Five days in Nairobi slums changes you.
— Jacqueline Novogratz
Today, 30-year-olds are becoming social entrepreneurs.
Despite the hundreds of non-governmental organizations and the continued outpouring of foreign aid, East Africa remains as a region overwhelmed by extreme poverty.
As both developed and developing nations search for alternative sources of energy in response to the growing energy crisis, we at Acumen Fund believe that investing in entrepreneurs who provide innovative energy solutions is an increasingly critical part of the solution.
There are cases where government-to-government aid actually has worked. Look at the eradication of smallpox and the near eradication of polio. But these are really top down solutions that require government-to-government support and aid.
I think we so often equate leadership with being experts - the leader is supposed to come in and fix things. But in this interconnected world we live in now, it's almost impossible for just one person to do that.
Philanthropy is no longer about writing a check for $10,000 to the opera.
People have to understand that unless social enterprise is experimental, it will not succeed in making a difference.
Acumen Fund's patient capital investment in Western Seed is intended to enhance the food security and economic independence of Kenya's smallholder farmers.
Sproxil will help combat the multi-billion dollar counterfeit drug market, empower customers, and give them the resources to make informed pharmaceutical purchasing decisions.
You have to learn to ask questions in a way that will elicit more nuanced answers, rather than the answers you would like to get.
I would like philanthropists to take more risks and invest more in risk capital.
Through the Fellows Program, Acumen Fund prepares future global leaders with the tools necessary to drive significant social change.
Companies like Husk Power Systems are working to impact positively not only the environment, but to ensure that someday everyone, including the poorest of the poor in rural India, will have access to clean and affordable electricity.
I wrote 'The Blue Sweater' to inspire more people to become engaged in working to solve the problems of global poverty.
Leaders can get stuck in groupthink because they're really not listening, or they're listening only to what they want to listen to, or they actually think they're so right that they're not interested in listening. And that leads to a lot of suboptimal solutions in the world.
