Events and Conferences

Business with Four Billion: Creating Mutual Value at the Base of the Pyramid The William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan and the Center for Sustainable Global Enterprise at Cornell University are pleased to have hosted "Business with Four Billion: Creating Mutual Value at the Base of the Pyramid." This conference was sponsored by the Ross School of Business and the Erb Institute both at the University of Michigan and Procter & Gamble. The conference featured plenary sessions by leading BoP experts that delved into key issue facing the BoP community. Also, the concurrent sessions provided an opportunity for participants to engage cutting-edge thinkers on specific topics. In addition, to maximize interaction at the conference, we were delighted to offer three sessions solely dedicated to individuals and organizations interested in showcasing their on-going activities with other attendees. Visit the Conference Website.

Research at the Base of the Pyramid "Developing a New Perspective" May 18-20, 2006 Ann Arbor, Michigan The William Davidson Institute and the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan was pleased to host Research at the Base of the Pyramid: Developing a New Perspective. This conference was held in Ann Arbor, Michigan on May 18-20, 2006 and is the first of what is anticipated to become an annual event. The broad purpose of this conference was to bring together a multi-disciplinary community of leading Base of the Pyramid (BoP) scholars to explore what is truly new and unique about the BoP. We looked to co-create a research agenda for the field that conceptualizes the BoP as both a context to study existing theories and as a setting in which to develop new theory within and across existing disciplines. The goal of the conference was to support the generation of new knowledge uniquely related to research on the BoP and to create additional opportunities to have this research shared across a broad audience of academics and practitioners. Visit the Conference Website.

Date: TBD William Davidson Institute - Seminar Room WDI's Base of the Pyramid Initiative at the University of Michigan has organized a monthly lunch series centered on innovative business solutions to poverty alleviation. The BOP Initiative has joined forces with the Emerging Markets and Net Impact Clubs at the Ross School of Business to conduct monthly BOP lunches. Hosted by the William Davidson Institute, the goals of the lunch series are to share the most recent thinking on BOP opportunities and challenges and to build and    support a community of students interested in BOP issues.  Guest speakers at previous meetings include Jesse Moore of Care Canada and Patrick Donohue of Brinq.  Next Meeting: 12:00pm   Topic: Financing at the Base of the Pyramid presented by Michael Herbst and Blair Miller.   Please Contact Blair Miller:  blairem@umichedu regarding attendance or further information.

Next Meeting: TBD William Davidson Institute   Organized and hosted by WDI's Base of the Pyramid Initiative, this is a monthly meeting aimed at bringing together PhD students and other scholars across various disciplines who are interested in researching issues related to BOP. The participants currently include students from the Sociology, Business Economics, Natural resources, Business Information Technology epartments. The primary objectives of this group are to explore questions and topics related to academic research at the Base of the Pyramid and to create an environment that supports collaborative studies on the BOP-related topics. Next Meeting: November 3rd 12-1:30 at the WDI conference room. Please contact Vijay Dakshinamoorthy at vdakshin@umich.edu regarding attendance or further information.

BYU Global Mother, Newborn, and Child Health Conference Provo, Utah, April 4, 2008 The Department of Health Sciences at Brigham Young University invites you to attend a one day conference on Global Mother, Newborn, and Child Health. The Conference will be held April 4, 2008, on the BYU campus in Provo, Utah. The purpose of this conference is to provide students, faculty, professionals, and volunteers with an outstanding opportunity to understand successful evidence-based interventions for improving global health. This year the conference will specifically focus on family-based solutions to health challenges, and feature key officials from the Pan American Health Organization. We hope you will join us! For more information please see the attachment or go to the website at: http://ce.byu.edu/cw/mnch/. >> More Details  |  created on: 02/19/2008 Social Business and Microeconomic Opportunities for Youth Conference Denver, Colorado, March 12, 2008 The Social Business conference will be in Denver, Colorado in March with Prof. Yunus, founder of the Grameen Bank, and Dr. John Hatch, Founder of FINCA and Village Banking. Earlybird registration rates, extended once, will end tomorrow, 11 February. The conference is called the Social Business and Microeconomic Opportunities for Youth conference and it will be held in Denver on 12-14, March 2008. For more information please see the attachment and please go to our website at: http://academic.regis.edu/cat/socialbusiness/. >> More Details  |  created on: 02/19/2008 Training: "Market Research for Microfinance Institutions" New Delhi, March 11, 2008 (Arth - The Centre for Financial Research) Specifically, the training is aimed to: Augment understanding of the 'financial landscape' in which the institution is operating Augment knowledge of methods to understand consumer psyche and preferences in general and to gauge their perception of the institution and its services in particular Enhance knowledge and skills to objectively comprehend product attributes such as price, delivery channel, repayment terms etc. Impart skills for assessment and analysis of risk/vulnerability and to gauge business opportunities. For more info, please visit http://www.responsenet.org/show.detail.asp?id=7868. >> More Details  |  created on: 02/19/2008 “Creating Sustainable Value at the Base of the Pyramid" Amsterdam, The Netherlands, July 5, 2007 This Roundtable will address the opportunities, the successes, the failures and the challenges lying ahead the creation of value at the base of the pyramid. The WEC is honoured to welcome the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Capital Development Fund Mr. Richard Weingarten as keynote speaker and to learn from leaders such as ABN AMRO, F.Hoffmann-La Roche, CEMEX and others. For more info, please visit http://www.wec.org/events.php. >> More Details  |  created on: 06/04/2007 The Poverty Challenge 2007 Durban, South Africa, June 26, 2007 The SANPAD Poverty Conference is an important initiative in creating an environment for engaging with key issues relating to the poverty discourse and debate. Its intention is to bring together key thinkers and writers on poverty as well as young, emerging researchers to present some of the most cutting-edge research on poverty. For more info, please visit www.povertyconference.co.za. >> More Details  |  created on: 06/04/2007 CMA Centre for Responsible Organizations Laurier School of Business and Economics, Canada, June 15, 2007 The conference will focus on three broad sub-themes related to sustainable ecosystem and social stewardship: * Sustainable innovation of products, services, processes and business models * Sustainable infrastructure, e.g., energy, transportation, communication systems * The role of corporations in ecological stewardship and fostering social sufficiency at the base of the pyramid. The Greening of Industry Network (GIN) is an international network of professionals from research, education, business, civil society organizations, and government, focusing on issues of industrial development, environment, and society, and dedicated to building a sustainable future. >> More Details  |  created on: 06/04/2007 "Africa: The Next Chapter" TEDGlobal 2007 Conference Arusha, Tanzania, June 4, 2007 It couldn't be a more exciting time to be holding the first TED conference in Africa. We invite you to join us on a journey into the continent's future. The conference will take place in Arusha, Tanzania from June 4-7, 2007.  The program lineup of 50 speakers includes inventors, business leaders, entrepreneurs, scientists, designers, artists, writers, activists, musicians and mavericks. For more info, please visit http://www.ted.com/index.php/pages/view/id/49. >> More Details  |  created on: 06/04/2007 ACCION Conference: Microfinance Cracking the Capital Markets II The Waldorf-Astoria, New York, March 19, 2007 The second ACCION conference on microfinance investment brings together money managers, hedge funds, institutional and private investors, bankers and rating agencies—many as yet unfamiliar with microfinance—to discuss the challenges, realities and opportunities of making microfinance a commercial asset class. >> More Details  |  created on: 06/04/2007 Sustainable Growth: Local Economics, Global Impact NYU Kimmel Center for University Life, New York, February 23, 2007 GBC is one of the most prestigious on Stern’s conference calendar. EMA’s flagship event brings together business leaders, academics, students, and alumni to discuss pressing issues in doing business across borders. The theme of this year’s event is: globalization and sustainable growth. The conference is co-organized by eight internationally-focused and industry-focused clubs. >> More Details  |  created on: 06/04/2007