundance for your family, your communityand the world...
• If you want to overcome those financial roadblocks that just never seem to go away, so that you can enjoy life and fulfill your mission...
• If you want to feel free instead of fear when you sit down to pay your bills...
• If you want to spread your money in meaningful ways that support your deepest values and passions...

...then, you’ve come to the right place! "

Click Here to learn more.

National Entrepreneurship Month

Barak Obama, President of the US, has proclaimed November 2013 as National Entrepreneurship Month. "I call upon all Americans to commemorate this month with appropriate programs and activities, and to celebrate November 22, 2013, as National Entrepreneurs' Day." To learn more, click here. 

African Events

For the entrepreneur, this directory for events, trade shows, conferences, trade fairs, and exhibitions in Africa, and worldwide, is very useful. Click Here.

Can Entrepreneurship be Taught?

  According to Steve Mariotti, The Founder of the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship, this is not open to debate. His mission is to build a global movement so every young person can learn how to start a small business. But many disagree with Steven and believe that entrepreneurship is not a  teachable skill; that the intrinsic motivation required to succeed cannot be learned. Click here to read more about these opposing views. Click here to read Richard Branson's thoughts.

Steve shared his five basic lessons for young entrepreneurs recently in Cambodia High Schools:

1. Never compete; instead, find out what everybody else is doing and then don't do it.

1. Hire the best and brightest, and provide incentives for them like profit-sharing.

1. Get your economics of one unit accurate. The unit that solves a problem must be clear and concise and you must know not only its price, but also its full costs.

1. Learn how to communicate your story, which has to be absolutely true and streamlined, but must answer the question of what your life's work will answer. 

1. Always have a business plan that is based on comparative advantage. 

Click here to learn more.

Steve Mariotti believes in teaching entrepreneurship 

Africa Awards for Entrepreneurship

Recognizing African entrepreneurs with the most innovative, sustainable, scalable, and impactful businesses. Click here to see the finalists for 2013.

Save the Date - Friday Oct. 11th

Celebrate the International Day of the Girl Child by providing school fees for a girl in Zimbabwe.
Click here to learn why educating girls will change the world.

International Day of the Girl Child

October 11th is International Day of the Girl.  Voices from girls around the world will be shared through The Girl Declaration. The goal is to ensure that girls take a lead role as we think about the post-2015 development goals. Their insights will help to guide our efforts to break cycles of poverty for girls, their communities, and the world.  To learn more, click here.

Teaching Entrepreneurship in High School

For 25-years the Network for Entrepreneurship has been instilling entrepreneurial mindset in  young people worldwide. A 2013 survey of NFTE alumni shows impressive results; that  NFTE alumni are innovators, creators and leaders.  Click here to see the research.  

But could sooner = better? According to NFTE’s chief executive, Amy Rosen, high school may be best time to start;“Kids are making decisions when they’re 12 or 13 that will destine them to poverty, the question is: Can you change the trajectory of a kid’s life in one year-long course by getting them involved in their work? I’ve seen over and over again that you can.” Learn More.  

Rethinking Financial Inclusion

An interesting new course to be offered at the Kennedy School in February. Click here to learn more.

Can Entrepreneurship Be Taught

Dr. Noam Wasserman, professor of entrepreneurship at Harvard Business School, believes we can teach founders to use data to avoid common hazards.  While Victor W. Hwang, co-author of "The Rainforest: The Secret to Building the Next Silicon Valley" and managing director of T2 Venture Capital in Silicon Valley,  disagrees; believing the required skills must come from "the aggregate experience" of living.

So far, a recent Wall Street Journal poll reveals that 62% of respondents agree with Dr. Wasserman. 

To learn more about this debate and to cast your vote click here.

Entrepreneurship and Agriculture

Entrepreneurial innovations to help feed our growing population are great, yet there are no simple solutions to this complex problem. This is Africa, a report funded by Rockefeller Foundation, examines cutting edge ideas which could bring on Africa's agricultural revolution.

Food for further thought, Oxfam recently released "The Future of Agriculture". This compilation from two weeks on on-line debate to develop a creative and positive vision of global food production to ensure everyone always has enough to eat.

Madi Sharma’s Global Entrepreneur Envoy

Honored as Asian Woman of Achievement and UK’s Best Boss, Madi Sharma has used her passion and experience to create a global portal for entrepreneurs. At Global Entrepreneur Envoy like-minded individuals and organizations turn ideas into action, promote sustainability and celebrate success.

To blog or not to blog?

Shared from Duncan Green's "From Poverty to Power" blog.

Happy International Youth Day!

In 2010, there were an estimated 27 million international young migrants. Today, International Youth Day, is raising awareness of the opportunities and risks associated with youth migration, which too often results in a life of squalor, discrimination and exploitation. The UN shares this story of a Sudanese migrant's life in Greece. Click here to learn more.

Entrepreneurship and Education

Should entrepreneurship be taught at school? By incorporating entrepreneurship at an early age, children may develop real problem-solving, creativity and innovative thinking through project-based learning in the classroom. Click here to learn more. Source: Grasshopper As educators, we want to open the minds of our youngest learners to the idea that they could change the world.

Mugabe stays

the MDC ........ went into the election like sheep to the slaughterhouse. By participating in the flawed poll, the MDC gave it legitimacy and had no backup plan as to how to challenge Zanu-PF if the election swung in its favour. And now that it did, moaning about flaws in the process and challenging the results in court can do little to reverse Zanu-PF’s massive 76% of the parliamentary vote. See full story

Mugabe out?

The Election in Zimbabwe is imminent and polls say that the old dictator is finished.  We've heard all that before but one never knows.  This could be the year.  For the whole article click here.

A New Kind of Documentary

Directed by Joshua Oppenheimer, the new documentary film, The Act of Killing portrays the aging men that orchestrated the genocide in Indonesia. The unique portrayal, "with gangsters, cowboys, dancing girls, men in drag and splashy musical numbers". Never held accountable, the regime founded on crimes against humanity may never be punished because"War Crimes are defined by the winner".

Remember to keep Zimbabwe in your thoughts and prayers as the country braces itself for another presidential election on July 31st.

Turn Your Miles into Smiles

Show your compassion for our world.  Help 'Circle Our World With Love" this summer.  Together we will travel 24,900 miles and circle the world.  Every mile counts.

It's easy to join. Take the 'Circle Our World With Love'
challenge on dailymile.com.  Click here. Update your miles each day. Run, walk, cycle, swim, fitness and more .... post pictures, routes, goals, motivations....it's all there. Then download the Electric Miles app for your android or iPhone and update your dailymiles from anywhere.

Your friends will be able to sponsor your individual miles on ASAP’s web site or become a ‘Circle Our World With Love’ sponsor for the campaign.  Our goal is to raise at least one dollar for each mile dedicated to provide ‘Tools for Empowerment’ for entrepreneurs in Haiti. 

Help ASAP 'Circle Our World With Love'

Intention is everything. Dedicate your mileage goal for the next three months to help ASAP 'Circle Our World With Love' by September 30th. Every mile is powerful.

Click Here and submit your registration form today.