WASHINGTON, DC - June 10, 2013 — This week on BIZ+SOCIAL, we bring you the best from Triple Pundit, CoExist, the Guardian and more.

GLOBAL PRO BONO

Is Your Company Confusing Employee Engagement with Employee Satisfaction?

Like many business terms, employee engagementis one attracting a lot of attention, focus, discussion and even controversy. And like any good business term, it has now devolved into a buzzword, where many of us talk about it but have no idea what it really is. Now some evidence suggests “engagement” is not all what it is cracked up to be. Read More…

IMPACT & INNOVATION

Half a Loaf of Food Aid Reform Would Help Millions More—Will We See Only Crumbs?

The Obama administration’s FY14 budget request included a food aid reform proposal that the administration estimated would allow US food aid to reach an addition 2-4 million people per year—for roughly what the United States spends now. My colleagues Kim Elliott and Will McKitterick have anew brief out that argues this is a conservative estimate. Their calculations suggest that the reforms would help at least 4 million more people, and maybe as many as 10 million for the same amount of money as under the current inefficient system. Read More…

LEADERSHIP

Why Coke Is Bringing Solar Power To Rural Kenya

When American solar entrepreneur Gaurav Manchanda wanted to expand his company’s solar operations in Kenya, he found an unlikely partner: Multinational soft drink purveyor Coca-Cola. Coca-Cola primarily sells their product in rural areas through kiosk owners, many of whom lack electricity. Earlier, the soft drink company entered into a partnership with Manchanda’s firm One Degree Solar, where Coca-Cola would market One Degree’s solar power kits to kiosk owners. These kits would give off-grid rural vendors electricity, meaning they could stay open past sunset, increase safety and visibility after dark-and sell more soft drinks in the process. Read More…

CITIZEN DIPLOMACY

The U.S. Foreign Language Deficit

In an increasingly globalized world, the U.S. is at an ever-increasing disadvantage due to the lack of foreign language skills among Americans. Other than heritage-language speakers, it is estimated that only between one in eight and one in four Americans have the foreign language skills necessary to hold a conversation in a language other than English. According to the Modern Language Association, enrollment in a course in a language other than English at the postsecondary level stands at 8%, as opposed to 16% in 1960 — the same time frame in which globalization has increased. Read more…

ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT

Social entrepreneurship: on the rise in Sweden?

Although social entrepreneurship is a new term in Sweden, the concept of innovation is not. Swedes are innovators, especially strong on the digital market. We have fostered many big companies, such as IKEA,Ericsson and Volvo – the list could go on. Recent bright sparks such asSpotify, Skype and Soundcloud are clear indicators that we can expect much more from the cold country up north. But what about social innovation? Read More…

MORE

Being Digital Demands You Be More Human

How Vinegar Could Save 73,000 Women A Year From Cancer

Chairman’s Award Presented to… IBM!

Egypt Court Convicts International NGO Workers