Photo Credit: Shannon Jensen
We are excited to announce The Blue Sweater 500, a competition that will provide copies of The Blue Sweater free of cost to the most creative ideas for using the book. Submissions will be evaluated by a panel of judges including Jonathan Greenblatt (President of All For Good and co-founder of Ethos Water), Craig Newmark (founder of craigslist), and Jacqueline Novogratz, author of The Blue Sweater and Acumen Fund CEO.
Through the gift of a generous donor, we have 500 paperback copies of The Blue Sweater to give away in quantities of 25, 50, or 100 books. Entries will be judged based on originality, impact, and need. Winners will receive a shipment of books this fall and will be asked to write a post for Acumen’s blog that will share the outcomes of their projects with the world using photo and/or video.
Proposals will be accepted from now until September 16th, and winners announced on October 1st. Download the entry form here.
Although we can only ship books domestically at this time, we welcome international entries that can specify how the books would be transported overseas.
Some inspirational projects that have been carried out with small quantities of books include:
- A 100 person Blue Sweater book club in the slums of Nairobi
- Preston High School in the Bronx staged a school-wide Blue Sweater skit based on Jacqueline’s story
- Middle school students from low-income communities discussing how to change the world after reading the book at George Jackson Academy in New York
We hope this gift will make more of these moments possible!
Wei Wei Hsing is an Innovation Associate in Acumen Fund’s New York office.
Tags: Craig Newmark, Jacqueline Novogratz, Jonathan Greenblatt, The Blue Sweater
The book certainly inspires and motivates readers to act and give back… I love any idea that gets this book in front of more people!
praise God am pastor from Nairobi Kenya and i would like to thank you for the good work your doing,i therefore request you to let me know how i can get involved.God bless you.
George and Mark thanks for your responses! Please feel free to get in touch if you’d like to submit an idea for the book giveaway or if you know of others who would benefit from a book gift. We’d love to see your ideas for how to use the book, whether in the US or in Nairobi.
I was given The Blue Sweater by Our head of department, Management Sciences, Karakoram International University ,to study and write a reflection. i will have to return this book by the end of this month and i can not wait to have my own Blue Sweater.please, kindly elaborate theme of this competition.
looking forward for kind assistance,
regards
Munira Shaheen
BBA-four years.
The blue Sweater has given me a path to bring change in my society. i love this book.
Munira Shaheen
From Gilgit Baltistan, Pakistan
Hi Munira,
Wonderful to hear from you. The competition is accepting entries from nonprofits, schools, and individuals with creative ideas for how to use the book to inspire change in local communities. I encourage you to submit on behalf of your school or district using the entry form in the blog post above. Though we can only ship books within the US, we’re happy to brainstorm with you on transporting books to Pakistan.
Thanks for reading the book and for your interest!
Wei Wei
I found this book in Japan,very good idea,I think.
Dear Acumen Team,
Am a student at Ngara High School in form one.My father gave me the book and shared it with my fellow students.I was impressed with Jacqueline Novogratz story and my vision is to be a writer like her because am from a humble family.I guess,you know my dad! .Is it possible to get more copies of the Blue Sweater to enable me share with my fellow students in school?
I would like to share the ideas and develop the slum where i preach the gospel, and i have a church .