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Literacy for a billion: PlanetRead

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

One of the most exciting literacy social enterprises that I've run into is PlanetRead. When Brij heard I was going to South India, he insisted I visit his team in Pondicherry. They have also done extensive measurements of their impact and see real progress on advancing literacy. Another example of scale, South Asian style!

Literacy 104
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Bookshare without Borders: #1/3

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

Bookshare , our flagship literacy program, is the world’s largest accessible library and currently serves more than 230,000 members with visual and learning disabilities. But this is just the tip of the iceberg, as literacy remains an elusive dream for the majority of the world’s people with print disabilities.

India 225
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Mobilizing Impact at the 2013 Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

Judy Heumann (left) moderating the panel on empowering the world''s billion people with disabilities On the second day of the CGI Annual Meeting, I announced Benetech’s Commitment to Action : Leveraging Technology to Bring Books to the Blind in India. Our commitment was selected as an exemplary approach to addressing a global challenge.

Global 134
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American India Foundation

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

My last stop in New Delhi was to visit the American India Foundation, which is the largest Silicon Valley/India foundation. We wrapped up with a lunch back at the AIF offices, where I got to meet Shankar Venkateswaran, the head of AIF in India, and many of his team.

India 100
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10X: CEO’s Update: Spring 2014

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

Technology currently serves privileged groups through tools that provide access to education, literacy, health, and justice. Global Literacy Sixth Grader and Bookshare member Kevin Leong with Jim Fruchterman at Benetech''s offices. But what about everybody else? The time has never been better to think 10X bigger!

Literacy 158
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President’s Update: Fall 2013

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

Highlights of this Update: Global Literacy Human Rights Benetech Labs Communications Global Literacy Bookshare celebrated a double milestone this summer, reaching over 200,000 available titles in our collection and serving over 250,000 members with disabilities! The Treaty was signed on the spot by over 50 countries.

India 142
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A Social Publishing Strategy by John Gautam, Pratham Books

Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media

Note from Beth: During my trip to India in February, I was introduced to a nonprofit children's book publisher in India, Pratham Books. “It was set up to fill a gap in the market for good quality, reasonably priced children’s books in a variety of Indian languages. India has a reading problem and the problem is two fold.

India 99