I’m always inspired by people who turn ambitious dreams into reality. Their story is a reminder for us all that truly, anything is possible. Dreams do not just happen on their own, of course. Nor do they happen as a result of the effort of one person. To make remarkable things happen, we need a community.

If you are in the San Francisco Bay Area on June 2nd, join a community of supporters for an elegant evening at the Stanford University Club in SF to raise funds for New Scholars, a not-for-profit global development organization that places Silicon Valley entrepreneurs in Africa to help early stage entrepreneurs start, grow and expand locally run businesses.

New Scholars is the dream of Stanford graduate and “Lost Boy” of Sudan Garang Akau, who together with co-founder, Darius Golkar, started the organization with the aim to share the entrepreneurial savvy of Silicon Valley with Garang’s community in Southern Sudan.

Bringing together best-selling authors, world-class athletes, Silicon Valley CEOs, a Nobel Laureate, venture capitalists, and a community of friends, the gala event on June 2nd aims to raise funds for New Scholars and their efforts to rebuild and stabilize Sudan through social enterprise.

To be a part of this magical event to help rebuild the world’s newest economy, register at nsgala.eventbrite.com. If you would like to be a proxy bidder, please send a note to Silvia at silviacb@auctionomics.com.

p.s. Thank you to gala chairs Silvia Console Battilana (Stanford economist and past chair of the Samasource gala), Richard Titus, and Robin Farmanfarmaian (Encore president and past chair of the SF ballet gala) for organizing this fabulous event!

At last week’s DiasporaCamp DC in Washington, DC we had a great time chatting with Rad Shakur, co-founder of CasaDiCulture. Check out the video above to learn about Casa di Culture (a mix of Italian and English meaning ‘house of culture’).

The online company was started by three sisters in 2007, as the brand for the modern nomad. Items combine culturally inspired designs paired with flight-friendly and travel-comfy items like t-shirts, wrap skirts and tube scarves. All of the designs are inspired by the sights, smells and sounds of their travels. Each item is thoughtfully designed; most of the t-shirts are 100% organic cotton and are printed with non-toxic inks, and all of the accessories are handmade and/or hand-casted. To join the Casa Di Culture community, you can also visit their online blog and join them on Facebook.

Thanks for your time to chat with us, Rad!

Rad Shakur: At CasaDiCulture we call ourselves the brand for the modern nomad. It was started three years ago by three women, originally from the Washington, DC area, but our experiences took us abroad. We’ve lived, studied, and traveled, and just have friends from many different places. So when we came back here it was hard to find others who were just interested in traveling or just getting to know other people. So that’s why we originally started the company – to promote diversity and then in our products we use organic cotton and non-toxic inks to promote social awareness as well.

So we have a platform on Facebook and you can find us on Twitter. We also like to do blogs and write about current things like international fashion, write about environmental issues, so we try to be holistic in our approach. But our items – we carry t-shirts because we figure that’s kind of the most global thing that young people wear. In our t-shirts we use international and global images that remind us of the places we’ve been – the sights, the sounds, the smells. So, that’s what we do.

We design in-house. Like the skirt I have was designed in-house: this is Batik sourced from Africa. But everything we do, these earrings (for example) – we have a jeweler … so everything we do we try to work either with entrepreneurs but most of the stuff is done in-house. We have a printer and they use non-toxic inks. Everything else – we have button earrings, we have soaps that we make handmade. So we do it ourselves.

We carry t-shirts, we carry skirts, earrings, and also bamboo tea which is very good for blood circulation. So we carry several different products but we’re all online so it’s accessible. We do have some wholesalers like on here in DC and there’s a boutique in Switzerland that carries our stuff and we’re expanding. We’re based online and the url is www.CasaDiCulture.com, and it’s a combination of “casa” “di” “culture”, three languages that we put together.

Thank you so much Rad!

Rad Shakur | Co-Founder, CasaDiCulture

About: Started by three sisters in 2007 as the brand for the modern nomad, CasaDiCulture is an online company featuring items that combine culturally inspired designs with flight-friendly and travel-comfy items like t-shirts, wrap skirts and tube scarves. Website: www.CasaDiCulture.com

Following up on a successful event last summer, DiasporaCamp DC takes place again this Saturday, July 24, 2010 with the aim to bring together the African Diaspora and people interested in Africa to exchange ideas on entrepreneurship, innovation, and development in Africa.

With over 100 people planning to attend DiasporaCamp DC 2010, the gathering is certain to be an amazing event. We’re happy to announce that the envisionGood team will be in the house to help capture highlights of the event via video interviews. DiasporaCamp DC 2010 takes place at the School of Advanced International Studies – Johns Hopkins University in Washington, DC.

The theme of DiasporaCamp DC 2010 is “Financial Innovations For African Small & Medium-Scale Enterprises”. Given that access to capital is one of the greatest challenges that ventures face, the event’s focus on investment capital for start-up, small, and medium-sized businesses is certain to be informative. Stay tuned for insights we gain at DiasporaCamp DC 2010!

P.S. For highlights from last year’s DiaporaCamp, check out the video below featuring our globetrotting producer Shara Karasic‘s interview with Ashifi Gogo, CEO at Sproxil.com, PhD Innovation Fellow at Dartmouth College, Co-founder at mPedigree.org, and 2009 World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer. In this interview, Ashifi talks about BarCamp Diaspora, mPedigree, and the future of scientific research in Ghana.

When it comes to sustainability, we know that the most sustainable choice we can make is to reuse what we already have or buy “barely used” products. On those occasions when we are looking for a new product, however, the next best choice is to buy sustainably. Launching in July (this month!), a new social enterprise in San Francisco, California called Spheresavers aims to help consumers save money on products and services from sustainable businesses striving to balance people, planet and profit.

What does it mean to “buy sustainable”?

According to Wikipedia, a sustainable business is “any organization that participates in environmentally-friendly or green activities to ensure that all processes, products, and manufacturing activities adequately address current environmental concerns while maintaining a profit.”

How much money can you save?

According to Spheresavers, the amount you can save depends on the business, but it can range from 10% to 50% (or more). Beyond the savings, Spheresavers will introduce consumers to great products and services that are vetted for sustainability.

When does Spheresavers launch?

To be notified of the launch and learn more about this start-up, be sure to check them out at Spheresavers.com.

This is Part 1 of a 4-Part series with Dan Morrison, Founder of Citizen Effect.

Dan shares insights on “citizen philanthropy” and shares the behind-the-scenes story that inspired him to start Citizen Effect. In our next interview we talk with Dan about how a strong business background and a knowledgeable and talented advisory board are critical when launching a new business like Citizen Effect. You can catch Part II here.

Thank you Dan for your time to meet for this interview.

Behind-The-Scenes: Citizen Philanthropy & How Citizen Effect Got Started

Katrina: Thank you so much for joining. I’m here with Dan Morrison, the Founder of Citizen Effect. And Dan can you tell us a little bit about Citizen Effect?

Dan: Sure. Citizen Effect basically is a platform that empowers anybody to be a philanthropist. The whole idea is that you don’t have to be Bill Gates to save the world. So because of technology and the internet and mobile, you can actually reach and interact with communities halfway around the world and build relationships and have a real impact on their lives. You can actually pick your own project, and then we give you the platform to bring your family and friends all together to raise the money for that project. And probably the most important thing is we put you in direct contact with that community so you see the impact that you are having.

Katrina: How do you connect citizen philanthropists with global communities?

Dan: We go around the world to try to identify best-in-class organizations. They can be big NGOs, they can be small community-based organizations, but ones that have a really strong relationship in that community. And so they actually source the projects, implement the projects and manage all the projects, and they facilitate the communication between the community members there on the ground and the citizen philanthropists and all their donors.

Katrina: Speaking of a citizen philanthropist, can you just share a little bit, what is a citizen philanthropist?

Dan: The way we think of philanthropy is, it’s not just a giver, it’s not someone who just makes a donation. We’re actually looking for those people who just don’t want to give fifty dollars, they want to bring their friends and family together in a strong community relationship and raise five thousand dollars.

Katrina: How is citizen philanthropy different than donating to a cause online?

Dan: I think it’s important to understand that philanthropy is a long-term strategic investment and relationship that you have with another community. That’s what we consider as citizen philanthropy and how it’s different than just giving donations.

Katrina: Fantastic. And can you share, what inspired you to launch and start an organization and build this platform?

Dan: The inspiration for this is really a woman named Reema Nanavatyi. And she was one of the leaders of the Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) which is an amazing group in India. And I met her and she invited me to come see the work they were doing in northwest India. And I just toured around the rural villages for two weeks helping them and just, really, listening to their stories. And hearing these amazing stories about these poor farmers, these rye pickers, these poor artisans. And they obviously had a very difficult life, which I was completely foreign to – I’m a suburban boy from the western side of Chicago, and have no idea what it’s like to live that life.

And they’re also filled with hope and saw the potential of what was possible. And one of them came to me and said, “we don’t want your help, we don’t want you to tell us what to do, what we want to do is partner with you so we can take advantage of the opportunities right in front of us.” And, I think that was really the big motivation. And then the next woman came along and said, “you know I’m walking four hours a day for water, we know we can build this well in this community, and if we can do that, we’ll unlock the potential of all the women in the community, we’ll improve the health of the community…”

And so I went home and with friends and family raised five thousand dollars for the well. And that’s really how it started.

Thank you Dan, for time to meet for this interview.

Dan Morrison | Founder, Citizen Effect

About: Citizen Effect provides citizens with the tools and networks they need to work directly with communities in need around the world, enabling every individual to be a citizen philanthropist. Website: www.CitizenEffect.org

We had a delightful chat with Ella Gorgla, Managing Director and Co-Founder of The Khana Group, in New York City at Africa Social Enterprise Forum. In this video interview, Ella tells us about the new face of Africa, and the role that Africans like herself are playing to develop the continent – in Ella’s case specifically, West Africa and Liberia. Watch this video to learn more about The Khana Group and hear what Ella has to say about the “gift of wanting to be an entrepreneur”. Thanks for watching. What thoughts and/or insights can you share about entrepreneurship &/or Africa? Please drop us a note here at envisionGood.tv, or join us at our other online hangout at Twitter @envisionGood. Thanks!

The Full Transcript:

KATRINA: So here we are with Ella of The Khana Group. We’re at the Africa Social Enterprise Forum in New York City. [Can you please share Ella, what is The Khana Group?]

ELLA: The Khana Group is a consulting and advisory firm that focuse on raising capital for entrepreneurs in West Africa. Our primary focus is Liberia. All four managing partners are Liberian, but we also focus on Ghana and Nigeria as well. I’m a founding member of The Khana Group. And it’s a unique social enterprise in the sense that we are a for-profit company and we sort of cut across all sectors of business. Beyond health care and education we actually work on real estate projects, we work on technology-oriented projects. I’m actually doing a great new venture right now in the specialty coffee and teas area, looking at sourcing organic products from Africa.

So, our goal is just that with every single project that we do is that those ventures have some kind of societal impact – they’re creating jobs, providing intellectual capital within the country, and we feel that that is a really good way to effect change. When you’re raising capital for entrepreneurs they tend to listen to your suggestions in terms of how they can be socially impactful.
KATRINA: What attracted you to this field of social enterprise?

ELLA: I’m Liberian. My background is in consulting. And I’ve always wanted to be an entrepreneur. And I always felt that I wanted to be a part of that new face of Africa.
KATRINA: What have been some of your challenges as an entrepreneur?

ELLA: Making money [haha]. You know, in the beginning that was a challenge. We’re very fortunate in the sense that, very early on, we got great media coverage. I actually had the opportunity to be on CNBC to talk about the importance of investing in Africa. And I thin the challenge for us was focusing our ideas, you know having a fairly clear focus. And, closing deals, believe it or not. A lot of people enjoyed talking to us, everyone took our calls you know. But closing that deal, sealing contracts, that is a challenge.
KATRINA: Fantastic. And you were on a panel earlier today on “the making of a social entrepreneur”, can you share some top-level insights that you shared with the group?

ELLA: Yeah – one thing I said to the group is that I believe that the desire to be an entrepreneur is a gift, that not everyone wants to be an entrepreneur. You know, a lot of people are very comfortable working their way up that corporate ladder. And so if you have that gift, it’s something that you ought to respond to. And I think that people did understand that and take that to heart.
KATRINA: How does The Khana Group fit into the context of Africa, at large?

ELLA: One of the things that happening and that people don’t realize is that with poor financial markets, I mean we’re rebounding but it’s still fairly poor financial markets here in the U.S., that it’s possible to make significant returns in Africa across different sectors, whether it’s infrastructure or real estate. Right now in Ghana you have a growing middle class. In Sierra Leone you have growing wealth.

And so, one thing that we try to do is, is to help these individuals create these enterprises. We don’t do microfinancing. Generally speaking the deals that we focus on are around two and a half billion (USD) or more in terms of capital requirements. And so I feel like we’re part of that “new face”, to bring in the capital to Africa and also apply some corporate discipline, if you will, some western discipline, because you still have to still have to manage that terrain in terms of how to do work in Africa the African way. But you still want to provide proper governance, address issues such as corruption, etc.

The most important thing is really understanding that the face of Africa is changing. And that you have entrepreneurs such as myself who are African but who are educated right here in the U.S., and we’re all very interested in going back and making a difference. You have people from the diaspora who have this newfound interest. CNBC has been a huge supporter of ours, they are continuing to unveil this new face of Africa. So, I think people need to get onboard.

KATRINA: Wonderful, where can everyone find you on the web?

ELLA: We are at TheKhanaGroup.com

KATRINA: Thank you so much.

ELLA: Thank you, thanks for having us.

KATRINA: Of course! : )

Ella Gorgla, Founding Member of The Khana Group:

About: The Khana Group (TKG) is a leading US advisory firm focusing on West Africa. TKG combines knowledge of Africa’s economy with specialized expertise in strategy, operations, investment and risk management. Website: www.TheKhanaGroup.com