We talk a lot about the importance of “knowledge” as a pillar of Acumen Fund’s work. We believe that sharing what we learn will allow us to extend our impact well beyond the direct results of our investments. Sharing knowledge internally is an equally important process for us, allowing us to leverage best practices across our global offices to help us do our work better.

Recognizing that team members were busy with their own work streams and weren’t always (1) taking advantage of each other’s knowledge/insights and (2) learning from what teammates were working on, Acumen Fund India recently launched an innovation that they’ve dubbed “the Friday Fury.” The Friday Fury is a rapid-fire team discussion of a hot investment topic, a new sector that we might want to explore, or a question that is troubling a team member about how the work we do can definitely improve people’s lives.

Like any successful innovation, the Friday Fury has crossed borders for use by the global team. Acumen Fund’s New York team recently kicked off the practice with a discussion of how Acumen Fund thinks about valuing social enterprises, which was fodder for Brian Trelstad’s recent post. Future furies will likely fuel additional posts, so watch this space!

This Sunday’s New York Times Magazine — “The Money Issue” — focuses on the topic of philanthropy, looking at motives, methods and models for giving. Acumen Fund is mentioned briefly in an article on metrics, which addresses the challenges and importance of measuring impact in the nonprofit sector.

The mobile phone has established itself as the communication and networking platform of choice for billions of the world’s consumers, most of whom are at the base of the global economic pyramid. The ubiquity of mobile phones has led social sector organizations to begin leveraging this communication tool in pursuit of their missions. What are some of the leading uses of the phone and how successful have they been? And, equally importantly, how can your own organization start to take advantage of this trend?

A draft white paper by former Acumen Fellow David Lehr has just been posted to our website that describes emerging trends and possible constraints in this area. It addresses the implications and opportunities for social sector organizations, development experts, technology innovators and service providers who can no longer ignore the billions of consumers who are, quite literally, waiting for their call. The question of whether or not these consumers can be reached has been asked and answered. Now it is time to start delivering the data, services and economic development they demand.

Marketing guru and longtime Acumen Fund advisor Seth Godin is now a superhero action figure (the mismatched socks are a particularly realistic detail).  And in true super form, he’s sending the profits from the proceeds to none other than Acumen Fund. Our hero!

At the beginning of each year, the Acumen Fund team selects a quote that inspires, enlightens or informs to share with our community. This year’s favorite:  The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeing new landscapes but in having new eyes. - Marcel Proust

We wish you all the best for a year of seeing and connecting in new ways.

This piece in the LA Times’s giving supplement talks about GOOD magazine, a fabulous publication that focuses on people and organizations that are effecting change across many fields, including philanthropy, politics and design. Subscribers to GOOD can select one of its ChooseGOOD nonprofit partners, and 100% of their subscription payment will go to that organization. This year, Acumen Fund is delighted to be among the magazine’s ChooseGOOD partners. (Our page on their site is here.) The current issue of GOOD features an interview with our own Jacqueline Novogratz.

Fast Company magazine has announced its 2008 Social Capitalist Award winners, which recognizes organizations whose social impact and organizational effectiveness make them leaders in social entrepreneurship. Acumen Fund is delighted to be among this year’s winners, along with some great peer organizations, not to mention one of our investees, Scojo Foundation. The December issue of the magazine comes out today — and the Fast Company website includes additional features, like this slide show of the winners.

2007 has not been kind to Bangladesh, one of the most vulnerable regions in South Asia in terms of natural disasters. In July, heavy monsoon rains caused devastating floods, affecting around 10 million people in 34 districts. A second wave of flooding lingered until October, destroying homes and livelihoods. Now the fiercest cyclone in 130 years has hit the southwestern coast, killing some 3,500 people, destroying homes and forcing millions to flee. 

BRAC, a multifaceted organization that works to improve the quality of life of the poor of Bangladesh, has been working to provide emergency assistance. You can read more about their relief efforts on the BRAC blog.

It has been a busy fall, as you can read in our latest quarterly update. CEO Jacqueline Novogratz recently spent a week each in India and Pakistan, and as always, documented her experiences in her journals.  (Click here for India; here for Pakistan.) 

In addition, we are pleased to announce the launch of our new website. While still a work in progress, the site provides a platform for the Acumen Fund community to learn and share stories, insights and information. We’ll be adding new content and features frequently — please visit and let us know what you think!

The Sundance Channel has created a series of short videos profiling individuals it terms “cultural pioneers” across various fields. Our own Jacqueline Novogratz is among them. New videos are to be posted each week, so we encourage you to check them out.

TED has posted some of the talks from its recent TEDGlobal conference in Tanzania on the theme of “Africa: The Next Chapter,” including the presentation by Acumen Fund CEO Jacqueline Novogratz. Her video is embedded below, but we encourage you to visit the TED site to see other talks (new ones are posted each week) from the conference, which featured amazing leaders, performers and storytellers.

Housing portfolio manager Helen Ng is part of the CGAP Working Group on Housing Finance for the Poor, a group of donors and practitioners who share learnings and best practices in the sector. As part of that shared learning, Helen authored a working paper on housing finance and guarantees for base-of-the-pyramid markets, which you can see here.