Events

• Investee VisionSpring will be honored with the CASE Award for Social Enterprise Innovation from Duke University.
• IDE India, the organization behind our drip irrigation investment GEWP, will be featured in an upcoming BBC World News series. More details on where/when to watch, but in the meantime, you can catch a preview here.
• If you’re in the New York area, Jacqueline Novogratz will be speaking at the New School on February 17. The event is open to the public; RSVPs are required.

Our good friends at Nuru Project, who put on the DIGNITY event with Acumen Fund’s New York chapter, are putting on a photo auction and benefit for Haiti and Partners In Health on February 4th. If you are in the New York area, we encourage you to come out for a good cause.

photo by Sophie Forbes, 2009 Acumen Fund Fellow, India

Acumen Fund’s 2009 class of Fellows has returned from their time with investees, with stories, photos and video that they’re excited to share with the community.

If you’re in the NYC area, please join us tomorrow (Tuesday, September 22) for our first Fellows Media Mixer and Photo Auction event. There will be a photo auction, video screenings, DJ, and both the 2009 and newly arrived 2010 Fellows classes will be there in full force.

Can’t attend?  Not to worry: you can participate in the photo auction online in advance of the event. Photos for bidding are being added daily to that site, and some gems will be available only online!

Tuesday, September 22
6:00 – 11:00pm

Location:
The Bubble Lounge
228 West Broadway
Tribeca, NYC

Tickets: $15 in advance, $20 at the door. Ticket price includes one drink. Purchase at: http://bubblelounge.com/new-york/events/ (We suggest buying your tickets in advance as space is limited and we may not be able to accommodate everyone at the door).

All ticket sales, online auction, and live auction proceeds and a portion of bar proceeds go to benefit Acumen Fund.

On Tuesday, September 8, the Blum Center for Developing Economies at UC-Berkeley will be hosting Tim Brown, the CEO of IDEO and Jacqueline Novogratz, CEO of Acumen Fund, in a session called Putting the People First: Human-Centered Poverty Alleviation.

In a discussion moderated by Acumen Fund board member Stuart Davidson, Tim and Jacqueline will discuss innovative approaches to global development and the ways that IDEO and Acumen Fund have worked together to find solutions that start with the poor as people.

The event is free and open to all but reservations are recommended. For more info and to RSVP, go here.

Moderated by Caitlin Weaver, Chair of the Microfinance Club of New York

Panelists Include:
Camilla Nestor, Vice President of Microfinance, Grameen Foundation
Bill Abrams, President, Trickle Up
Beth Ellen Dunphe, Director of Development, Project Enterprise

While Mohammad Yunus was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his pioneering microfinance work in Bangladesh just three years ago, the popularity of providing the poor with collateral-free loans and other financial services to support their businesses is at an all-time high.  New microfinance models seek to make lending even more direct. Yet as the practice of microfinance has begun to mature and expand, so too have concerns over how to implement it most effectively. What are the implications when a nonprofit organization offers microfinance to an impoverished community but does not provide basic health or social services? Can a single microfinance model work on different continents? How might nonprofits, lenders and governments ensure that micro-loans lead to lasting change not just for the borrowers, but for their entire families and communities?

These are among the questions to be addressed at this panel discussion hosted by Mercy Corps’ Action Center to End World Hunger in Battery Park City.

Wednesday, August 5, 7:00PM
Mercy Corps’ Action Center to End World Hunger
6 River Terrace
Battery Park City, New York
(212) 537-0511
Contact: Embry Owen, eowen@nyc.mercycorps.org

For those of our readers who will be in India for the next few days, make sure to tune into Young Turks on CNBC which will feature Sweta Mangal, the CEO of Acumen Fund investee - Dial 1298 for Ambulance.

Young Turks on CNBC TV18, India is a program that profiles the young entrepreneurs in India who will be the leaders of tomorrow. The show will be aired on the following schedule and we hope you will be able to catch it.  If you aren’t able to please share with friends and colleagues.  This is a great opportunity to see a true social entrepreneur in action.

The schedule is as follows (all times India Standard Time):

30th July, 2009 (Thursday) - 6:30 pm

1st August, 2009 (Saturday) - 11:00 am

2nd August, 2009 (Sunday) - 12:00 noon

About Dial 1298

Dial 1298 for Ambulance is an initiative started by a group of young professionals with a high degree of social and public commitment with the primary objective of rolling out a nationwide network of Life Support Ambulance Service accessible to anyone, anytime and anywhere through an easy to remember four digit telephone number.

To learn more about Dial 1298 visit their website or You Tube channel.

7/24 UPDATE:  PREVIEW OF PHOTOS JUST RELEASED BY NURU PROJECT.  PLEASE CLICK FOR MORE!

There is only a week left to get your tickets for the Dignity Benefit event organized and run by the Young Professionals for Acumen Fund!  Although all of the early tickets are sold out, there are still some tickets available!

In attendance will be Acumen partners, Acumen alumni, current team members, Young Professionals for Acumen Fund,and a host of new faces.  Our events always attract a diverse group, from bankers to film producers,  and are a great opportunity to network and draw inspiration.

If you are really interested in getting a behind-the-scenes look at the exhibit and interacting with key members of the Acumen Fund team, we highly recommend purchasing VIP tickets.  VIP ticket holders will have the opportunity to meet with Sasha Dichter, Director of the Business Development team , and Yasmina Zaidman, Director of Knowledge & Communications as well as get a preview of the exhibition.  Photographers featured include Robert Capa Gold Medal winners  Susan Meiselas and  Steve McCurry, recent Dorothea Lange-Taylor Award winner Teru Kuwayama, and more. The collection was sourced from regions where Acumen Fund invests in, including India, Pakistan, and East Africa.

Thursday, July 30th
Main event: 7:30 to 10:30
VIP ticket reception: 6:30 to 7:30

Tribeca Cinemas Gallery
54 Varick Street

Music entertainment provided by DJ Dave Sharma
Open bar and refreshments provided

Purchase tickets to the Dignity Benefit

The event is run with the help of the Nuru Project.  The group leverages photography to act as an agent for social change in the developing world. To find out more about their mission, work, and photography, visit http://nuruproject.org/

Join the Young Professionals for Acumen Fund on July 30 for a photography auction and exhibition presented by Nuru Project, complimentary wine & beer, and raffle prizes! Nuru Project’s JB Reed will be hosting an exclusive VIP preview which includes a private tour of the exhibition and networking with Sasha Dichter and Yasmina Zaidman, senior executives at Acumen Fund! Don’t miss out on this opportunity to meet other socially responsible young professionals and see an exclusive exhibition featuring 30 prints donated by renowned photographers including Robert Capa Gold Medal winners Susan Meiselas and Steve McCurry, recent Dorothea Lange-Taylor Award winner Teru Kuwayama, and more. The collection was sourced from regions where Acumen Fund invests in, including India, Pakistan, and East Africa.

Thursday, July 30th
Main event: 7:30 to 10:30
VIP ticket reception: 6:30 to 7:30

Tribeca Film Gallery
54 Varick Street

Music entertainment provided by DJ Dave Sharma
Open bar and refreshments provided

Purchase tickets to the Dignity Benefit

Nuru Project leverages photography to act as an agent for social change in the developing world. To find out more about their mission, work, and photography, visit their website.

Many thanks to our generous sponsors: