NY Chat Series with Founder & Director of The Ayllu Initiative, Melissa Richer - Nov 11th

Come join us on Wednesday, November 11^th at 7:30pm to learn about the challenges and successes of founding your own non-profit or social venture. Melissa Richer, Founder and Director of The Ayllu Initiative, will discuss her decision to move to Brazil and found The Ayllu Initiative, a non-profit that brings together mature social enterprises with local microfinance organizations to provide microfranchising in low-income markets: a high-impact market-based solution to poverty.

Over the past year, Melissa has navigated the process of gaining official 501(c)(3) status, gathering a core union of donors and supporters, working to build sustainable revenue streams, leveraging the talents of friends who have wanted to help, and working directly in an emerging economy where her initial contacts were limited. She will be sharing her experiences, successes and struggles of founding a sustainable social enterprise and offering advice to those seeking to do the same.

Space is limited. To attend, please RSVP to NYchatSeries@gmail.com.

After the Chat Series there will be an open networking session that anyone is welcome to attend and interact with others sharing a similar vision of founding a non-profit or social enterprise.

Details:
Wednesday, November 11th, 7:30pm
Jimmy's 43
43 East 7th Street (between 2nd & 3rd Avenue on the North side of the Street) MAP
$10 at the door
Limited to 30 attendees

New Yorkers: WE NEED YOUR HELP!

So often, many of you ask what you can do to help Acumen Fund. Well, right now the answer is easy:

HELP US RAISE $10,000 by December 31, 2009.

As the founding chapter in a global web of volunteers for Acumen Fund, we here at New York for Acumen Fund (NYfA - formerly the Young Professionals) want to show the rest of the world that when it comes support, we are the best. Not only are we committed to spreading the word about the work of Acumen Fund, but also we actively raise critical funds for transformative businesses across the globe.

To make it easy for you, we’re using a great website called First Giving that lets you create your own fundraising page that you can send to friends, family, colleagues – whomever! Click on this link to set up your page: www.firstgiving.com/acumenfund (click Get Started, then New York for Acumen Year End Campaign).

AND – the person who raises the most funds by November 15 will be invited to attend the evening cocktail party during Acumen Fund’s Annual Investor Gathering on November 17 in New York City.* This is an incredible opportunity for anyone interested in meeting, greeting, and networking with the contemporary leaders in social enterprise, and the brilliant investors whose support keeps Acumen up and running and changing lives.

Since our fundraising efforts will go through the end of the year, the person who raises the most funds by December 31 will be featured on Acumen Fund’s blog for all the world to see!

Like Acumen Fund, we encourage innovation and an entrepreneurial spirit, so feel free to get as creative as you want. Please be sure to include the acronym NYfA in the body of your page so we can track your progress! www.firstgiving.com/acumenfund

Fundraising is not as difficult as it seems, and any funds raised will greatly support Acumen's work in providing sustainable solutions to global poverty. Consider some of these ideas:

• Give up your birthday and ask friends/family to donate instead!


• Ask for contributions based on the number of miles you run, bike, or swim – for fun or in a race!


• Tie it into the theme of Thanksgiving and ask friends to give!


• Throw a party and display a donation box or ask friends to bring a contribution instead of wine!


• Link your FirstGiving page to your status update on Facebook and Twitter accounts for a day (or week, or month…)


• Consider giving up Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza, or any other holiday that falls between now and 12/31/09**

Happy Fall, Happy Fundraising, and THANK YOU in advance for all your help in supporting Acumen Fund.

--The New York for Acumen Fund Leadership Team
(Bryan Brady, Mark Disston, Seth Nemeroff, Theos Stamoulis, Wendy Wecksell, and Nina Sharma West)

PS - if you need any help with your fundraising page, or have any fundraising-related quesitons, please contact Nina at ninaswest@gmail.com. Thanks!

PPS - don't forget to join NYfA's community page - community.acumenfund.org/group/NYfA - to share ideas, stay in the loop, meet other NYfA members!

*Cocktail Party admission for winner only. Transportation will not be provided.
**The contest for the cocktail party ends on November 15th, but we have until December 31 to raise the full $10,000.

Grants & Other Resources for Social Entrepreneurs

Social entrepreneurs are always looking for new opportunities to make an impact. The NCIIA (National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance) is an invaluable resource for university entrepreneurs (both students and faculty) looking for the training, funding and mentoring needed to build successful, socially beneficial businesses. E-Team grants and Venture Well are two particular initiatives that will help the next generation of social entrepreneurs transform their ideas into solid ventures:

E-Team Grants

E-Team grants - of up to $20,000 - support commercial outcomes by moving innovative products from the idea stage to prototype and eventually to market. The next deadlines for applications are December 4, 2009 and May 7, 2010. All E-Team grantees attend an Advanced Invention to Venture workshop and receive a further eight weeks one-on-one coaching (via phone) to gain more expertise and knowledge in entrepreneurship and venture development. See www.nciia.org/grants/eteam for more information or contact Jennifer Keller Jackson at jkjackson@nciia.org

Venture Well

Venture Well works to accelerate the growth of start-ups emerging from the university environment, by providing intensive mentoring and, in some cases, investment funding. Each year we work with a small number of student ventures that show the potential to have a positive social impact on the world. For more information, visit www.venturewell.org.

YP Name Change & New Acumen Fund Online Community

We wanted to make you aware of two exciting changes regarding Acumen Fund!

Firstly, we have formed a formal New York for Acumen Chapter (NYfA)! After discussions with the YP (now NYfA) leadership team and AF staff, we concluded that in order to be more inclusive of supporters who may not be young professionals and to be more reflective of our geography. Please note that the new email address for NYfA is NewYorkforAcumen@gmail.com, should you have any questions that you would like to ask the leadership team or AF.

If you are not in the New York area, don’t worry! Acumen Fund has created an Online Community on the Ning platform. It will evolve into a hub for all NYfA and AF communications and we will be transitioning the blog and email list to this site between now and January 2010, so we encourage you to sign up now.

We will continue to blog/ post announcements on the community site regarding NY related happenings and other groups are forming too! We have created a New York for Acumen Group as has the San Francisco for Acumen (SFfA) Chapter, along with volunteer groups in London and Dubai. You too can feel free to start a volunteer group or even start an official Chapter. To learn more about starting an official Acumen Fund Chapter in your area, read more about it here.

To begin using the Online Community is easy:

· First, sign-up!It takes 2 minutes to set up a basic profile

· Join NYfA (New York for Acumen) or other groups

· Introduce yourself and tell us why you joined the group

· Pose a question to the Acumen Fund community on the Forum page

In addition, you can announce an event, post photos, and find people who share a common passion for the work of Acumen Fund.

As a YP you are getting an early invite to the Community site, which will be launched in about a week. Since the site is still very new, please feel free to post a comment on our feedback forum or out to Jo-Ann Tan jtan@acumenfund.org for ways that we could improve the site.

Vote for Social Entrepreneurship in Google's 10^100 Competition

Here's the story... last year, the folks at Google created a competition called Project 10¹⁰⁰ (pronounced "Project 10 to the 100th"). They asked people for ideas to change the world. People submit thousands of ideas, and Google selects a handful to compete for up to $10 million in funding to implement these ideas. The aim is to help as many people as possible.

This year, Social Entrepreneurship was one of the 16 finalists. We're asking all of our supporters to vote for Social Entrepreneurship before this Thursday, October 8. After you've done that, go ahead and nominate Acumen Fund as an organization Google should fund. Then, spread the word either through Facebook, Twitter or email.

As supporters of Acumen Fund, we believe in the transformative power of social enterprise to alleviate global poverty. Go ahead and vote for Social Entrepreneurship. Your vote could help change the world.

Apply for the Class of 2010-2011 Acumen Fellows

We are excited to announce that the application process for the 2010-2011 Class of Acumen Fund Fellows is now open!

If you know exceptional individuals who should be part of our 2010-2011 class, we hope you will encourage them to apply. Please forward this email liberally throughout your networks so that we reach the strongest and most diverse candidate pool.

Applications will be accepted online until 11:59pm EST on Thursday, November 5, 2009. Detailed information about the program and application process, as well as the bios of current and past fellows, can be found on our website. To apply, or to send more information to others you know who might be interested, please click here.

We are looking for dedicated individuals with the practical skills, the creativity, the empathy and the leadership potential to affect change by leveraging market-based solutions to create social impact. Acumen Fund Fellows are drawn from a pool of talented, passionate people from all geographies, sectors, backgrounds and ethnicities.

Since graduating its first class of Fellows in 2007, the Fellows Program has continued to grow and expand, using the experiences of each class to continue building a unique training curriculum specifically focused on leadership and social enterprises. Fellows Alumni have called the program a life-changing experience, and one that allowed them to build critical business skills and a better understanding of the challenges involved in serving low-income consumers around the world.

We are also excited to welcome our new Class of 2009-2010 Fellows to New York. Over the coming weeks the 2010 Fellows will be training and actively preparing to support Acumen Fund investments. The Fellows have committed to sharing their experiences both from New York and on the ground, so expect to see frequent posts from them on the Acumen Fund blog.

Columbia Business School: Social Enterprise Conference 2009

On Friday, October 9, the Columbia Business School will host its annual Social Enterprise Conference. The conference aims to highlight leading ideas and bring together professionals interested or working in the field of social enterprise, with deeper dive discussions and cross cutting themes.

Featured speakers include:

Craig R. Barrett, retired CEO & Chairman of Intel

Nancy Barry, President & CEO of Enterprise Solutions to Poverty

Alex Friedman ’98, CFO of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

Thomas Gensemer, Managing Partner of Blue State Digital & 2008 Barack Obama presidential campaign social networking strategist

Jimmy Wales, Co-founder of Wikipedia

This event will explore social innovation at the intersection of business and social enterprise, international development and the green economy. To learn more about session topics and featured speakers, please visit: www.gsb.columbia.edu/socialenterprise/conference2009/

REGISTER NOW!

Questions? Please contact:

Ivana Urbankova (IUrbankova10@gsb.columbia.edu) or

Mara De Monte (MDeMonte10@gsb.columbia.edu)

Reminder: AngelAfrica Enterprise Forum on Sept 25th & 26th

ANGELAFRICA ENTERPRISE CONFERENCE 2009

Date: September 25 & 26, 2009
Time: 7:30am - 4:00pm
Location: Desmond Tutu Center, 180 10th Ave (between 20th & 21st Streets) New York, NY 10011 MAP

Africa Social Enterprise Forum Special Limited Promotion!
Bring a friend to the conference on us--FREE--when you purchase your full conference pass for the AngelAfrica Enterprise Conference

About the Conference
Join us for the AngelAfrica Enterprise Conference, an annual event which showcases innovations and opportunities in investment, economic development and entrepreneurship on the African continent.

The 2009 conference will gather 250 over two full days to jointly showcase their leadership and innovation in Africa's private and social sectors.

Full Conference Schedule

Acumen Fund Fellows Mixer and Multimedia Party

The Bubble Lounge and Acumen Fund welcome you to join the returning Acumen Fund Fellows on Tuesday, September 22 from 6 - 11 pm for an evening of drinks, live music, and multimedia work from around the globe. Meet the Fellows, listen to music from DJ VRL and view photography and video footage from various social enterprises in India, Pakistan and Kenya.

Tickets are $15 in advance, $20 at the door. Ticket price includes one complimentary drink.

In addition, the Fellows' photography will be available for purchase online prior to the event. To view and bid on photography from this year's Fellows , please visit AcumenBubble.cmarket.com.

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

Women's Social Entrepreneurship Panel

When: Monday, September 21, 2009

6:30-7:00: Registration/Networking

7:00-8:30: Panel Discussion/Q&A


Where: The Feldenkrais Institute,134 West 26th Street, 2nd Floor


Cost: $10 (light refreshments included)


RSVP by September 20th to: http://womeninsocialentrepreneurship.eventbrite.com

Moderated by Ann MacDougall, Chief Management Officer at the Acumen Fund, the conversation is ideal for anyone, male or female, who have ideas and need inspiration, interested in learning more about the field of social entrepreneurship and meeting with like-minded individuals.

Women play a key role in traditional and social entrepreneurship globally, and living in New York we are surrounded by women who are in the midst of changing the world through entrepreneurship. 

Through a conversation with our panelists, including Elizabeth Scharpf and Katie Orenstein--two uber-entrepreneurs and Echoing Green fellows-- and Amini Kajunju, CEO of Workshop in Business Opportunities, we will highlight the power of women in this field, both domestically and internationally, feature the various models of social entrepreneurship (non-profit, for-profit, hybrid), and discuss the challenges and opportunities that female entrepreneurs face.

Moderator: Ann MacDougall, Chief Management Officer, Acumen Fund

As Chief Management Officer, Ann manages Acumen's core operating activities and is a member of its management committee. Before joining Acumen Fund, Ann MacDougall spent 17 years at PricewaterhouseCoopers, in various senior roles. Most recently she lived in Paris and held the role of Global Deputy General Counsel. Prior to that, she was US General Counsel and a member of that firm's ten person management committee. Before PwC, Ann worked at US West and the NYC law firm of Sage Gray Todd & Sims. Ann holds a JD from Brooklyn Law School and a B.A. from Tufts University.

Panelists:

Elizabeth Scharpf

Elizabeth is starting a business called Sustainable Health Enterprises (SHE) in Rwanda that will provide a sustainable model to provide affordable sanitary napkins for women and young girls. Elizabeth, a recent Harvard MBA and MPA-International Development graduate, is an entrepreneur who spent most of her professional career starting up ventures or advising businesses on growth strategies in the health-care industry. Previously, she worked for a boutique management consulting firm, the Clinton Foundation, and the World Bank in South America, Asia, and East Africa, respectively.
http://www.echoinggreen.org/fellows/elizabeth-scharpf

Katie Orenstein


Katie is a journalist who has started a company called the Op-Ed Project, which aims to train more women and minorities to take part in global debates (op-eds, political commentary, even Congress are dominated up to 85% by well educated white males). An author and journalist, Catherine Orenstein has written for the op-ed pages of The New York Times, The Washington Post, and the Miami Herald, and her commentary has been nationally syndicated. A graduate of Harvard (BA) and Columbia (MA), she is a fellow at The Woodhull Institute for Ethical Leadership, a women’s think tank
http://www.echoinggreen.org/fellows/katie-orenstein 



Amini Kajunju

Amini Kajunju is the CEO/COO of Workshop in Business Opportunities (WIBO) which is a private non-profit organization that is committed to assisting men and women with the drive to become successful entrepreneurs. WIBO’s flagship 16-week workshop, “How to Build a Growing Profitable Business” is currently conducted in nine underserved communities of New York City.

Two New Volunteer Opportunities with Acumen Fund

Acumen Fund's New York office is currently looking for two volunteers to assist their Communications and Finance teams, respectively. Please see below for descriptions on each opportunity.

Communications Volunteer

The Acumen Fund Communications team is currently looking for a volunteer to write, edit and manage content on two of our key online properties – the Acumen Fund blog and website. This is a 3-month, full-time volunteer position. The volunteer will be expected to work out of Acumen Fund’s New York office.

The Communications Volunteer will be a key member of Acumen Fund’s communications team, working with Acumen Fund staff (across functions and geographies) to ensure timely, accurate, compelling content on the website and blog, and to support internal knowledge building. This is an unpaid position, but you’ll learn a lot about the sector as well as the inner workings of Acumen Fund and have the opportunity to share your words with the ever-expanding Acumen Fund community.

The ideal candidate will have a facility for the written word (and for the technology needed to share such words), as well as a passion for Acumen Fund’s vision and mission.

Click here for the full position description. Apply by sending a cover letter and resume to mtada@acumenfund.org. Please include the job title “Communications Volunteer” in the subject line. Deadline for applications is 5:00pm EST September 30.

Finance Volunteer

The Acumen Fund Finance team is looking for a volunteer who is interested in doing some investment research by calling financial institutions, preparing schedules of investment income from our investments, and doing bank reconciliations. The time commitment will be a few hours a week. The ideal candidate will have some accounting and/or finance skills, and possess strong Excel macro skills. Interested parties should send their resume and a short cover letter to: aattavane@acumenfund.org.

Lessons From the Field: A Discussion with Acumen Fund Fellows

NYU Stern’s Berkley Center for Entrepreneurial Studies, the Stern Social Enterprise Association, and Acumen Fund invite you to join us as three of the 2009 Acumen Fund Fellows share an insider’s perspective about working at social enterprises in the healthcare and energy sectors in India and Kenya. The Fellows will lead interactive discussions around three topics:

Expect the Unexpected: Adjusting to Unforeseen Circumstances

Ramakrishnan Hariharan, Upper Hill Eye & Laser Center (Kenya)

Will Surekha Dial an Ambulance? Market Research at the Base of the Pyramid
Joanna Harries, 1298 Ambulance Services (India)

Barriers and Breakthroughs: True Tales of BoP Sales
Heidi Krauel, D.light Design (India)

Time:
5:30pm - Registration

6:00-7:30pm - Panel and Discussion

Networking reception to follow

Location: Cantor Boardroom (Room 11-75), Kaufman Management Center, Stern School of Business, New York University

44 W 4th Street, New York, NY 10012

RSVP:

NYU Stern Students, click here.

All others guests, click here.

Space is limited

Jacqueline Novogratz and Tim Brown at UC-Berkeley on Sept 8th

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

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

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

Super-Volunteers Needed to Start our San Francisco Chapter!

Over the past year, the group of young professionals in New York have taken their support for Acumen Fund to a whole new level. This group was merely an idea when co-founders Erica Dhawan and Farhat Umar approached Acumen Fund wanting to do more. It has since grown to over 900 individuals with an expanded leadership team and committed volunteers that step up time and again to organize events and help spread the word about Acumen Fund. Most recently, the group’s efforts culminated in a stylish photo auction and party, co-organized with the Nuru Project, that brought over 250 supporters together and raised almost $25,000 for Acumen Fund.

We have heard interest in starting an Acumen Chapter in the San Francisco Bay Area, but first we need to find leaders! The leadership of several key volunteers in New York has been critical to the group’s success, and we believe that it will be no different on the West Coast.

What is a Chapter?
A Chapter is essentially what we’re calling an Acumen Fund volunteer group – a group of like-minded individuals who share a passion and interest in Acumen Fund’s work and our sector. The objectives of each Chapter are to educate their communities on patient capital and raise funds in support of Acumen Fund.

What if I’m not a young professional – is a Chapter for me?
Absolutely! Everyone is welcome! The NY group started out as a young professional’s organization but has continued to grow and attract an increasingly diverse membership. The leadership team continues to refine its strategic direction and plan activities that cater to different needs, so watch this space!

As a Chapter volunteer will I go overseas or work on projects for Acumen Fund’s investments?
We get inundated with requests from individuals who want to travel to and work with our investees, and at this stage it is simply not possible. Many of our investees are fully focused with running their businesses, and are unable to cope with volunteers. That said as opportunities arise, we will definitely make them known to all Chapter volunteers. Interested parties should also apply to be an Acumen Fellow.

What’s in it for the Chapter leaders and volunteers?
Yes, we recognize that these are volunteer positions and it takes extraordinary people to step up and give their time so generously. Rather than tell you what we think is in it for them, hear what some of our NY volunteers have to say:

“Being the founder and leader of the NY young professionals was a big time commitment, but an extremely worthwhile one. I got to work with like-minded talented young professionals, who share a similar vision to use our skills to create social change, build my own leadership and organizational skills with support from Acumen Fund staff, and develop lifelong relationships with a community of people who seek to build a movement for social enterprise and patient capital.” – Erica Dhawan

“I volunteered with the NY young professionals to help organize the Dignity event. I met an incredible group of motivated, passionate, and inspiring people. On a personal level, I feel that the New York young professionals are that rare networking group that actually makes an impact, creates a movement, and enables everyone involved to learn and grow from our experiences working together. I can’t wait to get going on our next endeavor!” - Nina Sharma West

Ok, how do I flag my interest to get involved?
Read more about Chapters and the application process here. Or dive straight in:
• If you are in the SF Bay Area and would like to be a Chapter leader – apply here.
• If you are in the SF Bay Area and would like to be a volunteer – fill out your info here.
• If you’re not in the SF Bay Area and think we should start a Chapter there – tell us why!

Thank you for all your support. We look forward to getting an amazing Chapter going on the West Coast, and we are definitely planning to start Chapters elsewhere. So watch this space!

Thank You for Attending Happy Hour Hosted by YP for Acumen Fund & African Social Enterprise Forum

A heartfelt Thank You to everyone who attended Happy Hour last night at Bubble Lounge, hosted by the Young Professionals for Acumen Fund and the African Social Enterprise Forum. There was fantastic energy in the room, as social entrepreneurs and those with a keen interest in the sector, we really have a unique opportunity to harness our palpable collective energy and create real change for social good.

A good start is finding like-minded visionaries who can help you advance your work for social change. Have you heard of the African Social Enterprise Forum--Saturday, September 26 at the landmark Desmond Tutu Center? As mentioned last night, there will be at least US$4 Billion social investment capital represented at the conference of 200 delegates with featured speakers from leading social entrepreneurship organizations such as the Rockefeller Foundation, Acumen Fund and Social Private Equity South Africa. Cheryl Dorsey, President of Echoing Green and VP of President Obama's Commission on White House Fellowships is ASEF's keynote speaker.

You can Register for the conference here. If you have further questions, please contact magogodi_makhene@yahoo.com.

Again--a tremendous Thank You for supporting us as we all do good. We hope you had fun, were spurred to action by more than good champagne and look forward to seeing you at the next Young Professionals for Acumen Fund event.

Regards,

The Young Professionals for Acumen Fund Team

Reminder: YP Acumen Happy Hour | TONIGHT 6:30-8:30pm

Tonight YP Acumen is joining forces with the Africa Social Enterprise Forum (Angel Africa) for a Happy Hour, starting at 6:30pm at Bubble Lounge.

The Forum is holding their annual conference in September, featuring over 200 professionals working on sustainable+profitable solutions to African development challenges that collectively represent over $4 billion in investment capital.

Come to the Happy Hour to meet conference speakers and attendees, Acumen staff, and, of course, fellow YPs! And take advantage of the opportunity to learn first-hand about sustainable development in Africa. The Happy Hour will kick-off at 6:30pm at the Bubble Lounge. No cover charge, happy hour specials on drinks, free finger food, and invigorating conversations on sustainable development in Africa. Hope to see you there!

What: HAPPY HOUR at the Bubble Lounge Happy Hour specials and free finger food till 8:30pm

When: TONIGHT, August 26th at 6:30pm

Where: 228 West Broadway, NY, NY 10013 MAP

Hosted by: Young Professionals for Acumen Fund and the Africa Social Enterprise Forum (Angel Africa)

Updated: YP Volunteer Research Opportunity with Acumen Fellows

Sales at the Bottom of the Pyramid – Barriers and Breakthroughs – volunteer researcher needed!

2009 Acumen Fellows Joel Montgomery (MicroDrip, Pakistan), Heidi Krauel (D.Light Design, India) and Mubarik Imam (AMC, Pakistan) have conducted a targeted research project focused on small- and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) and social enterprises providing quality goods and services to low-income, or marginalized communities.

Specifically, the three Fellows have been working hard to uncover the barriers and breakthroughs companies encounter in building effective sales models for BoP (bottom-of-the-pyramid) products/services. To this end, they have interviewed a select set of organizations through an online survey, generating more than 50 responses. This survey, supplemented by the Fellows’ own experiences helping to build out sales organizations in developing countries over the last year, will be used as the basis for a practical report to be made available in the Fall/Winter of 2009.

At this stage of the project, Heidi, Joel and Mubarik would like to reach out to the Young Professionals Network at Acumen Fund and see if someone would like to pitch in with some research assistance. Specifically, the authors want to ensure that their research is taken in the right context, and to that end want to conduct a literature review. The literature review will uncover academic articles, books and practical guides discussing sales at the BoP. The authors will use the literature review in their final report, allowing them to put their survey results in context.

If you are interested in working with Acumen Fund and specifically with Heidi, Joel and Mubarik on this project, please contact Rob Katz for more information. This is not a long-term project, and the literature review could be anywhere from 3 to 5 pages plus a bibliography. It needs to be completed by Sunday, September 13. The volunteer who works on this project will be credited in the Fellows’ report, which will be published on Acumen Fund’s web site.

Update as of 5:00pm August 24, 2009:

THANK YOU! In just over two hours, we received more than 35 expressions of interest for the research project. We are humbled by the outpouring of responses. If you are interested in working on research and writing related to the Acumen Fund Fellows research projects and Acumen Fund in general, please e-mail Rob and he will add you to a list that he is managing. More research projects are coming down the pike.

Reflections on DIGNITY Photo Auction & Benefit (Part III)

Part Three of the series that muses on YP Acumen's DIGNITY event, is from the Nuru Project. Nuru's mission is to leverage photography to act as an agent for social change in the developing world and founders Omri Bloch, Chris McAleenan, Daniel Murray, J.B. Reed and Matt Watson were in attendance and offer their insight into the event.

When Nuru Project approached Acumen Fund over a year ago about the possibility of hosting a photography auction event to raise money and awareness for their organization, we could not have hoped for a better evening than what transpired on July 30th. Thanks to the overwhelming support from the Young Professionals for Acumen Fund, Acumen Fund, and our generous sponsors/donors, “Dignity” was an amazingly successful evening. We hope that all attendees came away from the evening inspired: inspired by the provocative images, inspired by the work Acumen does, and inspired by the enthusiasm and support of the other attendees around them.

Over the course of the evening, more than 250 people viewed striking images and socialized with other attendees in the beautiful gallery space at Tribeca Cinemas Gallery. The evening began with a VIP reception which featured an exclusive tour/preview of the images hosted by Nuru Project and a chance to chat with Acumen Fund senior executives. As the crowd swelled, the audience was welcomed by members of YP, Acumen and Nuru Project. These welcome speeches reminded everyone about what made this event so special – it provided the unique opportunity for a socially-conscious audience to learn about issues in the developing world, to learn how Acumen Fund seeks to address those issues and to help fund Acumen’s effort to alleviate those issues.

We were very pleased with the images we presented and encouraged by the audience's response to them. The event featured an engaging live auction of 4 images alongside a silent auction of the remaining 25 images. Bidding activity was very high in both. Every print was sold and 100% of the money collected from print sales went to Acumen to help fund their efforts to produce sustainable, scalable enterprises that serve the communities and the individuals depicted in the images.

The evening wrapped up with celebratory drinks and a live DJ spinning in the background. It was truly a great event to be a part of. We hope that all attendees enjoyed the evening as much as we enjoyed hosting it. Nuru Project looks forward to working with Acumen Fund in the near future.

YP Acumen Happy Hour - Wednesday, August 26th from 6:30-8:30pm

YP Acumen is joining forces with the Africa Social Enterprise Forum (Angel Africa) for a Happy Hour, next Wednesday, August 26th starting at 6:30 at the Bubble Lounge.

The Forum is holding their annual conference in September featuring Acumen's CIO Brian Trelstad as a speaker and over 200 professionals working on sustainable+profitable solutions to African development challenges that collectively represent over $4 billion in investment capital.

Come to the Happy Hour to meet conference speakers and attendees, Acumen staff, and, of course, fellow YPs! And take advantage of the opportunity to learn first-hand about sustainable development in Africa. The Happy Hour will kick-off at 6:30 at the Bubble Lounge. No cover charge, happy hour specials on drinks, free finger food, and invigorating conversations on sustainable development in Africa. Hope to see you there!

What: HAPPY HOUR at the Bubble Lounge Happy Hour specials and free finger food till 8:30pm

When: Wednesday, August 26 at 6:30pm

Where: 228 West Broadway, NY, NY 10013 MAP

Hosted by: Young Professionals for Acumen Fund and the Africa Social Enterprise Forum (Angel Africa)

YP Opportunity with Relief Development International's First Year Associate Program

Relief Development International is launching its First Year Associates Program in International Development Finance & Social Venture Capital. The organization is looking to bring on a 4-5 people with 1-3 years of experience in finance/ business (investment banking, consulting, accounting, etc.), those with MBA’s and/ or similar degrees. In addition, the associates will be working with a team in Peru, so a solid foundation in Spanish is important.

Relief Development International's First Year Associate Program

RDI’s First Year Associate Program is specifically designed for young professionals with 2, or more, years of full-time experience in traditional business, finance and consulting sectors who are interested in building careers in international development and social venture capital. The program will build upon the skills developed in previous positions, and will challenge Associates to adapt their view of business development and finance to a wholly different context.

First Year Associates in the 2009 Program will be staffed on RDI projects in South America. Associates will live and work in-the-field, and will be integral members of RDI’s in-country team, charged with identifying, building and managing for-profit business opportunities at the base of the socio-economic pyramid.

About Relief Development International

Relief Development International is a social venture firm that is reinventing traditional grassroots development. Our mission is to permanently reduce poverty around the world by empowering local developing communities to work themselves out of the need for future assistance. RDI improves the effectiveness and impact of international development investments (international aid) around the world by combining business and management expertise with on-the-ground project implementation capabilities and in-country staffing. Our business based approach to development is rooted in Collaborative Capitalism, in which we align the interests of multinational corporations, NGOs and local communities through development projects that create real economic returns for all parties involved.

RDI works with indigenous communities in developing countries and multinational corporations to identify viable business opportunities at the base of the pyramid. By leveraging corporate assets, such as capital, market expertise, distribution networks, and purchasing power, we invest in and build locally owned businesses that are integrated into the global supply chain. RDI is unique in that it provides turnkey market-based development solutions, focused on long-term impact and scalability. We deliver results, and actually tie our compensation to achieving real returns on development investments.

RDI is the combination of:

• A BoP Investment Bank - Connecting resources in developing countries to capital around the world
• An Operations Focused Venture Capital Firm – Investing capital to build businesses at the base of the socio-economic pyramid that will generate real returns
• A Management Consulting Firm – Providing management expertise to corporate clients, international development organizations and the businesses we help to build
• A Brand Strategy and Marketing Firm – Helping our corporate clients understand the market potential that exists at the base of the pyramid, and assisting companies we build to develop premium branded products
• A Direct Service Development Organization (NGO) – Actually building the businesses and implementing the projects on-the-ground in developing countries around the world

To learn more, please contact RDI at Associate@reliefconsulting.com