Stanford Social Innovation Review

How Lutherans are transforming their love of coffee into global good.

Michael Parker pays his new Spanish tutor $17 less than he paid his old teacher in Iowa. But his new teacher, Yesenia Mateu Grave, takes away double her normal fee. Thanks to Web conferencing, Mateu Grave teaches students around the world from her hometown in Antigua, Guatemala, via a site called Speak Shop, combining audio, video, and online chat for a classroom-like experience.

World of Good connects female artisans in poor countries with retailers (including Whole Foods Market, pictured) in the West. 

As nice as it is to think that modern corporations can do well while also doing good, there are serious limitations that the market imposes on their CSR initiatives. In addition, the legal obligations of corporations to their shareholders further restrict CSR’s potential to help solve social and environmental problems. At some point, we should be asking ourselves whether or not we’ve been promoting a strategy more likely to lead to business as usual than to tackling the fundamental problems of our time. 

Why a promising social franchise collapsed.

Organic Exchange uses its global network to promote environmentally friendly fibers.

How Fair Trade coffee moved out of its niche and into the most mainstream market of all.