- In Jacqueline’s latest installment on the Huffington Post, she spotlights Ifra, whose tireless hard work, coupled with the loans she received from Kashf, have provided her economic independence, newfound dignity and happiness.
- Jacqueline’s speech at TEDxKarachi is now online. Check it out here.
- Acumen investee D.light wins the prestigious Ashden Award for Sustainable Energy 2010.
- Esther Duflo and her colleagues at the Poverty Action Lab are featured in Businessweek for their essential work in randomized trials for development interventions.
- iuMAP is a new directory to track social enterprise globally. Read about it on NextBillion.
- Also on NextBillion, learn about the G20-SME Finance Challenge, seeking new models for public-private partnerships to fund Small and Medium Enterprises worldwide.
Tags: D.light, Jacqueline Novogratz, Kashf, metrics
Love the news roundup, it is amazing to see the type of press coverage that AF is generating. Jaqueline’s piece on the Huffington Post in particular resonates with me as it is a person-centred story; a story of the human spirit, tenacity, and most of all entrepreneurship. It is so clear that new ways of philanthropy and aid must be mobilized to effect international, sustained social change.
The challenge for Acumen Fund will be translating SVC and the investments in social enterprises that create widespread change into stories of individuals…. as they have a clear impact on donors, particularly those in the West.
Leaves me thinking, how powerful and pervasive the message from Slum Dog Millionaire could have been (for social entrepreneurship that is) if in the film, Jamal, decided to invest his winnings into a social enterprise…. he was after all very entrepreneurial and resilient in the role of protaganist. Isn’t Ifra too a real-life protaganist? Her winnings being that someone took a chance on her and invest in her.
Keep up the great work!
Tanya,
Thanks very much for your comment. I’m glad you’re enjoying the weekly News Roundup and you’re inspired by Jacqueline’s editorials in the Huffington Post. While we are dedicated to highlighting the stories of the end customers of the products and services sold by Acumen investees, we are equally focused on sharing the story of the entrepreneurs – the visionaries who have the strength of purpose and business mindset to deliver the goods needed by BoP populations. I agree it would’ve been great (and have had amazing reach) if Slumdog spoke to the efforts of social entrepreneurs in India!
Thanks for the words of encouragement and helping us to share Acumen’s story.
Lindsay