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let there d.light! This is Sam Goldman's story. He grew up in Mauritania, Pakistan, Peru, India and Rwanda, was a Peace Corps volunteer in Benin and studied biology and environmental studies in Canada before receiving his MBA from Stanford. “My neighbor’s son in Benin was badly burned by a kerosene lamp. I decided to provide a source of light that is safe and cheap.” This is the story of a social entrepreneur in the making and the building of a global social enterprise: d.light design. 2008-10-08T03:34:16-07:00 84f086482e218309ef06b646502aef02 fatsyndication Christina's first day on the job http://plone.org/ 058782aa12cbbd07da30eb211dc99fca I am experimenting with letting others describe d.light from their Point of View's. Meet Christina as she writes about day 1 of her new job with d.light. From auto-rickshaws and monkeys to hindi fonts and microfinance jaunts. d.light has it all. Sam Goldman 2008-10-08T03:34:16-07:00 2008-10-08T03:34:16-07:00 "The Cycle of Pants" http://plone.org/ 24e9c5cd0c88559265dfb31fb543abc5 The journey of a pair of lucky pants from JC Penney to helping found d.light to Bihar's flood plain. Sam Goldman 2008-10-01T22:38:07-07:00 2008-10-02T13:29:38-07:00 Lighting the Way- Vote www.voteforsolar.com $2.5M to light up homes in Sierra Leone http://plone.org/ 0de85d9f717e90c60b6de8733f2f487b The American Express' Members Project competition is well underway. This competition asks individuals to submit humanitarian project ideas for selection and public voting. The top 5 projects share $2.5 million in funding. Last week, the top 25 projects out of the initial 1200 were announced. One of these is the Lighting the Way project submitted by Nikhil Arora, Ryan Panchadsaram, and Ali Ansary. Sam Goldman 2008-09-24T21:22:57-07:00 2008-09-26T14:38:36-07:00 Quick d.light Update http://plone.org/ 5c6cb81fd5f3df35845784354ffbac70 Its high time for an update on d.light's progress and customers. Sam Goldman 2008-09-07T11:46:57-07:00 2008-09-08T11:32:06-07:00 Internalizing Interns http://plone.org/ 1c989c447cadc8b177848661751d530c Summer Interns are amazing. I salute our interns today. I also have to thank the Skoll Foundation for this medium. This blog has found d.light may fantastic partners and new interns and I look forward to meeting many more people through it! Blogs work - Almost as hard as interns :) Sam Goldman 2008-08-19T11:17:34-07:00 2008-09-08T11:32:32-07:00 the more the merrier... maybe not http://plone.org/ 66d8345385bc40e1e6a5cfa62201bb0f Sam Goldman 2008-07-21T10:46:48-07:00 2008-07-21T10:46:48-07:00 Getting the d.juice flowing http://plone.org/ fd6317f6a268c51bd8155c117e8acaed This last saturday we held our first design training for d.light's India team and it was awesome! A huge thank you to Sarah and Joe for their participation and coaching. The design process is certainly all about practice - and if felt great to get back to our roots and go out - observe - synthesize - brainstorm - prototype - and create. Also - a quick plug for all PD's to check out: http://dlightdesign.com/jobs/JD-PD-India.pdf Sam Goldman 2008-07-06T11:38:05-07:00 2008-07-08T11:47:27-07:00 28yr Old Kamla Devy http://plone.org/ aa5a9cebd63f227eabe1117420494fd4 d.light was created, funded, and is fueled by stories. I particularly like the story of Kamla Devy and her husband Udayveer. I was shocked, amazed, and really excited when Kamla's husband, Udayveer, called up 2 friday's ago with an announcement... Sam Goldman 2008-06-29T12:00:54-07:00 2008-06-29T12:00:54-07:00 It feels like day 1 http://plone.org/ 7a5e7f48b8aac210a9ba02bf957451ab This has been one of the most exciting weeks for me in d.light. We've moved into our new branch office in Noida, UP, and are adding almost 1 person everyday! The team is incredible and work is exhilarating. The best thing thats happened to me in d.light in the last 4 months is surrounding myself with all these awesome and motivated employees. Sam Goldman 2008-06-18T02:02:20-07:00 2008-06-18T02:02:20-07:00 The King Size Bed Sheet Revelation http://plone.org/ 65bb3bc51b00886fd21e0238dfb25369 I don't like shopping. and i'm not a huge fan of Pink. but looking for bedsheets made me realize getting local staff and local designers is a higher priority than I would have thought. welcome to the king size bed sheet revelation... and its impact on growing a global corporate culture. Sam Goldman 2008-06-02T04:10:19-07:00 2008-06-02T04:10:19-07:00 Value for Money Is no Joke. Neither is For-ex Hedging. http://plone.org/ 6867bb714e8b5c209ba1ac1f674d59f3 After our visits to several villages and towns last week, the lights work. Thats for sure -we could barely drive our car down the road without gettting stopped with another request to purchase. That said - its troubling times for a manufacture. I wish I had paid more attention in b-school to hedging markets and currency! we're learning fast.... Sam Goldman 2008-05-27T22:13:20-07:00 2008-05-27T22:13:20-07:00 Sawed off shot-gun what? http://plone.org/ 5054457361353b18c278e508a445d6f7 My girlfriend just arrived in town - and unfortunately the power went out, our water ran dry, and the thermometer is climbing. I wish I could have welcomed her in a different way. Tomorrow we are heading out to the villages for a few days of added roughness - intending to hold some community meetings. These are definitely not on the tourist circuit - and this is something I really like about d.light and our community - we don't take the easy road. Then again - we've got to be careful. Sam Goldman 2008-05-18T10:25:13-07:00 2008-05-18T10:25:13-07:00 Yeah for Growing Teams | Sadness for Myanmar http://plone.org/ 7cdacf161d8cb37aea91667ff7d9a574 There really is nothing like building up a good team. I have been struggling the past few months in India essentially alone, and I'm overjoyed that we are hiring great people to re-enforce our Indian and Chinese teams. To me, this is really what its all about - with great people I feel like we can make anything happen! On another note.. Myanmar is a country dear to d.light's heart.. and the current events have deeply troubled us all. We are looking for a way to support the efforts there when the time is right and with the right partners. Sam Goldman 2008-05-08T02:28:54-07:00 2008-05-08T02:28:54-07:00 how many extra lights does d.light have to sell every time I email our lawyers http://plone.org/ 3382186624826fff28b32da1b3181b74 When will we democratizing law (or at least make it affordable)? What if the language of law was more accessible for every person - whether they are drafting a will, signing a housing lease, making a distributor contract, or incorporating a new social enterprise? I am spending a lot of time these days (and its distracting me from my mission!) getting d.light's various subsidiaries set-up properly. I would love to find resources that can put the maze of legal templates, case-studies, distributor and rep office contracts, and other legal matters into an intelligible and readily accessible format (google please help!!!) and for FREE. Sam Goldman 2008-04-28T15:14:54-07:00 2008-04-28T15:18:00-07:00 Moving overseas wasn't supposed to be this difficult :) http://plone.org/ 73b9db28b23f158d1416d0d0be69b23b I am used to moving. I moved my whole life. In fact, for the last 7 months I was living out of a suitcase and others generosity. I never even paid rent. I was super excited to get to New Delhi, quickly get a house, and start team-building.... but I'm learning that operating on silicon valley and d.light time, just means that really I'll operate on India time.