YouTube!

We now have video from last month's event with Acumen Fund founder and CEO Jacqueline Novogratz! Watch it below or visit http://www.youtube.com/acumenfund for this video and so many more straight from Acumen Fund. And stay tuned for details about a July fundraiser / art exhibition....

Giving Circles

In his latest post, Seth Nemeroff shares his thoughts on giving circles:

A friend of mine recently forwarded a story from NPR about giving circles that I thought I would share with the YP community. The topic covered is one that is relevant to the questions of "What can I do? How can I get involved?" that keep coming up in conversations with YP members.

The concept of giving circles is not new; however, the timing is perfect for the growth of this model. The influx of demand into the social sector coupled with an increasing call to service from the public sector is creating an opportunity for innovative ideas around the differing notions of giving. The basic premise of a giving circle is a group of people (friends, co-workers, etc) pool financial resources and professional expertise to make a targeted contribution to a non-profit organization. The ability to make a larger sized donation by joining together in a group instantly allows you a louder voice with the organization the circle chooses. The "circle" allows for different ideas and concepts to be thought out and debated before making the grant decision and exposes you to the intricacies of the world of philanthropy (albeit on a small scale). The group also offers various professional services to the non-profit organization. This final part separates the giving circle from more traditional forms of donations and helps create a different type of answer to the "How can I get involved?" question.

I have recently become a member of a giving circle called the New York Venture Philanthropy Fund (NYVPF). The fund chooses an area that it wants to focus on (i.e. education, the environment, etc), then researches local New York-based non-profits that work in this sector before final grant decisions are made. Learning about the various steps of the process is rewarding and has broadened my knowledge of the non-profit sector.

There are many potential variations of this idea. Perhaps a group of YP members can join together to form a Young Professionals for Acumen Fund "branded" giving circle with the focus on Acumen or like minded organizations working in the areas that Acumen focuses on? If this is something that may interest you, feel free to reach out to me at sethnem@yahoo.com.

Wrap-Up from Last Night's Event

We're posting a great-wrap up of last night's event from Julie Lee, a fellow Young Professional for Acumen Fund. She currently works at Acumen Fund as a Knowledge and Communications Consultant and is involved with many organizations in the social enterprise space. She has a strategy consulting background at Accenture and earned a BA in History from the University of Pennsylvania.

Young Professionals for Acumen Fund just hosted an exciting reading and speaking event featuring Jacqueline Novogratz, CEO of Acumen Fund and author of the bestselling memoir The Blue Sweater. Even though I work at Acumen Fund, this was a can't-miss opportunity not only to enjoy the company of Jacqueline but to get to know other enthusiastic young professionals. In spite the crowd (there were upwards of 100 people), an intimacy reverberated throughout The Bubble Lounge, a fitting venue given that the room seemed to  bubble over with chatter and connections.

As I looked around the room at the twenty and thirty somethings who, collectively, cover a wide spectrum of NYC professions ranging from non-profits to multinational banks and corporations, I couldn't help but think about how Jacqueline had immersed herself in both ends of the spectrum at different junctures of her career path. Jacqueline started her career as an investment banker on Wall Street before becoming the CEO of a global nonprofit social venture fund. The Blue Sweater describes this journey and the personal discovery that we - the rich and the poor - live in an interconnected world.

Since the event, I have reflected on ways in which we young professionals are also connecting with each other while drawing from our diverse backgrounds and resources to achieve the shared mission of making social impact. A network that has impressively grown to over 500 members since its conception about a year ago, YP for Acumen Fund has the potential to harness all this talent and willingness to make positive change in the world. The recurring question of the evening was: "Now that I'm involved with YP, what can I do to help further the cause?" Here are my take-aways:

1. Fundraising - The most direct impact we can make is to support Acumen Fund's mission by raising funds. During the event, a young professional asked Jacqueline if Acumen Fund ever planned on expanding its investments to other countries (other than its existing portfolio work in East Africa, Pakistan, and India). The answer: it's part of the vision, but a level of committed funds are needed to do so. With 500+ members in the network, YP can set a goal of raising $50,000 (who doesn't like goal-setting?) if everyone sets out to donate or raise $100 each. Additionally, there are many opportunities to find creative ways of fundraising (events, more book readings, auctions). If you're ready, donate here.

2. Voice for Acumen Fund - Jacqueline said it herself: "Being a non-profit allows us to exercise patient capital and focus on changing minds, not just lives, and to experiment." As a growing network, YP can really make an impact at spreading the message and changing the minds of existing, unproductive assumptions on poverty and poverty alleviation. Acumen's market-based, bottom-up approach to lifting people out of poverty is a powerful and compelling story that can and should be shared with others.

3. Power of the Acumen Fund Network - Repetition hits it home: we are a network of 500+ members, and this really means something. Whether you are looking for ways to individually connect with others who share your interests or you want to combine resources and exchange ideas to further the Acumen Fund cause, the YP network is tremendously resourceful and can be leveraged to enable these goals. I have always found it invigorating to meet others who share the common goal of working collaboratively to make social impact - big or small - and the YP continues to make this possible.

The Origins of Young Professionals for Acumen Fund

Young Professionals for Acumen Fund co-founder Erica Dhawan (far left) writes about how YP got its start. Also pictured: Molly Alexander from Acumen Fund and Farhat Umar, YP's other co-founder.

In November 2007, while working Lehman Brothers, I cold-called Acumen Fund to find out if there were any opportunities to get involved. Because I was unable to volunteer full-time, I began to brainstorm with Acumen Fund's Molly Alexander about building a network of young professionals interested in social enterprise. With the help friends, we organized an event in June 2008 called “The Value Chain of Social Enterprise: How Young Professionals Can Get Involved," which attracted over 300 attendees. We then hosted our first fundraising event in October 2008, raising almost $4,000 for Acumen Fund.

YP is now a group of over 500 young people - bankers, consultants, entrepreneurs, marketers, designers, non-profiters, and students - who share a vision of collaboration in the fight against poverty. We see a broad vision for our future: integrating this group with our peer organizations and providing more opportunities for young individuals committed to creating change. I truly believe that social enterprise is the cause of our generation and I can't wait to see how YP evolves in the next few years.

Acumen Fund Will Host Summer Student Leader Workshop

Editor's note: Guest blogger Aden Van Noppen is a senior at Brown University where she studies International Development. She is also an intern for Acumen Fund, where she works to develop programs that teach college students about private sector solutions to poverty. Aden was formerly an intern for Dalberg Global Development Advisors, where she worked on the development of the Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs.

Young people today are not protesting or rioting—instead, we are proclaiming ourselves social entrepreneurs and actively searching for the best models to address poverty. This movement is brewing on campuses across the country and the world, including my own, and Acumen Fund wants to help us develop the skills and knowledge we need to pioneer new approaches to poverty alleviation.

In response to growing interest among college students in social enterprise, and the potential we have demonstrated to lead social change, Acumen Fund wants to find ways to work with us. To start, Acumen is hosting a Student Leaders Workshop in New York City from May 28-30th to share their knowledge and collaborate with those of us who feel passionate about finding and communicating entrepreneurial ways of addressing poverty.

This workshop is an opportunity for students to gain skills and knowledge about enterprise development and social venture capital, and just as importantly, to communicate with Acumen about how to build meaningful partnerships with young people. The students who participate will return to their campuses in the fall with the opportunity to spread this movement amongst their peers.

If you are a leader for social enterprise on your campus, we want you to apply! If you believe that business and investment are powerful tools for poverty alleviation, we want you to apply! If you want to learn from Acumen Fund and members of Acumen’s community in an intimate setting, and then share what you learn with others, we want you to apply!

If you think Acumen Fund will hold your hand and help you find a dream job in the social sector after graduation, or want to add a cool brand name to your resume, this is not for you. Changing how the world approaches poverty is a big job and the people I have been working with at Acumen Fund are looking for real leaders who want to roll up their sleeves to challenge the status quo. If that sounds like you, we are looking forward to hearing from you.

Click here to find out more about the workshop and how to apply. Hope to see you in New York City this May!

(originally posted on NextBillion.net)

We Need Your Help!

If you are one of the many people who has asked us about volunteer opportunities, today is your lucky day! We have two big events coming up this spring that we need help producing:

1) Reading and book-signing event for The Blue Sweater, the new book by Acumen Fund founder and CEO Jacqueline Novogratz
2) Potential photo exhibition and fundraiser in July 2009

If you have the time and energy to volunteer for one of these events, please email ypacumen@gmail.com. Please (very briefly) list your relevant experience and why you're interested in the event you selected. The Young Professionals for Acumen Fund leadership team will follow up with you in the next few weeks.

Thanks in advance for your help and stay tuned for information on our next Social Entrepreneurship Chat at the end of April.

Acumen Fund Tweets from the Entrepreneurship Chat - Enjoy!

To read more from Acumen Fund's twitter feed, visit twitter/acumenfund. More event wrap-up coming soon...

The Blue Sweater is Now Available

The Blue Sweater - Acumen Fund CEO Jacqueline Novogratz's personal memoir about her quest to understand global poverty - is now in stores. I can't wait to get started this weekend after reading all the blog and news coverage of it. Here are a few of the highlights:

-BusinessWeek gives The Blue Sweater four stars

-The Financial Times has a glowing review (subscription required)

-The McKinsey Quarterly has a video interview and excerpt on its site

-And GOOD writes, "it can be easy to forget that one person can make a massive, humongous, undeniable impact on the world. I've had my many cynical moments—we all have. Which is why it's nice to be reminded from time to time that there are muses out there we can look to for some pointers. Today, here's someone to think about: Jacqueline Novogratz, founder of Acumen Fund and first-time author."

Happy reading!

Getting to Know Mark Disston

Mark Disston will be the second speaker for the Social Entrepreneurship Chat on March 10. In addition to Volunteering with Young Professionals for Acumen Fund (thanks, Mark!), Mark is a former Fellow with Kiva.org. As a Kiva Fellow, Mark was based in Phnom Penh, Cambodia where he dealt directly with Kiva-funded borrowers to learn how the loans they received impacted their lives. In addition, he worked with Kiva's field partner, a local microfinance bank, to assist them in their growth plans. Mark currently serves on the board of Maxima Mikroheranhvatho, a microfinance bank in Cambodia, and works at a private equity firm. Mark previously worked for Credit Suisse in their Investment Banking Department and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with degrees in Finance and Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE).

I have no doubt that Mark and Ajay will have plenty to discuss next week!

Getting to Know Ajay Nair

Just confirmed! Ajay Nair will be representing Acumen Fund during the Social Entrepreneurship Chat on March 10. You'll have to forgive me for cribbing from his bio on AcumenFund.org - he's out of the country right now and I couldn't wait to introduce him to you.

Ajay is the Portfolio Associate for Health and Energy at Acumen Fund, managing current investments and investigating new opportunities. He received his MPH from Harvard University and studied medicine at Grant Medical College, Mumbai. His experiences include working on children's health issues and running clinics for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation's Avahan - India AIDS Initiative and the Mumbai District AIDS Control program.

Start brainstorming your questions now! Up next, getting to know Mark Disston...

New YP Event Just Announced!

Please join us at Jimmy's No. 43 for a conversation on social entrepreneurship. Mark Disston, a recent Kiva fellow to Cambodia, will talk about his experiences in the field before opening up the discussion to the floor.


Details:
Tue, Mar 10
Drinks: 7:30-8pm
Presentation and Discussion: 8-9pm

Jimmy's No. 43
43 East 7th Street
NY, NY 10003

Please RSVP to ypacumen@gmail.com by Thu, Mar 5. Space is limited.

Acumen Fund Job Opening

Acumen Fund just posted a job that Sasha Dichter on the Acumen Fund Blog describes better than we ever could:

"...we're hiring for a Business Development Manager – Marketing. What does that mean? It means we're looking for a storyteller, a translator, and a listener, who at the same time is ready to roll up their sleeves with data and numbers and analytics. You might be a great blogger or an old-school marketer with lots of new tricks up your sleeves. But either way you bring off-the-charts passion, energy, commitment, and humility to this role.

Put another way, you're probably either a super-duper marketer who knows how to use online tools, or you're world-class with online tools and also have got some great marketing ideas. If you're neither of these things, this job probably isn't for you."

If you're interested or know someone who would be a great fit, learn how to apply at http://www.idealist.org/if/i/en/av/Job/328289-6.

Note: Applications are due Wednesday, March 4.

The Blue Sweater

We're looking forward to reading Acumen Fund CEO Jacqueline Novogratz's personal memoir, The Blue Sweater: Bridging the Gap Between Rich and Poor in an Interconnected World. The book follows her quest to understand global poverty and to find powerful new ways of tackling it.

Some exciting events related to The Blue Sweater are in the works for Young Professionals for Acumen Fund - check back soon for more details. (FYI, the book hits shelves on March 3.)

Acumen Fund Internship

Acumen Fund is looking for a skilled technology volunteer to be the Technology Analyst Intern. The intern will provide website and blog support, troubleshooting, and upgrades; core systems improvement; and general IT support.

For more information about the position and how to apply, please read the complete job description at:
http://www.acumenfund.org/uploads/assets/documents/Acumen%20Fund%20-%20Technology%20Analyst%20Intern_zeTiKw5s.pdf

Volunteer Opportunity

From Acumen Fund: We need your InDesign help! We have a few documents that need to be formatted before we can post them online. Since we already have a template, this should be really straightforward for anyone fluent in InDesign. Send an email to jwu@acumenfund.org if you're ready to volunteer a few hours of your time to a great cause.

Note: As of March 2, this volunteer position has been filled!