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Prized for Founding The Acumen Fund
"Philanthropy alone lacks the feedback mechanisms of markets, which are the best listening devices we have; and yet markets alone too easily leave the most vulnerable behind."
Would you have the guts to give up a high-paying job on Wall Street to try to change the world? Jacqueline Novogratz did. After three years of working as an international banker, she accepted a position with a nonprofit microfinance organization working in Africa.
It wasn't an easy transition. Many of the organization's women were angry to have a slender, young, American girl for their new boss. Most of her family and friends thought she was crazy. But eventually, Jacqueline was able to find her niche. She moved to Rwanda, where she co-founded the country's first microfinance organization called Duterimbere. While there, she also helped to overhaul "the blue bakery" (that she later found out should have been green). Jacqueline's time in Africa changed her forever: believing that an understanding of business is essential to creating sustainable, scalable, and empowering solutions, she left Africa to pursue an MBA.
After business school, Jacqueline worked for the Rockefeller Foundation, directing their Philanthropy Workshop and Next Generation Leadership program. During this time, her vision of a combination of philanthropy and business solutions began to solidify.
In 2001, Jacqueline's vision culminated in the foundation of The Acumen Fund, a venture fund that uses a business approach to fight global poverty. The fund invests both money and business expertise in new businesses and organizations that offer valuable services and products to the poor. Jacqueline says, "We termed [it] patient capital--not traditional charity, not traditional business, but something in-between."Today, The Acumen Fund is helping over 36 million people through investing millions of dollars in 35 "thriving enterprises" throughout East Africa, India, and Pakistan.
Sources
The Blue Sweater by Jacqueline Novogratz
(fantastic read)
(fantastic read)
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