Things here at the office are running smoothly; with the exception of our silverware drawer. We have a distinct lack of regular forks (I’ve been using the plastic ones), which is odd since there seems to be a cornucopia of spoons (out of five compartments, four are filled with spoons, with the remaining space dedicated to butter knives). To compliment my eclectic cutlery, I have been reading a wide variety of sources. Everything from Forces for Good, to Reports from Esther Duflo crowd both my desk and mind, and I unashamedly took my Nutrition Research Binder home last weekend to discuss with anyone who would listen. People might think I’m becoming a bit preoccupied with my work here at Philanthropiece, but it’s really a matter of priorities. Some have their career and their passions separated; I see no need for this. After all, I think no one is going to argue that I am misusing my time by returning my thoughts time and time again to various poverty alleviation methods. And going out on a limb, I’m going to assume that if you’re reading this we have similar interests, so I’d like to share an interesting lead with you. Mentioned above, Esther Duflo is implementing truly innovative techniques to the social sector. She is applying testing similar to that of the medical field to assess the effectiveness of social entrepreneurship and policies. You can find her reports here: http://www.povertyactionlab.org/duflo , or read the article in the May 17th issue of The New Yorker (a subscription is required to read it online, but you can access an abstract here, http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/05/17/100517fa_fact_parker). Enjoy!
By Carrie Keith, Philanthropiece Office Intern