CENTER FOR BUSINESS
AS AN AGENT OF WORLD BENEFIT

Curiosity, it is said, can lead to ground-breaking innovations. Considering that children are exemplars of continual curiosity, it is surprising that they have not played a bigger role in conceptualizing products for organizations. ‘By Kids For Kids Co.’ recognized this anomaly and created a business model that not only ensures sustainability by innovation but also maximizes the creative potential in children and helps them develop in multiple ways. Through involving an under-engaged population in the process of economic development the organization aims at ensuring creative thinking and self-reliance in the youth.

Housing Works, a non-profit which provides vital services to homeless New Yorkers living with HIV and AIDS, has transformed from crisis and near extinction to profitability and independence. Housing Works was founded in June 1990 as an outgrowth of the Housing Committee of the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP), to address the burgeoning crises of homelessness and AIDS, and to restore the fundamental human rights of homeless people with AIDS and HIV through innovative advocacy and direct service programs. A switch from cost-reimbursement Medicaid contracts to fee for service contracts and the development of four highly profitable businesss took Housing Works from being totally dependent upon external funding and financial aid to being almost totally self-sustaining today.

KaBOOM! is committed to a world where each child is within walking distance of a great place to play. To assure such places are available, KaBOOM! created an innovative business model which includes partnering with corporations and fosters team building and community development in addition to building playgrounds.

Nearly 1.6 billion people living in the developing world need reading glasses, but less than 5% have access to affordable options. VisionSpring is broadening global access to reading glasses, creating and training local entrepreneurs, and improving overall quality of life for many. VisionSpring develops markets for reading glasses at the base of the economic pyramid. They select, train, equip and fund local entrepreneurs to establish new businesses that sell reading glasses. They then provide high-quality affordable reading glasses for these distributors, bringing reading glasses and referral services directly to the customer at the village level. So many people in India, El Salvador, and Guatemala have told VisionSpring how much their lives have changed because of VisionSpring's reading glasses. Who would imagine that a simple pair of reading glasses could have such an effect? VisionSpring did because it researched, studied, and tested its programs inside and out. VisionSpring believes its responsibility is to provide a product and service that is truly superior. For too long, the global economy has failed to recognize the power and influence that people living on less than $1 a day can have. VisionSpring is working to change this perception through simple pairs of reading glasses and determined entrepreneurs.