Jonathan Banco
Jonathan has worked in both journalism and various facets of small business development over the past eight years. Most recently, he graduated from the Monterey Institute of International Studies (graduate school of Middlebury College) in 2010 with an MBA and an MA in International Development Policy. His interests include SME development and its role in economic growth, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa as well as how CSR/Sustainability measures impact both business operations and the communities in which businesses operate. While at MIIS he worked as a summer fellow involved in small business consulting in Accra, Ghana and was an active member of the MIIS Net Impact chapter. As a life long traveler, Jonathan has been fortunate to have lived in, worked in or visited over 20 countries on 5 continents and he truly hopes that he will be able to continue this trend.
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VisionSpring: A Model TOMS Shoes Would be Wise to Adopt
The world of international development has so many buzzwords floating around, it’s hard to know what is legitimate and what isn’t. Over the past 10 years or so, the phrase “sustainable development” has entered the lexicon and appears here to stay. While there are a number of definitions for the term, ultimately it has to […] More
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Shell Finally Coming to Terms with Years of Nigerian Oil Spills
Following more than 50 years of oil extraction, corruption, human rights violations and environmental degradation, Shell has admitted responsibility for two large oil spills in 2008 and 2009 in the Niger Delta. This admission will allow those affected to seek damages through the British court system, which gives groups in the Delta, specifically Ogoniland, the […] More
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in Corporate Social Responsibility, Inspiring Ideas, Supply Chain, Sustainable Business, UncategorizedMotorola Getting Proactive in the Conflict Mineral Debate
I’ve written a number of articles regarding the complexities of “conflict minerals” and the trade in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) (you can find a few here and here). And campaigns undertaken by a number of advocacy groups have really put the issue on the map. So much so that a controversial rider was […] More
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Worker Treatment at Nike Twenty Years Later
In the early 1990’s Nike was unwittingly responsible for bringing factory worker treatment and supply chain issues to the forefront. This was of course many years before the “CSR movement” gained a foothold within corporate operations. And while I would not go as far as to say that it gave birth to the modern CSR […] More
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in Corporate Social Responsibility, Inspiring Ideas, Inspiring People, Social Entrepreneurship, Sustainable Business, Sustainable Development, UncategorizedSo You Want to Become a Social Entrepreneur?
According to the venerable source, Wikipedia (there’s actually a citation from the 2002 book The World of Social Entrepreneurship by J.L. Thompson), social entrepreneurship is defined as, “A social entrepreneur recognizes a social problem and uses entrepreneurial principles to organize, create and manage a venture to achieve social change (a social venture). While a business […] More
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Zimbabwe Diamonds and the Kimberley Process: Round Something
For many years now, developing countries bestowed great amounts of natural resources were thought to be on a path to development based on the wealth of these resources, which are prized throughout the West. Such resources have included oil, minerals, metals and of course diamonds. However, almost exclusively, this potentially game-changing situation has lead to […] More
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Does Beer Equate to Development?
A wise man once said, “beer, the cause of and solution to all of life’s problems”. More recently, Center for Global Development (CGD) Senior Fellow, Charles Kenney published an article in Foreign Policy magazine called “Chug for Growth” discussing the role of beer and beer manufacturing in developing countries. Ever since the development profession (for […] More
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Wal-Mart Enters Africa
Although Wal-Mart has had a checkered past when it comes to entering foreign markets, a deal was announced at the end of May that the company has purchased a majority stake in the South African company, Massmart. While the $2.4 billion investment doesn’t raise too many eyebrows considering the company has a market cap north […] More
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EcoMedia’s EcoAd: More than Advertised
There’s been some discussion about the campaign of EcoMedia, an environmentally focused advertising firm that was purchased by CBS last year. EcoMedia was the firm behind the little green leafs that you may have seen on select CBS advertising earlier in 2011 called EcoAd. The idea behind the EcoAds is that companies purchase the ad […] More
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Indian Real Estate: Housing for the Poor or Another Debt Crisis?
Like other rapidly developing nations, India has a housing problem. The rural-urban migration has overwhelmed cities like Mumbai, where the formally rural poor come to find new opportunity. Often times this migration is one indication of a country’s development. The major issue however is, where do all these people live? Up until now, more often […] More
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When Is Junk Mail Going to Disappear?
About 7 months ago, following grad school I relocated to the great (not state although some are trying) District of Columbia. Although 7 months is not a very long time, one would think it would be long enough for me to stop receiving previous tenant’s junk mail. In fact, it’s not just one previous tenant, […] More
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Hello Wallet Helps Balance The Books and Give Back
Among the most important aspects of starting a company is determining the target market. In many cases the obvious answer to determining a market is to go where the money is. Most of the time that means target the wealthy as that is the group that would be both interested in using and have the […] More
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