As the crisis in Haiti continues to unfold, with some sources suggesting that as many as 100,000 may have perished, here at Acumen our hearts and minds are with those who lost their lives, homes, and loved ones.

While Acumen does not work in the field of emergency care, at this critical and challenging moment, we encourage our community members, supporters, and friends to consider giving to organizations that are involved in efforts to provide emergency relief at the present and large scale reconstruction in the coming months.

There are many good organizations working to address the crisis, such as Partners in Health, which has worked in Haiti for over 20 years and already initiated efforts to provide relief to those impacted by the quake.

For reconstruction efforts, we suggest supporting Architecture for Humanity, a nonprofit design group that has already launched a major initiative to assist in reconstruction. As in previous efforts, they are doing so with an eye towards sustainable, innovative, and design oriented solutions. Click here to read an article by Cameron Sinclair, executive director of Architecture for Humanity, discussing the challenges of reconstruction in Haiti.

• Jamii Bora highlighted in Op-Ed in San Diego Union Tribune.  In the piece, Sam Daley – Harris, founder of the Microcredit Summit Campaign, disusses the redemptive power of microcredit in the lives of those impacted by post-election violence.

• Pakistan’s Business Recorder recently featured piece about Syed Salim Raza comments at the Pakistan Community Gathering. The Financial Daily has also reported on his speech.

• In case you missed it in the end-year bustle, New York Times columnist Nicholas D. Kristof suggested giving to Acumen Fund, highlighting Acumen’s work as exemplary. Click here to read more.

• D-Light and Sam Goldman recently featured in Rediff Business, discussing the work of D.Light.

Acumen Fund is looking for a volunteer Communications Associate/Editor to write, edit and manage content on two of our key online properties – Acumen Fund’s blog and website. This is a 3-month, part-time (3 days/week) volunteer position. The volunteer will be expected to work out of Acumen Fund’s New York office. This is an excellent opportunity for anybody looking to participate in the sector and to learn more about the exciting work Acumen Fund is doing. The position is unpaid. For more information, click here.

Support Acumen Fund this holiday season and help to build more businesses that provide dignity, not dependence.

• New York Times Columnist Nicholas D. Kristof suggests giving to Acumen Fund this holiday season.  Click here to read more.

• Governor of State Bank of Pakistan Syed Salim Raza’s speech at the recent Pakistan Community Gathering has been covered by several local news sources. Both The International News and The Nation have recently spotlighted his remarks on microfinance and the future of Islamic banking in the sector.

• The Wall Street Journal recently ran a feature on former Acumen Fund Fellow Heidi Krauel and The New Recruits the forthcoming  documentary about the AF Fellows program. Click here to read Gordon Gekko’s Grandchildren.

• It must be the (giving) season. Just this week, NextBillion allies and SME investment pioneers Root Capital and E+Co announced $14M each of new investments and grants. Congrats to our friends and colleagues at both Root and E+Co, both of whom have done pioneering work in the agricultural finance and energy finance sectors, respectively. Click here to read the latest funding rundown.

• SEVEN Fund has just announced an exciting contest for those working in the social entrepreneur space. The “I Am an Entrepreneur” photography competition will be awarding 12 prizes (one per month) for the next year for photographs profiling global entrepreneurs in hopeful and compelling ways. Monthly winners will be awarded $100, and the grand prize winner (selected from the monthly winners) will receive $1000.

• Our friends at Changemakers, with offices in Washington DC, Buenos Aires, Calcutta, and Sao Paulo are now hiring for exciting careers in a variety positions and locations . To learn more, click here.

• Sweta Mangal, CEO & Co-Founder of Dial 1298 for Ambulance was recently awarded the Tata TIE Stree Shakti Award. TiE is an initiative of TIE Mumbai to recognize the relentless effort and resilience displayed by women entrepreneurs in setting up successful ventures and also a bid to create a platform to help them connect, share and network to form trust based partnerships. Congratulations Sweta!