Choosing a superhero: Jacqueline Novogratz
As part of her Squidoo Superheroes project for charity, Anne Reidy asked me to profile someone who inspires, who leads, who makes a difference. This was a surprisingly easy choice.
The Acumen Fund is patient capital. They invest money in companies run by and for the developing world. If those investments pay off, they take the profit and do it again. Trade, not aid. Creating infrastructure through commerce, teaching people to be self sufficient.
Jacqueline isn't particularly well known, but that's because she keeps a low profile, not because she isn't making a difference. This page will give you an overview of the work she's doing now.
Jacqueline Novogratz, organizer, motivator, ruckus-maker
Before developing Acumen Fund, Jacqueline served as Manager of Special Projects at the Rockefeller Foundation, where she created and directed The Philanthropy Workshop, an international philanthropic education program that built a network of 100 philanthropists in the U.S. and Argentina; and The Next Generation Leadership, a program focused on building a corps of 21st century leaders. She has also worked at the Joyce Mertz-Gilmore Foundation.
Jacqueline founded the first bank by and for women in Rwanda. She has worked as a consultant to UNICEF and the World Bank in various African countries. Jacqueline began her career in International Banking and holds an MBA from Stanford University and a BA from the University of Virginia.

Building a new world
Jacqueline Novogratz on Wikipedia
Jacqueline Novogratz is founder and CEO of Acumen Fund, a non-profit global venture fund that works to solve the problems of global poverty by delivering affordable, critical goods and services ? like health, housing and water ? to the poor.
Acumen Fund is a non-profit venture fund that uses entrepreneurial approaches to solve the problems of global poverty. The organization seeks to build financially sustainable and scalable organizations that use market-based solutions to reach the four billion people on earth living on less than $4 a day. Acumen Fund raises charitable contributions from individuals, corporations and foundations, which it invests ? in the form of loans, equity and occasional grants ? in order to build financially viable organizations that will deliver affordable, critical goods and services to under-served groups at the Bottom of the Pyramid (BOP). Acumen Fund also provides intensive managerial and technical assistance to both non-profit and for-profit enterprises in order to help them suceeed (sicsic). Investments to date include drip irrigation in India, long-lasting anti-malaria bednets in Africa and housing for the poor in Pakistan. The organization works in six countries in South Asia and Africa with offices in the U.S., India, Pakistan, and Kenya.
Jacqueline began her career in international banking with Chase Manhattan Bank after attending the University of Virginia. Prior to Acumen Fund, Jacqueline founded and directed The Philanthropy Workshop and The Next Generation Leadership program at the Rockefeller Foundation. She also founded Duterimbere, a microfinance institution in Rwanda. She is currently on the advisory boards of Stanford Graduate School of Business and of Innovations Journal published by MIT Press. She is an Aspen Institute Henry Crown fellow and a Synergos Institute Senior Fellow. She is a frequent speaker at international conferences, including the World Economic Forum, the Clinton Global Initiative and the TED Conference.

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Jacqueline Novogratz: Tackling poverty with "patient capita
http://www.ted.com - Jacqueline Novogratz is pioneering new ways of tackling poverty. In her view, traditional charity rarely delivers lasting results. Her solution, outlined here through a series of revealing personal stories, is "patient capital": support for "bottom of the pyramid" businesses which the commercial market alone couldn't provide. The result: sustainable jobs, goods, services -- and dignity -- for the world's poorest.
Runtime: 20:20
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6 Comments:
Shout Out For Jacqueline Novogratz!
Share your stories, sightings, thoughts, rants, raves...
| dtbs
don't know here but wish i did. thanks for sharing this info! please check mine out at----------------> Kava Kava. Posted July 14, 2008 |
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BFuniv.com
"The humility to start listening." - Jacqueline Novogratz What a basis for a micro-finance.I love the blending of capitalism and philanthropy. Posted July 07, 2008 |
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alicesy
Excellent Lens. I like the quality insight you have provided here about Jacqueline Novogratz. Keep up the good work. Posted June 25, 2008 |
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JaguarJulie
What an incredible person ... she is indeed awe-inspiring to the rest of us. How did the Acumen Fund become associated with Squidoo? I'm sure there is an inspirational story there. Posted June 24, 2008 |
| Spook
An almost unbelievably difficult thing to reply to. Having lived most of my life in Africa and also having been profoundly deaf fot 36 years (so I understand prejudice).It,s not the aid that counts, the real tragedy strikes because of unscrupolous leaders. My beloved country Zimbabwe is a perfect example. There's no reason for the people to be poor. It stems from bad leadership. Unfortunatly, most people tend to support the underdog,it's only part and parcel of human nature. However supporting the underdog, all evidence to the contrary not withstanding is a very bad thing. We often used to say that it is aid agencies who cause half the problems,because it teaches simple people to bring out the begging bowls instead of fending for themselves. However having said that it in no ways diminishes from the great humanitarian gift which acumen are providing. However the real problem does not lie there. Look to Rhodesia, we never had a problem with people starving,but the Mugabe was the answer. Posted June 18, 2008 |
This woman is remarkable. KUDOS
Posted June 16, 2008
P.S. If you buy something from this page...
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Some inspiring books
The Bottom Billion: Why the Poorest Countries are Failing and What Can Be Done About It by Paul Collier
Global poverty, Paul Collier points out, is actual more...0 points
The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid: Eradicating Poverty Through Profits (Wharton School Publishing Paperbacks) by CK Prahalad
The world's most exciting, fastest-growing new mar more...0 points
It is being done-profitably. Whether you're a business leader or an anti-poverty activist, business guru Prahalad shows why you can't afford to ignore "Bottom of the Pyramid" (B...
0 pointsInteresting Acumen links
www.ethanzuckerman.com
Ethan Zuckerman interview0 points
Red Herring Interviews Acumen CEO Jacqueline Novogratz | NextBillion.net - Development Through Enterprise
Red Herring Interview0 points
TED | Speakers | Jacqueline Novogratz
TED Speakers Jacqueline Novogratz0 points
www.echoinggreen.org
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More videos!
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