Frontier Market Scouts – Frontier Market Scouts

Fellow Feature: Sarah Sterling

Nenneya Shields Frontier Market Scouts April 25, 2016April 26, 2016 1 Comment

“Having an Impact Officer shows our commitment to impact. Social Entrepreneurs really do want to make a difference, so they are creating new systems in an effort to track data and set benchmarks and goals.”

Sarah Sterling is an FMS Alumna (and MIIS MPA alumna) who participated in our 2015 Amsterdam Training. Her current FMS fellowship is with Pomona Impact in Antigua, Guatemala where she works as the Social Impact Metrics Officer. She has found her home there, working out of the Impact Hub, and indulges in her passion for impact as she attends conferences around the world. She worked for the Center for Social Impact Learning (CSIL) while studying at the Middlebury Institute and will be joining us in June for the first FMS Hard Skills Clinic. We are excited to share her updates from Antigua:

Why did you join FMS?

As a student at the Middlebury Institute in Monterey and working with CSIL, I constantly heard great things about the FMS program and knew that it was a perfect launchpad for a career in impact post-graduation. I planned to take FMS training right before graduating with my Masters in Public Administration so that I could start a fellowship right away, and it worked out perfectly. I gained incredibly valuable skills, enhanced my network and made connections I wouldn’t have otherwise. Today I am working in a dream city with amazing co-workers doing very rewarding work. Joining FMS was a great decision and I couldn’t be happier.

What was your biggest takeaway from FMS?

FMS is a really amazing opportunity, not only to have a very supportive and diverse environment for those wanting to be exposed for the first time to social enterprise and impact investing, but also for experienced professionals coming from other spaces and who may have exposure but want to fully pivot into the impact space and find deeper connections in the network. It can be intimidating to take a course as a professional student in something that you don’t have background in. Learning about investment in general is intimidating to most of us. FMS was a great introductory course and a space where I felt comfortable asking questions that I may have been too intimidated to ask if I were in a room full of seasoned investors. I was able to gain much more knowledge this way and I’m grateful for that. With such a diverse cohort of participants, you find yourself learning much more than you expected, because you are not only learning from the instructors, but from your peers as well. In addition to that, the fellowship option is of course extremely valuable. It helps fellows develop professionally and really put that introductory knowledge and the newer skills to use in an important way.

Tell us about Pomona Impact and your current position

Pomona Impact was founded in May 2011 and is based in Guatemala. It is an impact investing fund focusing on deploying capital for good and supporting social entrepreneurs in Central America. We’ve made 16 investments to date and our portfolio is growing. In my role as Social Impact Metrics Officer, I have helped create a system for Pomona to measure and evaluate the social impact of our investments. In order to do that, I interviewed a number of other companies that do similar work and have used a variety of different tools, such as Acumen Lean Data, to assess the metrics that our companies are already using to measure impact. From there, I’ve been creating a system that is very simple and focused on the impact that we want to see and how to measure that impact by collecting specific metrics. Many of our portfolio companies report with IRIS and so we in turn also often use IRIS.

What metrics is Pomona Impact using now?

We have three key metrics, which I call umbrella metrics. These are all from our perspective, to measure the impact that is created when we make investments in other companies:

Number of Jobs Created
Revenue Generated
Number of Lives Touched (direct and indirect beneficiaries)

Do you see the role of Impact Officer becoming more common?

For Pomona, having an Impact Officer shows our commitment to impact. It helps our portfolio companies also see the importance of tracking and monitoring data. While other companies have begun to focus on social impact for marketing purposes, social enterprises naturally put impact as a top priority. Social entrepreneurs really do want to make a difference, which is why they are creating new systems in an effort to track data and set benchmarks and goals. I am starting to see these roles more and more and I highly encourage enterprises to embrace this position. Where monitoring and evaluation is crucial in the nonprofit space, impact measurement should be expected in the social impact space. Having a dedicated role for that purpose will greatly benefit a company and allows for real insight and honest conversations about the actual impact that is achieved.

What are your next steps?

My fellowship ends in the coming months, but I have been hired for the next year with Pomona, which I’m really excited about. I absolutely love it here and intend to stay in Antigua long-term if it works out. The measurement system that I work on is constantly updating, so I continue to focus on that. I’m also working on our annual report, which will be tracking data from 2011 when we were founded. I have been talking to our early portfolio companies and gathering impact data from them to combine with our current company data. We hope to release the annual report this May.

What are your top three tips for those looking to start an impact career?

Join FMS and network intentionally. Participating in the FMS training and fellowship opportunity are the best direct ways to launch an impact career. Many of the fellowships turn into long-term contracts and you’re sure to be working in an exciting location. Also, make a point of network with intention and putting your interests or needs out there so that others can lead you in the right direction. Be sure to connect others and help them find their path as well, because networking is always a give and take.

Be flexible and a self-starter. Take initiative in your positions and in the fellowship instead of waiting for someone to give you tasks. Lead a variety of different projects if you have the option. This way you are capable outside of the title you are assigned and you’re creating value both for yourself and your company.

Keep an open mind. Even if you are new to this sector and especially after taking FMS, you do have a lot of skills to offer. If you are willing to learn and intentional about learning and creating impact, then you will go far. Everyone will be learning from one another in different ways, so don’t feel intimidated to ask questions and offer help to others where they may need it as well. No one knows everything about this space yet, even the “experts” aren’t experts.

Sarah Sterling | Social Impact Metrics Officer
Sarah has several years of work experience in Central America, serving as a Peace Corps volunteer in El Salvador from 2010-2012, where she focused on rural education and small business development. She previously worked for the Center for Social Impact Learning at the Middlebury Institute for International Studies at Monterey, and brings her skills in project development and management, impact metrics, fundraising, and outreach to her current FMS fellowship with Pomona Impact. She has a BS from the University of Vermont and a MPA from the Middlebury Institute for International Studies at Monterey.

Follow Pomona Impact: Linkedin Blog Twitter

The Frontier Market Scouts (FMS) program seeks purpose-driven professionals to join its award-winning social enterprise management and impact investing certificate trainings in Monterey, California (June 6-17, 2016), and Washington, DC (Winter 2017). Founded in 2011, FMS has trained more than 300 professionals since its inception. FMS received a 2013 Cordes Innovation Award from AshokaU and has now become the flagship program of the newly launched Center for Social Impact Learning at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey. The application deadline is April 29, 2016. Learn more and submit your application here.

Careers with Impact: An interview with FMS Partner Nafessa Kassim on building a purpose-driven career

Erina McWilliam FMS in Action, Frontier Market Scouts, Uncategorized April 22, 2015April 22, 2015Center for Social Impact Learning, CSIL, Experteering, FMS, Frontier Market Scouts, MovingWorlds 3 Comments

Nafessa bright rounded — Nafessa Kassim, Director of Global Engagements at MovingWorlds.

From social worker to Director of Global Engagements at the fast growing startup MovingWorlds – Nafessa Kassim’s career path has been anything but a straight line from A to B. In this interview she talks to FMS Program Director, Erina McWilliam-Lopez about how she combined her passion for enacting positive social change with her entrepreneurial savvy to take on one of the greatest barriers to sustainable development – access to human talent.

Tell us about your role at MovingWorlds

As the Director of Global Engagements I wear many hats – especially since we’re a growing company. My job is to make sure that people and organizations are prepared to have high-impact Experteering engagements. This means ensuring that Experteers and Host Organizations establish clear expectations for success that lead to long-term and culturally respectful social impact. I do this through the following activities:

Developing and delivering online training and resources that support synchronicity between the Host Organization and the Experteer.
Overseeing all matches. While our matching site does most of this automatically, we curate all opportunities and oversee all matches for quality.
Creating and building partnerships with different Host Organizations and Partner Organizations, like Frontier Market Scouts.
Project management of our corporate clients who are focusing on Corporate Volunteerism. I am currently working with Microsoft and its MySkills4Afrika program.

What is MovingWorlds all about? What need is it fulfilling in the world?

The World Economic Forum, ANDE, and others have indicated that a lack of access to human talent is one of the leading barriers to progress in development.

MovingWorlds functions like a short-term Peace Corps experience for skilled professionals focused on tackling this talent gap. We help social impact organizations working on last-mile challenges, and which have employment generation potential, with the necessary talent to overcome barriers to scale. We do this by harnessing the desire of people to travel the world in more meaningful ways and connect them to organizations that will provide them free accommodations and immersive experiences in exchange for their time and skills.

Since managing international, skills-based volunteering engagements can be tricky, we have developed an online training and facilitated planning process to ensure these Experteering matches can happen at scale, be culturally inclusive, and create a sustainable impact.

Talk about your own professional background – how did you end up where you are today?

My path started as a counselor and case manager for sexual assault survivors, and then arrested youth in the juvenile justice system in San Francisco. In these positions I worked to support my clients and advocated for their rights as individuals and as a group. Working with high risk populations provided me with an incredible amount of humility, admiration for people’s strength and endurance.

As time progressed I wanted to expand my experience in human rights issues to the worldwide context and accepted a fellowship with the American Indian Foundation in India. There, I worked with communities who were HIV positive. My work included running an HIV positive person’s community center with career and personal resources as well as fieldwork in the slums to raise awareness about parent to child contraction. During my time in India, I was also able to develop a sustainable livelihood program for HIV positive, widowed women.

My experiences in India exposed me to extreme levels of poverty, various types of human rights issues, and the challenges of international development work. I was also deeply inspired by the passion, drive, and endurance of the people and communities that were focusing on a holistic approach to development. It also exposed me to innovative solutions to drive social change. One such project was working with an incredible local team to co-produce, co-direct and perform in a play about domestic violence in South Asia.

Inspired by my field experience, I returned to the US to attend Columbia University where I pursued a Masters in Social Work with a focus on International Social Enterprise and Administration as well as a Master’s in Global Public Health. The two degrees were my attempt to develop skills to create holistic impact, hence the focus on social and programmatic skills.

My interest in holistic development deepened throughout grad school and led me to co-lead a research project in Aceh, Indonesia. The project evaluated microfinance programs implemented post-tsunami, in an innovative way by evaluating the impact of microfinance with social indicators and comparing it to the financial indicator evaluations, to identify if a holistic impact existed or not; this research was recently published.

All these experiences enabled me to work as a consultant for international programming, international corporate volunteerism, and ultimately led me to MovingWorlds. I was the first employee at MovingWorlds for a position that was never publicized. After meeting the founders, I helped highlight risks areas and proposed solutions – they offered me a full-time position shortly thereafter. I was drawn to MovingWorlds not only because of its status as an emerging social enterprise, but more so because of its mission – to empower local organizations to solve last-mile challenges and create jobs, which, from my experience, was something that I knew was critical to creating sustainable change.

As a professional, you facilitate “Experteering” experiences- tell us about it, and what is an “Experteer” exactly?

Experteering is the combination of expertise and volunteering. We call “Experteers” people who volunteer their skills overseas with social impact organizations for any length of time.

Typically, Experteers are skilled professionals that work on very specific projects that are initiated locally. The goal of any Experteering engagement is to leave a sustainable impact by addressing a challenge, and also building the skills of the team they support. At MovingWorlds, we help enable this by sourcing specific projects, providing training on best practices, and facilitating a holistic planning process.

Talk about any emerging trends you see, or stories that are unfolding as MovingWorlds evolves

A strong trend that we are seeing is the individual and non-traditional pursuit of learning and skill building. A lot of Experteers are using international service as a way to build their profiles and prove their passion for globally focused careers. In our own experience we see global service as an important vehicle for building 21^st Century leadership. In fact our Experteers have ended up at organizations like the Gates Foundation, industry-leading agencies and have even received promotions after completing international service experiences. This is because employers are looking for people that can operate in ambiguity, show genuine curiosity, and have a proven record of taking initiative and delivering results.

I also find it interesting to see how traditional work paths are adapting. Now, more than ever, you are seeing large companies work with small but innovative companies, and traditional development organizations work with corporations, all to pool their best assets and create a world-wide impact. A great example of this is outlined in Forbes. As people work towards creating social impact around them, the players are focusing less on their differences and more on their commonalities and unique expertise, and when brought together they are stronger than ever.

What’s on the horizon for MovingWorlds? Any new and exciting updates to share?

Our team has noticed that the number one reason people don’t go Experteering is time away from work. Based on the success of our international corporate volunteering programs, we’ve realized that employers face massive gains by enabling their employees to go Experteering. As such, we are going to roll out some campaigns soon to help any employee at any company make the case for more time off to go travel the world. We like to say that for the price of a conference, we can connect people to the leadership development experience of a lifetime, one that builds a better world in the process.

We also have some new exciting partnerships coming soon with the Impact Hub, Njambre, Kiva Fellows, Unreasonable Institute and Startup Chile.

About MovingWorlds
MovingWorlds, SPC is a Social Purpose Corporation whose mission is to connect people to life-enriching, immersive experiences that create a sustainable impact. Learn more about Experteering on your own, or through an international corporate volunteering program.

MovingWorlds has offices in Seattle, USA; Washington D.C., USA; and Medellin, Colombia.

Moving the Needle

Nicole Manapol FMS in Action, Frontier Market Scouts, Socent, Uncategorized February 17, 2015February 24, 2015Impact Investing, socent, Social Enterprise 0 Comment

This post was submitted by MPA student and FMS alumna Nicole Manapol

“How do we move the needle?” is a question participants will hear often during their two weeks in the Frontier Market Scouts training program. In a program designed to enable social enterprise and promote impact investing the question is not intended to be rhetorical – it’s a straight up challenge.

According to a 2014 report released by J.P. Morgan and the Global Impact Investing Network there is currently about $46 billion of social impact money under management.[1] As FMS instructor Rob Lalka from Village Capital pointed out “that’s a drop in the bucket when you compare it to the total size of global financial markets” estimated to be over $87 trillion.[2]

FMS instructor Amit Sharma, Co-Founder of Empowerment Capital and Wall Street veteran concurs:

“It is mind boggling that we can create the most esoteric, complex, opaque, multi-dimensional financial products that conceivably diversify risk and drive profits. Yet we do not apply that same talent and energy innovating financial enabling instruments that grow social enterprise.”

Sharma who teaches a module on impact metrics and social venture profiling argues that by definition social enterprise is wealth accretive and risk reductive—it can bring in 2.9 billion people living under $2 / day into the market place as consumers, producers, and market participants. “Social enterprise creates value and yet the amount of innovation in the financial and capital markets currently does not comport to this immense commercial potential.”

So what is preventing more mainstream capital from flowing into the impact space?

As another FMS Instructor and Invested Development Senior Investment Manager, Alex Bashian, explained, “the problem is matching a fragmented supply of deals with the right financially and mission-aligned counterparts on the investment side” The majority of impact investors are not willing to invest in seed-stage enterprises. Without the requisite data and metrics we all depend on in well-established financial markets (like credit history) most investors find it too risky. The majority will choose to invest when an enterprise is ready to scale. Yet without seed-stage capital few social ventures ever reach that point. Essentially it’s a Catch 22 – on the one hand you have investors that are risk averse on the other hand you have seed-stage entrepreneurs unable to assume the burden of traditional debt and equity financing. As Alex points out, “it’s difficult to move money into seed stage enterprises in many emerging markets given the existing system. As an impact fund we need to try and match the different needs for capital with appropriate financing products and other creative mechanisms to help enable growth in this space.”

When it comes to managing risk – metrics matter

One of the main barriers to mobilizing more investment capital into social enterprise is the lack of data and metrics that help investors understand and hedge their risk. Standard metrics for quantifying social impact and assessing risk in this space are difficult given the diversity of contexts in which these enterprises exist. As Sharma explains to students – “although we talk about social impact we continue to benchmark the majority of impact performance through solely monetized value.”

With the proliferation of ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governmental) measurements like the Global Reporting Initiative, GIIRS, B Corporations and others it’s hard not to be overwhelmed. Sharma sees the proliferation of these impact metrics as a positive development but a symptom of the same disease that has caused failure in the mainstream – overly complex metrics that are difficult to translate across sectors and cultures, useful to some social enterprises and exclusionary to others, particularly in emerging market contexts. As Sharma emphasizes to students –

“we have to remember that impact, return and wealth creation are contextual, any model of metrics we create has to be dynamic, simple, user friendly, and in a language that the financial purist, socially neutral investor or institutional capital markets can use…as well as the philanthropist.”

No one understands this challenge better than Sharma whose career has straddled the non-profit, government and private sectors. Amit began his career in grass roots international development and social enterprise with the Peace Corps. After receiving an MBA and MA in International Policy Studies from the Monterey Institute of International Studies (MIIS), Amit worked at the U.S. Department of the Treasury where he served as a Senior Advisor in the Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, which began as a special task force unit established post 9/11 to develop and execute anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing strategies. He later served as a member of the Department’s senior team, and Chief of Staff to the Deputy Secretary. He then moved on to Wall Street where he joined Mitsubishi UFJ Securities (USA) as their Chief of Staff and Project Management Head to their Global Markets Unit. It was during this period that Amit saw first-hand the power of capital markets as an engine for innovation and growth. Leaving Wall Street in 2013 he transitioned to a boutique consulting firm, Command Global Services (CGS), where he managed the investigation, intervention and recovery of stolen foreign assets from rogue states, as well as the strengthening of financial integrity and regulatory controls.

AmitSharma_Headshot — Amit Sharma, Co-Founder of Empowerment Capital and FMS Instructor shares the importance of impact metrics

Developing a common language

Recognizing the need to develop a common language between the impact and mainstream investment spaces, FMS Co-Founder Yuwei Shi approached Amit in 2014 to create a new FMS training module devoted to impact metrics.

In June 2014 the two collaborators launched Profiling Ventures for Impact Investing a two-day workshop led by Sharma that takes students through the current system of ESG ratings and analytics, including the ones commonly used in impact investing such as GIIRS. FMS participants then compare those metrics with established commercial financial rating systems and analytics to understand the complexity of “impact risks” more comprehensively, and in a manner that enables greater engagement with mainstream financial participants and stores of capital. Importantly, the workshop emphasizes the recognition and growth of social enterprise across all sectors, including among mainstream corporate entities.

Using what he calls “the five bucket approach” Sharma boils down five core aspects of venture profiling that any social entrepreneur, fiduciary, government regulator, investor or philanthropist is really concerned with – wealth, risk, market, assets and leverage – “how does one leverage their assets to mitigate or diversify their risks and service their respective markets to achieve their impact / wealth objectives?”

GroupShot_Winter2015_training — FMS Fellows at Winter 2015 Training in Monterey, CA

As Sharma emphasizes, “the purpose of this approach is to help students avoid getting pigeon holed in their thinking, which only contributes to the bifurcation between the social impact and corporate activities.” Instead of spending energy on trying to distinguish impact investing from mainstream investing the module encourages students to take a step back and see how they fundamentally relate. As Sharma points out, “the basis of all investing whether you’re a philanthropist or financial purist is to advance a particular objective to maximize returns in a manner commensurate with their deployed risk (this puts an emphasis on how “returns” are defined, and how risk is understood). We would be selling ourselves short by not engaging global commercial and financial entities and figuring out how to mobilize the power and influence of those markets to advance social enterprise as viable commercial endeavors.”

Impact Venture Profiling

Perhaps the most exciting opportunity the new module brings to FMS is the chance for fellows to contribute to the development of a more comprehensive solution to impact analytics that they can then go out and test in the field. Impact Venture Profiles is a new research-based initiative for select fellows heading out on 6-12 month field assignments in emerging markets. During their time in the field working with seed stage entrepreneurs, fellows will develop impact venture profiles to better understand the nature of social enterprise creation and operations, the universe of risk influencing social ventures, and to better refine the metrics and benchmarks that are required to grow impact activities.

Coreyell_Kenya — FMS Fellow Coryell Stout with colleagues at One Degree Solar – Nairobi, Kenya

As Sharma explains, “we [at FMS and the Center for Social Impact Learning] have a tremendous opportunity with this research initiative to help overcome current bottlenecks in this space by providing crucial data and metrics to the impact venture community that are needed to redefine, validate and grow the ecosystem around social enterprise. The potential of these profiles is enormous—they can be used to create case studies for research and academic purposes, conduct deep dive due diligence for investors seeking a pipeline of deals, and as real-time management tools for scaling social enterprise. But most importantly it brings multiple stakeholders to the table, including those from the corporate arenas, to recognize social enterprise as profitable business –
to really move the needle.”

[1] Saltuk, Y., Idrissi, A., Bouri, A., Mudaliar, A., & Schiff, H. (2014). Spotlight on the market: The impact investor survey. Global Social Finance, JP Morgan and the Global Impact Investing Network, London, 2.

[2] https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/xx.html

Frontier Market Scouts Take on the World Of Social Impact Investing

Danielle Johnson FMS in Action, Frontier Market Scouts, Socent, Uncategorized, Village Capital January 7, 2015February 24, 2015 0 Comment

This post was submitted by MPA and FMS alumna Danielle Steer.

It’s not every day that a person can sit at a pub watching the World Cup and listen to four different languages at the surrounding tables, while discussing impact investing as a poverty alleviation strategy. Unless, of course, you’re a part of the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey community. Today, this is my lunch break.

This experience seems apropos considering I’ve just finished two intense weeks in a classroom with 30 other inspiring, diverse, and experienced individuals and practitioners for the Middlebury Institute’s Frontier Market Scouts (FMS) program.

Participants from Around the World

I was unsure at first what types of professionals might be attracted to the program. My career has previously focused on gender education and development; so I was excited to learn more about how entrepreneurship could help build local economies and empower the impoverished. I was beyond pleased on the first day when I found out my colleagues in the class hailed from backgrounds not only in development and the public sector but also big banks and Wall Street. Some were gaining relevant professional experience during graduate school while others had quit jobs at Visa and Citibank to take part in the training and fellowship. We were also a geographically eclectic group as well with participants from Ireland, USA, Singapore, Australia, Philippines, Cameroon, China, the Netherlands, and Rwanda.

Intense Training with Real Experts

The two week FMS training is broken down into five-two day workshops covering different aspects of social entrepreneurship from the scouting and entrepreneurs to the impact investor perspective.

The first session was taught by Ross Baird, Executive Director at Village Capital. Ross brings a contagious energy to the course and provides a great introduction to impacting investing and social enterprise. From pitching frameworks to impact evaluation criteria for entrepreneurs, we explored various options for how scouts might identify and develop entrepreneurs in emerging markets.

Session two brought a change of pace with Simon Dejardins, currently residing across the pond at the Shell Foundation in London. Although his content was jam packed with “how to scale” high impact social enterprises, we were able to experiment with various approaches in business support and stakeholder analyses.

The half-way point of the training brought Dr. Yuwei Shi, founder and Director of Research at the Center for Social Impact Learning at MIIS. Yuwei focused on an action learning approach to business modeling by bringing in fellow experts on business development and ideation. In addition we explored a live case study, Salud2. Salud2 is a social enterprise at the concept phase started by five MIIS alumni this spring. Although Salud2 was a runner up at the recent Hult Prize competition, the FMS participants were able to go through the a business modeling exercise to help Salud2 consider alternative directions they might take their business before they enroll at the Hult Accelerator this summer.

With two sessions still to go, the FMS crew took a two day break to process the immense information we had covered over the week. We were also able to take advantage of the local beauty and activities along the way!

Feeling rested we returned to the ever charismatic, Paul Berloff of Accion Venture Labs. Paul led us through a series of lectures and activities focusing on investor perspectives. From the due diligence and the role of investors to the trends and criteria for impact we took an in-depth look at impact investing through the eyes of Accion Venture Labs.

For the final training session, we were joined by MIIS alumni, Amit Sharma and Ravi Kurani. This workshop provided an overview of the current universe of systems of environmental, social, and governance ratings (ESG ratings and analytics), including the ones commonly used in impact investing such as GIIRS. We also walked through the development of ImpactSpace , a start-up with the mission to help capture data and impact measurements for social ventures working with their counterparts.

Putting it All Together

Although I feel like I’m still processing information, theory, methodology, and tools packed into two short weeks, there were some common themes and big ideas throughout the course.

In the classroom I learned not only from the practitioners brought in to teach but also my colleagues. The class was a healthy mix of experience and knowledge that allowed us to work in meaningful and balanced groups. When I faltered on financial models, the ex-Citibank employee was there to simplify the process. When we talked about design and impact, the development students helped clarify impact metrics and the methodologies used to understand them.

After class, we dove into the nuances of culture and various informal aspects of the impact investing space during happy hour. Each of the practitioners took the time to get to know the participants and share stories about their very different experiences in the space.

As a people person, I really enjoyed the focus on relationship-building as a common theme throughout the two-week training. Whether you’re an entrepreneur looking for seed funding or an investor hoping to make an impact, personal connection and human interaction drive the entire process. I feel fortunate that I now have 30 new FMS colleagues in the field and around the world.

New Global Impact Chats Webinar Feature: Ben Couch, FMS Alum and Sustainable Supply Chain Specialist

Erina McWilliam Frontier Market Scouts, Scouts in the Field December 19, 2014December 19, 2014FMS, socent, webinar 0 Comment

Ben Couch, FMS alum and sustainable supply chain specialist.

The latest FMS Global Impact Chats webinar session featured sustainable supply chain management specialist and FMS alum Ben Couch. Click here to view a video recording of the presentation.

There is so much opportunity for improvement in the way we produce, process and distribute goods around the world, between small business loans in emerging markets, to biofuels, to smarter technology for distribution. – Ben Couch

The most recent Global Impact chat session featured guest Ben featured shared insights from his FMS experience and highlighted how it connects to his current role with Traditional Medicinals ™ Inc. Ben Couch is a supply change management and social projects specialist for Traditional Medicinals ™ Inc., a medicinal tea company headquartered in Sebastopol, CA. One of his company’s top ingredients comes from the desert in northwest India and the company is partnering with Gravis, a local NGO in Rajasthan, India, to develop a social business model. The goal for this model is to improve the livelihood of their farmers and at the same time the quality and security of their ingredient supply.

FMS Global Impact Chats are webinar sessions to enable community building and idea sharing focused on professional development, tools, and trends in the social impact space.

Stay tuned for real-time FMS updates on twitter: https://twitter.com/FMScouts

The FMS Placement Process Explained

Erina McWilliam Frontier Market Scouts, Scouts in the Field, Uncategorized September 26, 2014September 26, 2014fellowship, FMS in the field 0 Comment

The career-defining opportunity to work with social ventures and impact investment firms around the world.

“A journey is like marriage. The certain way to be wrong is to think you control it.” ~ John Steinbeck — Jose (FMS ’13) getting ready to take off.

I’ve loved learning about the startup environment, the issues startups face, the time and resource constraints. It’s not like the corporate world where you have departments doing the work for you – you have to be resourceful, you do not have the luxury of time to research the best approach, you’ve got to just get in there and figure it out.

– Albert Wong, FMS Fellow at One Degree Solar

Get ready to embark on one of the most professionally and personally rewarding experiences of your career. As an FMS Fellow you will join a network of nearly 300 impact-driven professionals who share your passion and dedication to solving today’s most intractable social problems through social enterprise and impact investment.

Ready to get started? Here is a snapshot of what you can expect on the first part of this exciting journey.

Program Welcome (Webinar and Fellow Handbook): the FMS Fellowship begins with an online webinar to welcome participants to the program and provide an overview of what to expect during the upcoming placement process. Fellows will receive a welcome packet / handbook prior to the webinar that they should review beforehand and come prepared with any questions.
The Placement Process (2 – 4 months): the placement process is where the fellowship learning experience really begins. Although this can be a nerve-wracking time for fellows as they wonder where they will be placed, we see huge successes from fellows who can clearly express their professional goals, build relationships, and above all, are truly adventurous and able to accept ambiguity with a positive attitude. Our team works with fellows to prepare them for their interviews and coaches them throughout the placement process.

The placement process is broken up into three main phases:

One-to-one Career Consultation
(October – November)

One-to-one career consultations take place within the first month after fellows have paid their program deposit.

Fellows meet with a member of the FMS team who works with the fellow to better understand their specific career goals, skillsets and professional maturity.

Prior to their career consultation, fellows will develop a personal pitch to a prospective employer that they will practice during the consultation with the FMS team.

Matching Process
(November – December)

The FMS team reviews available job opportunities and recommends each fellow to all potential matches, based on experience, skills, and career goals.

Partners receive the list of recommended candidates at which point partners short-list which fellows they would like to interview.

The FMS team introduces fellows to placement partners and share job descriptions

Interviews
(December – February)

Once introductions are made it is up to the placement partner and fellows to arrange a time for an interview.

Fellows are guaranteed at least 3 interviews with prospective employers

Jobs are offered at the partner’s discretion

Once an offer is made fellows and employers must sign a copy of the agreed upon job description and submit to the FMS team.

Pre-Departure Orientation (Webinar and course materials): This webinar will take place 4-6 weeks prior to the 2-week certificate training in Amsterdam and Monterey and will focus on training logistics (flights, accommodation, travel insurance, important contacts, training agenda and readings). Former Fellows will join the conversation to provide guidance on what fellows can expect during the training and how to get the most out of the experience.
Two-week certificate training (Amsterdam or Monterey): Prior to departing on their field assignments, Fellows participate in an intensive, two-week certificate training that prepares fellows for 2-12 month field assignments with social enterprises and impact investment foundations in the US and abroad. The FMS training is an incredible opportunity to network with leading practitioners in the field and professional peers – you will be busy!
Field Assignments (US and Global Locations, 2-12 months): Two – four weeks following the FMS training, Fellows embark on field assignments with social enterprises and impact investment foundations in the US and abroad. While on assignment, fellows provide due diligence for investors and technical assistance for entrepreneurs to discover innovations, improve business processes, attract investments and promote sustainable business models.
Career support and peer mentoring: While in the field FMS Fellows will have the opportunity to participate in a series of Global Impact Chats with other fellows and mentors to share experiences, lessons-learned and new knowledge to maximize impact and cultivate resilience while in the field. Topics will also cover job search strategies for fellows transitioning out of their assignments.

What’s Your Story?

Nicole Manapol Africa, Frontier Market Scouts, Scouts in the Field August 27, 2014Changemakers, Impact Investing, Social Enterprise 2 Comments

Written by FMS Fellow Donna Sinar

In my circles, when we ask “what’s your story?” we want to learn about where someone grew up, what they do for a living, their plans for the evening or something similarly superficial. In contrast, when Resonate leads a workshop with this underlying question, they are probing participants to demonstrate their values through a story of struggle and triumph.

I arrived in Rwanda nearly two weeks ago and already I have enough stories to fill a shoebox. Every morning there’s a story about hailing a moto and moments later engaging the core and hailing Mary, hoping I’ll make it to the office in one piece. There’s the one where I unintentionally ordered goat guts on a stick (it was salty, crispy, and tasty) or the one where I rallied the participants of a training to sing Happy Birthday for Resonate’s Lead Trainer, Solange, though I was totally wrong about it being her birthday.

There are plenty of muzungu in Kigali stories I can tell you. But I want to tell you about the self-transformation and community building that I witnessed at the Nyarirambo Women’s Center (NWC) training in mid-July. It was a Sunday filled with revelations, both for the twelve young staff members and me – and we were not in a church nor a mosque.

NWC is a center in Nyamirambo, an eclectic and vibrant neighborhood in Kigali. The center engages local youth (up to age 35) in hospitality and tourism by training them to lead tours for visitors in their community. We arrived early to set up for Resonate’s core training on Storytelling for Leadership.

The group was insightful, disciplined, and open – different from American youth groups I’ve led. They were quick to connect with Solange, her story, and her facilitation style. One shared his story of abandoning his life as a street kid to finish his high school education and today reaches out to street kids to show them another way. Another illustrated her strong-held values of self-respect by opening up about rejecting a Sugar Daddy’s propositions. A third shared his experience as a young elected neighborhood chief and the challenges that arose when he was put in positions of contesting his neighbors and elders.

When each in the group had learned to tell their story succinctly and heard of the trials and victories of their peers, a seismic transformation occurred both individually and collectively. Evidence and testimonials of group bonding captivated the room. “I love that we are just like a family… [and] hearing from all who shared their story” proclaimed an NWC participant. While the group grew closer, each person held within them a reminder of the courage they already possessed. Resonate’s training taps into the existing well of bravery, strength, and love within each person and gives permission and guidance for participants to tell it in a compelling way. On a pragmatic level, the young tour guides learned a new way to connect authentically with tourists as well as a way to present and express themselves and their ideas in their future professional and personal endeavors.

What results from the workshop is an outpouring of love: self-love and familial love, which is ground zero for social change. Like Cornell West beautifully stated: “Justice is what love looks like in public.” Resonate’s Storytelling training lays the foundation for individuals to take on leadership, call for action in the face of injustice, and mobilize others for change.

I had the privilege to learn that storytelling is an opportunity to connect more deeply with peers and strangers alike. Through telling our stories we can build a more intimate relationship with ourselves as well as the circles we walk in. Listening and telling our stories serve as windows to the shared human experience. After all, stories are the background music to falling in love and stories can also make the dangerous mistake of broadcasting a single narrative and breed deep-seeded, yet misplaced, hatred (as we’ve seen the pendulum swing both ways here with the genocide twenty years ago and ongoing reconciliation today). For better or for worse, stories move us to small actions and great leaps of passion. Stories, and the people who tell them, hold power for change.

I hope the next time you’re asked “what’s your story?” you will use it as an opportunity to connect and express your love out loud.

About the Author:

Donna has committed her heart and energy to the anti-human trafficking movement for over a decade. Most recently, she headed the anti-human trafficking unit at The Standing Against Global Exploitation (SAGE) Project, a survivor-centered nonprofit organization in San Francisco. Donna is an innovative and adaptive leader, a keen strategic planner and a compassionate team builder. Donna is motivated to weave mission with sustainable business practices to urge meaningful change in the areas of migration, poverty, and exploitation. She is fluent in Hebrew and competent in Spanish; a self-starter and industrious. Communication is her strong suit – she is comfortable in boardrooms and in the field alike and is at her best when she is bridging the two spheres.

Fellow Impact: FMS Fellow Madelle Kangha takes on Africa’s Youth Unemployment Challenge

Nicole Manapol Africa, FMS 2014, FMS in Action, Frontier Market Scouts, Scouts in the Field, Uncategorized July 31, 2014July 31, 2014Changemakers, Impact Investing, Social Enterprise 0 Comment

Madelle Kangha_Profile — FMS Fellow Madelle Kangha

This post was submitted by MPA student and FMS alumna Nicole Manapol

Madelle Kangha may have just completed the FMS Training in June but this budding social entrepreneur (and aspiring leader of Cameroon) is already having a big impact on one of Africa’s most complex challenges – youth unemployment.

Since launching the JumpStart Academy Africa in 2013 with her Nigerian friend, Omotola Akinsola their venture has trained 220 young people from Cameroon and Nigeria in ethical leadership, civic engagement and entrepreneurship. JumpStart also provides employment opportunities to 30 young people.

One of their scholars from Ndu, Cameroon recently became one of 50 young people across Africa selected to join the inaugural class of the Yale Young African Scholars program. JumpStart Academy was also recently nominated for the Youth Citizen Entrepreneurship Competition, an international contest sponsored by the Goi Peace Foundation, Stiftung Entrepreneurship and UNESCO.

Madelle and her team have big impact goals – their plan is to reach 17,000 young people over the next 5 years.

In this interview Madelle talks about what led her to establish JumpStart and how the Frontier Market Scouts Program can help social entrepreneurs accelerate their impact.

Tell us a bit about your background – what led you to establish your own social venture?

Growing up amidst challenges in Cameroon lit a fire in me to create a more equitable society. I also benefited from strong role models, like my parents and siblings. This inspired my mantra and daily motto: “Setting the sky as your limit is overrated – Set the sky as your base. For in doing so, you soar to new heights and define the boundaries of what is possible.”

Beyond my personal experiences, I also had a very rich and unique education, which is at the core of my work as a social entrepreneur – especially with regards to Jumpstart Academy Africa. After 7 years in an allgirls boarding school, I learnt the possibility and value of female leadership in society. At the African Leadership Academy, I learnt firsthand how to design and implement solutions, business principles and new languages like Swahili.

During my time at the London School of Economics, I immersed myself in extracurricular activities such as helping pupils with their school work and raising their aspirations for higher education, running free law clinics, participating in Moot Courts, serving as Marketing Director for the LSE Entrepreneurs Society, Events Officer for the LSE Catholic Society, and study abroad with the LSE UN society at United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland.

Beyond academics, I was fortunate to undertake challenging internships and work experience programs with leading organizations such as Clifford Chance, Oliver Wyman, ICAP Plc, Standard Bank, Shearman and Sterling LLP and Teach First.

With these experiences, I set out to implement my ideas to create a better world; first with Youths4Change and then with Jumpstart Academy Africa.

What do you love most about your work?

My work as a social entrepreneur is all about creating value in a way that changes lives and advances society – this is what drives me.

I love that every day presents a new learning curve for me but my most important lesson has been managing the triple bottom line – People, Planet and Profit. My business can’t sustain itself without profits, and the world can’t be sustained without my business.

Managing multiple bottom lines can be a challenge but a combination of a well thought out model, a clear set of operating principles, deep passion and sufficient attraction of capital taken altogether, can allow a social entrepreneur to have both mission and margin.

Tell us about the JumpStart Academy – how did this all begin?

I enrolled at Watson University in 2013. It was at Watson that my path crossed with Omotola Akinsola, a groundbreaking changemaker from Nigeria. Aside from the fact that we both hope to someday lead our respective countries, we also had the same theory of social change – so we joined forces and Jumpstart Academy Africa was born.

The idea behind Jumpstart Academy Africa is simple using the principles of ethical leadership and entrepreneurship; students can learn the skills needed in today’s transformed and transitory world. Beyond acquiring skills, students receive training that enables them to innovate across different sectors – to be job creators as opposed to the old rhetoric of job seekers.

Why does this matter? Currently, Africa is the most youthful continent in the world. At least 35 per cent of its more than 1 billion population is between the ages of 15 and 35. Experts estimate this could double by 2045. Africa is home to the world’s fastest growing labor force, which by 2040, is expected to grow to 1.1 billion people. With an ever-increasing youthful population, the challenges are ever increasing, more complex and more urgent. Most pertinent is the fact that Africa is home to seven of the 10 fastest growing economies in the world, yet 70% of the workingage population is unemployed.

This means reaping the demographic dividend of Africa’s youthful population is not a given. It requires immediate and urgent substantial investment. Africa’s largely youthful population makes up the next generation of workers, politicians, teachers, parents, entrepreneurs and leaders. I firmly believe that harnessing the untapped potential of Africa’s youthful population is key to achieving economic growth and prosperity for the continent.

At Jumpstart Academy Africa, we are tackling this challenge via Leadership and Entrepreneurship. The model is simple. JumpStart Academy delivers a two-year Leadership and Entrepreneurship curriculum to students aged 15 – 18 across partner secondary schools, through trained university students and graduates. Currently, we serve over 220 students in 15 schools across Cameroon and Nigeria. Ourgoal is to reach over 17,000 young people across 10 countries in the next 5 years.

Tell us about your FMS Experience – how did you first learn of the program and what were the most valuable aspects of the training for you?

I first learnt about FMS at the Net Impact conference in San Francisco last year where I was fortunate to meet Yuwei Shi – the founding director of the FMS program and Dean of the Graduate School of International Policy and Management at the Monterey Institute of International Studies. He told me about the program and encouraged me to apply. Less than a year later I was attending the June training in Monterey.

My FMS Experience was great. I was impressed with the caliber of the fellows, the mentors and trainers. The content of the training was very well tailored and relevant to my work with the JumpStart Academy. I particularly liked Ross Baird’s session on the Fit Framework, which looks at the Investor’s perspective in the Social Impact Space. This has been a very useful tool as it gives me insight as a social entrepreneur into what investors are looking for when considering whether or not to fund a venture.

As a social entrepreneur the training is invigorating – you get to bounce ideas off of others working in the space, collaborate and in my case – recruit talent for my enterprise!

Any advice for other aspiring social entrepreneurs?

Yes – Fail often to succeed sooner!!!

Learn more about the JumpStart Academy and how to get involved: www.jsaafrica.org

Vote for the JumpStart Academy Africa in the Youth Citizen Entrepreneurship Competition

Keep up with Madelle and other fellows at http://www.miis.edu/academics/short/frontier-market-scouts/fellows/currentfellows

For more information, visit www.fmscouts.org. Read our blog at blogs.miis.edu/frontier/. Follow us on Twitter @FMScouts and on Facebook at facebook.com/frontiermarketscouts.

Featured FMS Partner: Ayla Schlosser, Founder and Executive Director of Resonate

Nicole Manapol Africa, Frontier Market Scouts, Scouts in the Field, Uncategorized July 24, 2014February 24, 2015Changemakers, Impact Investing, Social Enterprise 0 Comment

This post was submitted by MPA student and FMS alumna Nicole Manapol

Stories matter. Many stories matter. Stories have been used to dispossess and to malign,but stories can also be used to empower and to humanize. – Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, The Danger of a Single Story (TED)

Stories are transformative – whether it’s the “official” story of a despotic regime, a beloved myth or the self-destructive narratives we sometimes play in our heads.

No one understands this better than FMS Partner Ayla Schlosser, Founder and Executive Director of Resonate – a startup teaching leadership skills to women and girls through a training course rooted in storytelling. Launched just over a year ago and based in Rwanda, Resonate was founded on the principle that stories matter. Through her background in community organizing and communications consulting, Ayla saw firsthand the importance of storytelling as a tool for affecting change and building leadership capacity. As Ayla often remarks – a compelling story can mean the difference between having an idea about how to fix a problem and actually leading the charge for community-based solutions.

Seeing the potential of narrative-based leadership training in other contexts outside the US, Ayla began looking for organizations where she could use her expertise to catalyze work already being done with women internationally. When no such organization materialized, Ayla (in true entrepreneurial fashion) decided to start her own company…in a country (Rwanda) she had never visited. When asked about the risk of traveling halfway across the world to test a market in which she had no prior experience – Ayla responded – you’re never going to have all the information – at some point you’ve just got to dive in and see what happens…

In October 2013 Ayla was off to Rwanda.

Why Rwanda? Although Ayla had no prior experience in Rwanda, there were a lot of reasons that made it an ideal place to pilot Resonate’s training. Over the past 20 years Rwanda has been working hard to rebuild its economy. Women’s economic empowerment has been a central feature of the government’s recovery strategy, creating a favorable environment for women’s leadership initiatives. Rwanda also has a strong tradition of oral leadership making the training a good cultural fit.

But perhaps the most compelling reason to launch in Rwanda was a strong partner – the Akilah Intitute for Women, an East African women’s college. As a graduate of Smith College, an all women’s school in the US, Ayla felt a natural affinity with Akilah. Her first training at the college with a group of female journalists still counts as one of her best moments since launching Resonate. Prior to conducting the training, Ayla worried about how participants would receive it – would it make sense? Would it fit the culture? The outcome is something Ayla still proudly recalls. The women got it…but not only did they get it – they were transformed by it. For most of the women at Akilah and also at subsequent trainings that was the first time they had ever told their story, felt how their personal narratives could resonate with others – how they could affect and inspire change. One of the women in a Resonate training later related to Ayla that she keeps the video clip of herself telling her story on her phone to remind herself of that moment – the moment she truly recognized her own strength and what she had to offer others.

With less than a year since launching programs on the ground in Rwanda – Resonate is poised to expand into Kenya and potentially other countries in the Region. Ayla attributes much of her success to her staff on the ground –in particular lead trainer Solange Impanoyimana who came to the project with a strong background in community development, storytelling and radio and who has already taken ownership of the enterprise. Friends, family and professional networks were also incredibly helpful to Ayla as she sought points of contact within Rwanda, developed marketing and communications strategies, fundraised or just simply needed advice.

Ayla recognizes programs like Frontier Market Scouts, which provided her with the talent and human resources to support operations. As a busy entrepreneur, traveling between Rwanda and the US and trying to launch a business, having the time to recruit and screen candidates is a major challenge. The benefit of working with FMS is having the program vet top candidates for you. Through this process Resonate was able to hire Donna Sinar, an MPA candidate at the Monterey Institute of International Studies with significant management experience in the non-profit sector. As a startup, priorities are constantly changing. What Ayla likes best about Donna and her FMS preparation is her ability to be flexible and respond to whatever new priority may arise on a daily basis.

Moving forward Ayla is considering different business models to generate revenue to sustain Resonate, including crowdfunding and a one-for-one training model with corporate CSR programs. There is a lot of interest and demand for Resonate’s Storytelling for Leadership training. The challenge now she says is being strategic about what she pursues given the size and capacity of her team. Other challenges involve fundraising – as many entrepreneurs know you need a history of funding to get funding.

But Ayla is undeterred – my approach is collaborative, I don’t want to re-invent the wheel. This is an exciting time for Resonate – particularly for anyone interested in Resonate’s work. As a startup we are constantly evolving. People who get involved with us now have the unique opportunity to shape what Resonate will be…

Interested in Resonate’s work? Learn how you can get involved: www.resonateworkshops.org

Interested in becoming an FMS Partner? Apply here

For more information, visit www.fmscouts.org. Read our blog at blogs.miis.edu/frontier/. Follow us on Twitter @FMScouts and on Facebook at facebook.com/frontiermarketscouts.

22 Tips for Living in a New Country

Danielle Johnson Alumni Stories, Frontier Market Scouts, Scouts in the Field, South America, Uncategorized June 26, 2014July 1, 2014 0 Comment

MIIS and FMS Alumna Danielle Steer Shares Tips on Living and Working Abroad.

Over the course of the next two months, 21 Frontier Market Scouts (FMS) Fellows will be heading into emerging markets as scouts, business development consultants, and impact investing associates. FMS fellows come from a variety of backgrounds and have very diverse international experiences. For some, the FMS field placement is a first exposure to living and working in an emerging market.

As an alumna of the Monterey Institute MPA program, I can’t begin to count the number of experiences my colleagues and I have shared about being a development practitioner including “how to cope” and “methods for success”.

I decided to enlist the help of fellow FMS and Monterey Institute alumni to give our fellows advice for living and working in the developing world. Their collective advice stems from experience in Nigeria, Cameroon, Rwanda, Peru, Ecuador, Philippines, and India.

Tips for Living and Working in an Emerging Economy

Talk to your taxi driver! They have some of the best suggestions for local places to check out and more generally just some great stories about life.
Get close to a family or two, especially if you’re in a more rural area. This will give you so much more insight than just hanging with the expat crew. Have meals with these people a lot. They will also look out for you.
Invest in a good fan that oscillates, embrace crowded bus rides, and keep a good sense of humor.
It’s okay to be homesick. There may be moments when you long for the safety of “home.” Find a way to bring a piece of home with you to self-sooth when need be (i.e. a DVD, favorite book, cooking spices and ingredients, or Siracha).
When family and friends visit have them bring you items from “home” like cheddar, mac & cheese boxes, and socks.
Take part in four things that can expedite building relationships – playing sports, music/dancing, food, & drinking (albeit not to excess or to the point where you cannot make sound judgments).
Be prepared for reverse culture shock. Sure, there will be some initial culture shock when you move out of your home country. But no one ever prepared me for the reverse culture shock. It might hit you when you order a coffee in Swahili at Starbucks or when you are overly cautious trying to cross the street in your hometown. If you can, get in touch with other people who might be experiencing it at the same time or who can sympathize. That community of people “who get it” when you are stunned by consistent electricity or hot running water is comforting.

Money & Safety

In a taxi, lock both back doors. Sometimes people try to open them while you are sitting in traffic.
Keep your money in two places on you. If a thief tries to steal from you, pull out your stack with less money and say that’s all you have.
Keep $50 USD in small bills stashed away in your luggage.
Try to find out before arriving at your assignment whether or not credit/debit cards are commonly accepted. More often than not, you’ll need to carry cash, so finding an ATM in a well-lit, secure location is key.
Put together a thoughtful budget before you leave. How much are you willing and/or expecting to pay for housing each month? Groceries? It adds up quick, and if you’re traveling with a fixed amount of cash in the bank, you don’t want to find yourself in a sticky financial situation without a backup plan.
A steripen is a great small investment. You can use it anywhere and it saves a bunch of money as opposed to buying bottled water. It’s also good for the environment.
If you are a single (read: unmarried) female, regardless of having a boyfriend or not, be prepared to frequently explain your lack of husband. (Side note: You’re not likely to convince an inquiring man to change his stance on the matter, but don’t let it keep you from sharing your point of view. “Some of my female colleagues chose to wear fake wedding rings to avoid this, but I personally didn’t feel right pretending to be married just to avoid these conversations.”)
Keep your bag or backpack in front of you down by your legs or on your lap when traveling or at a restaurant.

Keeping in Touch

A picture is worth a thousand words. Take as many pictures as you can of your community, your work, and your travels but know when to be discreet either out of respect or for your own safety. It might feel vain, but ask people to take pictures of you in the field as well. It makes for better storytelling and helps your family and friends to better understand what you did. Not to mention when you’re feeling nostalgic upon your return, it’s nice to look back.
Post about your travels via social media. Someone in your network will always have a good recommendation for a connection, place to eat, or site to visit.

Work Life

Patience is a virtue: In Peru, everyone is late, and people have different professional standards. In the end these are all cultural differences and shouldn’t be taken personally.
Take your colleagues out to lunch! You’ll get a taste for local cuisine, build relationships, and hopefully pick up on some local slang!

Final Advice

During rainy season, don’t walk through flood water in the street. There may be a hole in the ground that you don’t see.
Don’t be scared to rock a fanny pack!
Never travel without the following:

                            Pocket knife & sewing kit
                            Lighter
                            Small padlock
                            Charcoal pills (for tummy aches and intestinal issues)
                            Calendula cream (for mosquito bites and burns)
                            Duct tape (It really fixes everything!)

Have any intriguing travel tips or stories of your own? Please share them via: professional.dev@miis.edu

FMS Alum makes Headlines with his Social Enterprise in Brazilian Favelas

Nicole Manapol Frontier Market Scouts, Scouts in the Field, South America, Uncategorized June 17, 2014July 8, 2014 0 Comment

FMS alum Elliot Rosenberg has had great success with his own social enterprise, “Favela Experience.” This is a way for tourists to stay in Rio de Janeiro’s Favelas and experience the local culture. Elliot’s personal experience staying with host families is what inspired his business model. By staying in the authentic and culturally rich Favelas, tourists gain a unique perspective and learn about the way of life of their hosts. Additionally, the local hosts earn a sustainable income and get the chance to meet culturally diverse guests. With the World Cup approaching, his business is growing and was featured in Next Billion Blog.http://www.nextbillion.net/blogpost.aspx?blogid=3670

When asked why he decided to start Favela Experience, Elliott remarked, “When I first visited Rio’s favelas, I was overwhelmed by the exciting culture and hospitable people. I knew I had to open these communities to the world in an immersive way that contributes to local development.” By promoting tourism within the favelas, the negative connotations are also improved. Bloomberg Businessweek reports that during the World Cup, over 600,000 tourists are expected to visit Rio and compete for 55,400 hotel rooms. There lies an excellent opportunity for business and sustainable development within Rio’s favelas. Hotels are rapidly increasing prices, and tourists are even willing to pay more to stay in the home-stays.

When asked about the role of profit in a social enterprise, Elliot reports that, “Social enterprises should aim to be wildly profitable, in order to have the most social impact. Profitable businesses get the best talent, they garner the most investment, and they expand. If people can improve the world and become incredibly wealthy at the same time, why shouldn’t they? It’s a destructive cultural norm that we censure social change agents who make a lot of money; it’s backward how we accept that the people who most harm society and the environment have the highest salaries. If we can reverse that mindset, we’ll see a radical shift in capital toward ventures addressing the world’s most pressing problems.”

Elliot’s social enterprise has been mentioned in CNN, Bloomberg Businessweek, and the Wall Street Journal. To learn more about the Frontier Market Scouts training, visit go.miis.edu/fms.

Corey arrives in Nairobi

Erina McWilliam Africa, Alumni Stories, FMS 2014, FMS in Action, Frontier Market Scouts, MIIS Updates, Socent, Uncategorized, Updates from the Field March 25, 2014March 25, 2014 0 Comment

FMS 2014 Fellow Corey Stout landed in Nairobi recently to begin her field assignment as a Project Manager for One Degree Solar. Corey, whose Kenyan nickname is “Mac Truck,” shares her most recent adventures in the field:

Corey Stout, FMS 2014 Placement: One Degree Solar — Corey Stout, FMS 2014
Placement: One Degree Solar

What is an SQ?
My move to Nairobi is official: resident of Trafford Court in Kilimani, two minute commute to work, and occupant of our home’s SQ. What is an SQ, you ask? Wise question, I tell you. And wise question that I did not ask. Although you may think that SQ stands for square feet, which makes complete sense (at least for some…or one), it is in fact the abbreviation for Servant’s Quarters. Needless to say, I was in for a treat when I moved into my “room”, the SQ or Servant’s Quarters of our house. While I have a knack for small rooms, I am getting used to the world of the tiny. The SQ’s 7x7x7 measurement does not take into account the 8 car batteries, which take up 1/3 of the room, and serve as the backup power for the rest of the house. Fortunately, a metal cage surrounds the batteries (they can electrocute upon touch…this finding may or may not have been from personal experience), so I have created a makeshift closet/clothes steamer by placing hangers around it. And to think that everyone thought Sophie was the crafty one in our D.C. apartment. DIY has basically become my middle name.

During my first night in the SQ (apparently you do not even refer to it as a room…let alone your room; while it may be a faux pas to say “my SQ,” I have no qualms about reminding my roommates that I hold the keys to our backup power), I decided to test the shower in the adjoining bathroom. The “bathroom”, which is attached directly to the SQ “bedroom”, consists of the basics: a toilet, sink, shower head and facet. There are no floor or wall dividers around the shower head or facet to separate the “shower” from the rest of the bathroom and the rest of the bedroom is only divided from the bathroom by a door. Confused? Just picture a minimalist’s heaven. While I am not new to the concept of shower heads in a bathroom without a shower, I am new to double checking that a drain exists prior to exfoliation.

Meeting the Roommates
Halfway into my ice cold shower, I heard a loud thump. Luckily, I did not have to waste any time dealing with shower doors (serious feng shui) and quickly opened the door of the bathroom to see that the SQ was completely flooded…and my only clean outfit for my first day of work had fallen from its “closet” and was drowning. I had not yet had the pleasure of meeting my five roommates nor was I aware that they were all male (again, who would have thought to ask such questions?), but I made my presence and estrogen known. With a neon pink towel, soaking wet hair, and a trail of soap suds, I ran to the main house (since the SQ is obviously separate), startling Mark, David, and Andrew, who were just about ready to dive into their Indian takeout. Alas, as the true gentleman that they are, they abandoned their chicken masala and instead dove into the SQ pond, rushing to get towels, switching off the backup power (opps), and helping to mop up the water, which had begun to rush out of the SQ into the driveway. Night and SQ saved. Note to self: always make sure that your shower has a drain (and use any SQ flooding as an excuse to shower in the the main house, which has hot water…très luxurious).

Despite my first night’s mishap, I have gotten used to the SQ, settled into my job, and fallen in love with Kenya. I am working for One Degree Solar, a solar energy company that brings power to households, schools, and business without access to electricity, and overseeing our plans to scale within Kenya and across East Africa. As cheesy as it sounds, I still have to pinch myself each morning that I am actually here and working for such an exciting company.

The Making of the “Mac Truck”
Finally, five short, but essential, updates to get you fully up-to-speed on my life (whether by blood, water, or beer, this is what you signed up for, after all):

My boss has coined me the “Mac Truck.” He claims the nickname is from my abrupt body rotations and tendency to bump into anyone/anything in my path (i.e. I still have not regained horizontal head/neck movement), but I have stopped throwing out my chocolate wrappers in his trash can.
Up until yesterday, my brother thought I had moved to Accra, Ghana (and we only discovered this because he had looked up flights to come visit…I still have not decided whether the points for a visitation attempt negate this “mistake”).
I have already signed up two customers to purchase One Degree Solar’s BrightBox, our flagship solar kit that can power four lights, 10 phones, any USB device, and a radio for up to 24 hours (cue “wowza!”): Sudanese refugee camps on the Northwestern border and Mark, the mango seller outside of my office. I made the sale to the refugee camps by pitching our product to an international aid organization and I made the sale to Mark by convincing him that my mango consumption will pay off his BrightBox in a month. Though the pitches and quantities purchased differed, I am equally proud of both.
I have already set off the fire alarm twice in our house (popcorn burns so easily), broken our living room speakers (re: Mac Truck bullet above), and woken up the next door neighbors with my persistent use of snooze in the morning (our security guard had to knock on my window to kindly ask me to “please wake up, Miss. Query”), but fortunately my roommates are forgiving and have accepted me for the liability that I am (I wish I could say the same about my neighbors).
The amazing Elyse Lipman came to visit last weekend. We took motorcycles to Karen (a beautiful suburb named for Karen Blixen, author of Out of Africa), fed giraffes at Nairobi’s giraffe sanctuary, bonded with orphaned elephants at the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, and safaried in Nairobi National Park (black rhino spotting included!). Am I rubbing my new backyard in your face? You betcha.

Any and all visitors are welcome!! Miss you all!

xoxo, Corey

Join our 2014 kickoff impact chat on Thursday, March 13th at 9am (PST)!

Nicole Manapol 2013 Scouts in the Field, Frontier Market Scouts, Uncategorized March 12, 2014March 12, 2014 0 Comment

FMS Global Impact Chats (GICs) are monthly meetings featuring fellows in the field, alumni, interested participants and friends. GIC webinars offer a community building platform for sharing stories and ideas around professional development, tools, and trends in the space.

Join our 2014 kickoff impact chat on Thursday, March 13^th at 9am (Pacific Time) featuring FMS alumna and entrepreneur extraordinaire – Grace Andrews.

To join the meeting: http://middlebury.adobeconnect.com/r5xfhz6rcu3/

March 13 Global Impact Chat: The Startup Hustle

Meet Grace Andrews (FMS’12), Co-founder and Business Development Director at GraphAlchemist. During her FMS assignment in Brazil, Grace asked a local entreprenuer for his “best life advice.” He advised her to create something that could change the world. He said “after you do that, you will be well equipped to help others do the same.” Today, Grace is now building her dream company with Co-founder Huston Hedinger (FMS’11).

Webinar Agenda:

Part 1: Guest Speaker Feature, 9-9:30am (Pacific Time)

Making the most of your FMS field assignment
How to build your dream company and then live with it

Part 2: Guest Speaker Feature, 9:30-10am (Pacific Time)

Check in and Q & A with current FMS fellows in the field

Guest Speaker Bio

Grace is the Business Development Director and Co-Founder of GraphAlchemist.com based in Portland, Oregon. GraphAlchemist adds value to complex relational data by transforming the information into searchable hosted visualization for both public and private projects. Previously, Grace was a Frontier Market Scouts Fellow in Sao Paulo Brazil. Grace graduated with a M.P.A from the Monterey Institute of International Studies in Monterey, California.

To join the meeting: http://middlebury.adobeconnect.com/r5xfhz6rcu3/

Questions? Contact: Erina McWilliam-Lopez, emcwilliam@miis.edu

If you have never attended an Adobe Connect meeting before:

Test your connection: http://middlebury.adobeconnect.com/common/help/en/support/meeting_test.htm

Get a quick overview: http://www.adobe.com/products/adobeconnect.html

Adobe, the Adobe logo, Acrobat and Adobe Connect are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries.

You will need:
A device connected to high-speed internet
Speakers & microphones to encourage effective participation

Frontier Market Scouts is now accepting applications for summer 2014!

Nicole Manapol FMS Catch of the Day, Frontier Market Scouts, Uncategorized February 24, 2014February 24, 2014 0 Comment

Earn a certificate in impact investment and social entrepreneurship management this summer!

Work with a social entrepreneur for 3-12 months in the US or abroad!

Current students and May graduates welcome!

Frontier Market Scouts (FMS) is now accepting applications through March 7 for the June 2014 training in Monterey, California.

To APPLY or learn more come speak with past participants and FMS staff at our info session Thursday, February 27 @ 12pm on campus in Morse B106. You can also visit our website go.miis.edu/fms or email us at fms@miis.edu.

What is Frontier Market Scouts?
Frontier Market Scouts trains and places young professionals in emerging markets, working directly with social entrepreneurs and impact investors to use business practices for poverty alleviation.

Since 2011 the program has trained over 240 social enterprise professionals and graduate students from 20 countries worldwide.
Past field assignments have been based in Brazil, India, Ecuador, Vietnam, Tanzania, Kenya, South Africa, and Lebanon.
Training faculty come from renowned social enterprise organizations such as Village Capital, Shell Foundation, Invested Development and more.

*Frontier Market Scouts courses can be taken for credit or not-for-credit.

*The fellowship program includes a two-week training followed by 3-12 month field assignment with a social enterprise or impact investor in the US or 15 other countries.

*During the summer, two-month field assignments may be available for those attending graduate school.

For more information, visit www.fmscouts.org. Read our blog at blogs.miis.edu/frontier/. Follow us on Twitter @FMScouts and on Facebook at facebook.com/frontiermarketscouts.

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