Original passion

I recently came back from a weeklong trip to Europe and was swapping stories with my wife about the week. She admitted what I already knew, that my five-year-old son has started to really notice my absence when I travel for work.
“But,” she said, “It’s actually really easy to explain to him why you’re away.  [...]

Wow! We did it.

Thanks to all of you and to friends around the world, today my birthday wish came true!
Goal: raise $720 for Acumen Fund online in 5 days
Result as of 2:49pm 11:59pm, Aug 28, 2009:   $810.72 $968.72 raised ($380 $538 on Facebook Causes; $430.72 directly to Acumen Fund)
Unexpected result: learning by doing; seeing what does and doesn’t [...]

Sales 101

Mea culpa.  I fell into the oldest trap in the sales book.  I did a good job of explaining a need, and then I asked my blog readers to give to Acumen Fund before this Friday.
But I let you all down, so I wanted to apologize.  I didn’t explain the most important thing.
This is about [...]

My birthday wish

My 36th birthday is coming up this Friday.  One of my clearest memories as a child is of my father as a 36 year-old. Through my six-year-old eyes, that age stuck in my mind as the age of a real grown-up. Now that I’m turning 36 this Friday, it doesn’t feel exactly the [...]

Act now, only 40 tickets left!

Lots of people talk about wanting to help.  Taking the time and the energy to create something of beauty that makes a difference…rare indeed.
I’m beside myself in thanks to the amazing volunteers who have put together a benefit photo auction for Acumen Fund, this Thursday (tomorrow!). The Nuru Project is putting on the show (and [...]

The simplest nonprofit ven diagram ever

I presented today to an amazing group of 30+ summer interns and new hires who are about to start working for Acumen Fund, E+Co, Root Capital, Agora, IGNIA and Endeavor – all organizations that are supporting entrepreneurship in the developing world to promote economic development and poverty alleviation.  The training was organized by the Aspen [...]

Jacqueline Novogratz on Charlie Rose tonight

Jacqueline Novogratz, Acumen Fund CEO and author of The Blue Sweater, is going to be on Charlie Rose tonight at 11pm (here’s the replay). We just learned about this…thought it was going to be next week.
So if you want to hear the story behind The Blue Sweater, now’s the time to tune in! [...]

The other 690

Last week when speaking on the “Creating Private Capital Markets” Panel at the Harvard Social Enterprise Conference, I noted that one of the big opportunities for Acumen Fund and other organizations in our sector is to capitalize on a huge influx of talent.  Demand to work in our sector is at an all-time high, the [...]

What is your theory of change?

(Note: this post first appeared on the Acumen Fund blog.)
On Sunday, March 1st, I had the opportunity to speak on two panels at the 10th Annual Harvard Social Enterprise Conference.  The SE Conference is an impressive, energetic gathering, that packed in more than 1,000 attendees on a snowy day in Boston.  The backdrop of the [...]

A big week

The Blue Sweater, written by Acumen Fund CEO Jacqueline Novogratz, hits stores today.  Bruce Nussbaum, editor of Business Week, says the book will “will make you cry as it makes you think.”  And Nick Kristoff called Jacqueline “one of the most interesting innovators in aid and development.”  I found the book to be incredibly powerful, [...]