A young woman named Mairani lies with a tiny child on a rope bed beneath a plastic tarpaulin. She gave birth six days prior, but only today did she name her new son Wahid Ali. Her face, framed with a chartreuse scarf, is exhausted, spent, vacant. Flies walk across her face and dance in circles on her arms and legs, but it takes too much energy in the heat to shoo them away — and does little good. She, her husband and mother had to flee their home, which has since washed away. Their sudden exodus made it impossible to bring any belongings. They both have only the clothes they were wearing three weeks ago. Indeed, she wears the same shalwar kameez in which she gave birth.

Mairani can’t talk about her son’s future, not yet, not while he is so fragile, not while her world is so fragile. The little boy, tucked under a makeshift canopy held up by a bamboo stick, is sick with fever. Mairani’s mother sheds tears as she asks for help, her hands folded in prayer. “Please bring to us mosquito repellent, for the insects are strong here, and we have this infant child.” Mairani’s husband is somewhere in the camp but his mother-in-law makes clear that he does little for the family. There are thousands like Mairani, which means “lady princess” across the country. She needs the world’s help so that she can raise her son and enable him, finally to dare to dream and make his dreams real.

Twenty million Pakistanis were rendered homeless during these floods, which are continuing — two more towns are expected to be submerged in water tonight. I’ve met scores of people who stand huddled with their families, and all they have left which is each other. They need food and new houses, clean water and good sanitation, of course. They also need the stuff in life that gives us dignity — a change of clothes, education for the children, toys so that they can smile and forget for just a moment the sense of hopelessness and despair all around them. My organization is keeping a community site to give up-to-date information on what is happening in Pakistan and where you can help at www.ontheground.pk. Right now, Pakistan needs all of us.

Jacqueline Novogratz is the Founder and CEO of Acumen Fund and the author of The Blue Sweater. She is currently traveling in Pakistan to witness the impact of the floods first-hand. Visit OntheGround.pk to see up-to-date news, stories, and photos related to the floods in Pakistan, and to learn about ways you can help.

This post originally appeared in The Huffington Post on September 2, 2010.

A pit latrine inside a free public toilet facility in Limuru Town

“Mwambie asiingie huko!“ screamed the woman in the marketplace, Swahili for “don’t let her go in there!”.  The “her” she was referring to was me and the “there” was a public toilet. After stepping into the facility, which was a local municipal toilet, I realized the concerns of the woman, and almost instantly wished I had heeded her warning. I had seen a few government facilities in Nairobi before but the uncleanliness and stench were beyond anything I had previously experienced.  My colleague at Ecotact, Rehema, and I were on a tour of some of Ikotoilets’ competing facilities as part of a larger project to create procedures around the site selection process for Ecotact. This particular incident took place in the main marketplace in Limuru Town, about one hour outside of Nairobi.

The site that had been selected for an Ikotoilet facility in Limuru Town was near the main market area, where hundreds of people gathered everyday to sell spices, maize, grains and fruit. We were on a quest to understand whether it made sense to place an Ikotoilet facility in this area and to identify what factors made a “successful” facility in order to create a process to prevent entering failing localities in the future. Ultimately, the guidelines we created looked at factors ranging from the number of competing facilities within one kilometer of the proposed site and the foot traffic around it to the accessibility of water lines and the political support of the municipality.

Out of the 16 facility visits we completed, which included locations such as Nakuru, Machakos, Uhuru Park and Railways, we were able to start piecing together exactly what commonalities existed in the more successful facilities and what criteria we needed to include in our diligence process when choosing locations. Through our visits we found that the most meaningful insights came not necessarily from the council and municipality members we were working with, but rather, from the average person who worked, lived or transited through the location we were considering. In Nakuru, it was only through asking women sitting on the side of the street and men working at the nearby repair shop that we learned that there were two free facilities- one in a nearby marketplace and one behind a carwash, within 100 meters of where we were considering putting an Ikotoilet facility. The councilman was surprised to learn of this as they were not official, public facilities and he was not aware of their presence.

What was even more interesting was how people reacted to using these public facilities – although they were not in the best conditions, they were free and a large portion of the people we spoke to said they would opt to use a dirty facility for free rather than a clean one for 5 shillings. Of course in areas like Limuru Town, where the alternative was abhorrently dirty, not just unclean, they were willing to pay the 5 shillings. This made me reflect on the concept of dignity and at what point the cost outweighs the benefits of dignity.  At Acumen, we constantly talk about the importance of providing people with a sense of dignity, so I was surprised to find so many choosing to continue using the free facilities. However, I realized that dignity doesn’t necessarily stem from using a cleaner toilet – it comes from the fact that the members of the community have a choice of which facility to use.  They can decide their own standards and don’t have to use a dirty toilet because there is no other option. I realized that our role can only go so far as providing an alternative and allowing people the opportunity to redefine their standards because if it went any further, we would destroy that which we worked so hard to create: dignity, self-empowerment – choices.

Rabia Sarwar started Acumen Fund’s volunteer chapter in Dubai. This summer, she spent four months in Acumen Fund’s East Africa office in Nairobi working with Ecotact and recently returned to Dubai.

This concludes the 2010 Summer Spotlight series featuring posts by Acumen Fund Summer Associates from around the world.

The exterior of an Ikotoilet facility

Rabia Ahmed at NY for Acumen's DIGNITY Benefit, July 2009 | Photo Credit: Steven Lau

A few hours ago, I found my father sitting at the dinner table, counting. When I asked, what he was counting, he mutedly replied “Bete, during this week, 63 years ago, my family crossed the border to Pakistan.” I had heard this story hundreds of times before, from my grandmother, my uncle, but usually from my dad. It was a journey etched into his mind, into his bones. It was the story of eating neem plants and walking – lots of walking- along a path to the new world, leaving everything behind for hopes of a peaceful tomorrow.

Years later, my siblings and I enjoyed the humid, sunny, summers in Pakistan. We’d run through the mango groves on a family farm and sip sugar cane juice in the market. We’d play hide and seek in my grandfather’s roof garden and host pretend doll weddings with my cousins. It was a fairy-tale land, a land which welcomed us with open arms whenever we visited. It was truly blissful.

Nevertheless, each year things changed in Pakistan. The cars looked a little different, the music became more rock and roll and the air became more polluted. The only constant which remained was the home of my grandfather on the outskirts of Lahore. With its white washed walls, and lattice door frames, it remained mostly how we left it the year before. The home was five stories high, grand in a modest town, and built around a central open veranda with multiple bedrooms on each floor. My grandfather had a modern above-ground latrine and air conditioner installed so that his grandchildren were not deprived of their essentials. And every summer, without fail, we’d anticipate the monsoons. They’d come in, hastily from no one direction and with quick winds, gusts of water rushed down on us with a certain sense of urgency, and we – well, we’d dance. You’d hear us shrieking and giggling in the same breath because there was no warning, no sign of the hammering waters; just the sudden opening of the skies. It was an idyllic time and we were constantly told to appreciate the rain because it was such a blessing.

But this year, the blessing has turned into a curse, a real test of spirit.

As I sit here some 7,000 miles away from my old summer home, I can’t help but weep for a nation under water. Just the thought of one in five Pakistanis without a home, without a livelihood and without any imminent hope, is simply unbearable.

We’ve read the stories: the tale of a father who tied his son to a tree; of the mother who gave birth to twins in the middle of the storm; of the family who sat by and watched their cow- their livelihood- weaken and eventually pass on. And we’ve seen the staggering statistics – 20 million Pakistanis affected, that’s more than New York State. That’s more than Haiti and Katrina combined. More than Haiti and Katrina combined. Even as I write these words, I’m speechless.

After all, Pakistan is a country divided. It attempts to be modern but is shot at by those clinging to the past. It’s a place where history repeats itself without enough time passing to learn from it. A place where culture and religion constantly fight each other. It’s a place which terrorists now call home and is also a nuclear state. It’s a country that’s lost itself, to itself, by itself.

But it is a country that is loved by so many that summered there; whose parents and grandparents fought to set up homes there, by those who decided to dedicate their lives to helping it reach its potential. Through this catastrophe, Pakistani-Americans are crying for their fellow Pakistanis back home. They’re taking action by running fundraising drives, and putting together media packs and collecting necessary items. They’re keeping one another abreast of activities from the field and are urging all, each and every person they know, to take action, NOW. It’s not just the feeding and immunizing which needs to be done now, but the rebuilding and revitalizing which needs to happen for years to come. It’s in a state of despair, of helplessness, for a people so resilient, so open-hearted, kind and gentle who have never asked for anything, but dignity,

There are people to thank, like Fiza Shah, CEO of Developments in Literacy, who builds schools in remote and hard to reach areas of Pakistan and Jacqueline Novogratz, CEO of Acumen Fund who still sees the potential, the hope in Pakistan’s people, a single person who leads an organization that invests in the future of a nation. These two women continue to believe in Pakistan, through the heartfelt moments and harrowing sorrows.

So today, I beg, and urge you all to do the same, or at least to take a step. It’s impossible to imagine the devastation from this far away. Soon enough some other news sensation will take over and most of us will forget the little teary-eyed girl or a mother without milk for her twins. We’ll forget that although they didn’t have much to begin with, whatever they once could call their own has been washed away. Their lives are once again a blank slate. What reality once was is now but a dream wrapped in a nightmare. So please, pick up your check book, or log into your paypal account. Buy some medicines or donate some food.

In this time of pain, hurt and suffering, I remember a quote I once read by Mother Teresa: “The paradox of life is if you love until it hurts, then there is no more hurt, only love.” And Pakistan, we love you and we’re hurting for you and that is what I wish for my fellow Pakistanis, only love.

Rabia Ahmed is the Co-Chair of New York for Acumen and the Associate Director of MBA Admissions at the NYU Stern School of Business. To find out how you can help, please read this recent post which names a few organizations working in Pakistan that we trust and who need your support. Please also show your support and stand with Pakistan by adding your name in solidarity to http://www.ontheground.pk.

Seen & Heard is a collection of recent headlines in the news about our world, our work, and the spaces and places in between. With each post we ‘ll also share a list of job openings at Acumen Fund and in our sector. Seen & Heard will appear approximately twice a month and will replace the weekly News Roundups. We apologize to the legions of you who were die-hard News Roundup fans. We hope that this is an improvement. For those of you who like keeping a pulse on the latest news as it’s happening, please consider following us on Twitter! Finally, if you have ideas for how we can improve Seen & Heard, please don’t be shy and leave a comment below to let us know. Thanks for reading!

Headlines

• The tragic flooding in Pakistan continues to take an unprecedented toll on an unimaginable scale. Over 1,500 lives have been lost and approximately 20 million Pakistanis have been directly affected. On Friday we posted a blog naming a few of the organizations we trust who need your support in their relief efforts. Read the post here to learn how you can help.

Articles of the Week

AF and AF Family in the News

• The first episode of the new CNBC series “What the Future” features Acumen Fund founder and CEO Jacqueline Novogratz and the inspiring work of two of our investees in Kenya. Be sure to view all 3 parts!
• A good WSJ article on Acumen Fund Advisor and Partner Amy Robbins and the work of her foundation: “I’m never going to be the biggest player in the market, but if I can go to the riskiest places which often get overlooked by larger organizations, we can add the most value.”

Kenya in the News

• Kenyans recently passed an important constitutional referendum. Check out what’s at stake in this Salon article.
• A provocative NY Times op-ed on slum tourism in Kibera – do tourists who visit slums actually leave more likely to help or do they strip slum residents of their dignity?

India in the News

• India looks for new mechanisms to get food to the poor and asks should food be a right?

Water in the News

• The Washington Post reports on inefficient irrigation methods adding to the water shortages in Pakistan
• A new UN resolution declares water a right, but what does this mean for actually delivering the water?

General Development News

• A New Definition of Poor – Beyond Profit: a new Multi-Dimensional Poverty Index considers household access to basic needs in addition to income measures

Jobs

At Acumen Fund (links to all job openings at AF can be found here)

• Chief Financial Officer
• India Director
• Pakistan Portfolio Associate
• Pakistan Portfolio Consultant
• East Africa Portfolio Manager
• India Portfolio Associate
• Volunteer Communications Associate
• India Portfolio & Operations Manager

In the Sector

• Gray Matters Capital Foundation: Relationship Manager/Associate—Hyderabad, IN
• Innovations for Poverty Action: Director of Financial Innovation—New Haven, CT, US
• Intellecap: Chief Executive Officer—Hyderabad, IN
• Grameen Technology Center: Research and Development Manager—Jakarta, ID
• Embrace: Product Engineer—Bangalore, IN
• William Davidson Institute: Managing Editor, NextBillion—Ann Arbor, Michigan, US

Many thanks to Kit Burton for kicking off our first issue of Seen & Heard! This summer Kit volunteered in Acumen Fund’s New York office managing community engagement. Next week Kit will be returning to Brigham Young University where he will be graduating this December with a degree in International Relations.

Photo Credit: Jacqueline Novogratz

This picture was taken in a village near Kala Shah Kaku outside Lahore, when I made my first visit to the site for Saiban’s Khuda ki Basti 4 with the Acumen Fund team and Jawad Aslam almost exactly four years ago. It remains one of my favourite photographs – not just because of the lush green background and the idyllic landscape, but because every time I see it, I can almost hear the laughter in these boys voices. They walked with us from the village to the basti, chatting, giggling and playing all the way, happy in the moment – as every child deserves to be.

The fields and pathways were flooded from recent monsoon rains and at one point we actually had to roll up our pants and tiptoe through calf-deep waters, flip-flops in hand. But apart from mud-caked flip-flops, wet, dirty clothes, and a few slips, in a few minutes we were able to make it through the flooded fields to the housing site where the first model house had just been built for what was to become a thriving community a few years later.

Seeing the devastation caused by the floods in Pakistan right now with more than 1,600 killed and over 14 million people impacted, by the incessant rains and overflowing rivers, families homeless and displaced, I cant help but think about these kids and so many others like them. Where are they, 4 years from when we met? What does their village look like today? How have their lives been impacted by the floods and rains? Are they going to school? Are they still laughing and playing?

These are overwhelming questions and its hard to stay positive at times like these, when so many have lost so much and the general feeling of hopelessness is so pervasive. But we must move ahead, do more, act more, help more and reach out to those that need assistance. In Pakistan and around the world, individuals and organizations are coming together to provide disaster relief. We need to address the immediate needs now. And in the long run, focus on sustainable solutions to lift people out of poverty and to provide them with opportunities that celebrate dignity, not build dependence.

Misbah Naqvi is a Business Development Manager in our NY office and previously worked with our Pakistan team in Karachi.

Over the past six years, I’ve worked as a professional fundraiser with several organizations in a number of different fields — humanitarian aid, education, cancer research, etc. During that time, I increasingly grew frustrated with the lack of leadership and organizational infrastructure I witnessed within the nonprofit sector. Though unaware to me at the time, this frustration would eventually lead me to Acumen Fund.

In December 2008, I discovered Acumen Fund through Matthew Bishop’s best-selling book Philanthrocapitalism. In the book, Bishop provides countless examples of organizations like Acumen Fund that are reshaping the face of philanthropy by integrating market-oriented practices to leverage social impact.

Inspired by the notion of contributing my fundraising skills to the organization after listening to CEO Jacqueline Novogratz discuss her book The Blue Sweater, I would have never imagined how I would spend the next year and a half. From marketing the Dignity photo auction to organizing the recent *spark! event, I have been honored to collaborate with such a talented group of individuals. Through our efforts, we have not only raised significant funds for Acumen, but also ignited a global movement.

In the past year,  what I’ve learned most from working with the New York team is that one should never allow fear of failure to prevent you from doing anything you want. If you’ve been mulling around an idea for a new project, then just start it.  Stop worrying about failure because you’ll probably learn more from actually doing the work than you would from not doing anything at all. Before the Dignity event last year, for instance, many of the volunteers and Acumen Fund team had absolutely no idea what would follow that event. Thousands of dollars and several volunteer chapters later, here we are. But none of this would be possible had a group of volunteers not been willing to cast their fears to the wind and start something new.

During my time as a volunteer, I often heard people say, “I want to help. How do I want to get involved?” This is a good question, but could be better. Why? Because, in my opinion, the most dynamic volunteers are those who recognize a need, and decidedly offer a solution.  Whether it is making a donation or offering your time, everyone has something to offer. I understand how completely hackneyed that sounds, but it’s true. However, when we begin to tell ourselves that we have nothing to offer, we run into trouble.  There are countless nonprofits who need donors, volunteers or advocates. So why not start doing something for a cause you’re passionate about?

Having said that, I think it’s important for all individuals to reflect on their strengths when deciding to volunteer. Even the insanely talented Acumen Fund team is composed of people who have various strengths and weaknesses. I know, I know. It’s hard to believe. But the Acumen Fund team is just as human as you are. So before you get involved with any organization, take a few minutes to think about what your strengths are, as it will make all the difference when suggesting how you may assist a particular nonprofit or volunteer group.

In closing, while I’m leaving the New York chapter for now, my work with Acumen Fund is certainly not finished, nor has the momentum slowed that we’ve started in New York.  I have been blessed to be part of such a compassionate and dynamic community. Through a shared commitment to improving the world we live in, I have met people from all walks of life who have not only invigorated my commitment to solving the problem of poverty, but also reinforced the beauty and strength of the human spirit. And for that, I am eternally grateful.

I encourage you to check out the New York for Acumen chapter, which will continue to host educational events, networking opportunities and inspiring fundraising programs in support of Acumen.

Theos Stamoulis joined the leadership team of New York for Acumen in September 2009. He will soon move to Indiana to pursue an MBA at Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business…he will be missed!

It is now July 2010, and I am well into my summer internship at Acumen Fund. Earlier this month, when I read the devastating news about the suicide attack on the shrine of Hazrat Data Gunj Baksh in Lahore, in which nearly 40 people were murdered by suspected Taliban extremism, I was reminded in an extremely graphic way of why I am at Acumen and what I hope to accomplish here. The last two years have been brutal for all Pakistanis and while some of us choose to remain aloof and removed – safe in our houses on the right side of the bridge and behind our guarded enclaves, blaming the unseen hand of an unseen enemy – it was in fact only a matter of time before the inequalities and inequities that we have allowed to fester in our society caught up with us.

The Taliban, extremism, radicalism and terrorism is our wakeup call to a world that is changing, and a call to realize that neither the government alone nor traditional aid will bring about a just and equitable change in Pakistan. It is people like Jawad Aslam, Roshaneh Zafar and Dr. Sono Khangarani who will provide people with decent and dignified alternatives to handouts and begging. Unless people see a decent future for their children and themselves, one in which every citizen can maintain a basic standard of living, educate their children and live in a decent manner, the Taliban will continue to recruit from amongst the disenfranchised masses and provide them with a violent alternative to bring about their vision of equity.

Acumen Fund is the means to such a future – they are working to provide energy, clean water, healthcare, affordable quality housing, and improved farming methods to Pakistan, India and East Africa. They have approved $11.1 million to invest in Pakistan over the past decade in numerous projects that are expected to be self-sustaining and profitable business operations.

Before this summer I was no stranger to Acumen – they recruit regularly at my college campus (LUMS) and I was fascinated by the organization and its approach to ‘solving’ poverty-related issues. However, like many of my peers I put aside my idealism and decided to go the corporate route and to leave social entrepreneurship to the activists and dreamers. After my MBA, I worked at a major multinational in Pakistan and one day in 2007 I received an email from our CSR office which asked for volunteers from marketing, sales and supply chain to work with an Acumen investee – Micro Drip. I jumped at the opportunity and found myself immersed in the problems of selling drip irrigation systems to poor farmers in rural Sindh. To my surprise, I actually found there were many similarities between selling FMCG products to consumers in urban and peri-uran areas and marketing to rural farmers. Consumers, it seemed, wanted the same thing, albeit in different settings. Sales teams, more often than not, also encountered the same hurdles in selling to the BoP that they did to ‘regular consumers’. This was an eye opener and cemented my belief in the power of markets, even in the unlikeliest of settings.

It is this belief and a deep admiration of Acumen Fund’s mission and approach to some of the world’s most intractable problems that brought me here again in 2010. I was studying for an MPA at NYU and I decided to apply to Acumen Fund, my top choice for a summer position. My experience this summer has been nothing short of a revelation – every day at Acumen brings new surprises, challenges and a renewed commitment to their vision. Whether I am performing diligence for a potential investment, digging through data on older deals or consulting with entrepreneurs and colleagues in the country offices, sitting in Monday Morning Meetings or on portfolio calls, I am constantly reminded of why I am here.

Sitting in far away Manhattan, an entire wall covered with pictures of our investments (both active and exited) show our customers: a hopeful old woman, a hard-working man in his yellow turban, and wide-eyed children. These serve as a constant reminder that we must do our best to ensure that our customers get the goods and services they need, and can live with dignity and grace.

Faiza Mawjee is a Summer Associate on the Portfolio team at the New York office. She is an MPA candidate at NYU Wagner School of Public Service, specializing in international development. The Summer Spotlight series features posts by Acumen Fund Summer Associates from around the world.

On August 7th, San Francisco for Acumen (SFfA) is teaming with Nuru Project to host DIGNITY, a photography auction and exhibition benefiting Acumen Fund.  Attendees will have the opportunity to bid on photographs by renowned photographers such as Susan Meiselas/Magnum, Ami Vitale/National Geographic, and Palani Mohan/Reportage by Getty Images.

The night will also feature a special Acumen Fund Fellows Exhibit, as well as a VIP reception with Bay Area Acumen Fund Fellows and Yasmina Zaidman, Acumen Fund’s Director of Communications.  Complimentary wine, appetizers, and music will be provided.

Generous event sponsors include Bi-Rite Market, Rotee, Back to Earth Organic Catering, Humanitas Wine, Bushido Izakaya, Bonhams & Butterfields, Young Women Social Entrepreneurs, Stanford Social Innovation Review, and Copy Central.

For the first of an ongoing preview of images, please refer to Nuru Project’s blog.

Purchase tickets today to DIGNITY.

Recently, Dan and Jacqueline decided it would be fun to swap short Q&As. Three questions each. You can read the three questions posed by Dan to Jacqueline on the Heath Brothers website here. Below are the three questions posed by Jacqueline to Dan.

What are your thoughts on how Dan and Chip’s’ principles apply to Acumen’s work?

JN: You talk about finding the “bright spots” (identifying the things that seem to be working) as one of the first steps on the road to change.  I imagine that finding these bright spots and interpreting them is sometimes harder than it looks.  For the best organizations you’ve seen, how much is this an analytical versus an intuitive process?

DH: Let me give a bit of backstory on “bright spots” for those who haven’t read Switch. Psychology tells us that we’re wired to look at the negative. When we want change, we tend to obsess about all the problems we’re having and we try to come up with solutions for them. But, in times of change, there may be many things that aren’t working, so that “problem focus” is a recipe for paralysis. Instead, we need to find the bright spots—that is, the early signs that things are working. Once we’ve found the bright spots, we can clone them. For instance, say you’ve got a troubled relationship with your teenager. Rather than obsessing about the difficulties, ask yourself, when was the last time the two of you had a really healthy interaction? That’s your bright spot. What was different about that moment? (Were you talking at a different time of day? Different place? Different conversation topics?) If you can figure out what conditions made your bright spots possible, you can reproduce them.

The same is true for social enterprise. Jerry and Monique Sternin made a career out of solving seemingly intractable problems—child malnutrition in Vietnam, sex trafficking in Indonesia, gang violence in New Jersey—by focusing on the practices that were already working, and then scaling those successes. (Interested readers should check out the Sternins’ essential new book, The Power of Positive Deviance.)

Sometimes you can use data to find bright spots. The Sternins, in particular, made data-gathering a priority. But other times, it’s not possible—it would be difficult, for instance, to collect data on your relationship with your teenager. Whether your process is analytical or intuitive, the important thing is to direct your attention to the things that are already working, in spite of the problems. (For a longer treatment of this issue, here’s an excerpt from Switch about bright spots.)

JN: One of our biggest questions at Acumen Fund is how to switch the thinking in aid from one of giving handouts to creating a mindset of the dignity and capability of every person on earth – no matter what their income.  What might we do better to catalyze that new way of thinking?  What are the things we can do and say to make people resolve to effect changes in ways that matter, ways that, well, stick?

DH: Here’s the problem: I think many of us think of “The Poor” as this homogenous, pitiable group. We imagine them as if cast by Sally Struthers, lying on the side of the road, begging for their next meal, swatting flies away from their faces. What I loved about your book—and also another eye-opening new book, Portfolios of the Poor—is that we get a more 3-D portrait of the poor. We meet people making a dollar or two a day who create strict household budgets, who save money in multiple ways, who take loans from banks and loan out money to neighbors. People with rich, complicated lives. People who are happy. (Do we need people to be miserable to be deserving of our help?)

The poor don’t need our pity, they need our business and our investment and our ideas. They need to be treated as moral equals. I’m actually very optimistic that this message—your message—will stick. One “trait” of an idea that helps it succeed is unexpectedness, and I think there’s plenty that’s unexpected in your message. Many of us have had such a one-dimensional view of the poor for so long that the reality of their experience—and the reality of their needs—will surprise and motivate many people.

JN: We spent so much time – and our educational institutions drill in the notion – working on the Rider (the analytical). At Acumen Fund we talk a lot about “moral imagination” which is the power to see things from another’s perspective and literally to walk a mile in others’ shoes.  How do we all get better at tapping into our Elephants (our emotional selves)?  More specifically, how can we teach others to do this?

DH: When we change, it’s almost always because of a feeling. There’s a spark of emotion—desire or fear or hope—that motivates us to move. We rarely learn our way into change, encountering a set of facts so convincing that we leave our past behaviors behind. Feeling comes first.

John Kotter says that change tends to happen in a three-step pattern: People SEE something that makes them FEEL something that leads them to CHANGE. SEE-FEEL-CHANGE. Here’s what I would challenge Acumen and its brethren to do: Make it possible for us to walk a mile in the shoes of the poor. Not for fundraising purposes or for heartstring-plucking purposes, but for the purpose of “moral imagination,” as you say.

I don’t know what form that could take—audio interviews a la StoryCorps? Videos that show a “day in the life?” Daily journals posted online? Regardless of the format, I think your goal is 100% right: I believe that if we can create empathy for the poor, as they really are—full of dignity and talent and promise but hampered by a shocking lack of opportunities, relative to our own lives—then we can’t help but do something to help them.

Gynocare Fistula Center

In March, I had the opportunity to make a two-day field visit to Kenya’s second largest health sector hub – Eldoret – with my friend and colleague, Rob Katz. The purpose of our visit was simple – to map out the local healthcare provider landscape: identifying key players and the systemic issues in developing models to serve the poor. Of course, we hoped to uncover another entrepreneur or two brave enough to tackle these issues in a way that reflected our Acumen Fund mission – delivering services to the poor with integrity, dignity, and quality.

In theory, investing in sustainable and scalable enterprises as a means of delivering social impact seems straightforward enough. However, the reality of Acumen’s mission for the past 9 years – learned over countless due diligence trips and new field visits like this one – is that finding these pioneering enterprises within our parameters is a challenge. Furthermore, there are so many ways to approach these challenges, and Acumen Fund cannot support them all. Along the journey, we often find opportunities that don’t quite fit our investment criteria, but are ones we wish we could help because of their noble missions and the leaders behind them. In Eldoret, we came across one such opportunity in the form of Dr. Hillary Mabeya and the Gynocare Fistula Center.

After starting his medical career in Nairobi as an obstetrician and gynecologist, Dr. Mabeya first began visiting rural regions of the country as a member of AMREF’s Flying Doctor program. During these missions, he became increasingly aware of the plight of gynecologic fistula patients. These patients were often either young female victims of sexual abuse or obstructed labor survivors, who now faced daily physical difficulties in the most routine of tasks. In addition, once victimized, they could not marry and faced social ostracization, as well as the economic challenges of supporting themselves. Soon, Dr. Mabeya began increasing his tours of the region to serve these patients specifically – all operations and services were voluntary and free of charge.

Ultimately, Dr. Mabeya moved his family from Nairobi to Eldoret to be closer to these regions, to set up a higher quality, affordable facility – the Gynocare Fistula Center. In addition to all surgical and gynecological services offered at his clinic, there is also counseling, education, trainings, and other programs to support socio-economic development of women. Though currently a standalone clinic with limited facilities, he hoped to be able grow and eventually, expand across the region.

Dr. Mabeya had the character of all that we hope for in our entrepreneurs. He was extremely intelligent, compassionate, and dedicated to delivering help to those who needed it the most. Most importantly, he was invested in creating a better quality of life for them, beyond just a one-time operation. His commitment could not have been clearer. In the post-election violence of 2008 – he was one of the few doctors to remain open and operational, often conducting surgeries free of charge despite threats to his own life. He teared up as he told us that as a father of three daughters, he just wanted to ensure daughters like his own were taken care of, and given a means to support themselves to thrive and be economically independent.

Through his clinic, Dr. Mabeya is trying to make a scalable, and sustainable social impact. But in the time since he has opened the center, he has been struggling to cover his costs. His staff is often paid through his supplementary salary at the government teaching hospital, and the counselor at the center is actually an unpaid Mrs. Mabeya. With low price points, he is serving the poorest of the poor, but future projections don’t look promising, and surgeries are often done free of charge. Despite knowing his business is bleeding, he is committed to trying to make it work by stretching his personal finances as far as possible.

So while the Gynocare Center had the right mission, it had neither the margin nor as yet, as a small standalone private enterprise, the mandate for an Acumen investment.

This is the messy reality and challenge of investing in social enterprises. There are a committed few, those who seek to serve the greatest needs and beyond. But doing so in a financially-viable and sustainable manner is the hurdle. So while we may not be able to support Dr. Mabeya and his Gynocare Center as an investment, we wholeheartedly support his mission, and everything that he represents.

Manasa Tanuku just finished an internship for Acumen’s East Africa office, working specifically on the Health Portfolio. Prior to Acumen, Manasa was in M&A investing banking and holds a BSc in Finance and International Business from New York University’s Stern School of Business.

When we started Acumen’s San Francisco chapter last fall, we knew we wanted to do something that had a distinctly Northern Californian flavor. So we took a page from Silicon Valley’s tech community and held a pitch night last month where five emerging social enterprises gave their best business plan presentations to a panel of Bay Area venture capitalists and veteran entrepreneurs like Premal Shah of Kiva.

More than 200 people came to see entrepreneurs like Shah and Leila Janah of Samasource share the lessons they learned from building their nonprofits from the ground-up.

Whether facing cost constraints, building a new brand in an unknown market or creating traction in an online marketplace, all of the speakers shared a common commitment to approaching long-standing problems with innovative technology solutions. It was an incredible opportunity to hear from individuals who are so boldly championing social enterprise as a solution to the economic and social disparities endemic to global poverty.

The second half of the event was dedicated to showcasing some of the pioneering social entrepreneurship happening in the Bay Area through a VC panel and social entrepreneur pitch session.  After sharing her experience working with D.light in India as a 2009 Acumen Fund Fellow, Heidi Krauel graciously moderated the VC panel and pitch session. Each social entrepreneur was given five minutes to pitch their business models to the VC panel and then responded to five minutes of Q&A from the panelists.  The social entrepreneurs’ pitches – spanning businesses in microfinance, water, cleantech, international development and web – underscored the incredible level of commitment it takes to launch a social enterprise.  Their excitement and dedication was truly inspiring. We hope the critical questioning from VC panelists Wes Selke of Good Capital, Beaudean Seil of Hunstman Gay Capital Impact and Esther Park of RSF Social Finance, will help them refine their business models as they work to build their organizations.

We partnered with Hub Bay Area and SOCAP10 at the Hub’s new downtown SoMa location. Just a few hours before the event, the Hub was still buzzing with activity with members dispersed throughout the 8600 sq. ft. of communal workspace. But, by 6 p.m. the Hub’s staff had expertly transformed the interior from a sea of modular work islands, designed to foster radical collaboration and idea flow, into an event space soon to be filled with 200 attendees. The wine was flowing courtesy of our sponsors Y&B Wines and The Bubble Lounge.

Following the pitches, we were thrilled to be approached by other social entrepreneurs interested in similar events in the future. For us, this was a true measure of the event’s success.  We hope Social Enterprise from Scratch is just the beginning of SF for Acumen’s potential to serve as a resource and inspiration for our community.

Join SF for Acumen and Nuru Project for DIGNITY, a photo auction and exhibit benefitting Acumen Fund. The event will be held on Saturday, August 7th at Gallery 16 in San Francisco, and will feature 30 prints by renowned photographers for auction.  All tickets include open wine/beer bar and hors d’oeuvres, and proceeds from the event will support Acumen Fund. Register here.

Mediha Abdulhay and Kim-Mai Cutler are co-leaders of the SF for Acumen chapter. They organized the Social Enterprise from Scratch event at Hub SoMa in San Francisco in June 2010. Learn more about SF for Acumen on our Community site.

When a $9 monthly pension check is the difference between starving or not, I think it’s quite incredible for a dalit woman to feel empowered enough to challenge the government and demand to know why she has not been getting her check, and the dignity she must feel when the pension starts to arrive soon after.

Right-to-Know Law Gives India’s Poor a Lever

Sangeeta Chowdhry is the Ripple Effect Project Manager at Acumen Fund.

In business school, I started to understand the many interpretations of the word “philanthropy.” To some of my classmates, it’s simply a means of giving back after you earn your salary and live your life. To others, it’s an antiquated term that describes what feels like a bottomless pit of unsuccessful attempts at charity. And yet to others, it’s a launching point for integrating all varieties of social service – from traditional aid to political leverage, from venture capital to social marketing.

Having worked in corporate philanthropy prior to school, I often wavered in my own definition and perception of philanthropy. It wasn’t until I came across Acumen Fund a number of years ago that this new concept – the model, message and impact of social investing – really struck a profound chord. Social enterprise was a new concept to me then, and yet the idea was so logical. What a powerful strategy to translate philanthropy into sustainable investments in businesses that earn income from the sales of fundamental products and services, rather than solely via charitable gifts. Add to that the new language that was helping reframe how I understood poverty, aid, dignity and empowerment. I was sold.

The decision to go to business school was partly predicated on a desire to understand how social enterprise worked – how to analyze a business proposal to determine the value of the company and the likelihood of its success; how to motivate people to work hard for a common purpose; how to structure a communications program that is aligned with and integrated into the strategy of the organization; and how to balance the push-pull of meeting social and financial targets.  The ecolodge that I managed in Ecuador provided great exposure to the delicate concerns of foreign involvement in international development.  And the corporate advertising holding company where I spent two years, presented opportunities to learn about strategic growth and new business development at the hub of specialty marketing firms.

I seek to work for an organization that truly fits my values and is committed to serving the greater good, embraces an entrepreneurial spirit, is composed of thoughtful and inspired leaders, and challenges me to grow and learn. All of these elements come together at very few organizations, yet Acumen Fund exceeded every criterion. I had geared up in business school for this moment, studying nonprofit management and behavioral economics in the developing world, as well as the typical strategy, marketing and finance courses. Then, despite an awful Skype connection from Laos during my interview with Yasmina, I was lucky to be offered a spot on the communications team for the summer.

On a daily basis, I am your blog curator and website manager. But my greater objective for the summer is to facilitate conversations about the organization’s web strategy. I am working with staff across the Acumen team, influential advisors like Seth Godin and Chris Hughes, donors, bloggers, and other Acumen constituents, to think through ideas big and small for the future of Acumen’s website and online community. It’s an exciting project and offers great exposure across the organization. Certainly in line with the organization’s ethos, this is not a typical website redesign process, a path with which I would’ve been familiar. Acumen strives to stretch the limits in terms of both the purpose of the website and the user experience.

Similarly, there are traditions here that go beyond the typical birthday cakes and farewell lunches (although those exist as well). As part of the weekly staff meetings at Acumen’s offices in New York, Pakistan, India and Kenya, team members are invited to share an ‘AHA’ moment – something that inspired them in the last week or reflected the organization’s values. The AHA’s range from thoughts about the World Cup and new film releases to challenging conference speakers and insights from field research. I’m so impressed that Acumen not only encourages this kind of thought-provoking participation at the standard staff meeting, but that these ideas are then shared with the global team to help inspire all of us.

I remember reading a passage in Yvon Chouinard’s book on the founding of Patagonia about his goal to create an environment where people didn’t just like their job; he wanted to build a business where his team came to the office on the balls of their feet, taking the stairs two at a time. It’s pretty exciting to be skipping steps on a daily basis and digging deeper into a definition of philanthropy that rings true for me and the many others who are part of this community.

Lindsay Siegel is a Summer Associate working with the communications team at Acumen’s New York office. The Summer Spotlight series features posts by Acumen Fund Summer Associates from around the world.

Acumen Investee Saiban in Pakistan

• Jacqueline reflects on her visit to a Saiban housing complex in Pakistan in her article for the Huffington Post.
• Former Acumen Fellow Jawad Aslam spent many months working for Saiban, and has since founded AMC, another housing investment for Acumen Fund. Watch Jawad’s inspiring speech from the NYC *spark! event last month.
• See more photos of Saiban.

More news:

• A powerful article by Harsh Mandar in The Hindu on marginalized communities in India and the lack of choice and dignity.
• NextBillion ran a great series on energy serving the BoP.
• Acumen hits the fashion news for its new partnership with Salvatore Ferragamo.
• Throughout the year, FORA.tv will host a series on social entrepreneurship with leaders in the sector like Professor Yunus of Grameen Bank, Sally Osberg of The Skoll Foundation, Mary Houghton at ShoreBank, William Foote of Root Capital, Jacaqueline Novogratz and others.

This past Sunday, I found myself standing in a hidden bohemian (albeit) shabby chic virtual warehouse in the heart of London’s East End with Michelin Star chefs prepping and dicing in the upstairs kitchen.  I looked out to a sea of faces at this Dining for Dignity event, hosted by London for Acumen – some new and some very familiar.  Those faces staring back at me were faces I identified as Acumen’s growing community of true game-changers, who I know will continue to inspire me, and yet there I was for the evening hoping to inspire them.

After a 6-course Michelin star menu – prepared by the former team of Richard Corrigan and Tom Aikens: Ollie Pudney, Dominic Robinson and sommelier Dawid Koegelenberg – I took to the stage and began to educate the room about the concept of venture philanthropy. I talked to them about A to Z and their blended approach of business and philanthropy, and more importantly, I tried to reach them with this story that meant more than debt, equity and metrics.

This evening would never have taken place without the goodwill of Eyjafjallajökull.  I say that flippantly, yet truthfully.  It was this Icelandic ash cloud that destroyed travel plans for many and brought me together with Yasmina Zaidman and her team at Acumen.  For those few weeks, I was in the presence of an overwhelming number of social innovators. It was then that I decided to dedicate my time to London’s plans and vision in support of Acumen.

Sunday was a humbling night.  This event, the first fundraiser of the year for our group, brought in more than GBP 980 for Acumen.  The buzz that evening felt unstoppable.  We as a chapter have only begun to realise our momentum, our press that evening was phenomenal, the goodwill from some outstanding individuals was recognized, and we expect that this is only the beginning.

Learn more about London for Acumen and join us!

See more photos from the event and check out the BBC coverage, below.

Jill Richmond is one of the chapter leaders of London for Acumen. She helped organize the Dining for Dignity event on June 13, 2010.

The final night of Acumen’s Portfolio Gathering highlighted the hard work of eight employees from Acumen portfolio companies, who were recognized with Frontline Awards.  Leah Okullo, an associate in our East Africa office, emceed the event, providing short stories about the  commitment and determination of each honoree.  The awards program was modeled on a similar event at the Pakistan Community Gathering last year and was a highlight of the Portfolio Gathering for many participants.

Congratulations to our honorees:

• Hannah Mwangi, UHEAL
• Sally Aluoch, Ecotact
• Josephine Mburu, Sustainable Healthcare Foundation’s CFW Shops
• Jack Njiru, Botanical Extracts EPZ
• Abel Kuley, Botanical Extracts EPZ
• Kennedy Nyamwaya Bundi, Insta Products
• Janet Bett, Jamii Bora
• Felix Bunyasi, Western Seed

The following is Leah’s speech from the event:

Leah Okullo, Master of Ceremonies

Welcome to a very special part of our program this evening. When we speak of the impressive achievements in the social sector, often times it is the pioneering philanthropist, ideologist, or more recently, the social entrepreneurs who come to mind.

However, there is also a second group of people who need to be acknowledged here, our ‘unsung heroes’ – the front lines of these social organizations.

These are the people who are the backbone of the companies they work for, and especially given today’s challenging political and economic climate, they really have their work cut out for them.

They are the ones who go door-to-door in the heat. They are the ones who galvanize communities to empower themselves. They’re the ones who deal with the hostilities of skeptics and grapple with the bureaucrats on a daily basis.

Most of the front line staff being honored today do come from the communities which their organizations are serving – and this is really capacity building, self-sustenance and dignity at its best.

Today we would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the dedication of the frontline staff of some of our investee companies and thank this group of people upon whose shoulders Acumen Fund’s entire ecosystem is dependent.

I am sure each and every one of us as a team has learnt a lot from spending time in the field with them.

Please join us in thanking these exemplary individuals.

Jacqueline, would you please join me on stage to present the plaques to our honorees tonight.

First, we would like to Hannah Mwangi from UHEAL.  Hannah, please join us on stage.

As we heard from Patrick Quarcoo yesterday, customers buy friendship and love.

Hannah is an ophthalmic assistant working with UHEAL. Her job is to attend to the patients, which includes counseling and passing on  information on various medical conditions related to the eye: testing vision, checking eye pressure and dilating patient eyes, and maintaining the specialized equipment to ensure that it is good order, clean and stored well at all times.

But Hannah has also gone above and beyond her call of duty. She was the first employee of UHEAL and was asked to run the administration and patient support work for the doctor with no training in any of these things.

She soon learned all the ropes and made the place what it is today . Her background is in tailoring but you would not know it unless somebody told you that.

In the client feedback survey UHEAL conducted in December, a majority of the clients mentioned that they came to the place because of Hannah because she is patient, caring and makes them feel loved and valued.  She takes times with each client making sure their experience at the clinic is delightful.

Hannah, please accept this plaque as a token of our gratitude.

Next, we would like to honor Sally Aluoch from Ecotact.  Sally, please join us on stage.

If cash is king , then Sally is Queen to Ecotact. Sally was among the first employees of Ecotact.  She started as a cleaner, and was then promoted to a cashier shortly thereafter.

Today, Sally supervises the Iko-toilets facilities throughout Nairobi .  Her responsibilities have grown to include supervising cleanliness in the Iko-toilets, as well as depositing cash collected from the facilities.

Despite the high volume of cash transactions done every day, there have never been any irregularities.  She is also keen on checking on cash collected by cashiers, who trust her because she was once a cashier just like them.

She is also trusted by Ecotact management, as she reports back on employee issues with empathy but also in a spirit of accountability.

Sally does demonstrations for new employees on how best to clean the Iko-toilets, building trust throughout the organization.  She even steps in as a cashier or a cleaner whenever necessary.  She has energy to visit all of the Iko-toilets, checking cleanliness on her own, without supervision.

Sally has proved to be dedicated and committed to her work,  and a team leader to the Ecotact team.

Sally, please accept this plaque as a token of our gratitude.

Next, we would like to honor Josephine Mburu from the Sustainable Healthcare Foundation’s CFW Shops.

Josephine Mburu is the Field Services Manager at the Sustainable Healthcare Foundation’s CFW Shops.  Josephine trained as a nurse in Germany and chose to forgo highly-paid positions in Europe and the US to come back to Kenya.

With her deep insight into healthcare and also a strong grasp of the business essentials of running a franchised healthcare business, Josephine is a driving force at CFW Shops.  As one of the longest-serving employees, she is also a treasure trove of knowledge and has supported the organization through periods of transition.  She’s  an extremely committed individual who is driven by a strong need to make a difference in the community that she is a part of.

Her boss and CFW’s Country Manager, Spencer Ochieng, has this to say about her: “Josephine possesses a positive, can-do attitude which is infectious to those around her. Her efforts have greatly contributed to the success of SHF as an organization and, in turn, the realization of our mission. She easily mixes with all ranks, works long hours and is absolutely committed to her work; in short she is a great asset to me as the Country Manager and to the organization in general!”

Josephine please accept this plaque as a token of our gratitude.

Next, would Jack Njiru from Botanical Extracts EPZ please join us on stage.

In the words of Winston Churchill, as we heard from Bruce Robertson this week, “Never give up, never give up, never never never never.”

Jack is the Production Manager at the BEEPZ processing plant and is responsible for managing all production activities in the factory. He is also very involved in assisting the technical team to improve recovery rates in the factory and  works closely with the Technical Director, factory manager and the development lab staff.

We would like to honor Jack because in recent months, Jack has maintained a very positive attitude and has been able to assist management in working with the production team.

We very much appreciate Jack’s approach to his work and look forward to his input in the future and his assistance to build up the production team.

Jack, please accept this plaque as a token of our gratitude.

We have a second awardee from Botanical Extracts EPZ, but he is unable to join us this evening.  Patrick, would you please come up to accept Abel Kuley’s award on his behalf.

Abel Kuley manages all BE’s activities in Tanzania, particularly relating to raw material production but also in dealing with local authorities and financial management.

Abel has played a truly amazing role to keep production activities going in the face of challenging financial circumstances. He has interacted with farmers and creditors and kept his team motivated. He holds one of the hardest roles within BE, particularly given the distance from the main BE operations in Kenya.

Raw material is absolutely the lifeblood of the company and BE will depend heavily on Tanzanian production, so we are very appreciative of Abel’s efforts to keep this production going and to keep his team intact in such an independent and competent way.

Patrick, please accept this award on Abel’s behalf.  We are sorry he can’t join us here tonight.

Kennedy Nyamwaya Bundi, is the honoree from Insta Products.  Ken, please join us on stage.

They say perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did.

Kennedy (“Ken”) Nyamwaya Bundi joined Insta way back in 2004, starting as a shipping clerk.  Of his own volition, he studied for and passed exams to earn his Certificate, and then a Diploma, in East African Customs Freight Forwarding & Shipping Management.

He has subsequently taken additional exams, and is conversant with tax import and export regulations, all of which changed recently with the introduction of the New East African Customs Union.

Ken works tirelessly in his position to expedite  Insta products shipments throughout East Africa often overcoming immensely complex customs issues.  For importing ingredients, he similarly works with Kenya government offices to cope with difficult regulatory systems that breaks down, and the many unexpected events that prevent customs clearance in a timely fashion.

You will find Ken even working Sundays, holidays, and evenings, driving between Insta’s offices in Athi River (EPZ) and downtown Nairobi, to ensure Insta’s business is successful.

Ken, please accept this plaque as a token of our gratitude.

Next, we are pleased to ask Janet Bett from Jamii Bora to join us on stage.

Truly, when the world says, “Give up, hope whispers, ‘Try it one more time.’”

Anyone seeing  Janet’s  elegance and good looks today would never have imagined this lady, Janet Bett, was once looking rugged and dirty as she begged in the streets of Nairobi.  A trained teacher, Janet left a marital home when her husband threw her and  her six children out.

He made sure that she lost her teaching job with the TSC and went to the extent of burning all her certificates. Her younger brothers would not allow her and her kids to stay home because that meant competition for the little milk from their mother’s cows.

Janet traveled to Nairobi with the hope of being reinstated.  Months passed b and nothing was happening.  She slowly drifted to the streets where her friends were begging.

For 10 years, the streets were Janet’s  home until she met Ingrid Munro, the founder of Jamii Bora who unfortunately could not be with us tonight.  Janet would gather together with her friends around Mama Ingrid whenever she brought her adopted children to play with their friends.

Janet soon became Mama Ingrid’s translator.  Soon after, she joined Ingrid as Ingrid created Jamii Bora.

At Jamii Bora, she became Head of the Tumaini project that reaches out to the very destitute with a word of hope.  A typical day in Janet’s life involves going out to the street; she sits down on the verandas to chat and listen to the street families.

Some share their problems and others even give excuses why they can’t save. But Janet is very firm and assertive and the beggars have learnt that there is no easy way out of poverty except through climbing up the ladder by saving, taking loans and servicing them.

It is through her that Jamii Bora adapted the saying that “not even the sky is the limit.”  She has helped mobilize over 40,000 members either from street families or the very destitute families from the slums.

In the streets, Janet is a heroine.  People call out her name; the street boys carry her hand bag and protect her wherever she goes.  While walking in the streets of Nairobi, she is safer than the Police Commissioner because all the street families are her friends.

Janet, please accept this plaque as a token of our appreciation.

Finally, we would like to recognize a member of Western Seed’s staff, in absentia.  Saleem please join us on stage.

Franklin Roosevelt once said “When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on.”

We  would like to recognize Felix Bunyasi who hails from Kebwefwe in the Trans Nzoia district just outside Kitale. Felix started as a field assistant with the Grasslands Research Station in Kitale in 1964. He worked under Steve Eberhart, Penny, Larry Darrah, Peters and Crompton until he retired in 1997 when he joined Western Seed as Saleem’s Breeding Technician.

Felix has since worked tirelessly under challenging conditions, planting and managing experimental trials all over western Kenya and at the Breeding Station.

Felix was officially retired in 2007 at age 65 but continues to work on an annual contract. At 7 am every morning he is up and about and supervises the nursery and field staff until sundown. Felix broke his leg in a motorcycle accident in 2003 and, although was incapacitated for 10 months, returned back at the station and has not missed a day since.

Saleem please accept this plaque on behalf of Felix, as a token of our gratitude.

I’d like to end with an African proverb that I feel really captures the essence of our work as Acumen Fund, and the types of environments that our entrepreneurs are working in. And it goes like this:

“When a needle falls into a deep well, many people will look into the well, but few will be ready to go down after it.”

So I would like to thank our honorees from making the extra effort to make sure that we–our entrepreneurs, Acumen Fund, and our community–are in the well looking for the needle, which is part of what we have been doing this past week.

Shukrani  for making this happen.

Brian Trelstad is Chief Investment Officer at Acumen Fund. He attended the 2010 Frontline Awards program in Kenya.

Leah Okullo is a Program Associate at Acumen Fund East Africa. She served as emcee for the Awards ceremony.

Maxine Trotter (Grandmother) and Janette Ditkowsky (Mother) in my grandmother's backyard in Tustin, California.

Alexis Ditkowsky currently works for Ashoka’s Changemakers and was part of the New York for Acumen leadership team back in the day. This fall, she and her husband will be traveling to Malaysia to volunteer with eHomemakers and she was just selected to be in the 14th class of Kiva Fellows.

Ever since the The Blue Sweater came out, I’ve been talking it up with friends, family, and anyone else who will listen, a list that includes my hairdresser, my broker, and my OB-GYN, who already had a copy thanks to an Acumen Fund employee. Small world! My mom and my grandmother are recent additions to the Blue Sweater club (thanks to the local library) and I thought it would be fun to interview them about their impressions of the book.

I’m going to skip to the end of the interview first and share a question that went completely flat. I asked my grandmother, “So many of the women that Jacqueline writes about have no money of their own and no control over their finances. Can you imagine what this is like and how your life might have been different if this were the case for you?” I got the equivalent of a blank stare over the phone. Even if she understood how micro-loans and small business development, like the work Jacqueline did in Rwanda, could impact women’s lives, it was still incredibly difficult to draw comparisons to her own life.

You see, for as long as I can remember, my grandmother has boasted about how she and my great grandmother had their own bank accounts and how they were both college-educated. Even though she grew up on a lima bean farm in Huntington Beach, California, and refers to her family as being “dirt poor” at the time, my grandmother was allowed to keep the money she made from working on the farm, encouraged to go to school, and supported by her family in her pursuits. At the end of the day she felt like she had choices, and that inner confidence is just as difficult to untangle from her identity as being a woman, a Christian, or a Republican. These are just the facts of life and she sees no reason to over-think them.

I finally pieced this together while talking to my mom after the interview was over and I also realized that even though my grandmother is 84 and from a generation where many women in the States had limited options, she could no more visualize what life might be like without personal and financial autonomy than I could. Reflecting on my failed question, I think working through misplaced expectations and assumptions, like the one I had of my grandmother just because she belongs to a particular generation, and the impact of having a say in one’s economic future, are central concerns of The Blue Sweater.

My mom latched on to this theme while talking about Jacqueline’s growth and transformation during her formative experiences in Rwanda. She told me that she “appreciated how Jacqueline tried to focus on finding solutions from within the community even though it sounds easier said than done” and “loved the vignette where it took Jacqueline some time to understand that different rules applied to her as a foreigner”. As you may remember from the book, while Jacqueline could walk right up to people and sell baked goods, the local women needed to find a different, socially acceptable path to promote their business. My mother was bemused by the women’s laissez-faire approach – “you wouldn’t be that laid-back or demure in a marketing program in the States!” But “even though Jacqueline was well-educated and came from a Western background, she had to learn how to help make the bakery successful on their terms not hers.”

The three of us also had an interesting chat about the patience that is required to truly listen. The bakery-painting debacle, while humorous, is a perfect example of how even when you think you’re being patient, sometimes you need to let the dynamics of how things work in another culture sink in even further. My grandmother and I both have well-developed stubborn streaks and it was easy to relate to Jacqueline’s frustration at the pace of progress. But stubbornness is one of those qualities that just needs the right encouragement, and when it’s applied to being patient or open-minded, then you just might get things done. Of Jacqueline’s trials and tribulations in Rwanda, my grandmother remarked that it was great that she “was doing something when she had the chance” and that she was impressed by her “determination and independence”.

Running a successful business and feeling pride in their work had an incredible impact on the women. As Jacqueline writes, “For the first time, their incomes allowed them to decide when to say yes or to say no. Money is freedom and confidence and choice. And choice is dignity. The solidarity of the bakery also gave them a sense of belonging that made them even stronger.”

The Ditkowskys moving from Wilmette, IL to Villa Park, CA via Goulding, Utah in 1991. My grandparents flew out and joined us on part of the trip. ( L-R) Maxine Trotter (Grandmother), Lee Ditkowsky (Father), Alexis Ditkowsky (Me!), JP Ditkowsky (Brother), holding Adam Ditkowsky (Brother), George Trotter (Grandfather), and Janette Ditkowsky (Mother).

This was something that resonated with all three generations of Murdy/Trotter/Ditkowsky women and speaks to one of the keys to encouraging gender equality. While controlling your own finances is important, the knowledge that you have the talents, resources, and support to shape your future has an unmistakable and irreversible effect. I hope that the work that I do helps make this the status quo for women around the world and that their sense of confidence and self-worth will be just as inextricably tied up in their identities as it’s been for the three of us.

~

Now that my mom and my grandma have finished reading The Blue Sweater, my dad is taking his turn before the library starts tracking the Ditkowskys down. Back in Boston, my mother in-law bought Acumen Fund’s “Book Club in a Box” for her book club and my husband is annoyed that I lent out my copy because he read sections over my shoulder but never got quality time of his own.

My (completely unbiased) suggestion: If you haven’t read the book yet, take a weekend and let yourself be transported. Then pass the book on to those you care about and join the Blue Sweater Fan Club on Acumen Fund’s Community site. It’s like an online book club with helpful links, videos, and friendly people from all of the world offering their opinions and insights. I hope to see you there!

Brittany Boroian is a volunteer for Acumen Fund based in New York. She is a recent graduate of Global College and will be a Class 12 Kiva Fellow in Africa starting July.

Dear Acumen Fund supporters and readers of this blog,

My name is Brittany Boroian, and I have been volunteering with Acumen Fund since January. Today is my final day of working with Acumen Fund, and I wanted to share with you some of the highlights of this amazing experience.

I first became passionate about Acumen Fund by reading The Blue Sweater , which is a phenomenal book on the life of Jacqueline Novogratz , founder and CEO of Acumen Fund. After working with various micro-finance institutions abroad, this was the perfect book for me to read on a new and compelling approach to tackle global poverty. I felt so connected to Jacqueline’s experiences in Africa and India, and believed that market-based solutions that focused on dignity and empowerment were much more effective that traditional aid-driven approaches. When I arrived at New York for my final semester at Global College, I joined Acumen Fund’s online community and reached out to Yasmina Zaidman , Director of Communications at Acumen Fund, for any way that I could help and learn more about the organization.

I came into Acumen Fund with a fear that since The Blue Sweater was such a passionate and enthusiastic book, that the organization wouldn’t be as idealistic as I had imagined. I had such an experience with a former organization I had worked with, and so I expected that Acumen Fund wouldn’t be as visionary or effective as they were portrayed. Fortunately, this was a completely wrong assumption on my part. My respect and awe for Acumen Fund continues to grow with each day, by the astonishing employees that work so hard to carry out Acumen Fund’s vision, by the volunteers who pop in and out of the office doing numerous and unimaginable feats (varying from working on Acumen Fund’s online database to planning Jacqueline Novogratz’s trip to Japan), and by learning more about Acumen Fund’s investments that really work. I also had the opportunity to become involved in New York for Acumen’s *spark! benefit, which was organized by an incredible group of volunteers who are all extremely dedicated to Acumen Fund’s mission. I felt very proud to be part of this exciting community of people who are all working together to make the world a better place.

I think that the peak of my respect for Acumen Fund occurred during a trip to the Global Health Unite for Sight conference at Yale in mid-April, which featured over 200 leaders on global health and social enterprise, including Jacqueline Novogratz as a keynote speaker. I came to the conference excited, and expecting to learn of 200 more organizations that were doing work just like Acumen Fund. I was wrong in this assumption. Nearly every speaker I listened to lectured the audience on the many problems in global health, and that their organization needed X amount of money to fix it (many without mentioning how they would fix it). But when Jacqueline Novogratz stepped up to the podium, her speech was about the solutions Acumen Fund has been working on to tackle global poverty. I think this is a fundamental difference between Acumen Fund and many other organizations, and I left the conference astounded that I could feel even more awe and respect for their methods to alleviate poverty.

While I leave Acumen Fund with a sense of sadness because my incredible volunteership has ended, I know that this is only the beginning. Microfinance was the spark that pushed me into the field of social entrepreneurship, but I’ve learnt at Acumen Fund that there are many other ways of addressing the problem of poverty. Acumen Fund’s approach of leveraging Patient Capital to combat global poverty is the fuel that feeds a now roaring fire within me. I know that wherever these next steps in my life will take me, I will always bring Acumen Fund along with me, whether it’s preaching stories from The Blue Sweater to whoever will listen, remaining actively engaged on their incredible online community, or being a part of Acumen Fund’s chapters wherever I may end up. One of Acumen Fund’s mission statements is to inspire the next generation to taking action. I feel inspired.

I leave Acumen Fund with immeasurable respect for their organization, enormous passion for the field of social enterprise, and an immense desire to work for them in the future.

Thank you for such an incredible opportunity, Acumen Fund.

To everyone out there who has been wondering if and how you can get involved in Acumen Fund’s work, I strongly encourage you to take action. We have to be the change we want to see in our world. Read The Blue Sweater , explore our Volunteer page, or to reach out to the Acumen Fund team if you have a specific idea in mind! If my volunteer experience was anything to go by, this is a decision you won’t regret!

Best Wishes,

Brittany Boroian

I have recently been on a couple of conference panels where the question comes up: how do we scale these social enterprises?  At the Global Philanthropy Forum, the panel was about scale and sustainability.  I commented that the terms often get me to scratch my head because they feel like jargon.  To me, scale is simply something that is pervasive or large, perhaps large enough to make a material dent on the problem trying to be solved.  Sustainability is really about something that endures.  Anything that lasts, from the Library of Congress to the American Red Cross to General Electric is sustainable. (Ironically, thanks to creative destruction, is much harder for private businesses – those that are profitable in the near term - to sustain themselves over the long term.) Finally, I noted that scale and sustainability without a qualifier is not so interesting, at least to me and the team at Acumen Fund: we seek scale and sustainable solutions that have been built with integrity and values, that provide dignity to users, that have quality at their core.

When I reflected on “scaled and sustainable” institutions that are an important part of my life, I immediately thought about two social sector programs that my daughters are involved with: the Girl Scouts and youth basketball.  Both are scaled and sustainable.  The Girls Scouts, after a century, are in nearly every community in the United States (if they are in the little city of Lambertville, NJ, population 4,000, they must be everywhere).  They achieved scale through their compelling mission: to build girls of courage, confidence and character, who make the world a better place.   Their MISSION has attracted millions of dollars in contributions (cookie sales have probably helped), but it is the contributions and the hundreds of thousands of hours of volunteer labor from the local chapter leaders, without which the organization would not have scaled.

In contrast to the Girl Scouts, which is a large, branded organization, another idea that has replicated to the point of scale is youth basketball.  Youth basketball leagues also exist in nearly every community, but unlike the Girl Scouts with a consistent program and set of activities (with plenty of room for diversity at the local level), youth basketball leagues are replications of a simple but powerful concept: a band of parents believes in the mission of youth basketball as another way to build confidence and character in children through competitive basketball.  They find a gym, buy some T-shirts and start playing.  Our local league relies on registration fees and snack food sales to cover some of the core costs, but would not exist without the hundreds of volunteer hours of the coaches (myself included), parents, referees, and league organizers who make the whole thing work.

Scaled successes in the nonprofit sector scale through the power of their MISSION.

For businesses, it is MARGIN that drives scale, specifically profit margin.  Any large business - from Google to WalMart to General Electric - have “scaled” because the economics of their businesses and their business units have generated sufficient profit margins to either reinvest in the business or to attract commercial capital (debt or equity) that is interested in getting a piece of that margin over time. Either the cash flows are financeable through debt or a source of risk capital is willing to bet there will be some profits in future years that justify an equity investment.   Businesses without margins (at some point in time) do not grow; those with unattractive margins grow slowly; those with fat margins are rocketships.

Scaled successes in the private sector scale through the power of their MARGIN.

But not all that is scaled is in the private or social sector.  Governments are an important source of scale.  The United States’ national transportation infrastructure, universal public K-to-12 education, widely adopted pollution controls after the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts, the military, etc. are all large, scaled programs, services, institutions or systems that have scaled through MANDATE.  The government has the power to tax and administer massively scaled programs that serve a national purpose, correct for a market failure, or respond to a public need.

At the Global Philanthropy Forum, there was a terrific example of a hepatitis B vaccine program in China that will cost $400m to scale from one small district to solve the problem nationally.  There is not enough philanthropy in the world to fund a public health campaign of that scale in China, particularly as the Global Fund uses its billions to grapple with AIDS, TB and Malaria.  The mission is compelling but is probably not going to compete in the philanthropic marketplace for that much money in the next few years.  The economics of vaccination campaigns to millions or low-income Chinese also do not pencil out. There is no margin for a product that people are not willing to pay for.  The program will only scale if the government of China puts up the money.  It’s actually a pretty good deal: the $400m of spending over the next five years will save the government roughly $1B from the disease burden over the next decades.  Through the power of a MANDATE, the government is able to scale a regional pilot program nationally.

So scaled public programs rely on a government MANDATE.

At this point, you’re probably asking yourself: OK, makes sense, but how does this relate to social enterprise?

Where this gets interesting from a social enterprise perspective is that it offers us a lens to understand the oft-discussed but also misunderstood “path to scale”.  The path to scale is not straightforward; social enterprises don’t follow just one path or another.  In fact, every business in Acumen Fund’s portfolio blends some element of business, social enterprise, and policy experiment at different points in their life cycle.  They need to focus on margin, communicate a compelling mission, and advocate for a mandate at various stages of their development.

Husk Power is an example.  It is a biomass gasification business in India that buys waste rice husk and converts it into electricity for small, off-grid villages in rural Bihar.  Gyanesh Pandey is a charismatic leader who has used his increasingly public profile to raise a fair bit of philanthropy.  This “free money” – which has come from everything from business plan competitions to this week’s Sankalp Forum is useful as Gyanesh conducts R&D to pilot the model.  He continues to benefit from volunteer offers of support from all over the world, including people willing to travel to Bihar to work for free. The mission of providing affordable, renewable power in communities that otherwise lack access to formal energy services is compelling.

His margins are also quite attractive.  At least on paper, he thinks the systems should pay for themselves within two to three years, so the business itself attracted risk capital like Acumen Fund and even more commercial investors like Bamboo Finance and DFJ.  Even more exciting is the potential for mandate: Gyanesh is working with the government of Bihar to write the regulations for how rural biomass gasification can benefit from government subsidies (which make the margins even more attractive).  If successful, the mandate for government funding will scale up these systems more rapidly than either the compelling mission or the attractive margins.

While this blend of approaches is exciting for Gyanesh and for Acumen Fund, it also raises a critical question: when to follow which path and in what sequence.  Venture capitalists expect their management teams to focus.  There will be plenty of time for fame when you sell your business. A philanthropist, on the other hand, loves to provide a platform for the charismatic grantee, as it is part of the business model, but it can cause the entrepreneur to lose focus.  And the policy world is desperate for good ideas, but the pace of change in government is often unpredictable.  Waiting for a mandate is about is productive as waiting for Godot…

So, you get to scale and sustainability through mission, margin or mandate, or through some combination of all three .  The fun part is figuring out which and when; the risk is that choosing the wrong path at the wrong time can mean the difference between a scaled success, and yet another pilot program languishing on the ash heaps of failed social change experiments.  As Acumen Fund’s Chief Investment Officer, sorting this all out is what keeps me up at night…

Yasmina Zaidman, Director of Communications | Photo Credit: Jamie Billet

This past Monday night the New York for Acumen Fund Chapter held its first major fundraiser of the year, its second since its launch last year. The event featured speakers that shared a set beautiful qualities in common – they were all innovators, passionate, unafraid to expose the uniqueness of their ideas and personalities. I had the pleasure of concluding the event, and have transcribed my comments here as a summary of the night, and as a testament to how inspired I was by the speakers and the event organizers.  And most of all, by the 200 people who joined us to help us raise more than $26,000 for businesses in the developing world that offer real choices and opportunities to low-income communities.

*spark! – May 3, 2010

“What is a spark? Think about it.

It’s a tiny instant of heat and light. It can be harmless glimmer that fades as quickly as it appears, or it can start a flame, ignite a fire.

Everyone who spoke at tonight’s event has a spark, a desire to change the world. And each of them has transformed this spark into a fire.

But they didn’t do it alone.  Each of them relied on the tinder, the fuel of their communities.

Jawad Aslam is literally building a housing division where former squatters in Pakistan can own their first homes and build real community together. By pioneering new model for financially sustainable low-income housing, he is creating a model for the world.

Gretchen Rubin, author of The Happiness Project, has sparked the idea of discovering your own brand of happiness, and has built a community of readers and happiness practitioners who are helping her idea spread like wildfire.

Spoken word artist Sarah Kay lights a spark with each poem she shares, and you, her audience, will find that you catch on fire as you listen, if you let yourself. She has shared her spark with teenagers across the country, helping them find their voices, and I have no doubt that the power of her words has helped save lives.

Chris Hughes, co-founder of Facebook and Director of Online Organizing for President Obama’s campaign, is essentially a pyromaniac.  The sparks of his ideas have created communities where millions of people can share their own spark, build communities, and launch unstoppable movements.

Communities are a critical piece of each of their stories. I learned a few weeks ago the kind of community that I’m a part of through my work with Acumen Fund. Stranded in Europe by the volcanic ash cloud from Iceland, I found myself supported and encouraged by people from throughout the Acumen Fund community who transformed a moment of chaos into an opportunity to connect, to share information, and to help each other return home to our families and to our work.

The volcano was a spark, but my community made it a gift.

For many of you, Acumen Fund has lit a spark. It certainly has for me. The truth of the notion that all people are equally human, equally deserving of dignity and the right to dream of a better life, is an idea that has changed my life.

And if Acumen Fund is also a spark for you, then you – all of you – are the tinder. You are the fuel that can transform this spark into a flame, into a fire. Some of you have been working with us already , helping to spread this idea, learn more, engage others. And some of you are new to this idea of investing Patient Capital to build lasting change in the lives of the poor. But all of you are here, and have chosen to make tonight possible. And I ask you to continue with us to help build this new model for addressing poverty, and to imagine together a world beyond poverty.”

Watch the videos from *spark!

In attendance will be Acumen Fund Partners, staff, alumni, former Fellows, and a host of new faces passionate about Acumen Fund’s mission and looking to find their own unique path to changing the world. New York for Acumen events always attract a diverse group, from bankers to techies and artists to activists, and are a great opportunity to network and draw inspiration.

Please note that from 6-7pm there is a special VIP reception which will be an opportunity for individuals to meet with senior members of the Acumen Fund team and the amazing guest speakers for the event including Chris Hughes, Gretchen Rubin, Jenny 8. Lee, Sarah Kay, and Jawad Aslam. VIP ticket holders will also receive automatic entry to the raffle which will include a host of fantastic prizes.

Monday, May 3rd
Main event: 6:30 to 10:00
VIP reception: 6:00 to 7:00 in Room 914

NYU Kimmel Center
Rosenthal Pavilion, 10th Floor
60 Washington Square South

Music entertainment provided by DJ Jon Margulies
Open beer and wine bar, light food and refreshments provided

Purchase tickets to *spark! igniting change in an interconnected world.

About the event:

*spark! igniting change in an interconnected world will be New York for Acumen’s spring benefit for Acumen Fund featuring an exciting lineup of speakers, complimentary drinks, food, and raffle prizes! If you attended the DIGNITY photo auction and benefit last July put on by New York for Acumen (NYfA), you won’t want miss this!

Chris Hughes, Co-founder of Facebook and Online Coordinator for Obama’s online campaign, will be speaking and sharing insights into his latest venture, Jumo. Former New York Times writer Jennifer 8. Lee will be emceeing the event. Other speakers include Gretchen Rubin, bestselling author of The Happiness Project , Jawad Aslam, a 2008 Acumen Fund Fellow and CEO of current Acumen investee AMC, and the renowned spoken word artist and poet Sarah Kay, founder of Project V.O.I.C.E.

Don’t miss out on this opportunity to meet like-minded individuals who are passionate about Acumen Fund and are all looking to find their own unique way to make a difference in the world.

Purchase tickets to *spark! igniting change in an interconnected world.

Chris Hughes, Co-founder of Facebook and Online Coordinator for Obama’s online campaign, will be speaking and sharing insights into his latest venture, Jumo. Former New York Times writer Jennifer 8. Lee will be emceeing the event. Other speakers include Gretchen Rubin, bestselling author of The Happiness Project , Jawad Aslam, a 2008 Acumen Fund Fellow and CEO of current Acumen investee AMC, and the renowned spoken word artist and poet Sarah Kay, founder of Project V.O.I.C.E.

Don’t miss out on this opportunity to meet like-minded individuals who are passionate about Acumen Fund and are all looking to find their own unique way to make a difference in the world.

Purchase tickets to *spark! igniting change in an interconnected world.

The world has experienced a great loss this weekend, Coimbatore Krishnarao (CK) Prahalad, strategy guru, University of Michigan Professor, and mentor to me and many others passed away on Friday evening.

There are few people who have created a global movement that has changed the way millions of people see the world and CK Prahalad is one of them.  I first heard about CK through his book, “The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid”.  The idealist in me was moved by his words of dignity and a new approach to poverty alleviation and the pragmatist in me was driven by his talk of business models and market opportunity.  I immediately left my job, was accepted to the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business, and moved to Ann Arbor to learn from this remarkable man. I am merely one of thousands, perhaps millions, who were inspired by Professor Prahalad’s message.

While CK was one of the world’s most respected strategy gurus (ranked #1 in the top 50 global business thinkers) it was clear his life’s mission was to change the way the world thought about poverty.  He believed in the dignity that came with giving the poor a voice and a choice in the decisions they made about their lives.   And most importantly he believed in humility and deep listening.  He once told me that when you do your work go with real humility Blair, for the poor know more about life than you could possibly imagine.

What makes CK so amazing is that he was not walking the halls of the United Nations or the State Department to address poverty; he was waking up Fortune 500 companies to his vision of social change.  He was attempting to convert the seemingly unconvertible, and he was creating an entirely new paradigm in his wake.

CK created a language (Bottom of the Pyramid for example) that allowed the business community to talk about social change and simultaneously allowed the social sector to talk about capitalism as a tool to fight injustice.  This contribution alone demonstrates his sheer brilliance in the face of one of the greatest cultural and ideological divisions of our time.

CK’s work was always grounded in his deep commitment to education.  Despite his fame and prestige he always continued to teach and to listen.  I will never forget my first day in his class when he had assigned 100 business school students, with hundreds more waitlisted, to read philosophy.  The typical MBA’s were waiting for him to deliver his lecture supplying them with their first framework for innovation and instead he asked us to reexamine our lives and the society in which we lived.   Let’s just say that was not the typical assignment for business school, but CK was not a typical man.  He once said to me, “I don’t like to think inside the box, I like to create my own box.”  And he did just that.

Our final exam for the class was to write a two page essay on where we saw ourselves in five years.  My vision was to be at Acumen Fund, and that vision has become a reality.  It is amazing what happens when someone like him asks you about your dreams and then gives you the confidence and support to realize them. CK Prahalad was not just a guru or an icon he was a teacher and a mentor.

Last year I asked CK to speak at the Acumen Fund Fellows Graduation.  During his presentation he told us, “If there was one thing I could wish for it would be to be young again”.  While CK could not have his wish; his voice, his vision, and his passion, now live in those hundred of companies, thousands of social sector organizations, and millions of people around the world who are young enough at heart to hope, to create their own box, and to see the world through a different lens.  These people no longer see the developing world filled with poverty and corruption but instead see these markets filled with opportunity and hope.  CK we will carry on your legacy and as you told us we will “work to see the world not for what it is, but what it can be”.

Thank you Professor Prahalad you will be missed.

Are you being a linchpin?

I’ve been an avid watcher of “So You Think You Can Dance“ for years, and since reading Linchpin, Seth Godin’s latest book, it has become clear to me why. The show’s name is a little ironic. The kids featured in this competition reality show, who audition from around the country for a chance to become America’s favorite dancer, really can dance. Some have years of training, and some are street dancers, but all of them get on the stage and dance their hearts out, with grace, and flare, picking up new styles effortlessly from week to week. It’s a little embarrassing to be hooked on a reality TV show, but I know I’m not alone.

What the performers on the show do for me is remind me of what it looks like to be an artist. The hunger, the hard work, the courage. And the end result is breathtaking – performances that stay with me for years after the show ends. The show is irresistible because it shows me something, I now realize, that is true about myself. I had never thought of it that way.

Linchpin is about what it takes to be indispensable, to be singularly good at what you do, to create and share the gifts that only you can offer.

Linchpin challenges its readers in a way that previous books by Godin have not. If you’re looking for a new way to think about your marketing strategy, or the best way to harness the power of the internet, this is not the book for you. If you’re willing to consider that you are capable of much more than you are doing now, pick it up. Read it. If you have read Tribes, and have decided to be a leader, then make sure your tribe reads it. If you have decided that you want to make a positive difference in the world, and have ever asked yourself the question – “am I doing enough?”, read it.

But going back to “So You Think You Can Dance,” there is a catch. Linchpin is not about seeking out genius and artistry in others.  I know now that what I love about watching these extraordinary dancers is that it calls out to some part of me that wants to be more. Linchpin has the audacity to suggest that the genius worth watching is YOU.

In Linchpin, Seth is talking, in part, to people whose livelihoods and dignity are at stake in a new economy that ruthlessly downsizes anyone who is dispensable. But he is also talking to people who feel comfortable in their good-enoughness. What’s provocative about the book is his message to those, myself included, who don’t need to become a linchpin in order to save our jobs, but rather to give a gift that we’ve been holding on to. This is the part of the book where I start to wish that “So You Think You Can Dance” wasn’t in between seasons. It’s so much easier to just watch.

The notion of overcoming the resistance, what Seth names that internal sabotage mechanism that keeps us from sharing our gifts with the world, sounds exhausting. And uncomfortable. It means risking failure. But once you see the pattern of your own self-sabotage, which Seth deftly captures as though he’s had a hidden camera trained on you for years, it’s hard to continue as before. I’ve decided that the best way to deal with this daunting set of ideas is to take it on reality-show-style, with a group of peers who share my hunger and curiosity, and are willing to challenge each other to new heights. I know that as more of us at Acumen Fund begin to read this book we’ll be able to create subtle shifts in our own culture – a shift towards more generosity and art, and less credit-seeking and prize winning. We’ll continue to hold ourselves to the highest standards of accountability, but with a new excitement that comes from being a community of linchpins. We may not be dancing, but we are artists in our own way, hoping to bring something new into the world and inspire others to bring their own gifts to the task of ending extreme poverty.