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The Blue Sweater: Bridging the Gap Between Rich and Poor in an Interconnected World
For the first 5,000 copies of The Blue Sweater purchased, a $15 donation per book will be made to Acumen Fund, a nonprofit that invests in transformative businesses to solve the problems of poverty.
The Blue Sweater is the inspiring story of a woman who left a career in international banking to spend her life on a quest to understand global poverty and find powerful new ways of tackling it. It all started back home in Virginia, with the blue sweater, a gift that quickly became her prized possession―until the day she outgrew it and gave it away to Goodwill. Eleven years later in Africa, she spotted a young boy wearing that very sweater, with her name still on the tag inside. That the sweater had made its trek all the way to Rwanda was ample evidence, she thought, of how we are all connected, how our actions―and inaction―touch people every day across the globe, people we may never know or meet.
From her first stumbling efforts as a young idealist venturing forth in Africa to the creation of the trailblazing organization she runs today, Novogratz tells gripping stories with unforgettable characters―women dancing in a Nairobi slum, unwed mothers starting a bakery, courageous survivors of the Rwandan genocide, entrepreneurs building services for the poor against impossible odds.
She shows, in ways both hilarious and heartbreaking, how traditional charity often fails, but how a new form of philanthropic investing called "patient capital" can help make people self-sufficient and can change millions of lives. More than just an autobiography or a how-to guide to addressing poverty, The Blue Sweater is a call to action that challenges us to grant dignity to the poor and to rethink our engagement with the world.
The Blue Sweater is the inspiring story of a woman who left a career in international banking to spend her life on a quest to understand global poverty and find powerful new ways of tackling it. It all started back home in Virginia, with the blue sweater, a gift that quickly became her prized possession―until the day she outgrew it and gave it away to Goodwill. Eleven years later in Africa, she spotted a young boy wearing that very sweater, with her name still on the tag inside. That the sweater had made its trek all the way to Rwanda was ample evidence, she thought, of how we are all connected, how our actions―and inaction―touch people every day across the globe, people we may never know or meet.
From her first stumbling efforts as a young idealist venturing forth in Africa to the creation of the trailblazing organization she runs today, Novogratz tells gripping stories with unforgettable characters―women dancing in a Nairobi slum, unwed mothers starting a bakery, courageous survivors of the Rwandan genocide, entrepreneurs building services for the poor against impossible odds.
She shows, in ways both hilarious and heartbreaking, how traditional charity often fails, but how a new form of philanthropic investing called "patient capital" can help make people self-sufficient and can change millions of lives. More than just an autobiography or a how-to guide to addressing poverty, The Blue Sweater is a call to action that challenges us to grant dignity to the poor and to rethink our engagement with the world.
272 pages, Hardcover
First published March 3, 2009
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November 1, 2013
This is a thought-provoking, intense memoir by Novogratz as she recounts leaving her high-profile First World banking job in order to travel to the Third World to seek the causes and solutions of extreme poverty, eventually spending years in Rwanda, Pakistan and India, while intermittently taking up further training back in the USA.
It all started with the Blue Sweater that she gave away to Goodwill, a charitable institution – 11 years later, she spotted the same sweater on a little, poor boy in Africa while on a visit there – and thus began her journey, brought by the belief that the inter-connected world can affect everyone in ways never imagined.
Freshly graduated, with little skills, resources or insight, she jumped into the continent of Africa with a steely resolve to make a difference, to use her privileged life in a way that could alleviate the sufferings of the poorest of the poor.
Spending two years in Rwanda, focusing on empowering women economically, she realized why millions of dollars in charity did little to solve poverty – despite Rwanda being almost corruption-free, peaceful and inhabited by a hard-working, diligent population. Learning to navigate through the difficulties, she, along with other women, set up Duterimbere, a microfinance institution that not only succeeded, but grew to be the biggest institution in the next 20 years in Rwanda, simultaneously liberating women economically and raising a significant population over the poverty-line.
Away in the USA for further training during the Rwandan genocide of 1994, she returns there periodically over the next 10 years to understand how people who had lived all their lives as neighbours and even spouses could kill each other. And the numbers were horrible – 8,00,000 Rwandans were killed in a span of 3 months, destroying completely the economy and any hope of reconstruction. And yet, Rwanda prospered once again.
Later, she worked in Pakistan as well as India, setting up the Acumen Fund, observing how different initiatives were hugely successful there in providing quality services to the very poor despite limited resources and immense corruption.
To summarize, the memoir talks about her changing perspectives about poverty, its reasons and its solutions. She talks lucidly, from a practical, rather than a theoretical/intellectual perspective the hurdles in the path of poverty alleviation, and how empowerment of the poor themselves is the most successful idea in the long run.
Empowerment to her is inclusive of various aspects – trust-building, economic, cultural, health services, allocation and management of resources, affordable innovations, investment and philanthropy. Her observations on philanthropy and why it fails despite its best intentions is particularly insightful.
As she herself said, “Solutions to poverty must be driven by discipline, accountability and market-strength, not easy sentimentality. It is about building solutions from the perspective of the poor people themselves rather than imposing grand theories and plans upon them.”
Written in a very lucid, simple way, the book is an invaluable study into the work of a handful of dedicated individuals across the world bent upon making the world a better place for the most unprivileged by listening to them closely and applying common sense and hard work to alleviate their inhuman conditions of life. And in the process, she also draws my embarrassed attention to my passivity, my lack of significant contribution to the squalor around me.
It all started with the Blue Sweater that she gave away to Goodwill, a charitable institution – 11 years later, she spotted the same sweater on a little, poor boy in Africa while on a visit there – and thus began her journey, brought by the belief that the inter-connected world can affect everyone in ways never imagined.
Freshly graduated, with little skills, resources or insight, she jumped into the continent of Africa with a steely resolve to make a difference, to use her privileged life in a way that could alleviate the sufferings of the poorest of the poor.
Spending two years in Rwanda, focusing on empowering women economically, she realized why millions of dollars in charity did little to solve poverty – despite Rwanda being almost corruption-free, peaceful and inhabited by a hard-working, diligent population. Learning to navigate through the difficulties, she, along with other women, set up Duterimbere, a microfinance institution that not only succeeded, but grew to be the biggest institution in the next 20 years in Rwanda, simultaneously liberating women economically and raising a significant population over the poverty-line.
Away in the USA for further training during the Rwandan genocide of 1994, she returns there periodically over the next 10 years to understand how people who had lived all their lives as neighbours and even spouses could kill each other. And the numbers were horrible – 8,00,000 Rwandans were killed in a span of 3 months, destroying completely the economy and any hope of reconstruction. And yet, Rwanda prospered once again.
Later, she worked in Pakistan as well as India, setting up the Acumen Fund, observing how different initiatives were hugely successful there in providing quality services to the very poor despite limited resources and immense corruption.
To summarize, the memoir talks about her changing perspectives about poverty, its reasons and its solutions. She talks lucidly, from a practical, rather than a theoretical/intellectual perspective the hurdles in the path of poverty alleviation, and how empowerment of the poor themselves is the most successful idea in the long run.
Empowerment to her is inclusive of various aspects – trust-building, economic, cultural, health services, allocation and management of resources, affordable innovations, investment and philanthropy. Her observations on philanthropy and why it fails despite its best intentions is particularly insightful.
As she herself said, “Solutions to poverty must be driven by discipline, accountability and market-strength, not easy sentimentality. It is about building solutions from the perspective of the poor people themselves rather than imposing grand theories and plans upon them.”
Written in a very lucid, simple way, the book is an invaluable study into the work of a handful of dedicated individuals across the world bent upon making the world a better place for the most unprivileged by listening to them closely and applying common sense and hard work to alleviate their inhuman conditions of life. And in the process, she also draws my embarrassed attention to my passivity, my lack of significant contribution to the squalor around me.
August 11, 2011
2.5 out of 5 stars.
This book reminded me a lot of Unbowed by Wangari Maathai--non-fiction, set in Africa, strong woman changing the world, but writing...not so great. Which is a real shame about the not so-great writing because the subject matter is important. Jacqueline Novogratz is inspiring, Acumen Fund sounds amazing, Novogratz's journey of discovery about herself, the world, and how to change it is interesting. But oooh, girlfriend needed to focus. She needed an editor to help her focus. At the end of the book she tells you how this book started when she was trying to figure out the Rwandan genocides, because she lived there with great people and had lovely experiences. And the book grew from there. And then you think, Ah, yes, now I know why that part of the book (when she goes back to Africa to talk with women she worked with) felt so...plunked in there. Look--I think a lot of times probably an author has a lovely idea, but the book grows and changes and is eventually so far from that original idea that some reshaping and pruning are necessary. This book didn't get that reshaping and pruning. It could have used some finessing throughout, really, because as it is, Novogratz hops around time and places a bit too much without enough explanation for me. When she settles in and gives more background and details (helping out a bakery, getting clean water to people, building neighborhoods), the book is a lot more enjoyable.
But you know what? She probably didn't write it and edit it to my liking because she's too busy changing the world for the better so...I guess that's okay.
This book reminded me a lot of Unbowed by Wangari Maathai--non-fiction, set in Africa, strong woman changing the world, but writing...not so great. Which is a real shame about the not so-great writing because the subject matter is important. Jacqueline Novogratz is inspiring, Acumen Fund sounds amazing, Novogratz's journey of discovery about herself, the world, and how to change it is interesting. But oooh, girlfriend needed to focus. She needed an editor to help her focus. At the end of the book she tells you how this book started when she was trying to figure out the Rwandan genocides, because she lived there with great people and had lovely experiences. And the book grew from there. And then you think, Ah, yes, now I know why that part of the book (when she goes back to Africa to talk with women she worked with) felt so...plunked in there. Look--I think a lot of times probably an author has a lovely idea, but the book grows and changes and is eventually so far from that original idea that some reshaping and pruning are necessary. This book didn't get that reshaping and pruning. It could have used some finessing throughout, really, because as it is, Novogratz hops around time and places a bit too much without enough explanation for me. When she settles in and gives more background and details (helping out a bakery, getting clean water to people, building neighborhoods), the book is a lot more enjoyable.
But you know what? She probably didn't write it and edit it to my liking because she's too busy changing the world for the better so...I guess that's okay.
August 28, 2009
I had high expectations for this book: I read it alongside Muhammad Yunus'"Banker to the Poor", thinking that Yunus could be the representative of the beginnings of micro-credit, and Novogratz of the more recent direction of the movement.
However, this book, in the end, is more autobiographical than informational. Novogratz has undoubtedly lived a fascinating life, but in the end much of the book felt more like fluff than substance.
My sense is that she'd have been better served by focusing more tightly on the most interesting part of the her store, which is the establishment of a bakery in Rwanda pre-genocide, and her post genocide return, alongside the stories of what had become of the women she had once worked with. That is rich stuff indeed, as her contacts range from high-level officials in the Hutu government to everyday women are caught up in and respond to the genocide and its aftermath in a variety of ways.
On the plus side, I think Novogratz does a very good job of describing what it's like to work in development: the idealistic-but-not-yet-grounded early stages, the difficult and strange experience of first working in Africa, and a later transition working in more distal but potentially wider-impacting positions.
I'd also recommend to people Novogratz talk on ted.com.
However, this book, in the end, is more autobiographical than informational. Novogratz has undoubtedly lived a fascinating life, but in the end much of the book felt more like fluff than substance.
My sense is that she'd have been better served by focusing more tightly on the most interesting part of the her store, which is the establishment of a bakery in Rwanda pre-genocide, and her post genocide return, alongside the stories of what had become of the women she had once worked with. That is rich stuff indeed, as her contacts range from high-level officials in the Hutu government to everyday women are caught up in and respond to the genocide and its aftermath in a variety of ways.
On the plus side, I think Novogratz does a very good job of describing what it's like to work in development: the idealistic-but-not-yet-grounded early stages, the difficult and strange experience of first working in Africa, and a later transition working in more distal but potentially wider-impacting positions.
I'd also recommend to people Novogratz talk on ted.com.
January 21, 2018
I opened this book and could not put it down. It had everything: it was very well written, was the perfect mixture of story, factual data, memoir and one of those books that makes you want to sell all you own and go out to conquer the world.
I cannot recommend this one enough!
I cannot recommend this one enough!
February 25, 2010
The prologue opens with:
"They say a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. I took mine and fell flat on my face. As a young woman, I dreamed of changing the world. In my twenties, I went to africa to try and save the continent, only to learn that Africans neither wanted nor needed saving. Indeed, when I was there, I saw some of the worst that good intentions, traditional charity, and aid can produce...
I concluded that if I could only nudge the world a little bit, maybe that would be enough.
But nudging isn't enough."
- - - -
I love Jacqueline Novogratz for being another believer in bringing professional skills into the advocacy and development world. Where Bill Drayton found a way to merge entrepreneurship and social change through the Ashoka Foundation, Novogratz likewise forged a union between investment banking and development in the Acumen Fund. The Blue Sweater tells us about her journey.
Reading the story of the long and winding road towards establishing Acumen Fund was both very encouraging, and at the same time, very humbling.
I have been studying the advocacy and CSR world for about 8 years now, and have been involved with various NGO's and causes for about 6 years. But I have not even done one-tenth of what Novogratz has done.
Sure, I've gone to slums, helped build houses for the poor, comforted orphans, painted murals for public hospitals, developed workshops to empower marginalized youth, cooked for the hungry and homeless, sat through sessions at the United Nations' Economic and Social Council, helped coordinate relief efforts for flash flood victims... the list can go on and on. But these were always a by-the-way. A little sidetrip when I had time to spare from my studies or from my work. School and career always took top priority. And I was always careful to choose to volunteer only in the "safe" places.
But Novogratz, she's something else. She dropped a prestigious banking career in New York City to fly off to help save Africa. And she failed. And tried again. And failed again. And tried yet again.
She's been through political pressures, threats of poison, genocide, civil war, street muggings, house break-ins, and malaria. It made me feel like all I've been doing the past 6 years has all been child's play.
She risked. She fell flat on her face. She picked herself up. And that's why she is where she is today. Torn between a choice of a great NYC job, and a chance to return to Africa, she writes..
"Though either choice was good, one was truer to myself... Ultimately, I reflected on Geothe's invocation to 'make a commitment and the forces of the universe will conspire to make it happen' and chose the uncharted path."
If I had just a quarter of her courage, I think my life would be dramatically different.
For anyone who has been playing with the thought of going into advocacy, development and social work, this is a really good read. She goes into detail about what her life was like - the fulfillment along with the tortures. If, after you've read about all the painful details, you find yourself feeling pangs of jealousy, ask yourself... perhaps it's your time to make the leap?
"They say a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. I took mine and fell flat on my face. As a young woman, I dreamed of changing the world. In my twenties, I went to africa to try and save the continent, only to learn that Africans neither wanted nor needed saving. Indeed, when I was there, I saw some of the worst that good intentions, traditional charity, and aid can produce...
I concluded that if I could only nudge the world a little bit, maybe that would be enough.
But nudging isn't enough."
- - - -
I love Jacqueline Novogratz for being another believer in bringing professional skills into the advocacy and development world. Where Bill Drayton found a way to merge entrepreneurship and social change through the Ashoka Foundation, Novogratz likewise forged a union between investment banking and development in the Acumen Fund. The Blue Sweater tells us about her journey.
Reading the story of the long and winding road towards establishing Acumen Fund was both very encouraging, and at the same time, very humbling.
I have been studying the advocacy and CSR world for about 8 years now, and have been involved with various NGO's and causes for about 6 years. But I have not even done one-tenth of what Novogratz has done.
Sure, I've gone to slums, helped build houses for the poor, comforted orphans, painted murals for public hospitals, developed workshops to empower marginalized youth, cooked for the hungry and homeless, sat through sessions at the United Nations' Economic and Social Council, helped coordinate relief efforts for flash flood victims... the list can go on and on. But these were always a by-the-way. A little sidetrip when I had time to spare from my studies or from my work. School and career always took top priority. And I was always careful to choose to volunteer only in the "safe" places.
But Novogratz, she's something else. She dropped a prestigious banking career in New York City to fly off to help save Africa. And she failed. And tried again. And failed again. And tried yet again.
She's been through political pressures, threats of poison, genocide, civil war, street muggings, house break-ins, and malaria. It made me feel like all I've been doing the past 6 years has all been child's play.
She risked. She fell flat on her face. She picked herself up. And that's why she is where she is today. Torn between a choice of a great NYC job, and a chance to return to Africa, she writes..
"Though either choice was good, one was truer to myself... Ultimately, I reflected on Geothe's invocation to 'make a commitment and the forces of the universe will conspire to make it happen' and chose the uncharted path."
If I had just a quarter of her courage, I think my life would be dramatically different.
For anyone who has been playing with the thought of going into advocacy, development and social work, this is a really good read. She goes into detail about what her life was like - the fulfillment along with the tortures. If, after you've read about all the painful details, you find yourself feeling pangs of jealousy, ask yourself... perhaps it's your time to make the leap?
December 3, 2025
The Blue Sweater is a guidebook for what not to do in global aid. The author honestly tells her story of one failure after another. She deserves credit for admitting her errors and for continuing to try new things, but it is frustrating that she never takes a step back to ask what has worked in countries that have moved out of poverty. Instead she keeps reinventing the wheel and repeating proven mistakes (not listening to locals, etc.). This is especially frustrating because she does seem to have a genuine passion for helping poor people around the world. The book is bogged down with the boring details of her travel itineraries and other personal issues when the real question that matters is whether she ever figured out what works to end poverty. The answer is fuzzy.
She has an agenda of pushing for business-based solutions to problems, but she doesn't make a very good case for this ideology. For example, she describes an infusion of capital to an efficient medical services provider that charges people on a sliding scale. Sliding scales are a standard tool of non-profits and are pretty much the opposite of all the market-based reforms in medical care that aim to eliminate cost-shifting. Also giving capital grants or loans at below-market rates is charity, not business. She keeps wanting to have it both ways, describing successful charities as "social entrepreneurship" but trying to make them sound like businesses while bashing charities. I'm not sure what the point of this is.
If people are interested in how countries get out of poverty, it may be more fruitful to read the books of Ha-Joon Chang (Bad Samaritans, etc.) who studies how places like South Korea went rapidly from suffering with famines to enjoying world-class economies. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ha-Joon_...
Bad Samaritans: The Myth of Free Trade and the Secret History of Capitalism
She has an agenda of pushing for business-based solutions to problems, but she doesn't make a very good case for this ideology. For example, she describes an infusion of capital to an efficient medical services provider that charges people on a sliding scale. Sliding scales are a standard tool of non-profits and are pretty much the opposite of all the market-based reforms in medical care that aim to eliminate cost-shifting. Also giving capital grants or loans at below-market rates is charity, not business. She keeps wanting to have it both ways, describing successful charities as "social entrepreneurship" but trying to make them sound like businesses while bashing charities. I'm not sure what the point of this is.
If people are interested in how countries get out of poverty, it may be more fruitful to read the books of Ha-Joon Chang (Bad Samaritans, etc.) who studies how places like South Korea went rapidly from suffering with famines to enjoying world-class economies. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ha-Joon_...
Bad Samaritans: The Myth of Free Trade and the Secret History of Capitalism
February 1, 2009
Ms. Novogratz is a big dreamer and a bigger doer. This book--which reads alternately like a novel, a memoir, a diary, or a lecture--chronicles her development from a 20-something idealist to a 40-something optimist, well-grounded and well-schooled in the ways of a complex world.
The author jump-started a bakery in Kigali where her friends and colleagues, in years to come, were both victims and perpretrators of the Rwandan genocide, was assaulted on the shores of Tanzania, climbed a volcano in Zaire in a drenching downpour and ran down through golf-ball sized hailstones, danced in Nairobi's slums in a mud and tin hut, and personally watched the planes bring down the World Trade Centers.
So what if the writing occasionally bogs down with tedious details of who, what, and when. This woman has been there, done that, and we can't afford to pass up the opportunity to learn from her. You'll never think of philanthropy and (patient) capitalism the same way again. You may end up, in Ms. Novogratz's words, "...accepting the disorder at the crucible of human existence." AND, having a go at changing it.
The author jump-started a bakery in Kigali where her friends and colleagues, in years to come, were both victims and perpretrators of the Rwandan genocide, was assaulted on the shores of Tanzania, climbed a volcano in Zaire in a drenching downpour and ran down through golf-ball sized hailstones, danced in Nairobi's slums in a mud and tin hut, and personally watched the planes bring down the World Trade Centers.
So what if the writing occasionally bogs down with tedious details of who, what, and when. This woman has been there, done that, and we can't afford to pass up the opportunity to learn from her. You'll never think of philanthropy and (patient) capitalism the same way again. You may end up, in Ms. Novogratz's words, "...accepting the disorder at the crucible of human existence." AND, having a go at changing it.
June 30, 2016
يستحق أن يكون من الكتب الأكثر مبيعًا في العالم كما هو.
كمية مشاعر مختلفة عبرتني خلال قراءة الكتاب حتى نهايته، قسوة الفقر المدقع في الدول النامية و كيفية دعم العائلات و النساء و دفعهم للنمو و النهوض بهم لمستوى أعلى من خلال القروض متناهية الصغر كبداية. تمنيت (لوهلة) لو أنني أدرس إحدى تخصصات إدارة الأعمال.
حال النساء في تلك الدول. حرب الإبادة الجماعية، الرعب و الآثار التي خلّفتها، انطوت تحتها عدة قصص.
من الألوان الزاهية لأزياء النساء الإفريقيات إلى طبيعة الهندية الفاتنة استطاعت الكاتبة بكلماتها الجميلة أن تنقل بعمق تجاربها الملهمة و المميزة.
معاني ذُكرت و تكررت بين الأسطر: تجربة، فشل، سفر، فقر، إنصات، نِيّة، ثقة، إنسانية، طبيعة، عيش، تعلم، عمل، مرض، أمل، حرب، تبرع، استثمار، نجاح، رؤية العالم من منظور الآخرين.
كمية مشاعر مختلفة عبرتني خلال قراءة الكتاب حتى نهايته، قسوة الفقر المدقع في الدول النامية و كيفية دعم العائلات و النساء و دفعهم للنمو و النهوض بهم لمستوى أعلى من خلال القروض متناهية الصغر كبداية. تمنيت (لوهلة) لو أنني أدرس إحدى تخصصات إدارة الأعمال.
حال النساء في تلك الدول. حرب الإبادة الجماعية، الرعب و الآثار التي خلّفتها، انطوت تحتها عدة قصص.
من الألوان الزاهية لأزياء النساء الإفريقيات إلى طبيعة الهندية الفاتنة استطاعت الكاتبة بكلماتها الجميلة أن تنقل بعمق تجاربها الملهمة و المميزة.
معاني ذُكرت و تكررت بين الأسطر: تجربة، فشل، سفر، فقر، إنصات، نِيّة، ثقة، إنسانية، طبيعة، عيش، تعلم، عمل، مرض، أمل، حرب، تبرع، استثمار، نجاح، رؤية العالم من منظور الآخرين.
January 26, 2020
I would give this 0 stars if I could. I have never encountered such a tone-deaf author, bent on doing so much good in the world while consistently othering locals and blaming others for her refusal to adapt to local customs. I'm floored that readers are expected to cheer for the white, privileged, wouldn't-slump-to-anything-less-than-Stanford grad as she compares her Diverse Youth Leaders to "trust-fund kid[s] badmouthing parents while eagerly accepting their money." She inserts herself in every tragedy, focusing' readers compassion on herself rather than the actual victims of genocide/poverty/terrorist attacks. She learns of the Rwandan genocide, and immediately focuses on her nightmares while safe in her NYC apartment, rather than the fate of Rwandans without the privilege afforded to outsiders with the ability to come and go as they please. She witnesses 9/11, and instantly thinks of what it will mean for trying to convince donors to fund her international programs. She builds herself up by remaining poverty-adjacent, but when faced with the task of entering a factory in the Mississippi Delta, and living even a moment in someone else's shoes, states it "made [her] want to vomit." For all her worldliness, why show up for a trip to the Mississippi Delta in high heels?! She returns to Rwanda, and seems more shattered by her bakery's doors closing than the hundreds of thousands of lives lost. Regardless of the organization (Acumen Fund) or the millions of people it may reach, this book is told from the perspective of an author who is so desperate to romanticize Africa and its "tropical gardens" and "beautiful colorful birds" that she overlooks the daily realities local people face; an author so removed from reality so as to describe a post-genocide Rwandan prison as a postcard with strong young men and beautiful blue skies. After years of titles, opportunities, and millions of dollars thrown at making her dreams a reality, maybe that's the biggest outrage - she should know better than to be an unwitting poverty tourist.
Also, dear God, please stop describing your colleagues as "balding," "crusty," and "built like a truck driver."
In summary, I understand Acumen Fund to be VC aimed at the poor, where we applaud investors for not gouging borrowers with 40% interest rates. I understand its founder and CEO to have an American-sized ego, and the confused and enduring notion that poor people are somehow inherently different than the rest of "us" - happier, better, shinier, more humble, more resilient. People are people. A poor person with money can become a rich person, and can change just as quickly as their circumstances.
Skip this, and read Half the Sky instead.
---------
"The bank doors were closed to the poor and working class. Because the commercial banks were writing off millions in bad debts to the richest sectors of society, they were in no mood to try lending to the poorest."
"We spoke about umuganda, or community work, that was performed each Saturday morning by everyone in the country, a sort of pulling together to meet Rwanda's needs."
"'What makes it harder to keep up with you,' she continued, 'is that our lives have so many obligations attached to them. We have funerals and weddings and births and so many commitments, you see? If you don't slow down, I worry that Duterimbere will rely too much on you and not on Rwandan women themselves.'"
"The intellectual elites who run society-- often have very little empathy for people with less. And when they do think empathetically, they focus on the poorest of the poor and not the lower middle portion of society, though it is so critical to societal change."
Also, dear God, please stop describing your colleagues as "balding," "crusty," and "built like a truck driver."
In summary, I understand Acumen Fund to be VC aimed at the poor, where we applaud investors for not gouging borrowers with 40% interest rates. I understand its founder and CEO to have an American-sized ego, and the confused and enduring notion that poor people are somehow inherently different than the rest of "us" - happier, better, shinier, more humble, more resilient. People are people. A poor person with money can become a rich person, and can change just as quickly as their circumstances.
Skip this, and read Half the Sky instead.
---------
"The bank doors were closed to the poor and working class. Because the commercial banks were writing off millions in bad debts to the richest sectors of society, they were in no mood to try lending to the poorest."
"We spoke about umuganda, or community work, that was performed each Saturday morning by everyone in the country, a sort of pulling together to meet Rwanda's needs."
"'What makes it harder to keep up with you,' she continued, 'is that our lives have so many obligations attached to them. We have funerals and weddings and births and so many commitments, you see? If you don't slow down, I worry that Duterimbere will rely too much on you and not on Rwandan women themselves.'"
"The intellectual elites who run society-- often have very little empathy for people with less. And when they do think empathetically, they focus on the poorest of the poor and not the lower middle portion of society, though it is so critical to societal change."
November 2, 2020
اتوبیوگرافی فوقالعاده ژاکلین نووگراتز از زندگی پرهیجان و پرثمرش، بارها من را به وجد آورد و باعث شد به مسیر زندگیاش غبطه بخورم. این کارآفرین اجتماعی، در این کتاب تعریف میکند که در 25 سالگی کاری پردرآمد برای بانک جی پی مورگان چیس در والاستریت را رها کرده و بدون شناخت و تجربه به آفریقا سفر میکند تا رویای قدیمیاش را، که تغییر جهان بوده، محقق کند. این سفر آغاز زندگی جدید او و پیشرفت در راهی میشود که آرزویش را داشته. نووگراتز از تعریف تجارب عجیب و حتی اشتباههای خود ابایی ندارد. تلاشهای جسورانه او پس از شکستهای متعدد سرانجام به تاسیس موسسه تامین مالی خردی در رواندا، بسیاری پروژههای فقرزدایی کوچک و بزرگ دیگر در سراسر آفریقا و نهایتا تاسیس صندوق آکیومن میشود که اکنون نهادی بزرگ برای ارائه راهکارهای کمک به فقرای سراسر جهان است و در دهها پروژه عظیم سرمایهگذاری کرده است. خواندن ماجراهای این کتاب باعث میشود به روشهای سنتی خیرخواهانه و اعانههای مالی زودبازده و کوتاهمدت شک کنید. نووگراتز بر شیوههای بازارمحور کمک به افراد محروم و حفظ عزت و حق انتخاب و آگاهیبخشی به آنها تاکید میکند و "شنیدن" را مهمترین ویژگی یک کارآفرین اجتماعی میداند.
ترجمه این کتاب نسبتا خوب انجام شده، هرچند قطعا نیاز به ویراستاری مجدد حس میشود. همچنین، نام شرکتها و پروژهها اصلا درست ترجمه نشده است. نهایتا خواندن ترجمه یا زبان اصلی این کتاب را به هرکسی که دغدغههای بشردوستی دارد یا حتی صرفا به دنبال خواندن یک زندگینامه پربار و جالب توجه است، قطعا توصیه میکنم.
ترجمه این کتاب نسبتا خوب انجام شده، هرچند قطعا نیاز به ویراستاری مجدد حس میشود. همچنین، نام شرکتها و پروژهها اصلا درست ترجمه نشده است. نهایتا خواندن ترجمه یا زبان اصلی این کتاب را به هرکسی که دغدغههای بشردوستی دارد یا حتی صرفا به دنبال خواندن یک زندگینامه پربار و جالب توجه است، قطعا توصیه میکنم.
November 15, 2009
This book illustrates the problems with the charity and relief organisations of the 3rd (developing) world. The emphasis of this book is on the economic field, with especial stress put on the value of accountability and the value of a person doing something for themself, rather than having it done for them or given to them. The stories of people in this book cover from the mid 1980s through today, including the impact of the Rwandan genocide and the need for clean water, mosquito nets and access to medicines and cures for diseases that the Western world would never consider to be a threat in their daily lives. This book shows the good and bad sides of people, how unfettered exuberance for something can be just as harmful as no interest in it at all, and how taking the time to listen is the most important skill you can have when trying to help others. This book has changed my entire outlook on the charity and relief systems in the world, as well as the kind of person that it takes to really make a true difference in the world today.
September 9, 2012
My main takeaway: Novogratz is a pretty amazing person. She seems pretty endlessly energetic, and unbelievably resilient. Trying to change global distribution and economic patterns is hard work, even if you don't throw in language difficulties, personal assaults, and brushes with genocide. I can imagine that if I were faced with one hundredth of the resistance, complication, bureaucracy, negativity, corruption, and depressing logistical difficulties that Novogratz has faced, I'd give up and walk away. She's unbelievably persistent and positive in her work, and it's interesting to see how her upbeat attitude and energy translate into eventual successes. The people she works with throughout the developing world--many of them poor women--are also fascinating, and their courage, patience, and humor are inspiring. Really helps to put the day-to-day frustrations of the first world in perspective.
January 3, 2021
شاید از صفحه ده کتاب هی با خودم فکر میکردم کاش جای تحصیل تو رشته مهندسی، رفته بودم دنبال این مدل کارها و رشتهها.
رضایتی که ژاکلین از فعالیتها و زندگیاش داره در تکتک صفحات این کتاب حس میشه. نقشی که تو زندگی هزاران فقیر ایفا کرده و عزت نفسی که به اونها بخشیده با هیچ معیار مادیای قابل اندازهگیری نیست.
رضایتی که ژاکلین از فعالیتها و زندگیاش داره در تکتک صفحات این کتاب حس میشه. نقشی که تو زندگی هزاران فقیر ایفا کرده و عزت نفسی که به اونها بخشیده با هیچ معیار مادیای قابل اندازهگیری نیست.
November 22, 2022
This book bothered me. It could have been a lesson in how (and how not) to approach community work as an outsider, but the delivery is awful. I’ll break down my critiques by category.
WRITING STYLE
Novogratz started writing this book as a letter to herself, and it is evident that she never transitioned to a delivery style for a broader audience. The book reads like a diary, with tedious details about interactions and people hardly relevant to the larger message, as if she wanted to include those details to help herself remember each experience. That’s fine for a diary - I sometimes do that myself - but it distracts from the story when presented for a wider audience. We don’t need to know what color dress shirt and skirt she wore to each meeting, that she got coffee at the hotel before getting in a car, or how round a woman’s face is who is mentioned for two sentences in the whole book.
PURPOSE
It’s not clear what the intention of the book is. The title suggests a primer on connecting monetarily affluent and impoverished individuals and communities, but then there is a whole section devoted to the (incompletely presented) history of the Rwandan genocide, with lots of examples on how *not* to interact with refugees who have experienced trauma (more on that below). Is the book supposed to teach us how to work with refugee populations? If so, why are there no resources on refugee advocacy work in the suggested reading section at the end? In the second half of the book she mentions her organization, the Acumen Fund, countless times. Is the purpose of the book to advertise for her organization? Or is it just an autobiography of her life thus far? After having read the entire book and gone back and skimmed through it all a second time, I’m still unclear what the primary message was supposed to be.
ON REFUGEES
I worked with refugee populations - including individuals from Rwanda - for two years. I probably would have been fired if I questioned my colleagues and clients on their actions during the genocide or peppered them with as many questions about their experience as she does. One of the most important rules I learned over those two years was never to ask about trauma even when I befriend refugees; they share when and how they want, in their own time. It was infuriating to read Jacqueline’s approach with each Rwandan woman on her visits after the genocide. Just because she is already friendly with these women does not grant her the right to interrogate them on such a tender subject to satisfy her own curiosity, and even in some cases to question their morals and actions! The Rwandan genocide and the events leading up to it caused people to have to make very difficult choices, not all of which are easy to understand from an outside perspective. Jacqueline clearly did not understand how humiliating and belittling her interrogations could be.
DIRECT QUOTES
This is a small complaint, but how were there possibly so many direct quotes in this book? Much of this story focused on events that happened 10-20 years ago in Jacqueline’s life, yet practically every page is filled with quotes from people she encountered. Either she kept scrupulous notes her entire life, or she is guessing what was said 20 years ago and putting it into quotes. Seems like an odd choice to use this dialogic style of writing.
DESCRIPTIONS
Jacqueline’s descriptions of individuals were incredibly tedious. An example: “The 30-something, balding man with a black mustache and honest face who wore conservative glasses over his serious eyes and carried pens in his front pocket was not one to dream small” (230). Time and again she’d present details like the above about individuals mentioned for just a few lines in the entire book. I zoned out so many times, or didn’t catch the gist of what experience she was trying to describe right away because it was so bogged down with details about clothing and physique.
Some of Jacqueline’s descriptions were, frankly, shallow; she seems to have a “West Is Best” attitude. When describing outfits women are wearing (which happens pretty much every sixty seconds), she uses words like “professional,” “formal,” and “smart” to describe Western-style dress clothes. She especially loves to remark on this when African women wear this style. An example: “She carried herself with no-nonsense professionalism in her matching black-and-white top and skirt” (205).
Such descriptions are never used for traditional African clothing, instead describing women wearing those outfits as “exotic,” “birdlike,” “a butterfly conservatory,” etc. The closest complement I could find for someone wearing traditional garb is “affable-looking 50-year-old with straight black hair flecked with gray, wearing a long, traditional cotton dress in black and yellow and green” (203).
Novogratz shows shallowness even in her description of dolls with different hair colors, clearly favoring blonde: “There was a glamorous blonde in a veil who reminded me of the heroine of Bewitched, a brunette, and even a handsome man…I received the gorgeous blonde and the brunette” (275-276).
The descriptions get worse when she introduces body type. Even for characters we meet for just one or two sentences, she takes time to describe their physique. Watch out if you’re too skinny or overweight, she will not hold back her judgement. She presents descriptions like “slender and beautiful” (253), “tall and fit with high cheekbones” (205), and “tall, thin, formidable” (156), compared to far less flattering terms for women she deems less physically fit. Notice the lack of endearing descriptors:
“exotic-looking” 21
“her wide foot” 56
“solid, affable-looking woman…built like tree trunks” 74
“short, affable woman” 92
“slight, crooked woman with raisin eyes and a walnut face” 102
“Brightly colored cloths in turquoise, fuchsia, orange, and lime shimmied around thick waists” 102
“a large woman with thick forearms and a blue scarf around her head stared at me intensely with her enormous eyes” 114
“a skinny woman” 132
“Her massive body was draped in a deep purple, flowing robe” 132
“Draped in an enormous dress of screaming yellow and defensive blue…she made me think of a vulture” 133
“a uniformed, overweight woman in a white cap” 160
“Her massive hands were folded in front of her” 161
“A young, birdlike woman with a red scarf wrapped around her head” 163
“stocky in stature and huge in personality” 208
“her big thigh” 236
“of medium build” 240
“the big woman with two long braids bellowed in her baritone voice” 262
We do get one description of “strong and straightforward with a decidedly urban image” (208). I guess that one’s nice enough, but who knows what “decidedly urban” means. Probably an African woman wearing a pantsuit.
We meet one lesbian character, who Jacqueline describes as “black, gay, and built like a truck driver” (156). Likewise, she describes a colleague she is proud to have hired as “a crusty investment banker” (220). Built like a truck driver and crusty…what nice descriptors for people she claims to respect.
FINAL THOUGHTS
One final quote from Jacqueline, describing one of her first interactions with Lisa, that lesbian woman “built like a truck driver.” She didn’t think they’d get along because of this encounter:
“I arrived at the Jackson Airport on a cool fall day in a pleated skirt and heels. She wore jeans, sneakers, and a baseball cap. Perfect” (159).
I wouldn’t want to wear heels and a nice skirt for a plane ride. Sneakers and jeans sound much more comfortable.
This book taught me about Jacueline’s journey toward creating Acumen Fund. The story of why she chose that name made me laugh…she wanted to connect with her clients and send the right message. Her clients are organizations supporting and individuals from impoverished communities, many who may not speak English as a first language. As a native-born AmericanI didn’t know what “acumen” meant before looking it up…would her clients? The name makes me think that Jacqueline is always going to be a little disconnected from those she wants to empower.
Novogratz is clearly a powerful businesswoman with good intentions and smart business sense, but I was frustrated by this book. I wonder what she thinks of it now, and what the individuals she described in the story think, if they’ve read it. While the intention of the book is a good one, and it contains some important messages about privilege, communication, etc., I’m surprised it has so many 5-star reviews.
WRITING STYLE
Novogratz started writing this book as a letter to herself, and it is evident that she never transitioned to a delivery style for a broader audience. The book reads like a diary, with tedious details about interactions and people hardly relevant to the larger message, as if she wanted to include those details to help herself remember each experience. That’s fine for a diary - I sometimes do that myself - but it distracts from the story when presented for a wider audience. We don’t need to know what color dress shirt and skirt she wore to each meeting, that she got coffee at the hotel before getting in a car, or how round a woman’s face is who is mentioned for two sentences in the whole book.
PURPOSE
It’s not clear what the intention of the book is. The title suggests a primer on connecting monetarily affluent and impoverished individuals and communities, but then there is a whole section devoted to the (incompletely presented) history of the Rwandan genocide, with lots of examples on how *not* to interact with refugees who have experienced trauma (more on that below). Is the book supposed to teach us how to work with refugee populations? If so, why are there no resources on refugee advocacy work in the suggested reading section at the end? In the second half of the book she mentions her organization, the Acumen Fund, countless times. Is the purpose of the book to advertise for her organization? Or is it just an autobiography of her life thus far? After having read the entire book and gone back and skimmed through it all a second time, I’m still unclear what the primary message was supposed to be.
ON REFUGEES
I worked with refugee populations - including individuals from Rwanda - for two years. I probably would have been fired if I questioned my colleagues and clients on their actions during the genocide or peppered them with as many questions about their experience as she does. One of the most important rules I learned over those two years was never to ask about trauma even when I befriend refugees; they share when and how they want, in their own time. It was infuriating to read Jacqueline’s approach with each Rwandan woman on her visits after the genocide. Just because she is already friendly with these women does not grant her the right to interrogate them on such a tender subject to satisfy her own curiosity, and even in some cases to question their morals and actions! The Rwandan genocide and the events leading up to it caused people to have to make very difficult choices, not all of which are easy to understand from an outside perspective. Jacqueline clearly did not understand how humiliating and belittling her interrogations could be.
DIRECT QUOTES
This is a small complaint, but how were there possibly so many direct quotes in this book? Much of this story focused on events that happened 10-20 years ago in Jacqueline’s life, yet practically every page is filled with quotes from people she encountered. Either she kept scrupulous notes her entire life, or she is guessing what was said 20 years ago and putting it into quotes. Seems like an odd choice to use this dialogic style of writing.
DESCRIPTIONS
Jacqueline’s descriptions of individuals were incredibly tedious. An example: “The 30-something, balding man with a black mustache and honest face who wore conservative glasses over his serious eyes and carried pens in his front pocket was not one to dream small” (230). Time and again she’d present details like the above about individuals mentioned for just a few lines in the entire book. I zoned out so many times, or didn’t catch the gist of what experience she was trying to describe right away because it was so bogged down with details about clothing and physique.
Some of Jacqueline’s descriptions were, frankly, shallow; she seems to have a “West Is Best” attitude. When describing outfits women are wearing (which happens pretty much every sixty seconds), she uses words like “professional,” “formal,” and “smart” to describe Western-style dress clothes. She especially loves to remark on this when African women wear this style. An example: “She carried herself with no-nonsense professionalism in her matching black-and-white top and skirt” (205).
Such descriptions are never used for traditional African clothing, instead describing women wearing those outfits as “exotic,” “birdlike,” “a butterfly conservatory,” etc. The closest complement I could find for someone wearing traditional garb is “affable-looking 50-year-old with straight black hair flecked with gray, wearing a long, traditional cotton dress in black and yellow and green” (203).
Novogratz shows shallowness even in her description of dolls with different hair colors, clearly favoring blonde: “There was a glamorous blonde in a veil who reminded me of the heroine of Bewitched, a brunette, and even a handsome man…I received the gorgeous blonde and the brunette” (275-276).
The descriptions get worse when she introduces body type. Even for characters we meet for just one or two sentences, she takes time to describe their physique. Watch out if you’re too skinny or overweight, she will not hold back her judgement. She presents descriptions like “slender and beautiful” (253), “tall and fit with high cheekbones” (205), and “tall, thin, formidable” (156), compared to far less flattering terms for women she deems less physically fit. Notice the lack of endearing descriptors:
“exotic-looking” 21
“her wide foot” 56
“solid, affable-looking woman…built like tree trunks” 74
“short, affable woman” 92
“slight, crooked woman with raisin eyes and a walnut face” 102
“Brightly colored cloths in turquoise, fuchsia, orange, and lime shimmied around thick waists” 102
“a large woman with thick forearms and a blue scarf around her head stared at me intensely with her enormous eyes” 114
“a skinny woman” 132
“Her massive body was draped in a deep purple, flowing robe” 132
“Draped in an enormous dress of screaming yellow and defensive blue…she made me think of a vulture” 133
“a uniformed, overweight woman in a white cap” 160
“Her massive hands were folded in front of her” 161
“A young, birdlike woman with a red scarf wrapped around her head” 163
“stocky in stature and huge in personality” 208
“her big thigh” 236
“of medium build” 240
“the big woman with two long braids bellowed in her baritone voice” 262
We do get one description of “strong and straightforward with a decidedly urban image” (208). I guess that one’s nice enough, but who knows what “decidedly urban” means. Probably an African woman wearing a pantsuit.
We meet one lesbian character, who Jacqueline describes as “black, gay, and built like a truck driver” (156). Likewise, she describes a colleague she is proud to have hired as “a crusty investment banker” (220). Built like a truck driver and crusty…what nice descriptors for people she claims to respect.
FINAL THOUGHTS
One final quote from Jacqueline, describing one of her first interactions with Lisa, that lesbian woman “built like a truck driver.” She didn’t think they’d get along because of this encounter:
“I arrived at the Jackson Airport on a cool fall day in a pleated skirt and heels. She wore jeans, sneakers, and a baseball cap. Perfect” (159).
I wouldn’t want to wear heels and a nice skirt for a plane ride. Sneakers and jeans sound much more comfortable.
This book taught me about Jacueline’s journey toward creating Acumen Fund. The story of why she chose that name made me laugh…she wanted to connect with her clients and send the right message. Her clients are organizations supporting and individuals from impoverished communities, many who may not speak English as a first language. As a native-born AmericanI didn’t know what “acumen” meant before looking it up…would her clients? The name makes me think that Jacqueline is always going to be a little disconnected from those she wants to empower.
Novogratz is clearly a powerful businesswoman with good intentions and smart business sense, but I was frustrated by this book. I wonder what she thinks of it now, and what the individuals she described in the story think, if they’ve read it. While the intention of the book is a good one, and it contains some important messages about privilege, communication, etc., I’m surprised it has so many 5-star reviews.
April 6, 2021
به نقل از کتاب:
راههای بسیار زیادی در رندگی ومود دارد. ولی وقتی زندگی صادقانه داری و به دنبال خوبی و خدمت به دیگران میگردی، بهترین راه را انتخاب کردی.
راههای بسیار زیادی در رندگی ومود دارد. ولی وقتی زندگی صادقانه داری و به دنبال خوبی و خدمت به دیگران میگردی، بهترین راه را انتخاب کردی.
August 19, 2011
This is basically two books (sort of like "Under the Banner of Heaven"), and the 3-star rating has to be a balance of the 4 stars I'd have given the first half with the 2 stars I'd have given the second. The first half is a riveting story that I literally did not want to put down. The second half is just information on either how-to or how-we-did set up a fund to fund microenterprise. And that, frankly, was not that interesting. Sure there were some things in the second half that caught my interest, but this really could have been two separate books. The stories she has to tell (the first half) are AMAZING, and she tells them well. Really well.
Her family descriptions were so clear and I wanted to be in her family. What happened to families like this? If there was a family ethic, it was to work hard, go to church, be good to your family, and live out loud. We learned from our elders to be tough, to not complain, and to always show up for one another. I didn't understand then how much about tribe and community I learned from this American family.
It was also interesting to walk with her as she grew up. Not in a "finding herself" way, but in an actual growing up and becoming aware way. Her description of her meeting with Maha Ghosananda gives a good, and also good lesson on this:
If more of us were willing to admit we didn't even know what question to ask, I think the world might be a better place.
On a personal note, I almost fell out of my chair when I got to the name of the chairman of the board of Acumen Fund - Margo Alexander used to work at the firm I worked for for 20 years. After her prestigious Wall Street career, Margo Alexander, the first woman to head a major trading floor, became our board chair. Pretty cool!
I really did enjoy this book -- but it was the first half that kept me reading -- and it was my interest in the first half that held me up through the second half. I'll admit I'm prone to snap judgments, and honestly? I think "Acumen Fund" is a really dumb name. Sadly, that affected how I felt about the whole book. That doesn't mean it's not a good book. It just means I'm not jumping up and down to recommend it. Secondarily, the editing seemed a little amateurish. For an editor, that's a big deal.
Her family descriptions were so clear and I wanted to be in her family. What happened to families like this? If there was a family ethic, it was to work hard, go to church, be good to your family, and live out loud. We learned from our elders to be tough, to not complain, and to always show up for one another. I didn't understand then how much about tribe and community I learned from this American family.
It was also interesting to walk with her as she grew up. Not in a "finding herself" way, but in an actual growing up and becoming aware way. Her description of her meeting with Maha Ghosananda gives a good, and also good lesson on this:
I felt like a young journalist, driven but totally out of my element.
He smiled and slowly bowed his head in acknowledgment.
"Would you tell me about the peace marches, how you have the courage to head them, whether you have lost anyone along the way?" I asked almost breathlessly.
He looked at me, in no hurry to respond. With his hands clasped together, he said, "Each step is a prayer, each step is a meditation."
"You have made such a sacrifice with your life and are such an important spiritual leader," I continued, though I wasn't sure I even fully understood his first answer. "Those walks can take 45 days. Just the logistics must be an enormous burden for someone. Who helps you, and what can others do to support what you are doing? What is the right role for philanthropy? How many people know about the peace marches? I would think they are important not only for Cambodians, but also for the entire world to understand."
"We walk with compassion for the world," he answered.
My hyperenergetic style had never been so unsuccessful at connecting with another person before. Clearly, I needed a different approach.
"Maha Ghosananda," I said, "I am here out of deep respect for you and for what you are doing and want to consider how I might be able to introduce you and your work to others who might support it. Please forgive me for not even knowing how to ask the questions."
If more of us were willing to admit we didn't even know what question to ask, I think the world might be a better place.
On a personal note, I almost fell out of my chair when I got to the name of the chairman of the board of Acumen Fund - Margo Alexander used to work at the firm I worked for for 20 years. After her prestigious Wall Street career, Margo Alexander, the first woman to head a major trading floor, became our board chair. Pretty cool!
I really did enjoy this book -- but it was the first half that kept me reading -- and it was my interest in the first half that held me up through the second half. I'll admit I'm prone to snap judgments, and honestly? I think "Acumen Fund" is a really dumb name. Sadly, that affected how I felt about the whole book. That doesn't mean it's not a good book. It just means I'm not jumping up and down to recommend it. Secondarily, the editing seemed a little amateurish. For an editor, that's a big deal.
June 3, 2010
Would you give up a promising career in international banking to pursue a lifetime of attempting to understand and eradicate global property? Jacqueline Novogratz began her career as an international banker at Chase Manhattan Bank. As a member of the Credit Audit team for Chase Manhattan Bank, Novogratz was responsible for reviewing the quality of the bank’s loans in other countries, especially in troubled economies. As time went on, Novogratz began to explore the possibilities of working with the poorest people. As her interest grew in helping the impoverished, she found a New York City based microfinance organization that focused on lending to women. The Blue Sweater tells the story of Novogratz’s career from international banking to philanthropy.
After leaving her job at Chase Manhattan Bank to work with the microfinance organization, she was sent to Africa to work with women. Novogratz had never imagined herself working in Africa. She was unprepared for the hostility she experienced from the African women and the amount of corruption and lack of credibility in some of the programs. Although she began her trip to Africa as a naïve idealist, she began to learn that she needed to listen to program participants to truly understand what was needed. While in Rwanda, Novogratz participated in the founding of Duterimbere, a microfinance organization that would lend exclusively to women. She also assisted in setting up a successful bakery operation for single women. The Rwandan genocide had a devastating effect on the organizations she helped to establish.
After spending time in Africa, Novogratz had the opportunity to attend graduate school for business administration and to work with other international organizations. Novogratz directed the Philanthropy Workshop and the Next Generation Leadership program for the Rockefeller Foundation. During this time, Novogratz also founded the Acumen Fund, an organization based on “patient capital.” Patient capital is a combination of venture capitalism and traditional charity that focuses on lending to social entrepreneurs. The programs sponsored by Acumen Fund are also based on the idea the poor will pay for goods and services, instead of the model of traditional charity.
I thought Novogratz’s story was inspiring and instructional. The Blue Sweater is accessible to those who do not have a background in international finance. Her commitment to helping people living in poverty in a meaningful way is based on the idea that all people are interconnected.
Review by Rekesha Spellman
After leaving her job at Chase Manhattan Bank to work with the microfinance organization, she was sent to Africa to work with women. Novogratz had never imagined herself working in Africa. She was unprepared for the hostility she experienced from the African women and the amount of corruption and lack of credibility in some of the programs. Although she began her trip to Africa as a naïve idealist, she began to learn that she needed to listen to program participants to truly understand what was needed. While in Rwanda, Novogratz participated in the founding of Duterimbere, a microfinance organization that would lend exclusively to women. She also assisted in setting up a successful bakery operation for single women. The Rwandan genocide had a devastating effect on the organizations she helped to establish.
After spending time in Africa, Novogratz had the opportunity to attend graduate school for business administration and to work with other international organizations. Novogratz directed the Philanthropy Workshop and the Next Generation Leadership program for the Rockefeller Foundation. During this time, Novogratz also founded the Acumen Fund, an organization based on “patient capital.” Patient capital is a combination of venture capitalism and traditional charity that focuses on lending to social entrepreneurs. The programs sponsored by Acumen Fund are also based on the idea the poor will pay for goods and services, instead of the model of traditional charity.
I thought Novogratz’s story was inspiring and instructional. The Blue Sweater is accessible to those who do not have a background in international finance. Her commitment to helping people living in poverty in a meaningful way is based on the idea that all people are interconnected.
Review by Rekesha Spellman
December 1, 2009
It always seems to me that with all the brilliant minds, money, technology, and energy devoted to conquering poverty, we should be able to make at least make a dent in it. This book explains why traditional charities have so frequently fallen short of the mark despite our best intentions. The author is an absolutely brilliant woman who chose 20+ years ago to leave a high-paying career in banking in NYC specifically because she wanted to change the world. She lived in Africa, India and Pakistan, and started banking organizations designed primarily around the principles of loaning money to women at low interest rates to generate economic growth in the communities at large.
She concludes that ". . . solutions to poverty must be driven by discipline, accountability, and market strength, not easy sentimentality. I've learned that many of the answers to poverty lie in the space between the market and charity and that what is needed most of all is moral leadership willing to build solutions from the perspectives of poor people themselves rather than imposing grand theories and plans upon them."
This is not an easy read. A lot of it is boring and it bounces around like a ping-pong ball at times. Also she seems to be doing a lot of name-dropping all the time, though the names are usually no one you've ever heard of, which is annoying. Plus she's got so much energy that it's sometimes exhausting. She and a boyfriend go off to climb a mountain one weekend and they drive 20 hours to get to the place and then stay up dancing till 4 a.m., but climb the mountain for 12 hours the next day, get caught in a torrential storm, run down the mountain and race home to get up the next morning and solve the poverty of a small country in Africa. Whew! But these are petty gripes and she's quite a champion.
She concludes that ". . . solutions to poverty must be driven by discipline, accountability, and market strength, not easy sentimentality. I've learned that many of the answers to poverty lie in the space between the market and charity and that what is needed most of all is moral leadership willing to build solutions from the perspectives of poor people themselves rather than imposing grand theories and plans upon them."
This is not an easy read. A lot of it is boring and it bounces around like a ping-pong ball at times. Also she seems to be doing a lot of name-dropping all the time, though the names are usually no one you've ever heard of, which is annoying. Plus she's got so much energy that it's sometimes exhausting. She and a boyfriend go off to climb a mountain one weekend and they drive 20 hours to get to the place and then stay up dancing till 4 a.m., but climb the mountain for 12 hours the next day, get caught in a torrential storm, run down the mountain and race home to get up the next morning and solve the poverty of a small country in Africa. Whew! But these are petty gripes and she's quite a champion.
June 12, 2009
So far I’m in love with this book. Not only because I worked closely with Jacqueline for a couple years at Acumen Fund which on its own was a wonderful journey and learning experience, but because this a truly inspirational story about a woman who had a vision and was determined to learn how to approach poverty problems in a different way. She believed strongly that treating the poor like ‘customers’ and not ‘charity cases’ would grow local economies and give pride to people in their lives, and truly create sustainable change.
She learns, after one hard lesson after another, that the DESIRE for change DOES have to come from within the people themselves first. Recognizing this in Rwanda, she was able to empower hundreds of women to learn and grow, build businesses, and bring themselves out of poverty. She goes on to apply these learnings to many different endeavors, with her current GLOBAL non-profit venture fund, Acumen Fund.
You laugh, you cry, you are motivated and inspired to do something to change the world yourself.. and you see that one person really DOES make a difference. But only with perseverance, humility and passion. Its wonderful..
She learns, after one hard lesson after another, that the DESIRE for change DOES have to come from within the people themselves first. Recognizing this in Rwanda, she was able to empower hundreds of women to learn and grow, build businesses, and bring themselves out of poverty. She goes on to apply these learnings to many different endeavors, with her current GLOBAL non-profit venture fund, Acumen Fund.
You laugh, you cry, you are motivated and inspired to do something to change the world yourself.. and you see that one person really DOES make a difference. But only with perseverance, humility and passion. Its wonderful..
February 19, 2011
I recommended this book to my book club with a bit of trepidation...would it dive too deeply into the technical intricacies of micro-finance? are these types of "save the world" stories really only my cup of tea? The book came highly recommended to me by two trusted sources, so recommend it I did. And in the end, I was deeply moved upon reading this book and found it was well received within the club, too, phew! Above all, I think it was Jacqueline's personal story and the raw honesty with which it is told that inspired us all to begin thinking about the small (or large) ways that each of us can contribute to this complicated and interconnected world that we live in. I think this would make a fantastic "freshman seminar" book to help ground and orient young men and women in the culture of global citizenship and individual responsibility so necessary to changing this world that we live in.
July 14, 2010
The Blue Sweater is a first-person account of Jacqueline Novogratz' experiences, starting as an idealistic investment banker in Africa, and evolving to the founder of the Acumen Fund. She believes in "patient capital" -- investments that can take time to mature -- and in capturing the energy and information from markets to establish sustainable endeavors.
Novogratz has witnessed a lot.
The book's title comes from a great "coincidence" that highlighted her sense that our lives are profoundly connected to those of people in other places. If one were inclined to look for signs from the universe, this would be one.
She worked in Rwanda and went back after the genocide to try to better understand what led up to it, and the possibilities for reconciliation and healing that came after.
She also watched the planes crash into the towers on 9/11 -- was starting something new that day -- and ended up investing in efforts to create civil society in Islamic countries.
Notable bits:
Quoting a Nigerian woman, p. 25: "... power in Africa is as important as money, maybe more important."
p 28: "I would have to be ready to take Africa on its own terms, not mine, and to learn my limits and present myself not as a do-gooder with a big heart, but as someone with something to give and gain by being there. Compassion wasn't enough."
p. 30: "I wanted to work on tangible projects with concrete outcomes, and I would only work with women's groups who invited me to assist them."
p. 34: "I should have been clearer about having a mandate first and gotten real buy-in, not just a perfunctory agreement, and then brought the right people along throughout the process so there were no surprises. the question was one of leadership, of having the patience and skills to bring people with me ... Now I understand that it can take years for a new kind of organization to get on its feet and a few years after that for it to walk. The key is to find local leaders who own the dream and will make it happen."
p 41: I pondered the strangeness of expatriate life, realizing that none of us ... understood much at all about Rwanda or Rwandans, though we were the ones called "experts."
p. 42: A creeping cynicism seemed inevitable in anyone who is always a visitor rather than someone with no choice but to live with the consequences of what he or she does.
p. 105: If the women had been given the chance to borrow for a project they believed would generate income, they would have focused more seriously on the work. A market mechanism would have provided a better feedback loop for both women and donors. Instead, the system festered under low expectations and mediocre results.
p 135, quoting MLK Jr.: "Power without love is reckless and abusive ... love without power is sentimental and anemic."
p 136, quoting John Gardner, founder of Common Cause: To be truly effective, especially internationally, you must root yourself more strongly in your home's own soil. ... Only by knowing ourselves can we truly understand others -- and knowing from where you come is an important part of knowing who you are.
p. 137: Business was a powerful way to bring discipline and rigor ...
p. 141: ... the most important skill needed is listening.
p. 142, quoting Gardner again: "... philanthropists should find innovations that release the energies of people. ... Too many projects create dependence that helps no one in the long run. ...
"Think about how the middle and working classes fit into society. The intellectual elites who run society -- the analysts and number crunchers and people who thrive on symbols and technologies -- often have very little empathy for people with less. And when the do think empathically, they focus on the poorest of the poor and not the lower middle portion of society, though it is so critical to societal change."
p. 145, quoting Buddhist monk Maha Ghosananda, "If you move through the world only with your intellect, then you walk on only one leg. If you move through the world only with your compassion, then you walk on only one leg. But if you move through the world with both intellect and compassion, then you have wisdom."
p. 175, post-Rwanda genocide: "This notion of 'giving' stories was new, but I would soon learn the power of bearing witness and of transferring pain through stoyrtelling. By listening and acknowledging the truths of those women, I had the honor of playing a miniscule part in their healing."
p. 254, re/ drip irrigation: The market can serve as a listening device. Through our experience with drip irrigation, we began to see the power of providing smallholder farmers with different inputs along the supply chain so they could increase their productivity.
p. 254, William Gibson: "The future is here; it is just not widely distributed yet."
p. 258, in context of mosquito nets: Anecdotes are powerful in that they show possibility.
p. 264: In the 21st century, private-sector approaches fueled in large part by creative philanthropy will be vital to solving public-sector problems. Almost nowhere is such innovation needed more than in supplying water.
pp 264-265: Since Acumen Fund started working on water, I have been invited numerous times to sit on panels focused on determining whether water is a human right or its ownership should be privatized. Again, the question is wrong. People need water to live, and there is no better intervention to improve health on a global scale than bringing safe, affordable water to as many people as possible.
p. 267: ... technical changes are easier to effect than behavioral ones.
p. 268: She goes on to recommend partnerships between local NGOs that understand communities and for-profit companies with experience delivering good and services.
pp 272-273: I've learned that many of the answers to poverty lie in the space between the market and charity and that what is needed most of all is moral leadership willing to build solutions from the perspectives of poor people themselves rather than imposing grand theories and plans upon them.
I've learned that people usually tell you the truth if you listen hard enough. If you don't you'll hear what they think you want to hear.
I've learned that there is no currency like trust and no catalyst like hope. ...
Novogratz has witnessed a lot.
The book's title comes from a great "coincidence" that highlighted her sense that our lives are profoundly connected to those of people in other places. If one were inclined to look for signs from the universe, this would be one.
She worked in Rwanda and went back after the genocide to try to better understand what led up to it, and the possibilities for reconciliation and healing that came after.
She also watched the planes crash into the towers on 9/11 -- was starting something new that day -- and ended up investing in efforts to create civil society in Islamic countries.
Notable bits:
Quoting a Nigerian woman, p. 25: "... power in Africa is as important as money, maybe more important."
p 28: "I would have to be ready to take Africa on its own terms, not mine, and to learn my limits and present myself not as a do-gooder with a big heart, but as someone with something to give and gain by being there. Compassion wasn't enough."
p. 30: "I wanted to work on tangible projects with concrete outcomes, and I would only work with women's groups who invited me to assist them."
p. 34: "I should have been clearer about having a mandate first and gotten real buy-in, not just a perfunctory agreement, and then brought the right people along throughout the process so there were no surprises. the question was one of leadership, of having the patience and skills to bring people with me ... Now I understand that it can take years for a new kind of organization to get on its feet and a few years after that for it to walk. The key is to find local leaders who own the dream and will make it happen."
p 41: I pondered the strangeness of expatriate life, realizing that none of us ... understood much at all about Rwanda or Rwandans, though we were the ones called "experts."
p. 42: A creeping cynicism seemed inevitable in anyone who is always a visitor rather than someone with no choice but to live with the consequences of what he or she does.
p. 105: If the women had been given the chance to borrow for a project they believed would generate income, they would have focused more seriously on the work. A market mechanism would have provided a better feedback loop for both women and donors. Instead, the system festered under low expectations and mediocre results.
p 135, quoting MLK Jr.: "Power without love is reckless and abusive ... love without power is sentimental and anemic."
p 136, quoting John Gardner, founder of Common Cause: To be truly effective, especially internationally, you must root yourself more strongly in your home's own soil. ... Only by knowing ourselves can we truly understand others -- and knowing from where you come is an important part of knowing who you are.
p. 137: Business was a powerful way to bring discipline and rigor ...
p. 141: ... the most important skill needed is listening.
p. 142, quoting Gardner again: "... philanthropists should find innovations that release the energies of people. ... Too many projects create dependence that helps no one in the long run. ...
"Think about how the middle and working classes fit into society. The intellectual elites who run society -- the analysts and number crunchers and people who thrive on symbols and technologies -- often have very little empathy for people with less. And when the do think empathically, they focus on the poorest of the poor and not the lower middle portion of society, though it is so critical to societal change."
p. 145, quoting Buddhist monk Maha Ghosananda, "If you move through the world only with your intellect, then you walk on only one leg. If you move through the world only with your compassion, then you walk on only one leg. But if you move through the world with both intellect and compassion, then you have wisdom."
p. 175, post-Rwanda genocide: "This notion of 'giving' stories was new, but I would soon learn the power of bearing witness and of transferring pain through stoyrtelling. By listening and acknowledging the truths of those women, I had the honor of playing a miniscule part in their healing."
p. 254, re/ drip irrigation: The market can serve as a listening device. Through our experience with drip irrigation, we began to see the power of providing smallholder farmers with different inputs along the supply chain so they could increase their productivity.
p. 254, William Gibson: "The future is here; it is just not widely distributed yet."
p. 258, in context of mosquito nets: Anecdotes are powerful in that they show possibility.
p. 264: In the 21st century, private-sector approaches fueled in large part by creative philanthropy will be vital to solving public-sector problems. Almost nowhere is such innovation needed more than in supplying water.
pp 264-265: Since Acumen Fund started working on water, I have been invited numerous times to sit on panels focused on determining whether water is a human right or its ownership should be privatized. Again, the question is wrong. People need water to live, and there is no better intervention to improve health on a global scale than bringing safe, affordable water to as many people as possible.
p. 267: ... technical changes are easier to effect than behavioral ones.
p. 268: She goes on to recommend partnerships between local NGOs that understand communities and for-profit companies with experience delivering good and services.
pp 272-273: I've learned that many of the answers to poverty lie in the space between the market and charity and that what is needed most of all is moral leadership willing to build solutions from the perspectives of poor people themselves rather than imposing grand theories and plans upon them.
I've learned that people usually tell you the truth if you listen hard enough. If you don't you'll hear what they think you want to hear.
I've learned that there is no currency like trust and no catalyst like hope. ...
January 22, 2024
Frustrating read. Review shortly.
January 1, 2010
Excellent, very recent book by Jacqueline Novogratz, the CEO of the Acumen Fund, a non-profit devoted to making investments in effective and sustainable local solutions for tackling poverty. The first three quarters of the book details Novogratz's life story coming out of college that contributed to her founding of the Acumen Fund and the last quarter details what the Acumen Fund has done since in 2001.
Certain other books written by development "experts" have a pompous, "I knew this all along" tone, but Novogratz instead writes in a humbled, non-pontificating tone. She is equally reflective and acknowledging of her blunders, as she as of her successes. She sheds light on the frustrations and slow pace of working with local entrepreneurs to help them help themselves, but she demonstrates how effective these approaches can be. Novogratz provides numerous examples of how traditional aid approaches have failed miserably due to top-down management and misunderstanding of local customs. Novogratz illustrates how a true partnership with local entrepreneurs is necessary for the installment of a successful and sustainable program to tackle the needs of the developing world, whether it is access to clean water, access to drip irrigation, or access to bed nets.
Novogratz convinced me that arguments such as free bed nets versus selling bed nets are moot. The actual question should be: how to best eliminate malaria? The answer to this is BOTH free bed nets (to reach the children and women that are recipients of the free programs) and the sold bed nets (distributed via companies and local stores to reach the rest of the population that will not be covered). There is a space for investments to work beside philantrophy. Also, Novogratz drills the point home that what is needed is not simply a good heart, but also diligence and accountability.
Novogratz honestly addresses the small questions (from her perspective) that are overlooked in the fervent debate of development, such as:
How does one reconcile coming from/living a privileged life when working with those in abject poverty? How does one set up systems to recognize the potential of "evil" in people (ie. theft), while still working with their better traits to help them? How does one balance personal safety and personal life when working in distant, foreign, and potentially risky lands?
Novogratz is a talented, engaging writer and the book moves fluidly. I recommend this book to all interested in development and global health.
Certain other books written by development "experts" have a pompous, "I knew this all along" tone, but Novogratz instead writes in a humbled, non-pontificating tone. She is equally reflective and acknowledging of her blunders, as she as of her successes. She sheds light on the frustrations and slow pace of working with local entrepreneurs to help them help themselves, but she demonstrates how effective these approaches can be. Novogratz provides numerous examples of how traditional aid approaches have failed miserably due to top-down management and misunderstanding of local customs. Novogratz illustrates how a true partnership with local entrepreneurs is necessary for the installment of a successful and sustainable program to tackle the needs of the developing world, whether it is access to clean water, access to drip irrigation, or access to bed nets.
Novogratz convinced me that arguments such as free bed nets versus selling bed nets are moot. The actual question should be: how to best eliminate malaria? The answer to this is BOTH free bed nets (to reach the children and women that are recipients of the free programs) and the sold bed nets (distributed via companies and local stores to reach the rest of the population that will not be covered). There is a space for investments to work beside philantrophy. Also, Novogratz drills the point home that what is needed is not simply a good heart, but also diligence and accountability.
Novogratz honestly addresses the small questions (from her perspective) that are overlooked in the fervent debate of development, such as:
How does one reconcile coming from/living a privileged life when working with those in abject poverty? How does one set up systems to recognize the potential of "evil" in people (ie. theft), while still working with their better traits to help them? How does one balance personal safety and personal life when working in distant, foreign, and potentially risky lands?
Novogratz is a talented, engaging writer and the book moves fluidly. I recommend this book to all interested in development and global health.
June 3, 2009
This is a wonderful book! I really encourage everyone to read it. I am sure you will find it inspiring. The title comes from an amazing story of a sweater the author was given as a child that she improbably enough finds years later being worn by a small boy in Africa. That interconnectedness is the theme she carries through the book. Essentially a memoir of her working life (so far) Novogratz has done an amazing job of relating her successes and failures in international aid work in a way that is enlightening and inspiring.
I especially enjoy her approach which is grounded in the belief that you must treat all people, no matter how poor, as capable, smart, determined, and interested in providing for themselves. Her work has been focused on injecting just the right help, usually a loan, at just the right place so that a poor person with an idea can make their own future, their own business. This is not another rich person coming in with her ideas--she has worked incredibly hard to get to the ideas of the poor person, and believe me, she has faced unbelievable resistance. I know most of us would have given up at just one of the obstacles and downright hostility she faced early on.
Novogratz hasn't given up though and lucky for us she's written this book so the rest of us can learn from her experiences. It was enjoyable to read and inspiring. I don't have plans to move to another country or take up this kind of work, but her work and her attitude can absolutely inform the way the rest of us live and treat each other, right here.
I especially enjoy her approach which is grounded in the belief that you must treat all people, no matter how poor, as capable, smart, determined, and interested in providing for themselves. Her work has been focused on injecting just the right help, usually a loan, at just the right place so that a poor person with an idea can make their own future, their own business. This is not another rich person coming in with her ideas--she has worked incredibly hard to get to the ideas of the poor person, and believe me, she has faced unbelievable resistance. I know most of us would have given up at just one of the obstacles and downright hostility she faced early on.
Novogratz hasn't given up though and lucky for us she's written this book so the rest of us can learn from her experiences. It was enjoyable to read and inspiring. I don't have plans to move to another country or take up this kind of work, but her work and her attitude can absolutely inform the way the rest of us live and treat each other, right here.
August 21, 2009
This is a terrific book. It made me feel good to know that there are such people as Jacqueline Novogratz (JN) in the world. If you liked "Three Cups of Tea," you'll also like this book. In one respect, it's better - the author doesn't get lost in the middle of the book; the narrative continues in a straightforward manner.
JN's desire, from a very young age, was to make a difference in the world. When she began a successful career in the financial world, she still longed for a job that would make the world better. She gave up her career and went to Africa. Her goal was to teach women how to be entreprenuers and thus help themselves. She tells of acceptance, rejection, and successes admist the violence of Rwanda, the sophistication of Niarobi, the snobbery of the Ivory Coast and the poverty of Pakistan, et al. She is convinced that teaching people, especially but not exclusively women, to learn to support themselves (and their families) is a much more effective answer than hand-outs. She makes you think carefully about how you make your charitable contributions. It's not all serious. She also writes very well and has a sense of humor.
Title: Her uncle gave her a blue sweater when she was in middle school. She loved it and wore it all the time. In high school, the "IT" girl made fun of her sweater in front of a potential boyfriend. JN, humiliated and angry, put the sweater in the Goodwill bin. Years later, in Rwanda, she saw her blue sweater on a young boy. The sweater still had her name tag on it. Thus, she learned about our interconnected world!
JN's desire, from a very young age, was to make a difference in the world. When she began a successful career in the financial world, she still longed for a job that would make the world better. She gave up her career and went to Africa. Her goal was to teach women how to be entreprenuers and thus help themselves. She tells of acceptance, rejection, and successes admist the violence of Rwanda, the sophistication of Niarobi, the snobbery of the Ivory Coast and the poverty of Pakistan, et al. She is convinced that teaching people, especially but not exclusively women, to learn to support themselves (and their families) is a much more effective answer than hand-outs. She makes you think carefully about how you make your charitable contributions. It's not all serious. She also writes very well and has a sense of humor.
Title: Her uncle gave her a blue sweater when she was in middle school. She loved it and wore it all the time. In high school, the "IT" girl made fun of her sweater in front of a potential boyfriend. JN, humiliated and angry, put the sweater in the Goodwill bin. Years later, in Rwanda, she saw her blue sweater on a young boy. The sweater still had her name tag on it. Thus, she learned about our interconnected world!
June 4, 2009
I read this book because I was instantly intrigued by the short story of the blue sweater that I read about inside the front cover. I had no idea the depths to which this book would go and the energy I would obtain from it! I learned so much from reading this that I now want to get an MBA after the Pharm D because I think I will really be able to make an impact with them both together. I really appreciated the way Jacqueline structured this book because she described in a good amount of detail the projects she worked on. Many times authors write about these types of projects, but leave out the steps taken to get them started and the bumps hit along the road. I loved hearing words from her friends in Rwanda, both before and after 1994. I loved all the inspirational people she introduced me to. I think the lessons from this book will remain with me for a long time to come!! Loved the experience of reading this!!
December 28, 2009
I had the good fortune to attend in person a lecture at my workplace by the amazing Jacqueline Novogratz. She is the kind you want to keep listening to as her message is so full of hope and she has walked the talk. The overarching theme I take away from it is that the financially poor are no different from us in that they value dignity and choices over and above charity or "help". Furthermore, there is no one silver bullet way of healing the world - traditional charity, aid, self help free markets, all have a role as is demonstrated by her organization 'The Acumen Fund'.
Each chapter in the book begins with a meaningful quote which sets the tone for the rest of the chapter. Her life is an inspiration and the book is great account of it and of what it has taught her. I highly highly recommend it.
Each chapter in the book begins with a meaningful quote which sets the tone for the rest of the chapter. Her life is an inspiration and the book is great account of it and of what it has taught her. I highly highly recommend it.
February 23, 2017
I found this book enormously satisfying for a number of reasons. First, the author has a proven track record of helping poor people to build businesses. Second, she writes with authority about large donor organisations such as the Rockefeller Foundation, explaining how old models of philanthropy are necessarily giving way to new, more effective models. And third, her writing style is both colourful and deeply honest, giving very real insight into the hopes, dreams, disappointments and failures of a social entrepreneur, as well as, of course, her thrilling successes. The book touched me so profoundly that I am ordering several copies to give to friends, knowing that they will find it utterly compelling as well.
March 15, 2009
Loved this! Though she is a friend/colleague I have known for over 10 years, I had not fully understood Jacqueline's early experiences in Africa working to empower women and their impact on her current work at Acumen Fund. Not only is the first half an incredible personal narrative about a 20-something trying to do good in the world, and how she learns from her mistakes, but I think this might follow 3 cups of tea as the next social entrepreneurship best seller! Kudos to Jacqueline. Acumen rocks.
March 22, 2016
من أعظم الكتب الي أثرت فيا ..
كتاب مبهر وعظيم
ومفيد لكل من يعمل في القطاع الخيري
كتاب مبهر وعظيم
ومفيد لكل من يعمل في القطاع الخيري
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