The SocialFinance.ca weekly round up is back! SocialFinance.ca produces a round up featuring social finance related news, insights, job openings, and events. We source the content for these round ups from Twitter, an RSS reader, and directly from our community of social finance practitioners. Below is our round up for the weeks of January 16 and January 24 (since SocialFinance.ca was down last Monday, this Round Up includes news items from last week).

Recently on SocialFinance.ca

Nabeel Ahmed posted SocialFinance.ca is Recruiting: Two Volunteer Assistant Editors Required on January 9

Sherri Torjman posted the latest blog from her series on social purchasing as a means to support social enterprises in Enough Talk, Where's the Action? January 10.

Elisa Birnbaum provided an outsider’s perspective on the 2011 Social Finance Forum in Forum for Thought and Impact on January 11.

Nabeel Ahmed posted Video of the Week: Social Finance Best Practices: Alex Kjorven on January 13.

In a two-part series, Farooq Shaikh posted Social Impact of Islamic Finance - Myth or Reality? Part 1 was posted on January 12 and Part 2 on January 18.

Narinder Dhami wrote about targeted microfinance in Canada and the Rise Asset Management initiative in Adding Dimensions to the 'Single Story' of Mental Health Through Social Finance on January 20.

Canadian and International News

The MaRS Centre for Impact Investing is hiring! The Director, Centre for Impact Investing will provide strategic direction for the Centre’s programs and initiatives, manage the operations and staff of the Centre, and manage an extensive network of external stakeholders and partners. Visit the job description to learn more. Interested candidates should forward their resume and cover letter to careers@marsdd.com by January 30th, 2012.

The Government of Massachusetts announced a first in the nation initiative to allow the state to enter into pay-for-success contracts and social impact bonds, issuing Requests for Response for service providers and intermediaries.

David Roodman released his long-awaited book, Due Diligence: An Impertinent Inquiry into Microfinance, in which he reviews the evidence surrounding the microfinance debate and urges for an end to hyperbole and urges for reform. A number of mainstream media outlets published a review, including the Guardian.

TBC Capital Asset Management is launching its TBC Capital Impact Investing Fund-I (TBCCIIF-I), which is a pooled fund established to invest in organizations that operate in the areas of microfinance, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) “with high positive impact,”; and clean and “base-of-pyramid” infrastructure. The targeted size of the debt-only, closed-end fund is CAD 75 million.

The ISIS Sauder School of Business has issued a call for proposals for its Community Experience Initiatives (CEI) program. CEI is an MBA summer internship program that places MBAs in social enterprises and non-profits, providing these organizations with access to business skills and research knowledge to strengthen the capacity of Canada's social sector. Time Of Program: June-August 2012 Cost: $4,875
View the Call for Proposal [PDF] for more details.

Carol Goar profiled Rise Asset Management, a Rotman-CAMH initiative, for the Toronto Star, explaining how micro-loans can address mental health equity.

Earlier this month California became the sixth U.S. state to pass legislation to create Benefit Corporations as an alternative business model, with Patagonia the becoming first company in the state to take advantage of the bill.  The Economist noted the momentum building behind benefit corporations, while Angus Loten at The Wall Street Journal dissected the risks and benefits of the new legislation.

Kiva has launched its next level of innovation: Kiva Zip. Alex Goldmark calls the peer-to-peer lending platform a vast experiment in online trust that could change the face of microfinance.

A new MFA program in Social Innovation at the School of Visual Arts in NYC seeks to create social entrepreneurs.

The Santander Social Enterprise Awards are open for application. The awards aim to support social enterprises and Community Interest Companies looking to grow their business and improve their local community.

Investors' Circle is currently accepting applications for inclusion in its deal database or consideration for a venture fair presentation. To learn more about the application process and apply, visit the website. The deadline is Friday, February 3, 2012.

The Skoll Awards for Social Entrepreneurship are also open, until March 1, 2012. The Skoll Foundation presents the Skoll Awards for Social Entrepreneurship each year to a select few social entrepreneurs who are solving the world’s most pressing problems. The Skoll Award includes a core support grant to the organization, to be paid over three years, and a noncash award to the social entrepreneur presented at the Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship every spring.

The International Impact Investing Challenge is a pitch competition focused on designing investment vehicles that create sustainable impact and are of the size and scope that would be of interest to institutional investors. Graduates students are challenged to propose and defend a sustainable investment strategy for an institutional investor who makes sustainable investments. Teams (check eligibility) of graduate students are invited to submit a two-page prospectus on March 8, 2012 by 5:00 PM CST that outlines an innovative financial vehicle for impact investment that would be of interest to an institutional investor.

Social Finance Learning and Best Practices

Anthony Bugg-Levine, Bruce Kogut and Nalin Kulatilaka published "A New Approach to Funding Social Enterprises" in the Harvard Business Review, exploring how financial innovation can be a force for good, by channeling investments into organizations that are focused on providing social good. (Subscription required.)

Michael Belinsky shares some lessons from the field of Social Impact Bonds in the Stanford Social Innovation Review. There are a number of approaches being used to implement this concept, and the mere process of exploring SIBs is valuable, as outcomes-based financing sparks thinking about data monitoring and program evaluation.

To mark the start of the UN International Year of Cooperatives 2012, the Guardian hosted a panel discussion to explore how co-operation and shared ownership can offer an alternative to a competition-based business model and its potential for a more resilient, sustainable and responsible economy.

A new study published by CGAP assesses the impact of microfinance on poverty by reviewing recent randomised evaluations that compare groups with and without access to specific financial services.

Ken Berlin makes the case for green banks, which are intended to provide low cost financing to clean energy projects and can function as quasi-independent public private partnerships.

As part of their 12 major predictions for 2012, NESTA says that this will be "the year when impact investing really begins to have an impact", citing Big Society Capital, progress in impact measurement, and new social impact bond pilots.

The Wall Street Journal recently explored the rising popularity of impact investing among high net worth individuals; Ruthie Ackerman reports.

In order to encourage social investment, politicians must urge for behaviour change in government (the dominant funder of social services) as well, says James Eliot Perry.

Scott Lawson discusses why Social Entrepreneurship in China lags behind other dynamic, developing countries, despite the attention the subject has garnered there lately. Join the discussion on SocialEdge.org.

Rahim Kanani interviewed Annie Donovan, COO of NCB Capital Impact, in NCB Capital Impact: Investing Billions into Underserved Communities Nationwide on Forbes.com

Jacqueline Vanacek wrote about how cloud computing benefits impact investing and social responsible startups in The Social Impact of Cloud on Forbes.com

Upcoming Events

Debate: Moving Financial Inclusion Beyond Microfinance
January 30, 2012, Washington, DC

Panel Discussion: Toronto's Priority Poverty Issues
January 30, 2012, Centre for Social Innovation (215 Spadina Avenue), Toronto

Latin American Impact Investment Forum: Business for Development
February 13-15, 2012, Merida, Yucatan

SROI Network International Conference
16th-17th February 2012, University of Potsdam, Campus Griebnitzsee, Germany

Microfinance Experts Speaker Series: Ann Miles
Thursday, February 16, 2012, Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto.

Social Economy Centre Speakers' Series: Rise Asset Development
February 22, 2012, Room 3-104, OISE (University of Toronto), 252 Bloor St. West, Toronto

Powering deals with purpose - Partnering for Global Impact 2012
July 9-10, Lugano, Switzerland

Discoveries

Abundace - community investment platform in the UK

Jobs

Social Capital Markets is looking for event communication and social media interns!

Did we miss any news, insights, or events? Use the comment form below to add to this round up.

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