In 2006 I visited Kenya to look for water and sanitation deals, back when I was managing the water portfolio. It was on this trip that I first saw David Kuria’s prototype for pay toilets in the slums, which he eventually turned into Ecotact. David took me to a community he had been working with for over a year and introduced me to a community leader who carried himself as though he were the mayor of the village. He was dapper in his mustard polyester dress shirt and pants, and he proudly showed me all the investments his community had made in improving water and health services with revenues from a pay toilet that David Kuria had built with them. He showed me this water stand, pictured above, as well as a small clinic, to which they had added a maternity ward and HIV/AIDS diagnostic center. The sense of ownership and pride that he and members of the community felt was palpable.

I remember wanting to get a picture of him that would somehow highlight the impact of true leadership on a community, but he was always moving so fast, and wasn’t the type of person to pose in front of something and take credit for it. Everything that this community had built had come from revenues they generated from their own pay toilet, and from the work of the community to build the things they needed. I managed to get this photo of him at the water stand, but you can almost see the reluctance on his face. At the same time, I think you can see his seriousness and determination as someone who is committed to improving a community facing tremendous challenges. He is a local shopkeeper, but he is also a community leader, a role model, a reason to believe that what people want more than anything is to solve their own problems and, if possible, help others in need.

Yasmina Zaidman is the Director of Communications at Acumen Fund.

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.

This is a picture of me hugging Mama Hamza.  Mama Hamza is a remarkable woman who lives and works in the Kibera slums.  She’s been a businesswoman for decades and has successfully raised her children - and is raising her grandchildren – through hard work and sheer discipline.  A few years ago, she realized the community needed a center where it could gather, and provide classes and a safe space for women’s groups.  She started the Mchangayiko Women Self Help Group and it has become a central gathering place in Kibera.

This picture was taken on the night of The Blue Sweater Challenge, a business plan competition in which one of Mama Hamza’s daughters qualified for a loan to start a new business.  The night was filled with energy and enormous aspiration.  You could feel it in the air, and I think that sense of hope and aspiration and solidarity and love is reflected in this strong embrace between two women of different times and places.

Once, Mama Hamza said to me publicly, “I am just like you. I have the talent and skill to lead on the international stage, and I want to do that.  But I have so many children and grandchildren and I need to take care of them.

You see, it is so hard to balance what I have to do here in the community with what I want to do out there in the world.”

I told her we were meeting at the crossroads of one of the most common predicaments of being a woman, regardless of race, nationality or religion.

Balance eludes all of us, and those who are trying to change the world may struggle the most with maintaining some kind of equilibrium.  I love this picture because it shows two women from different places bound by understanding and a shared commitment to Kibera and to releasing the energies of all people, whether they live in New York City or the Kibera slums.

I feel blessed to know her.

Jacqueline Novogratz is the Founder and CEO of Acumen Fund.

The Photo of the Week series features images chosen by Acumen Fund staff and community members — favorite photos they’ve taken in the field or pulled from the archive. Look for it every Tuesday.

Raghunath Prasad Chauhan is from Tamkua village in one of the most remote corners of Bihar, India. Tamkua, which means “well of darkness,” is one of the first villages that was electrified by Husk Power Systems, a company that provides a very real alternative source of energy in a state that is electricity-starved and one of the poorest in the country.

This is the first time Raghunath is getting electricity. He now has dreams of educating his four children and hopes that his son becomes an engineer and finds a good job. The Tamkua market now comes alive at night and children from villages like Tamkua gather under the lights in ready and study in groups. The incidence of theft and snake bites has also been reduced because the area now has power. This company, that lives by the vision ‘Power to Empower,’ is creating believers out of people who never thought that they would have access to electricity.

Watch the video on Acumen’s website and learn more about Husk Power Systems.

Karthik Chandrasekar is an Acumen Fund Energy Portfolio Manager based out of our Hyderabad office in India. Karthik is always on the move looking for entrepreneurs bringing renewable energy solutions to the poor. Follow him on Twitter – @quickgunmurugun .

Alex Sungubi is one of the founding members of the Blue Sweater Book Club in Nairobi. Pictured here, he's walking through Kibera with a donated copy of Seth Godin's book Tribes.

I am currently in Nairobi, Kenya as we work to build what will be the first in a series of leadership development initiatives around the world.  In the next ten years, we plan to invest in thousands of leaders who are building and driving groundbreaking social change initiatives as entrepreneurs and also as intra-preneurs within businesses, public sector organizations, and leading NGOs.  We believe that by connecting and investing in these individuals, we will create an interconnected web of global leaders who share values, are driving change, and have a deep commitment to building a more inclusive economy and social system.   My current trip to Nairobi has been one of listening and learning from Kenyan perspectives on leadership and development so that we build a program that will have real and lasting impact.  The journey has been rich with stories, but I wanted to share one.

Last week I had the opportunity to meet two fantastic individuals who reminded me of the power of the human spirit at work.  The first is Jessica – young, fearless, resourceful, and completely and utterly resilient (my favorite qualities in a social sector leader).  This young woman is a recent graduate of Wesleyan College and is doing some incredible work in Kibera, the largest slum in East Africa, with her partner Kennedy (both Echoing Green Fellows).  They have built an all-girls school in the heart of Kibera and while the school is free, they’ve developed a model that ensures repayment in other ways. The parents must commit 5 weeks of work to the school each year and run services around the school they charge for like: pay per use toilets, a community center, and a health center.

I met Jessica at a fancy shopping mall, which is where I thought we would hold our meeting.  So of course I showed up in white pants, a nice silk shirt, long flowing scarf, gold bangles, and before I know it she whisks me away from the comfort of the mega mall to a nearby mutatu (small local bus transport) which we crammed into for the ride to the slums. As I sat there smushed between two people – body odor filling the bus, only to be over powered by the smell of burning garbage – in an instant I was back in Senegal (where I lived at 20-years-old) taking the local road, the hard road everywhere, at any cost. We exited the mutatu, I looked down at my already dirt and grease stained white pants, and jumped onto the red dusty road that leads into Kibera.  We walked together, followed by groups of shouting kids who were dying to hold my hand, touch my leg, and just be noticed. Honestly, I had almost forgotten what that was like since my last few trips have been focused on meetings with business executives and government leaders.

As we walked down the road, Jessica buzzed with energy to tell me what she was doing, so inspired, proud and accomplished for a young woman.  When we finally arrived at the school, I met Kennedy, one of those people who just radiates energy and wisdom beyond his years. He stood in front of their community site in a rainbow-colored tiedye shirt and jeans, with a huge Kenyan smile. They told their story, and I shared mine, and as Kennedy told me he admired me because I was “way up there” but also “way down here” I sat there thinking, “How can this young man admire me?”

After our conversation, Kennedy walked me down the long winding road out of Kibera.  We passed many men yelling in Swahili, ”Who is the white woman with you?” (Kennedy translated).  He stopped to chat with a man who was making wooden bed frames.  They exchanged greetings and we were off. Kennedy told me how about 4 years ago he had raised 2000 Shillings ($25) and invested it in 20 businesses in Kibera.  For his small investment he asked that the borrowers not pay him back, but instead pay it forward.  The man selling the bed frames was doing quite well and now had the ability to pay it forward and also pay Kennedy back.  I felt a tinge of guilt flow through my body as I thought about the last thing I did with $25.

Kennedy was born in Kibera to a girl of 15; he never knew his father.  At the age of 9 he was living on the streets and was angry at the world, but then at 12 he met a priest who helped to educate him.  Kennedy told me he was determined to learn English so he could speak to the “white people.”  He’s currently in his second year at Wesleyan in Connecticut.

As he shared with me his story, I looked around and was so intensely reminded of the pain and sadness that exists and has existed in the world.  In a world with such injustice, such poverty, how do people not live with constant anger, frustration and sadness?  How can those of us who have been given so much live right next to it and allow it to exist?  I wonder if there ever will be a point when we can find a place where we are all truly given the opportunity to realize our potential as individuals and as a world.  Acknowledgment and forgiveness are such hard things to achieve.

And then there are people like Kennedy and Jessica, who remind us that there is hope and that things can change.  As we work to build this new initiative for Acumen and develop the next generation of leaders around the world, we plan to invest in more individuals that can show the world positive change is not only possible, but it is already happening.

Blair Miller is Talent Manager for Acumen Fund and runs the Acumen Fellows Program. She just returned to New York from three weeks in East Africa where she was working to develop Acumen’s Fellows Program globally.

I didn’t think about this again until Seth Godin came to speak at the Indian School of Business, two weeks ago, in a fundraising benefit for Acumen Fund.

Prior to the lecture, I’d never heard of Seth Godin before. It was only after I googled his name that I discovered how much I’d really fallen behind on the latest in marketing and sales literature. Seth Godin was a best-selling author, successful entrepreneur and, according to Forbes, some kind of demigod on the Web. He’d been featured not once, but twice, on TED. I was curious to hear what he had to say.

The atmosphere surrounding the Indian School of Business was buzzing in anticipation of the event. The man was well known in this country. We were sitting in the first row of the auditorium when Seth Godin began his talk on leadership, advertising and how ideas spread: Society had moved beyond the age of mass marketing, when companies could effectively barrage our senses with advertisements. In this age of Facebook, iPhones and twitter, the Internet allows us to instantaneously traverse physical boundaries to create our own silos of interest, where we connect with others that share our own values and passions. This is the age of tribes, and in this age, real change happens when we lead and connect people and ideas. It happens when we create networks of interest that, in time, reinforce themselves.

As Seth Godin paced back and forth on stage, encouraging us to tell stories, connect tribes, lead movements and make change, I remembered what Jacqueline said about the role of Acumen Fund in social enterprise. This whole tribe thing was directly related to Acumen Fund and the way it had grown. Here was a company whose investments had yielded great impact on the lives of many people and, in the process, had learned to tell a story like no other. Acumen Fund’s mission connected people across the world who felt the same way about global poverty. It banded together people who desired a refreshing solution. The evidence could be seen in the growing membership of the Acumen community, the budding Blue Sweater book clubs, this very blog. I could understand the link between Acumen Fund and Seth Godin.

The audience at the Indian School of Business seemed to enjoy the lecture. When it ended, there was no shortage in thought-provoking questions—one student asked about the relevance of a Western-centric marketing message in the context of a developing nation such as India. For me, I thought back to that first day. Maybe this is what Jacqueline meant: In order for the idea of patient capital to truly scale, we need to build and reinforce the global community of social enterprise by telling stories of both its successes and failures. If it’s done right, the whole thing becomes a movement.

Ken Lee is a student at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs pursuing his Master’s in International Affairs.  This summer, he is working on the energy portfolio in Acumen Fund’s India office.

The Summer Spotlight series features posts by Acumen Fund Summer Associates from around the world.

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.

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.

As Jacqueline and team head to Africa, they will be sending back stories of their amazing work to Africa.com’s readers.  This first blog highlights the inspiring efforts of partners in Nairobi , Kenya.

Our white van snaked through the now familiar streets of Kibera, a slum in Nairobi, Kenya, to Mama Hamza’s community center for The Blue Sweater Challenge event.  The day’s overcast sky had broken with a pounding, tropical rain and everything around us felt softer, a rosy kiss goodnight from the evening sky.  We walked through the turquoise metal door to the courtyard and the first thing I saw was a table of books written by good friends — Seth Godin, Bill Easterly, Saj-Nicole Joni — behind which stood Chris, Gerry, Dickson, Herbert and Alex – five of the seven original organizers of The Blue Sweater bookclub, all of them from the slums of Nairobi.  Kevin, the controller (and the first one to read the book and start a book club) was busy with Suraj Sudakhar, the remarkable Acumen Fellow who was responsible for making all of this happen.

Habari gani! What’s news!

We all hugged and laughed and caught up quickly.  Alex is still working with Acumen and working with Suraj to plan a path to work in media.  Herbert is working on his university degree and will graduate in October.  “I have a-ha moments every day now,” he told me. “Last night, my family was discussing the new constitution and my mother said she was going to vote for the first time in too many years.  She used to feel her vote didn’t count, but now we’re all feeling more hopeful. My a-ha is that when you start hearing things like this, there becomes room for real change.”  I couldn’t have smiled more broadly.

Herbert reads Seth Godin’s blog daily and shares it with the other guys.  “We all love Seth,” Dickson said (he’s working on getting into a university).  “I read ‘The Dip’ as well as ‘Tribes’”, said Alex.  “I love Seth!” Right now, the Blue Sweater group is reading Easterly’s “White Man’s Burden” and are finding they agree with most of what he says.  Suddenly, my world was all around me, right here in Mama Hamza’s little patch of land in the Kibera slum.

And Chris…well, Biju, our country manager, helped him get an internship with Duncan Onyango, a friend of Acumen’s who runs a business consulting company.  Prior to this opportunity, Chris was selling eggs on the street, but you can see the determination in his eyes, and he worked like a maniac.  A week ago, Duncan offered him a permanent position with a good salary, and Chris told me nothing can stop him now. As for Kevin, he is now working with Suraj who is consulting to TED to bring TEDx to the slums around Nairobi. They plan to do five in the next few months.

What a difference three months can make! What a difference Suraj has made – and not just to the lives of these extraordinary young men, but to the fabric of a community that is getting more interwoven by the day.

Three months ago, in February, I was standing in this same community center, talking to about 100 people who had read “The Blue Sweater” thanks to the hard work and organizing skills of Suraj and the seven young men.  The evening’s stories were incredibly moving – of overcoming challenges, of desires to effect real change, and of the frustration of living in a world where corruption hits the poor hardest of all.  Halfway through my speech, I shared my own a-ha moment: I was being given an honorary degree by Wofford College a few weeks hence, and the degree came with a financial award as well, though I’d not yet been to Wofford.  And there I was standing in one of the slums where, in so many ways, I had received my real education.  Yet many of its residents couldn’t go to high school, not because they weren’t smart enough, but because they couldn’t afford the bribes.  I could not have been prouder of my new affiliation with Wofford, and yet the irony could not have been starker.

On the spot, I announced The Blue Sweater Challenge.  We would use the award money from Wofford to create a challenge to individuals and groups who made the most change in their community.  We would start by choosing three groups and award them $1,000 each, and I would present the awards personally when I returned in three months. Moreover, I said, the young men would work with Suraj to figure out the details.

In the past three months, that group did a lot more than figure out details.  They decided to have a business plan competition, and then drafted members of the Acumen team and others to provide training and business plan assistance on each of three week-ends.  Nearly 80 individuals submitted plans which they then whittled to 16.  Judges from top community organizations were then brought in to analyze the finalists; and last Sunday, the judges selected five winners and gave on “Innovation Award” for the most creative idea.  Instead of grants, they insisted on making one year loans and charging nominal interest (“according to Acumen’s value system”, Gerry explained to me)….

I’m guessing the energies of at least 50 people were released in the best possible way with a catalyst of $3,000. You may ask why the judges chose six winners rather than three.  Two reasons: first, the majority of businesses needed only $500 to get started; and second, they were so inspired by the professionalism, enthusiasm and intelligence of the plans, that some of the judges pitched in their own money as well.

At 6 p.m., exactly at sundown, we were all seated again in Mama Hamza’s center. I was in front with Josiah who runs Imande Trust, a local NGO that generously agreed to make and service the loans, as well as give the team office space when they need it.  Josiah is another community organizer, a leader born and raised in Kibera.  He has a strong face, a direct gaze, and a big moustache.  Wearing a kente cloth shirt and vest, he talked about growing up on the streets where we were meeting and feeling such a sense of pride tonight because we were seeing the best of Kibera.  “Too many people think Kibera is nothing about nothing.  But tonight, we are seeing Something about Something.  And even more than that, this group did in less than four months what it takes most NGOs four years to do.” So I would say they are showing EVERYTHING about Something here in Kibera.

Kevin, of course, ran the show wearing a dark blue button down shirt and jeans.  His pride at what this group had accomplished was palpable.  He introduced Josiah and then Irfan, a soft-spoken leader who runs Honey Care and is a first-rate social entrepreneur.  I also spoke, though the honor was truly for all of the organizers and those who made this evening possible. We announced the 16 finalists to much applause. And then finally, we announced the six winners.

The biggest awardee, Edwin, just 21 years old and wearing a red Kenya t-shirt, is creating a center to show live sports and films to young people that is alcohol free and will uphold a clean environment. “Young people learn how to play football by watching their heroes on TV,” he told me. “But we can’t have them at bars with too many bad things going on.  They need a place that is theirs.”

Three women and a man were awarded loans of $500 each for trading businesses — jewelry, cothing, cosmetics, cereal and a hair salon.  And Zena, wearing a grey pantsuit, won the Innovation Loan — $500 to provide packets of food staples that she buys wholesale and then gives on a credit basis to people in the slums.  It holds the highest risk business, but the judges feel the community will learn a great deal from it.

I hugged each recipient as they came up for their certificate, and each time, was impressed with the confidence of the individual and the sense of excitement in the room.  I kept looking at the audience filled with our team, community residents, leaders of social enterprises.  To say I felt blessed is sheer understatement. If all this weren’t enough, a little girl from the community named Shaneez presented me with a large cardboard art piece she’d created, a trace and mosaic painting with my name done in tiny tiles surrounded by block prints of the continent of Africa, leaves, a child’s hand and foot.

This is what development should look like – people coming together across lines of ethnicity and class to work together on a common endeavor in which every person in the room gives what they can give, in which every person in the room shows up with their whole selves, in which every person in the room is left wanting to be a better person because of the experience.

And this is just the beginning …

I will be forever grateful to Suraj and the seven men for making a dream real, and for keeping development real.

Sitting on panels to interview candidates for Acumen Fund’s fellows program is always a highlight for me. Yesterday was no different as we met with five of 56 finalists from 600 candidates who applied from 65 countries for our one-year program. Each person at our New York City panel was engaged, alive and curious about the world. For some reason, the majority were from immigrant families — from Peru, China, India, Germany. Each told stories of struggle and all had grown up in families where hard work, discipline and a focus on giving back were core values. While all could be doing anything they wanted, coming from careers at Goldman Sachs, IBM and consulting, among others, they were hungry to serve. Throughout the day I thought about this next generation so willing to take risks, so eager to change the world; and I thought about the power of the immigrant experience in the U.S. Mostly, I felt blessed.

The day, however, was a long one, and by the time I left the group dinner in Brooklyn, I was feeling under the weather and thinking about my 4 a.m. wake-up for my early flight the next morning. I waited a long time for a taxi, and when a dilapidated yellow cab pulled up, I poured myself exhaustedly into the seat. The tall, wiry, dark-skinned African with enormous hands drove for a few hundred feet and then asked me if I minded if we drove a little out of our way so that he could pick up food he’d just ordered. I sighed and asked how far out of the way it was, and he said it would be just five minutes each way. That prospect didn’t thrill me and I asked if he was sure the food would be ready, and he told me not to worry because he’d drive back over the bridge to get his food after he’d dropped me off.

It was well past 10 and I liked the easy familiarity of the guy and so said, no, let’s go and get your food. He thanked me profusely and we sped across Brooklyn. Five or six minutes later, he pulled the car to the side of the street, and sprinted to a Halal Chinese food joint. Within a flash, he was back in the car and we were heading toward Manhattan.

The driver chatted happily as we drove through Brooklyn, telling me that he loved living in New York City, that in Congo he could never have worked his way up to buying a taxi, and that he was making money and sending it home and was now seen as a hero by his family. Everyone accepts him in New York, he said, even more than in his country where there is too much violence and mistrust. “I love the American dream”, he said, “and I am living it!” He added that he thought New York was different than other cities because everyone was accepted here, and he didn’t want to live anywhere else.

We arrived at my apartment, only 10 or so minutes later than we would have otherwise, and my fare was about $12. I handed him $20 and was about to tell him to keep it all because his spirit was so effusive, but he wouldn’t accept the bill. “Please,” he said, ” the fare is on me because I took you out of your way,” and I said, no, no, no. And he said, “OK, you can give me $5 but only $5 — that’s all I want.” And I laughed because something had made each of us want to be generous. So often, though, it is those with so much less who make the first move to offer something of themselves. This time I insisted and gave him the $20. The driver finally accepted and then insisted on getting out of the car to shake my hand.

At dinner, one of our partners had spoken about looking for light these days, and finding random acts of kindness every day in unexpected places. I thought of the hard life my taxi driver had left and his open, optimistic attitude toward the world and others. I was thankful that this man had managed to remind me that my time is not all that precious. So often when I am in Africa, people go way out of their way to help me, even if they’ve never met me before. We could use bringing some of that spirit to our fair city. It starts with taking just a moment to see one another, and it goes from there.

A heartfelt thank you to our community for sharing the day with us at last Saturday’s Acumen Fund Pakistan Community Gathering. Thank you to Zubyr Soomro, Acumen Pakistan Advisory Council Chair for hosting the gathering and thanks to everyone who sent warm thoughts and words of appreciation for what the day represented for them. And a special thank you to our Dubai friends for joining us and really showing the reach of our community! It was a truly powerful day and we could not have been more blessed than to share it with all of you.

With an audience of over 100 individuals that was a happy mix between our wider community (old friends and new), investees, partners and advisors, we had an opportunity to really demonstrate the power of ‘patient capital.’ It included a truly lively debate on the agriculture panel, “Creating Economic Access for Small Farmers,” (hats off to our incredibly knowledgeable panelists, Dr. Rashid Bajwa, Dr. Sono Khangharani, Shahzad Iqbal, and Abdul Samad Khan) that had the audience engaged in a back and forth in way I have never seen before (who would have thought we would be arguing that aartis are good?!). It was followed by an inspirational message from the Fellows in a well choreographed and riveting session. They challenged the crowd to up their moral leadership compass to focus on dignity not dependence, solutions not sympathy, and choice not charity. It was so inspirational in fact, that we are now speaking with a local multi-national corporation on how they can support the Fellows Program and get more Pakistanis involved in joining the next generation of leaders.

We were honored to have Mr. Syed Salim Raza, Governor, State Bank of Pakistan as the keynote address who had a very strong message on what it takes to spur economic growth from the ground up. Access to finance and capital, whether for micro-entrepreneurs or for small farmers will be key in economically empowering a segment of the population that is critical to the economic health of Pakistan.

And the day was really topped off by a segment on “Honoring the Frontline.” The frontline staff of these social enterprises – the loan officers, installation, accounts, and site managers – the ‘backbone’ of all these organizations are the true inspiration for our team and we are humbled by the tireless work they do day in and day out. Nothing could have been more powerful than to have them recognized and honored. From the Kashf loan officers whose enthusiasm never wavers, to Saiban’s Akhtar sb who was so generous with his time in Acumen’s early days of investing and really taught us about housing – this was the highlight for all of us. We simply could not stop smiling.

On Saturday, through the substance and depth of the panel and the focus on the innovative business models that are really tackling poverty in Pakistan, we went one step further in demonstrating to the broader community that it can be done and patient capital can lead the way. We want to engage all of you, a community of believers and doers who do not accept the status quo and want to show the country what is possible.

We are all so proud to be part of this and hope you are too.

With gratitude and warmth,

Batool

I was lucky enough to attend Harvard University’s 2007 Commencement ceremony and listen to Bill Gates’ stirring speech. While I found the speech inspiring and fascinating in many ways, I was really struck by one part in particular. Gates said:

“I believe we have more caring than we know what to do with.

All of us here in this Yard, at one time or another, have seen human tragedies that broke our hearts, and yet we did nothing – not because we didn’t care, but because we didn’t know what to do. If we had known how to help, we would have acted.

The barrier to change is not too little caring; it is too much complexity.”

This past summer, I had the chance to participate in Acumen Fund’s first Student Leaders workshop for Undegraduates. I left the workshop inspired, with a lot of caring, awareness, and passion – but still uncertain how to turn this caring into action. A lot of ideas were floating around amongst the student leaders; to sell bag tags, sell blue sweaters, and to coordinate amongst ourselves to create a movement out of these ideas. But complexity blocked these initiatives from actually happening.

This brought me back to Bill Gates’ speech. Complexity had made it hard for the student leaders to mark a path of action, and consequently made it hard for our caring to matter. But as Gates said, “To turn caring into action, we need to see a problem, see a solution, and see the impact.”

With this in mind, I set out to turn caring, awareness, and passion into action.

Problem: With schoolwork and other commitments, I didn’t have the time to set up a full-fledged fundraising initiative for Acumen Fund. So how could I use my skills, passions, and networks to create awareness of Acumen Fund’s mission on the Brown University campus?

Solution: Find an easy, logical way to appeal to a broad audience, sensitize them to the problem of poverty, engage them in a cause, and simultaneously raise money. This is when I asked myself: what do college students like to do?

They like to party.

So I thought I could take advantage of this and extract a philanthropic “pleasure tax” for partying. While it may seem strange to bring the two emotionally polar opposites together, I thought that by “Partying to End Poverty” we could use the things we love – music and dance – against the things we hate – poverty – to create a sense of global unity.

So I met with a couple of venues in Providence and ultimately decided on the State Lounge, as they did not charge a fee for using the venue. And I got Nico Jaar, a famous DJ, to agree to provide music with no charge.

But there were always a lot of parties going on around campus, so I had to figure out how I could encourage people to pay $20 to attend a party when there are a handful of fraternity parties that were free of charge?

To solve this problem, I decided to add a free drink to the ticket (what magical things a drink can do for a college student), to make the dress code semi-formal, and to undertake extensive marketing about the Acumen Model.

I set up a Firstgiving page one month before the event with the goal of raising $1,000 in 24 hours. I went all over campus, announced the event in big lectures, dormitory halls, on Facebook, and Twitter, even just running into people.

I also sent out an email that said:

“…It all started back home in Alexandria, Virginia, with the blue sweater, a special gift that quickly became her prized possession—until the day she outgrew it and gave it away to Goodwill. Eleven years later in Africa, during a morning run, she spotted a young boy wearing what looked like the same sweater. She approached the boy, asked to see his sweater, and found her name still written there on the tag inside. That her garment had made it all the way to Kigali, Rwanda, was ample evidence of the way we are all connected…

In 2001, Jacqueline Novogratz started Acumen Fund, a non-profit organization that is revolutionizing the way the world tackles poverty by investing in transformative businesses that serve the poor.

From Alexandria, Virginia to Kigali, Rwanda, we now bring her story to Providence, RI and invite you to celebrate her story and Party to end Poverty.

Date: Saturday, November 7th

Place: State Lounge (located Behind Olives)

Admission: $20 cover (includes free drink) + any charitable donation

Music by Nico Jaar

*100% of proceeds donated to Acumen Fund

Because you rarely get the chance to drink with dignity, don’t miss this opportunity – DRINK WITH DIGNITY, and buy your ticket today. ”

The key was to create a sense of immediacy. People wanted to contribute to this. And the early donors were constantly checking the webpage to see how close I was to my goal – because they felt as though they were for promoting the party a couple of weeks later.

Once this foundation was set, I recruited about 20 friends and asked for their help in marketing the event. Initially many people were reluctant to spend $20 on a ticket, even though it was for a good cause. This is why I spent a lot of time individually encouraging people to attend, explaining why Acumen Fund is not just another non-profit organization, but is actually revolutionizing the way the world tackles poverty. I decided to call the event “The Blue Sweater Party” because I knew this would cause everyone to ask: why The Blue Sweater? These were exactly the kinds of conversations we wanted to trigger.

Impact: Delicious food, great drinks, upbeat entertainment, and an energetic and positive atmosphere could be felt throughout the crowd. $3,000 was raised for Acumen Fund but more importantly; over 120 students became engaged in the fight against poverty. Every minute of time or penny donated to this cause means that somewhere, someone’s life has improved. It is our responsibility as students and as future leaders to take action and allow organizations such as Acumen Fund to disseminate their powerful message in order to continue to do the work that they do. This event proved to me that the fight against poverty can be brought to the dance floor and that if we set ourselves to achieve something, we can block complexity and turn caring into action.

With a curriculum based heavily on the English canon – from Shakespeare to Milton to Conrad– Achebe, though an exceptionally able student, began to find himself troubled by many of his readings and the assignments he was obliged to produce on them. With scant mention of African histories or cultural forms, and with what few representations of Africans he encountered of a largely regressive nature – savages such as Caliban at best – the pre-independence image of Africa and its peoples that the young Achebe encountered in his courses insulted both his pride as an African and his emerging artistic vision. Where, he wondered, were the African protagonists? Why was he being educated exclusively through the stories of precisely those who had subordinated the communities of which he was part? Was there any reason that the novel as a form could not articulate the story of a Nigerian, or articulate a vision of Africa’s future? On the eve of Africa’s independence, Achebe realized that emerging nations such as Nigeria would need written versions of its own stories and new stories to educate its coming citizens.

Even from that young age, Achebe’s understanding of art was predicated on a progressive relationship to society, and he believed even then that the role of an author was akin to that of the teacher: to instruct and develop the moral character and worldly knowledge of emerging publics. At that startlingly young age, though, Achebe understood a key difference between teachers and writers: while teachers were responsible for educating their students through a variety of means – from lectures, to tests, to recitation periods – the exclusive tool available to the literary author was storytelling. What Achebe believed while beginning the novel – a belief that would become a hallmark of his critical writings and his literary practice – was that sharp storytelling combined with innovative ideas carries the potential to change the world.

Several years later and after several administrative hiccups (the sole manuscript at one point losing a year in the unhurried hands of a London- based typing service) the streamlined story of Okonkwo become Things Fall Apart. Then and now the novel represents an innovation based on an adaptation of existing tradition, in this case the novel. Published in 1958, the novel would eventually sell over eight million copies worldwide, and make Achebe a lion of global literary culture. Not only did the success of Achebe’s work facilitate the establishing of the institutions most responsible for the development of African writing in English – publishing houses and distribution networks – but it also serves as a perennial and indigenous cornerstone of a whole new kind of literature. It remains the first text in most if not all African studies curricula.

I was strongly reminded of the history of this novel’s birth as I listened to Fred Swaniker describe his experiences developing the African Leadership Academy during his recent visit to Acumen’s New York offices. A graduate of both Macalester College and Stanford Business School, Fred first had the idea for the ALA while working as a consultant at McKinsey’s Nigerian office, just prior to beginning his graduate work at Stanford.

Astonished to find so many wealthy Nigerians sending their children to expensive foreign boarding schools, many of them costing upwards of $40,000, Swaniker wondered why it was that no viable alternative existed anywhere on the African continent. As he recently recalled for Junior Kanu of Solving Africa , Swaniker began asking himself,

Why are we spending so much money to educate kids outside of Africa? Why don’t we have a school on par with the best in the world right here? It would be a cheaper alternative… [and because]… these kids were leaving at such an early age, they would never come back to Africa. And if they came back, how useful would they be to the continent?

In addition to this “lack,” there were two other conditions facing the continent that convinced Fred that an elite school based in Africa was not only a good but also a necessary idea. The first reason is the so-called “brain-drain,” alluded to in the quote above. Throughout the continent, the smartest, best- educated African youth have been fleeing to Europe and the United States in startling numbers, often pursuing lucrative careers thought to be unavailable in Africa. This kind of corporate diaspora, a path that Fred himself initially followed to McKinsey, often winds up a self-perpetuating cycle, with new African businesses and firms being built outside the continent, with foreign capital and foreign profits.

Fred also identified early on the centrality of leadership in both those African nations that were flourishing and those that were locked in alternating cycles of kleptocracy and dependence on foreign aid. In one case, exceptional leadership had worked to build central institutions, self-perpetuating infrastructure, and sustainable industry, in the other corrupt, factionalizing rule had lined the pockets of small elites while impinging the development of nations. A continent rich in resources and industriousness, leadership and its follies have been at the heart of persistent problems facing Africa. As Fred puts it, again in the interview from earlier this year:

The countries I’d lived in that I saw things were working, like Botswana, you could see that it was the leadership at the root cause of it. And no place shows you the impact of leadership in Africa [more] than Nigeria. People think what we need in Africa is resources, it’s not resources, the world keeps giving us more aid, that’s not what’s going to change Africa, we have all the resources we need… They have all these natural resources… time and time again, we find that our leaders have held us back.

Like Chinua Achebe and Fred Swaniker, leaders can also drive nations forward, helping them reach their potential. It is this brand of leadership that Acumen Fund seeks in its Fellows, and why Swaniker was an ideal speaker to include in their training. With funding from family, friends, Stanford classmates, and others, by the time he was a year out of school, much of the initial work had been realized. Last year, with the arrival of their first class of students, the two-year ALA began educating the future leaders of Africa. Its curriculum based on the best practices of global entrepreneurship yet grounded in the history of Africa, and its wildly variegated cultures, ALA is teaching its exceptional pupils how to be both global and continental leaders and how to be historically-conscious Africans. Needless to say, holding a central place in the African Studies section of its three-pronged curriculum (the other two being leadership and entrepreneurship) is Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart.

By Aden Van Noppen

“I will develop a social enterprise major on my campus.” “Thousands of incoming freshmen will read the Blue Sweater as their first taste of college.” “We will create a viral video that reaches millions.” “Students will learn about and engage with social enterprise through the online hub we will build.” “We will change the way our generation tackles poverty.”

The seventeen student leaders who took Acumen Fund’s New York office by storm last week committed to accomplishing all these goals and more. Acumen’s inaugural Student Leaders Workshop was meant to ignite the fire under a cohort of young leaders who will return to their campuses in the fall as champions of social enterprise. The workshop and the students exceeded all expectations, and time will tell what they will accomplish together.

History tells us that college students are frequently on the cutting edge of social change. We (as a recent graduate, I still count myself among them) are often unsatisfied with the status quo and have the energy and passion to demand new ways of solving old problems. However, young people today are not protesting or rioting—instead, we are proclaiming ourselves social entrepreneurs and actively searching for the best models to address poverty. The movement for social enterprise is brewing on campuses across the country and the world, and seventeen young global leaders left Acumen Fund’s workshop last weekend inspired and driven to bring it to a new level.

We spent much of the workshop asking ourselves hard questions. What is development? How do we measure poverty alleviation? When can market-based solutions sidestep the barriers of traditional approaches? What is leadership? How do we know when to step forward and when to step back? How do we change the way our generation tackles poverty? There are still more questions than answers, but the participants now look to Acumen as an inspiring model and to each other as a dynamic group of leaders who can continue searching for the answers together.

If the last few days are any indication, their excitement, curiosity, and commitment will continue to grow. Social media tools are buzzing as they stay in touch, collaborate, and strategize. What they accomplish together is still to be seen, but I have no doubt that they will inspire many on their campuses and beyond to question the status quo and embrace a new model of fighting poverty.

In the coming months, the students will demonstrate the power of young people and of building a tribe of individuals who, as Seth Godin told us when he kicked off the workshop, “Decide to say yes.” Two days after leaving, one participant wrote, “The workshop left me with hope and inspiration. I now have a better idea of the field and how it works but most importantly, the workshop gave me the confidence to aspire and dare to dream.” These seventeen leaders will return to their campuses in the fall as extensions of the Acumen Fund team, ready and equipped to support Acumen’s mission to change how the world tackles poverty.

TechnoServe VP for Development Simon Winter speaks at ANDE training. (Photo by Brian Murray)

Last week, along with 40-plus other participants, the Acumen Fund summer associates participated in an energetic and informational training session run by the Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE).  ANDE is a member-driven organization whose goal is to dramatically increase the effectiveness of capital and technical assistance for entrepreneurs in developing countries.  This training was a definitive step towards that goal.

For the second year in a row, ANDE has organized this training along with Acumen Fund, Root Capital, Grassroots Business Fund, Endeavor and many other members of ANDE.  With the exploding interest in supporting Small and Growing Businesses (SGBs) as a means of alleviating poverty, the importance of coordinating and connecting those entering the field has never been more critical.  Not only was the training immensely important to developing relationships across organizations; it also provided a forum to share best practices and to promote innovative thinking.

The two-day seminar was packed with a discussion of different business models, presentations on social metrics and hands-on case studies.  As if any of the graduate-level interns needed more motivation heading into the sector, the opportunity to hear from amazing speakers such as Christine Eibs Singer from E+Co, Brian Midler and Namrita Kapur from Root Capital, Susie Lee from IGNIA, Raj Kundra, Sasha Dichter and Ann MacDougall from Acumen Fund, Simon Winter and Jennifer Golden from TechnoServe, Ben Powell and Ricardo Teran from Agora Partnerships was inspirational.

I was uplifted to meet our peers who are now heading into the field to countries such as Pakistan, Kenya, Rwanda, Ghana, Nicaragua and Guatemala. In particular, I was humbled and inspired by their backgrounds, skill sets and demonstrated passion for the work we will be undertaking.   I hope that this foundation of collaboration is something we all push to continue beyond the training amongst ourselves and by including more people interested in the sector.

My personal highlights were:

• Sasha Dichter’s non-profit Venn Diagram
• Learning more about the Global Impact Investing Network and its mission to educate and drive more investors into the sector
• Quote to inspire by Ben Powell of Agora Partnerships:
  Men wanted for hazardous journey. Small wages. Bitter cold. Long months of complete darkness. Constant danger. Safe return doubtful. Honour and recognition in case of success

  ~ Sir Ernest Shackleton’s trans-Antarctic expedition recruitment advertisement

Although not exactly applicable to those of us heading out into the field (safe return = certain), it is a reminder that we all need support, encouragement and community to help us through the hard times when things don’t seem possible and barriers appear impassable.  I’m confident coming out of this training that this community is stronger than ever and I look forward to contributing.

For those of you who were at the training, please feel free to share your highlights in the comments section!

This is a thrilling initiative. First, it underscores to me that many of the world’s new standards are likely going to come from corporations who increasingly see themselves as global citizens. Of course, regulation is critical – and I am not naïve about the damage multi-national corporations can cause to the environment. But this is an important step forward, and I do believe that young people especially will hold companies to a higher standard of behavior and the smartest companies will stay ahead of this curve.

This initiative also excites me because it may provide an algorithm not only for corporations but for all of us. What would it take to influence our individual behavior so that we took the attitude that we give back to the world what we take out of it? We now have sophisticated tools to measure our carbon footprint – therefore, we know what steps could be taken to offset it. The same calculations can be done for water.

We could take this further as well, for example, around luxury consumption. What if we each created some sort of match for ourselves, whereby we would contribute to organizations fighting poverty in proportion for what we spend on luxury consumption? In other words, we would not “charge ourselves” for what we think we need in terms of the essentials (and this figure may vary widely according to overall income, of course). But we might contribute to charity at a rate connected to the very non-essential – not only to make us think about what we’re consuming but also create a different kind of redistribution that would be encouraged not by government taxation but by an individual’s own – but perhaps shared – moral code.

In the early years of Acumen Fund, one of our Partners told me that he was considering buying a Lexus when it hit him that he could, instead, buy a good (but less expensive) car, and give the difference to Acumen Fund. Years later, that gift is one of the most meaningful to me. I saw the partner recently and he told me that after seven years, he’s still driving the car and that every now and then, he smiles to himself thinking about the meaning the particular car enabled him to create. There’s something to this idea…

Our most recent intra-office debates revolve around the question of how to support and encourage social entrepreneurship – let alone find the solid business ideas that are providing services at the BoP – so we at Acumen Fund are excited to see positive news of on-the-ground initiatives and social businesses that often operate in the most challenging environments and landscapes. The story really is around social entrepreneurs like Roshaneh Zafar, Tasneem Siddiqui, and Dr. Sono Khangharani who “have seen possibilities where other people see hopelessness.”

Also featured in the same issue of Blue Chip is Roshaneh Zafar , President of Kashf Foundation, who recently launched Kashf Microfinance Bank Limited (KMBL) in October 2008. KMBL is an investment of Kashf Holdings Private Limited, the parent holding company in which Acumen Fund has also invested.

In the five months since operations were launched, Kashf Microfinance Bank has set up 18 branches and is serving 20,000 microfinance clients. But with the microfinance industry facing a challenging period in Pakistan due to the macroeconomic environment and political instability, the innovation of the original group lending methodology is now facing a setback. There is a need to innovate in microfinance services beyond the group lending methodology commonly used by microfinance institutions in Pakistan.

With the launch of the new Kashf Microfinance Bank, Kashf has begun individual lending and savings mobilization and now provides savings products to women from low-income communities. Roshaneh discusses the pioneering work Kashf has been doing at the BoP and Acumen is proud to support Kashf and the microfinance sector in Pakistan.

I recently visited Khuda Ki Basti 3, a low-income housing development 2 hours away from the city centre of Karachi. I first learned of Khuda Ki Basti (“God’s Settlement”) and the incremental development model when I met Tasneem Siddiqui of Saiban during a research project in 2005. I was ushered in an office by Mr. Siddiqui’s assistant (his only staff at the time) where he sat at his desk, shrouded by mountains of papers and books. Though he was extremely busy and seemingly understaffed, he made himself available to speak to me. Mr. Siddiqui is the sort of person who inspires people. Not because he is a great story teller with heart warming anecdotes that leave you with a good feeling. No, he is inspiring because he takes a no-nonsense approach to a problem that is colossal and overwhelming both in its scale and by its nature.

Without a piece of land on which you can raise your family, sleep at night and call your home, it is difficult to find the stability you need in your life to propel yourself forward. No one should be denied the opportunity to attain this stability and prosperity. Almost all people understand this. However there are very few people who will roll up their sleeves and try to get something done about it. This is especially true in an environment like Pakistan where public officials are a part of the problem, not solution. (Pakistan was ranked 134th out of 180 countries by Transparency International’s 2008 Corruption Perceptions Index – which is not a good ranking.)

My report recognized that, without government cooperation, there is no method of scaling any successful models in housing. However, it also acknowledged the reality – that public sector solutions are usually public relations rhetoric within a larger political game. As a result, government-initiated projects do not often reflect the reality of the issues. For example, as has been documented by Saiban extensively, the age-old government approach of creating elaborate “sites and services” schemes in Pakistan ends up inflating the cost and price of housing far beyond the reach of base of the pyramid, and yet we continue to hear of initiatives based on this model.

In his inauguration speech at the National Assembly on 29th March 2008, Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani announced his coalition government’s agenda, including a plan to build one million homes annually targeted towards the lower income sector. Such grandiose plans that are removed from the reality of the current and historical housing reality are not uncommon – especially when they come during times of crises (in this case both economic and political).

Tasneem Siddiqui is known internationally for his work in low-income housing – he has been the recipient of the Aga Khan Award for Architecture, The Ramon Magsaysay Award for Government Service and nominated for several others. What is somewhat disheartening is that even today, despite his reputation and the successes (KKB has been replicated in three areas of Karachi and currently in the process of development in Lahore) of the incremental development model, government cooperation (in the form of subsidized land) remains the biggest bottleneck to solving the housing and squatter settlement crisis in Pakistan.

Though consultation with Mr. Siddiqui and Saiban is often part of protocol during various government-led initiatives, they have still not been able to get their model officially adopted. A Saiban employee told me that while officials praise Saiban’s efforts and achievements in the field during meetings and conferences, off-the-record discourses usually involve an official asking very plainly “Meray liye faida kahan hai?” (“Where is the benefit for me?”). It is easy to see how anyone with good intentions might be discouraged. But as the perseverance of Mr. Siddiqui, his colleagues at Saiban and of the residents of Khuda Ki Basti 3 demonstrated, determined ideals will get you long way.

In my next blog post, I’ll talk about how two of the earliest residents of KKB 3 and its very model taught me the meaning of patient capital. For now I’ll end on a note that nags at the back of my mind whenever I think of the achievements of Mr. Siddiqui in such an onerous environment. How much is the success of a movement dependent on its figure head? We at Acumen Fund like to talk about the sustainability of our advocacy for social change, but when it comes down to the nitty gritty, how do you go about succession planning for revolutionaries – especially when it is their reputation and clout that opens doors in such a dramatically politicized environment like Pakistan?

By Priya Pingali

Last Tuesday night, Rob Katz and I had the privilege of attending a talk by Nobel Peace Prize winner, Muhammad Yunus, hosted by NYU’s Stern School of Business and its Berkeley Center for Entrepreneurial Studies. Not surprisingly, the hall was packed with students, faculty and professionals, but very luckily, we were offered a couple of reserved seats right up front! One of the original pioneers of social entrepreneurship, Yunus and the Grameen Bank are shining examples of how businesses designed to serve the poor can have a profound impact on the lives of millions.

The stories of Grameen Bank (and the other businesses founded by Yunus) are clearly well known, but I would be surprised if anyone had walked away that night without a revitalizing sense of optimism, if not pure awe and admiration. Yunus’ journey began in one village in Bangladesh, with no plan except for the idea of lending $27 to a group of 42 people. Today, the Bank has about 7.5 million borrowers, 97% of whom are women. It manages over $1 billion in small loans, lending $100 million per month, and is currently making it possible for 34,000 students to enter higher education with loans and scholarships. Among his other ventures is Grameen Phone, the nation’s largest phone company and employer of 300,000 telephone ladies, and a solar energy company that currently sells about 8,000 solar systems a month. Yunus has also dedicated his efforts to the eradication of night blindness in Bangladesh by selling fortified vegetable seeds.

In a soft spoken yet powerful manner, Yunus challenged the audience to remove our “profit-maximizing glasses” and to regard making money not as the means and the end, but as the means to a social end. Admittedly, he seemed almost to be preaching at times, but judging by the standing ovation and roaring applause received, he had inspired the room of future leaders and entrepreneurs to reject the traditional (and outdated) trade-off between creating successful businesses and serving the poor.

I was personally moved by his emphasis on how insignificant the differences between all humans are. Hearing this at a time when the entire world, it seems, is yearning to believe once again in the possibility of collaboration, I was reminded of the importance of working to eradicate poverty, not just for the sake of reducing inequality, but in service to the idea that everyone in our world deserves the same chances in life.

Of course, that’s not how the world works – the truth is that I’ve never been to Pakistan, and I’ve never met the “Ted Turner of a small village near the Bay of Bengal” as Roshaneh describes Khairoon. I did have the pleasure of meeting Roshaneh, however, and she left a lasting impression. Her passion for microfinance is contagious; she believes deeply in the power of credit to bring dignity and choice to a formerly disempowered underclass – to people like Khairoon Apa.

So, how do I know Khairoon? After all, I’ve still not been to Pakistan…but I feel like I have after reading a recent article authored by Roshaneh, the founder and CEO of Kashf Foundation. In the article, entitled Female Empowerment and the Promise of Microfinance, we learn Khairoon’s story, about “a woman who started her life owning only one sari that she would wash from one side wrapping the wet end around herself since she did not have the resources to buy another.”

I urge all members of the Acumen Fund community to take a few minutes on this Saturday to read Roshaneh’s words. You may even meet someone new in the process.

While he was skeptical at the time of the role that a commercial approach could play in improving access to safe drinking water, over the past years, he helped launch 30 factories to produce affordable clay filters in Colombia, Honduras, El Salvador, Kenya, Cambodia, Cuba, the Dominican Republic and Darfur. Working with Potters for Peace, he was the drive and energy behind an effort that got 300,000 filters to the world’s poorest. According to the New York Times, “He often traveled in the wake of water-related disasters — following floods in Ghana or a tsunami in Sri Lanka — capitalizing on the rush of aid money to establish a locally owned enterprise that would sustain itself long after he left.”

His life was claimed in September by a bout of malaria he contracted in Nigeria while opening his 30th factory. He was 60 years old. His goal was to build 100 factories to produce these simple but effective clay pots and to reach 4 million people with safe water.

While I only met him a few times, Ron Rivera was someone who stood out in my mind as the “real deal,” someone who was driven to make a difference in people’s lives, and who himself was continually learning about how to have a greater impact. He may have been skeptical at first when I suggested he look at these factories like a McDonald’s chain, with standardized designs, manufacturing processes and marketing materials, but he ultimately found his own way to encourage local enterprises to take up this innovative business model. It was an approach that required him to personally connect with, train and inspire local entrepreneurs – work that was undoubtedly rewarding and effective, but that proved incredibly dangerous. His work will fortunately continue to impact people’s lives, as many of his protégés have committed themselves to carrying it forward. My hope is that we honor his life and what he worked for through our efforts to make affordable drinking water solutions available to the billions who need them, and our investments in health enterprises that can make diseases like malaria history.