June 2008

Position: VP of Sales and Operations

Location: New York - with 30% international travel

Organization: VisionSpring (formerly Scojo Foundation) is a global social enterprise, currently operating in 13 countries, which creates jobs and sustains livelihoods through the sale of affordable reading glasses to the 700 million people who require clear, up-close vision to read and work.

VisionSpring trains low-income men and women as “Vision Entrepreneurs” to start microfranchises that conduct vision screenings within local communities, sell affordable reading glasses, and refer those who require advanced eye care to reputable clinics.

Description: The VP of Sales and Operations is responsible for the leadership and management of VisionSpring’s global operations team and the achievement of their operational and sales objectives. The position is a key member of the senior management team and is actively involved in shaping the future direction of the organization.

For more information - including a detailed job description - contact Gretchen Anderson at On-Ramps.

Editor’s Note: This post first appeared on NextBillion.net.

Last night, Ernst & Young announced its 2008 Entrepreneur of the Year awards for the Metro New York region, and Acumen Fund’s own Jacqueline Novogratz took home the award for social enterprises. Given our mission to support amazing entrepreneurs who are building thriving businesses in India, Pakistan and East Africa, it is humbling to be recognized as entrepreneurs ourselves. We’re honored to be included among such impressive company.

A few weeks ago, I received an e-mail from Christine Flanagan, Director of Research for the Business Innovation Factory up in Providence, Rhode Island. The BIF is basically a real-world lab where innovators get together to design and test ideas, with an eye to creating value (not just creating gadgets, for example.) The Factory’s advisors include heavy hitters like IBM’s David Yuan, Harvard’s Clayton Christensen and former PARC Director John Seely Brown.

While poking around the site, I noticed a post on BIF Speak (the Business Innovation Factory blog) about Acumen Fund friend and ally Cat Laine. You may already know Cat as the Deputy Director of the Appropriate Infrastructure Development Group and a blogger in her own right. What you may not know is that Cat has a background in public health and a real passion for serving base of the pyramid customers with appropriate technology. The post explains:

With AIDG, Lainé attempts to stretch the goals of a traditional NGO by throwing savvy “business acumen” into the mix. She brings her own scientific background to the table when the group spearheads a new project, but she also knows the value of a good old-fashioned sales pitch. Bringing new technology to such communities is a matter of gaining trust and demonstrating a need for the product—the same challenges faced by large corporations looking to tap into emerging international markets.

Check it out. Finally, Cat will be speaking alongside Jacqueline Novogratz at the Business Innovation Factory’s Collaborative Innovation Summit this October. Glad to know we’ll be able to touch base with her there as well…

Editor’s note: Acumen Fund ally Tanya Sehgal recently let us know of some exciting opportunities at Indicorps, an organization we admire. If you’re in the market for work - or know someone qualified who is - please read on.

Indicorps is an entrepreneurial organization run by a small, tight-knit community of critical thinkers committed to transforming the world. Their “work” extends conventional boundaries, and includes both philosophical and practical discussions regarding the vision of the organization’s future, pressing social issues, and potential paths towards personal growth.

Given Indicorps’ desire to learn and innovate - as individuals, as an organization, and as a community - it is looking for multi-faceted, dynamic individuals who aspire to effect meaningful change by inspiring individuals to realize their inner capacities. If you are looking for an opportunity to engage with India in a critical, intensely personal way, and hope to meet people with the conviction to effect meaningful change, then you may be an ideal Indicorps staff candidate.

Net Impact held its first conference in Europe last week, achieving a major milestone while paying tribute to the intense interest on the part of European and international MBA students in using business tools to make a positive social impact. The ability of corporations and business tools to drive social change is still a hot topic, and the participants at this conference brought diverse perspectives on the issue and some challenging questions, all related to the conference theme of “Sustainable Prosperity.”

It was my pleasure to be there representing Acumen Fund as I have been a big fan of Net Impact since I revived the Net Impact chapter at Stanford when I was there from 2001-2003. The conference had its own unique flavor, hosted by three institutions from across Europe – the International Organization MBA, a program based at the University of Geneva in Switzerland, The University of Nottingham in the UK, and INSEAD in France. Over 400 participants joined the meeting, bringing an interest in everything from corporate social responsibility, to environmentally sustainable business; socially responsible investing to business at the “base of the pyramid” (BoP). The dedication of the student volunteers managing a dizzying array of panels was readily apparent, and they put together a professional and compelling event.

Though Net Impact began 15 years ago with a focus on how MBAs could make a positive difference within the business world, this conference and other recent Net Impact conferences in the US have clearly demonstrated that working for a socially responsible for-profit company is just one way to make a difference. The Net Impact Europe conference had a much greater showing from international organizations like Global Alliance for Improved Nuitrition (GAIN), CARE International, Aga Khan Agency for Microfinance (AKAM), and the ILO, with fewer corporate titans taking the stage as keynote speakers or panelists than I have seen at other Net Impact conferences. Representatives from Toyota, Microsoft and KPMG were there, however, to share some of their best practices related to social responsibility. At times, though, it seemed like the businesses that were represented were on trial, being challenged as to whether they were doing enough or taking the right approach.

For example, on a panel I joined to discuss innovations for serving BoP markets, the question was asked: Is selling low-cost products to the poor really the same as poverty alleviation? A fair question, though one that suggests a zero-sum-game approach to developing more inclusive markets. In our experience, businesses may fail to reach the neediest through their products, but can still expand access and reduce the burden on governments and aid organizations by allowing them to target their efforts towards the poorest.

Guest blogger Jocelyn Wyatt works for the design firm IDEO, leading its base of the pyramid projects. Prior to joining IDEO, Jocelyn was an Acumen Fund Fellow in Kenya. She holds a MBA from Thunderbird. Jocelyn blogs at Design and Reach.

By Jocelyn Wyatt

As NextBillion.net mentioned last week, The Rockefeller Foundation and IDEO recently presented their research on how design firms can get more involved in social sector work. We presented this work in the form of a how-to guide and a workbook on how to use design to intentionally create positive social impacts and have posted the deliverables online.

Before I joined IDEO, I wondered (like most of you probably do) what application design could have to addressing some of the world’s largest problems. Tim Brown does a great job laying out the basics on design thinking in a recent article in Harvard Business Review entitled Design Thinking.

During the course of our work with Rockefeller, we had 142 conversations with social entrepreneurs, foundations, management consultants, academics, writers, and designers. What we heard over and over again was frustration with the progress in addressing the problems that we all care about and excitement about the potential of design thinking as a new approach.

Three aspects of design thinking that are particularly salient for social enterprises are empathy, prototyping, and storytelling.

Last night, I was part of an overflow crowd squeezed into an overheated room, waiting 15, 30, 45 minutes to hear a speech on the future of social entrepreneurship. For whom do 200-plus people squeeze into a room set for 75 on a random Thursday night in the middle of June: Muhammad Yunus? Bill Drayton? Jeff Sachs? No, no and no again.

Not to say that Neil Blumenthal, Eni Bakallbashi, Lalita Advani and Bhakti Mirchandani aren’t worthy of the attention – they absolutely are. But when you get down to it, people came to last night’s event, “The Value Chain of Social Entrepreneurship: How Young Professionals Can Get Involved,” not to hear from a superstar speaker, but rather to get actionable, inspirational advice from their peers.

Bhakti, for instance, suggested that aspiring social entrepreneurs might be able to subsist on a daily breakfast of Diet Coke and bananas, as she did while starting the Global Microentrepreneurship Awards (between stints at Lehman). Lalita quoted Gandhi, suggesting that harmony in what you think, say and do will lead to happiness. (I took this to imply that just being interested in social entrepreneurship isn’t enough – you have to actually do something and spread the word.) Eni told the audience that your heart has to be in the right place, and that you can do something here and now – as she is doing with her health information startup in Albania. Finally, Neil laid it on the line, telling the audience to get out and work in the sector, even if it means taking risks – as he did when he hopped on a plane to El Salvador to work for Scojo Foundation (now VisionSpring) a few years back.

As the loadshedding was spiraling out of control in this country, on May 20th some genius came up with a bright idea and rushed to present it to our trusted leaders!  What followed has been quite interesting…

His/Her idea: the whole country push the clocks ahead one hour, and everything will be ‘bal-lay, bal-lay’ (that is like saying ’smooth-sailing’ in punjabi).  Desperate for solutions, after a quick meeting of top advisors, the leaders of this country decided the idea was so great that they implement daylight savings as of June 1st.

—————————

The above is my version of what happened…because I found out about the whole DST idea a week before June 1st.  Today, 18 days after the implementation of DST, people are still confused… when you set a meeting with someone, the first question is: ‘Is that 3pm old time or new time’ .  Just yesterday I had a meeting with someone at the site at 2pm, he called me at 2:45 to check if the meeting was still on…. ‘Yeah, I have been waiting for almost an hour, buddy!’.  He responded, ‘Oops, I am still functioning on the old time, I thought you were too, I am on my way…’

The muslim daily prayer schedule is dictated by the position of the sun, so we pray 1)just before sunrise, 2)just after mid day, 3)when the shadow (of an object) is two shadow lengths, 4) at sunset, 5) one hour after sunset–with the passage of time, there was no need to track the position of the sun, and using clocks was an easy substitute.  Many muslims (including clergy) have forgotten that the time is dictated by the sun, not by clocks!!  So, now, many people have refused to change their clocks because they think DST is a conspiracy of the West to mess up muslim prayer timings.  Regardless of what time it is on the clock, you are going to pray when the sun hits that position!Funny stuff when you hear people get all worked up over it. 

And finally it hit me when I tried to set a time up with a rural real estate agent who does a lot of business but is completely illiterate.  When I told him that we can meet at 7pm, he replied, ‘old time or new’…Fed up, I said, ‘There is NO old time, that is done, what are you talking about, there is only one time’….he took a deep breath and sincerely said, ‘Man, this whole time thing has really got me confused, i just can’t keep up’….sounded really funny, but was a reality.

 In the developed world, the concept of DST has been successfully institutionalized for many reasons, I suppose.  Two of those reasons, based on my recent experience, are literacy and awareness.  The government needed to realize how significant of an impact this could have if carried out properly, plan in advance, and educate people–for a successful transition.  When half of the country has refused to comply fully, by carrying on business hours as before, etc–the exercise was futile.

PS-the Pak government has tried DST before and failed!

After nine months of working hard to set up operations in China (for product design and prototyping) and India (for sales and distribution) Acumen investee d.Light Design is getting ready for its initial product launch. Sitting with CEO Sam Goldman recently in Delhi, I was excited to hear him talk of an expanding global team and the prospect of getting substantial volumes of affordable lights into the market. This article shows the company’s product range as they gear up for sales, and we encourage you to read this compelling note by Sam, which shares the stories behind their hard work.

Editor’s Note: Sam Goldman writes a great blog - Let There be D.Light! - at Social Edge. Check it out.

Congratulations to Aravind Eye Hospital for being awarded the 2008 Gates Award for Public Health, which carries a $1 million prize. Aravind joins rare company – previous winners of the Gates Award include the Rotary Foundation, Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee, The Carter Center and other public health luminaries.

The award is well-deserved. We have known Aravind since Acumen Fund was first established, and although Aravind was one of the first organizations supported by us, it is Acumen Fund who stands proudly on the shoulders of Aravind and not the other way around. Dr. Venkataswamy, who sadly passed away in 2006, founded Aravind in 1976 at the age of 58. His goal: eradicate needless blindness in India.

Dr. V. and his team – mostly family members, including his seven younger siblings – focused on using a rigorous, market-oriented approach to delivering basic services to all people, including the poorest. A sliding scale pricing system enables those who pay to subsidize the cost for those without the means to afford Aravind’s services. Aravind also re-engineered the intra-ocular lens to make it more universally affordable. And critically, the operations are driven by a culture of compassion, respect and dignity for all – and you can feel these values in the hospital’s very halls.

Acumen Fund supported Aravind in 2002 to experiment with building a telemedicine network that would allow doctors at Aravind’s five main hospitals to serve low-income people living in rural areas. Today, Aravind serves more than 2.3 million outpatients and performs 270,000 surgeries annually through its network of hospitals and clinics – making it the world’s largest provider of eye care. Even more staggering is the fact that two-thirds of the outpatient visits and three-quarters of the surgeries were provided to poor clients, at no cost. These milestones are a testament to a system that is both efficient and just.

Dr. Venkataswamy and the Aravind team had a profound effect on me personally. Through knowing this remarkable team, I’ve tried to live more fully the idea that we can hold the discipline of the market and deep compassion at the same time. I’ve worked harder to emphasize the dignity of work. At a very personal level, I think often of what Dr. V. often said: that we can integrate divinity into our lives through not only what we do, but how we do it. It has been such a gift to know this institution.

All of us at Acumen Fund are cheering for the wonderful team at Aravind and look forward to its continued success.

At a time when the world is experiencing an incredible economic crisis, it was powerful to sit in Lehman Brothers’ Midtown Manhattan office Tuesday night to hear Jeffery Sachs, head of the Millennium Project and Director of the Earth Institute, and Jacqueline Novogratz, CEO of Acumen Fund, speak about how to address the issues of global poverty.

More than 300 Lehman employees and guests filled the auditorium, listening to two of the most influential leaders in the social sector discuss the role of public and private approaches in alleviating global poverty. Millennium Promise and Acumen Fund have each received significant philanthropic support from Lehman Brothers, and Lehman Brothers’ $5 million gift to Acumen Fund made them our first Corporate Steward in our $100 million capital campaign.

The evening served as an opportunity for Sachs and Novogratz to explore ways to bring together top-down and bottom-up approaches to fight poverty. And while we would all love to know that there are simple, straightforward solutions, it was clear from the speakers’ comments that multiple approaches are needed to tackle poverty.

This idea was wonderfully illustrated by Jacqueline’s vivid story of the seven-foot-tall sunflowers growing in the middle of the Thar desert of Pakistan. Local smallholder farmers can grow these sunflowers because they are finally able to receive water through the use of a micro drip irrigation technology distributed by a local entrepreneur and Acumen Fund investee, Micro Drip, in addition to a government subsidy that provided solar panels to power the generators that extract groundwater.

Load-shedding is used in the developed world by larger industrial units to manage their electricity in an efficient manner.  In Pakistan, and  many other developing countries, load-shedding is not an tool of efficiency, but rather a necessity.

During the last two years this phenomenon has spiraled out of control to a point where load-shedding exceeds 12 hours a day in places like Gujrat (my parents live there).  Gujrat is situated half way between Lahore and Islamabad (my work and home, respectively)–so I stop by every two weeks to visit my parents for a night on my way back from Lahore.

After this past week in Gujrat, I am worried about my next visit…

You see, in Islamabad–where all the rich folks, diplomats, and UN/aid workers live–I am able to afford a portion of a home for a pretty steep price.  The place is secure, clean, and there was never any load-shedding.  My wife and I used to feel kind of guilty about the fact that the rest of Pak is facing load-shedding, but the rich folks (and we) sleep comfortable at night.  Well, the new government also felt the same way, and immediately instituted load-shedding in Islamabad the day after they were sworn in—good for them.  The result is that there is scheduled load-shedding (1 hour of load-shedding after every 3 hours=6 hours a day), it isn’t too bad now, but it hasn’t gotten too hot and humid yet either.

Last week, I stopped by in Gujrat.  Since the weather had gotten hotter in the recent weeks, my first question was, ‘When and how long does the electricity go out for?’. My moms answer, ‘There is no set time’.  Yikes.

When I got in bed at night it was about 90 degrees, but the electricity was running, so I had the fan(s) on (high).  The electricity went out 4 times that night, I was dripping sweat each time–and under severe attack by mosquitoes. 

The night was not fun, but it really got me thinking about a few issues:

How do people function efficiently in the morning when the temperature reaches 100+ and the load-shedding is unpredictable throughout the night on a regualr basis?

How do businesses function in any manner when the electricity goes randomly?

Isn’t there a more efficient way to manage the energy crisis?

On June 1st, the new government instituted a policy of daylight savings to help the crisis in a small way. 

The hilarious stories of this ‘new government experiment’ will be for the next blog.