At last year's APTE Summit, we had a conversation with a panel of social entrepreneurs from Detroit on the future of their city. In anticipation of this year's summit on February 28th, we've decided to revisit Detroit and talk with emerging social business Rebel Nell, co-founded by Amy Peterson!

Rebel Nell repurposes graffiti as high-fashion jewelery. They employ local homeless and at-risk women, involving them in every aspect of production and marketing, and teaching them business skills in the process. We talk to Amy about the social goals of Rebel Nell and the role that small artisan companies can play in Detroit's revitalization.

Check out Rebel Nell here: http://www.rebelnell.com/

Our guest this week is Dheeraj Duggineni, co-founder of the Pure Water Access Project and recent OSU grad. PWAP, which Dheeraj and his friends started as freshmen in college, is a research organization that works with non-profits and local communities to make clean water interventions as effective and sustainable as possible.

We talk to Dheeraj about PWAP's expansion into three countries, their future plans, and the "delusional optimism" that led him to start a nonprofit in college.

You can find out more about PWAP (which is based in Columbus!) here:

http://www.purewateraccessproject.com/

After a summer hiatus, the APTE Podcast is back! In this episode, we talk to Evanna Hu, an entrepreneur who grew up around Columbus and has gone on to start a number of incredible projects around the world. Among other things, she is the founder of mobile tech company g.Maarifa, which helps businesses in developing countries train workers, and is working on a multimedia project about entrepreneurs in conflict zones called Collaboration Jenna.

g.Maarifa's website: http://www.gmaarifa.com/

Music: "Slow Burn" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

This week, we sat down with PackH20, a Columbus-based firm that has a simple but important mission: Make water easier and safer to transport for people in developing countries.

http://www.packh2o.com/index.html

Music: "Slow Burn" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

This week we sit down with Steve Atamian, founder of incredible volunteer organization Global Brigades, which sends more people abroad each year than the Peace Corps yet is sustained entirely through grassroots college chapters. We discuss GB's origins, how the organization ensures lasting solutions, and how conscientious volunteering can bring developing communities out of isolation.

http://www.globalbrigades.org/

Music: "Slow Burn" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

We find ourselves in Nairobi this week, talking to Veronica D'Souza of the up-and-coming and extremely unique company Ruby Cup. Ruby Cup's mission is to provide reusable menstrual cups to women in Kenya - and we talk about how a product that seems so mundane in the US can have such incredible, far-reaching effects in a place like Nairobi.

http://www.ruby-cup.com/en/

Music: "Slow Burn" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

This week, we talk to two of the winners of last year's APTE Business Competition - Wes Meier of Honduras-based nonprofit EOS International, and Amena Mian of Project Sina, an ethical clothing company that employs women in Karachi, Pakistan - to hear how the Biz Comp helped them grow their startups.

http://aptesummit.org/business-competition

http://eosinternational.org/

http://www.projectsina.com/

Music: "Slow Burn" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

Buy one/give one businesses - companies that donate something to charity for every unit purchased - are becoming increasingly common. How can they balance their profit motive with their social goals? We sit down with Peter Walters, marketing director for Two Degrees, a food bar company that contributes to hunger alleviation projects around the world, to talk about this issue and how he got involved in social entrepreneurship.

Music: "Slow Burn" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0