November 2007

As the holidays approach, I thought it appropriate to share this piece of news with you from our Housing Portfolio.  We have an investment in Jamii Bora, a community development organization founded by Ingrid Monro. She has been working with slumdwellers in Nairobi for more than a decade, helping form a community that runs their own microfinance institution and, most recently, housing development company. Our investment is focused on helping to build houses for people who want to change their own lives. Ingrid shares our values and belief in the power of every human being and it was her resolve that enable her to start Jamii Bora with a group of fifty beggars (there are now more than 150,000 members). This is a story about one of them who has literally grown up with the organization.

I’m spending this year as an Acumen Fund Fellow in Nairobi, Kenya. After spending two months in New York in training with the Acumen team, the fellows - some of the most incredible individuals I have ever met - have spread out around the world to work with AF’s investees.

I am working with SHeF (Sustainable Healthcare Foundation) – a non-profit franchise model of health care which runs 65 rural health clinics owned and managed by local nurses. I begin my work tomorrow. For those of you interested in learning more about them, check out this PBS documentary.

I boarded my flight to Nairobi after a hectic final 72 hours in NY, with Acumen’s annual Investor Gathering and Gala, and last-minute packing and preparations. Five years ago I sat on the exact same flight, headed to East Africa (Uganda) for the first time. I was anxious and couldn’t sit still. Some of it was Lariam, the anti-malarial that makes many - including me - crazy. It was also the circumstances: An attack on the refugee camp where I was working just before my departure, separation from my family and friends for an unfamiliar world, and a desire to change the world without the slightest idea how to do it.

2007 has not been kind to Bangladesh, one of the most vulnerable regions in South Asia in terms of natural disasters. In July, heavy monsoon rains caused devastating floods, affecting around 10 million people in 34 districts. A second wave of flooding lingered until October, destroying homes and livelihoods. Now the fiercest cyclone in 130 years has hit the southwestern coast, killing some 3,500 people, destroying homes and forcing millions to flee. 

BRAC, a multifaceted organization that works to improve the quality of life of the poor of Bangladesh, has been working to provide emergency assistance. You can read more about their relief efforts on the BRAC blog.

It has been a busy fall, as you can read in our latest quarterly update. CEO Jacqueline Novogratz recently spent a week each in India and Pakistan, and as always, documented her experiences in her journals.  (Click here for India; here for Pakistan.) 

In addition, we are pleased to announce the launch of our new website. While still a work in progress, the site provides a platform for the Acumen Fund community to learn and share stories, insights and information. We’ll be adding new content and features frequently — please visit and let us know what you think!

On Tuesday, Acumen Fund hosted its annual Investor Gathering and Celebration, two of the most important events of the year for us and our community, and the culmination of months of preparation.

Our day-long Investor Gathering allowed us to share our past progress and future strategy with our partner community. Katherine Fulton set the tone for the day, noting shifting trends in philanthropy and the work of engaged donors in leading this new movement. (You can read more about her remarks - and the day - on one of our favorite blogs, nextbillion.net.)

The day was full of memorable discussions, but perhaps the most memorable was a moving performance by the 2008 Acumen Fund fellows who shared their personal stories about the winding road that lead them to Acumen. The Fellows left yesterday for their work with our investment enterprises in Kenya, Pakistan and India, so it was a beautiful way to end their time with the Acumen Fund team in New York.

Overall the day was a celebration of our community and a reminder of how important this work is. You will hear more about the day in coming weeks, from our team as well as from others in our community.

This past Friday and Saturday, over 1,700 MBAs, corporate social responsibility professionals and non-profit leaders gathered in Nashville, Tennessee, at Vanderbilt University’s Owen business school for the annual Net Impact Conference. Since the 90’s, Net Impact has grown its network of MBA students interested in using their business skills to effect change, or as Ian V. Rowe of MTV and a Harvard MBA, said on his panel on malaria, “using our superpowers for good.”

Though in the opening keynote, Yvon Chouinard, founder of Patagonia, admitted he was pessimistic about the fate of the global environment, most speakers who followed exhibited a tremendous degree of optimism about the possibility of making a positive difference. It’s hard not to be optimistic when surrounded by so many talented students of business who are set on doing something with their careers that goes beyond making money.