Reflections on Business Plan Evaluations
The judges for the GW Business Plan Competition semifinal round met on Monday to decide which teams are going to the finals on April 11. It was great to see so many good ideas, and to be able to send the best ones through. But in my opinion the feedback the teams got was just […]
GWupstart Social Entrepreneurship Competition
Over the past week I’ve been evaluating business plans for the annual George Washington University Business Plan Competition. I’m a judge for the semi-final round of the new GWupstart Social Entrepreneurship Prize Track, which encourages student social entrepreneurs to “create effective solutions to the most pressing global and local social and environmental problems.â€Â There are […]
The response to Hurricane Sandy
An interesting comment from someone involved in the response to Sandy: compared to other natural disasters this person has seen, the people who were affected by this hurricane seemed eager to take charge and rebuild, without waiting for outside (government) help. Although outside help is still very much appreciated.
The Jews in Shanghai
Between 1933 and 1941, when the rest of the world was closed to them, about 30,000 Jews escaped Nazi Europe for Shanghai. The United States and Britain repeatedly failed to open their borders to Jews fleeing the continent. In Mexico and Chile, the number of Jewish immigrants was severely restricted. The British and Americans suggested […]
Voices against domestic violence
Yesterday I was in Arlington for the annual Institute of Medicine meeting; today I was back in DC and listening to five women talk about how faith communities can respond to domestic violence. Addressing the local level, Ambreen Ahmed, from FAITH Social Services, spoke about her organization’s work to provide humanitarian aid to needy individuals […]
Conservation in Costa Rica
As a teenager in Belize, eco-tourism was all around me. Even so, Costa Rica impressed me with its dedication to preserving its natural resources. When we went zip-lining, rafting, and horseback riding, our groups shared the same waiver forms, so that we could jointly sign away our right to sue without consuming multiple sheets of […]
Development, preparedness, and resilience
When there are a lot of deaths following a natural disaster, it’s easy (and perhaps psychologically compelling) to chalk it all up as an “act of God.â€Â But one of the most dramatic observations to come out of the tragedy in Japan was how many lives were saved by sound engineering and good policies. And […]