Author Archive:

Elaine Smith

Opinion Elaine Smith and Instituto Geracao 17 January 2013

The two faces of Brazil – the rich and the poor

Jornal o Estado de Sao Paulo posted some enlightening data in an editorial late last year. A translation of the data can be found below, followed by my two cents’ worth:  ‘The higher income that …

Opinion 1 Elaine Smith and Instituto Geracao 11 September 2012

Discussing progress, growth and development

When most of the year is gone, it is easy to look back and try to see what worked and what did not. We keep on trying to evaluate our actions, maybe in order to …

Opinion Elaine Smith and Instituto Geracao 9 August 2012

Getting up to speed on social entrepreneurship

Not just the Olympics, but all of the fun we’ve had with sports over the vacation makes me think that if we are not prepared for challenges, hurdles and extremes, it is hard to cope …

Opinion Elaine Smith and Instituto Geracao 13 July 2012

A learning journey through the Amazon (part 2 of 2)

Last week, I started to write about a recent trip to Rio Arapiuns in northern Brazil organized by Projeto Saude e Alegria for social investors to learn more about this complex area. Today I will …

Opinion 1 Elaine Smith and Instituto Geracao 5 July 2012

A learning journey through the Amazon (part 1 of 2)

‘The dream of Projeto Saude e Alegria is to become needless’. That’s how Caetano Scannavino Filho, general coordinator of Projeto Saude e Alegria (PSA), started his presentation to a group of people that had just spent …

Opinion 2 Elaine Smith and Instituto Geracao 17 May 2012

Who cares? A teaser about a film that can change the world

What is the title for an activist that protests so much that he ends up changing everything around him? Or what can you find in common between a Belgium monk that trains rats and a …

Conference reports 1 Elaine Smith and Instituto Geracao 13 April 2012

A very upbeat tone at GIFE Congress in Brazil

The 7th GIFE Congress took place in São Paulo, Brazil, from 26 to 30 March with 927 participants, including journalists and press, and over 100 panellists. I will highlight some themes I had the chance …

Opinion Elaine Smith and Instituto Geracao 8 March 2012

Collaboration is key to addressing innovation needs in global philanthropy

An extra day making a longer February sounds especially good and prosperous in the Year of the Dragon. I’ve learned a lot during the 2012 Family Philanthropy Conference, organized by the Council of Foundations that …

Opinion Elaine Smith and Instituto Geracao 14 February 2012

Who should make the social investment of financial education for the population in emerging countries?

What is the healthy balance between giving poor communities access to services and goods and teaching them not to consume more that they can afford? Who is paying attention to the debt level of the …

Opinion 1 Elaine Smith and Instituto Geracao 11 January 2012

What to expect from Brazilian corporate social investments in 2012 – hoping for the best, but shouldn’t we be prepared for the worst?

Trying to analyze corporate social investment in Brazil, Comunitas launched the 2011 report of Benchmarking the Corporate Social Investment (BISC) on 7 December. Figures in the report are related to the 2010 fiscal year and rely …