Position: VP of Sales and Operations

Location: New York – with 30% international travel

Organization: VisionSpring (formerly Scojo Foundation) is a global social enterprise, currently operating in 13 countries, which creates jobs and sustains livelihoods through the sale of affordable reading glasses to the 700 million people who require clear, up-close vision to read and work.

VisionSpring trains low-income men and women as “Vision Entrepreneurs” to start microfranchises that conduct vision screenings within local communities, sell affordable reading glasses, and refer those who require advanced eye care to reputable clinics.

Description: The VP of Sales and Operations is responsible for the leadership and management of VisionSpring’s global operations team and the achievement of their operational and sales objectives. The position is a key member of the senior management team and is actively involved in shaping the future direction of the organization.

For more information – including a detailed job description – contact Gretchen Anderson at On-Ramps.

Editor’s Note: This post first appeared on NextBillion.net.

Last night, Ernst & Young announced its 2008 Entrepreneur of the Year awards for the Metro New York region, and Acumen Fund’s own Jacqueline Novogratz took home the award for social enterprises. Given our mission to support amazing entrepreneurs who are building thriving businesses in India, Pakistan and East Africa, it is humbling to be recognized as entrepreneurs ourselves. We’re honored to be included among such impressive company.

A few weeks ago, I received an e-mail from Christine Flanagan, Director of Research for the Business Innovation Factory up in Providence, Rhode Island. The BIF is basically a real-world lab where innovators get together to design and test ideas, with an eye to creating value (not just creating gadgets, for example.) The Factory’s advisors include heavy hitters like IBM’s David Yuan, Harvard’s Clayton Christensen and former PARC Director John Seely Brown.

While poking around the site, I noticed a post on BIF Speak (the Business Innovation Factory blog) about Acumen Fund friend and ally Cat Laine. You may already know Cat as the Deputy Director of the Appropriate Infrastructure Development Group and a blogger in her own right. What you may not know is that Cat has a background in public health and a real passion for serving base of the pyramid customers with appropriate technology. The post explains:

With AIDG, Lainé attempts to stretch the goals of a traditional NGO by throwing savvy “business acumen” into the mix. She brings her own scientific background to the table when the group spearheads a new project, but she also knows the value of a good old-fashioned sales pitch. Bringing new technology to such communities is a matter of gaining trust and demonstrating a need for the product—the same challenges faced by large corporations looking to tap into emerging international markets.

Check it out. Finally, Cat will be speaking alongside Jacqueline Novogratz at the Business Innovation Factory’s Collaborative Innovation Summit this October. Glad to know we’ll be able to touch base with her there as well…

Editor’s note: Acumen Fund ally Tanya Sehgal recently let us know of some exciting opportunities at Indicorps, an organization we admire. If you’re in the market for work – or know someone qualified who is – please read on.

Indicorps is an entrepreneurial organization run by a small, tight-knit community of critical thinkers committed to transforming the world. Their “work” extends conventional boundaries, and includes both philosophical and practical discussions regarding the vision of the organization’s future, pressing social issues, and potential paths towards personal growth.

Given Indicorps’ desire to learn and innovate – as individuals, as an organization, and as a community – it is looking for multi-faceted, dynamic individuals who aspire to effect meaningful change by inspiring individuals to realize their inner capacities. If you are looking for an opportunity to engage with India in a critical, intensely personal way, and hope to meet people with the conviction to effect meaningful change, then you may be an ideal Indicorps staff candidate. (more…)

Net Impact held its first conference in Europe last week, achieving a major milestone while paying tribute to the intense interest on the part of European and international MBA students in using business tools to make a positive social impact. The ability of corporations and business tools to drive social change is still a hot topic, and the participants at this conference brought diverse perspectives on the issue and some challenging questions, all related to the conference theme of “Sustainable Prosperity.”

It was my pleasure to be there representing Acumen Fund as I have been a big fan of Net Impact since I revived the Net Impact chapter at Stanford when I was there from 2001-2003. The conference had its own unique flavor, hosted by three institutions from across Europe – the International Organization MBA, a program based at the University of Geneva in Switzerland, The University of Nottingham in the UK, and INSEAD in France. Over 400 participants joined the meeting, bringing an interest in everything from corporate social responsibility, to environmentally sustainable business; socially responsible investing to business at the “base of the pyramid” (BoP). The dedication of the student volunteers managing a dizzying array of panels was readily apparent, and they put together a professional and compelling event.

Though Net Impact began 15 years ago with a focus on how MBAs could make a positive difference within the business world, this conference and other recent Net Impact conferences in the US have clearly demonstrated that working for a socially responsible for-profit company is just one way to make a difference. The Net Impact Europe conference had a much greater showing from international organizations like Global Alliance for Improved Nuitrition (GAIN), CARE International, Aga Khan Agency for Microfinance (AKAM), and the ILO, with fewer corporate titans taking the stage as keynote speakers or panelists than I have seen at other Net Impact conferences. Representatives from Toyota, Microsoft and KPMG were there, however, to share some of their best practices related to social responsibility. At times, though, it seemed like the businesses that were represented were on trial, being challenged as to whether they were doing enough or taking the right approach.

For example, on a panel I joined to discuss innovations for serving BoP markets, the question was asked: Is selling low-cost products to the poor really the same as poverty alleviation? A fair question, though one that suggests a zero-sum-game approach to developing more inclusive markets. In our experience, businesses may fail to reach the neediest through their products, but can still expand access and reduce the burden on governments and aid organizations by allowing them to target their efforts towards the poorest.
(more…)