News - William Davidson Institute

The Business of Biowaste: Developing a Profitable Model for Off-grid Energy
The Business of Biowaste: Developing a Profitable Model for Off-grid Energy
Wednesday, March 31, 2021
U-Michigan Prof Jose Alfaro has pioneered new ways to harness sustainable energy from "biowaste." Alfaro is rolling it out as a new business that will serve other small businesses such as farming cooperatives, with the help of the WDI.
Read More
Student Perspective: Pioneering Investments in India
Student Perspective: Pioneering Investments in India
Thursday, January 28, 2021
Lawrence Chen, a former Davidson Field Scholar who earned his MBA from the Ross Business School at the University of Michigan in 2020, shares his experiences developing the International Investment Fund (IIF). In this blog, he explains how he and fellow students evaluated India-based businesses for investment.
Read More
WDI Leads Research in Gender Equity Impact Investment Effort
WDI Leads Research in Gender Equity Impact Investment Effort
Wednesday, December 16, 2020
WDI's Performance Measurement & Improvement team is leading the research for the Gender-Smart Enterprise Assistance Research Coalition (G-SEARCh) which includes six impact investors. The group came together with a shared goal of supporting small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in emerging markets to incorporate gender across their respective business models.
Read More
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Global Case Writing Competition Launches
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Global Case Writing Competition Launches
Thursday, October 29, 2020
WDI Publishing and the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business, and its Sanger Leadership Center are joining together to address this important movement by launching the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) Global Case Writing Competition.

Read More
WDI to Launch New Labor Practices Group
WDI to Launch New Labor Practices Group
Wednesday, October 14, 2020
WDI is teaming up with University of Michigan Professor Achyuta Adhvaryu, who leads the Good Business Lab (GBL), to launch a new Labor Practices group at the Institute. As part of the Institute's consulting services team, this new practice area will add value to the work happening across WDI, and will enhance the learning available at Ross Michigan Ross and U-M.

Read More
Perspective: Letting Businesses Lead Research
Perspective: Letting Businesses Lead Research
Thursday, September 24, 2020
Too often, global development research hinges on the interest of researchers, rather than the knowledge needs of small business people and, most importantly, their impacted communities. But there are times when growing businesses in low- and middle-income countries should lead the researchers – not the other way around.
Read More
Latin America: Women’s Health & Investment Opportunities
Latin America: Women’s Health & Investment Opportunities
Tuesday, August 11, 2020
Supporting businesses that provide healthcare services specifically to women around the world is critical to empowering their financial independence and overcoming other gender-based inequalities. A new WDI report explores impact investment opportunities for ventures in Colombia and Peru.
Read More
Perspective: How Covid-19 Impacted Monitoring and Evaluation—in 2 Examples
Perspective: How Covid-19 Impacted Monitoring and Evaluation—in 2 Examples
Thursday, July 30, 2020
COVID-19 has left many unable to travel within and across country borders. As a monitoring and evaluation researcher, who works directly with businesses in country to measure socio-economic impacts, WDI's Yaquta Fatehi explains how to adapt to a new global reality in two recent WDI projects.
Read More
Perspective: From SMEs to MNCs, Responsible Leadership is Key
Perspective: From SMEs to MNCs, Responsible Leadership is Key
Wednesday, July 15, 2020
"Responsible leadership," or the mindset of addressing societal challenges, is relevant for all businesses – no matter the size, sector, or growth stage. Nor is it exclusive to those identifying as social enterprises or multinational corporations, writes WDI's Kristin Babbie Kelterborn.
Read More
WDI, Ford Fund Partner for Virtual Training to Aspiring Social Entrepreneurs
WDI, Ford Fund Partner for Virtual Training to Aspiring Social Entrepreneurs
Tuesday, June 30, 2020
How does an educator convene a global classroom across a dozen countries, numerous cultures and differing perspectives? Sometimes, it’s better to instead let the students set the pace. WDI’s Education Sector team recently tailored two fully online courses for The Ford Motor Company Fund as part of the Ford…
Read More

NextBillion

NextBillion is dedicated to promoting strategies that open opportunities and improve quality of life for the world’s four billion low-income producers and consumers. By stimulating discussion, raising awareness, and providing platforms for sharing ideas, NextBillion is a growing community of practitioners, academics, entrepreneurs, and business leaders who are promoting market solutions to poverty. Managed solely by WDI, NextBillion features in-depth analysis and opinion from wide variety of global contributors, an editor-curated newsfeed, an events calendar and a career center with the latest job opportunities across the development through enterprise space.