Recently, I’ve been reading a really great book — In Spite of the Gods: The Strange Rise of Modern India, by Edward Luce. I was born in India but moved to the U.S. at a young age – and yet, I recently felt that I didn’t know enough about my birthplace’s political scene. So I…
Today I want to feature United Prosperity, a truly innovative organization that takes the concept of microfinance to the next level. Most microfinance institutions (MFIs) simply provide small loans to poor entrepreneurs who want to pull themselves out of poverty through their small businesses. However, this approach does not strengthen the local banking system or…
Today, President Obama spoke to Africans in his speech to the Ghanaian Parliament. Before reading, I was kept in anticipation, exciting to hear the new vision of our President with regards to Africa. I was excited, especially, after the revelations in his Cairo speech – and I hoped that he would bring a fresh perspective…
This Friday I wanted to highlight an amazing project which recently won the 2009 Echoing Green Fellowship. Accountability Counsel is an organization aiming to partner with communities harmed by international finance and development projects in order to hold international institutions and corporations accountable, and develop new accountability systems where none exist. Communities around the world…
Oftentimes, it seems to me that criminal justice reform falls to the wayside in light of many more seemingly pressing issues, even within the broader human rights community. People tend to look down on criminal justice reform, wondering why resources need to be spent on assisting those who are accused of crimes, when they would…
