Entries from TED Blog tagged with 'Jacqueline Novogratz'
25 September 2009
A third way to think about aid: Jacqueline Novogratz on TED.com
The debate over foreign aid often pits those who mistrust "charity" against those who mistrust reliance on the markets. Jacqueline Novogratz proposes a middle way she calls patient capital, with promising examples of entrepreneurial innovation driving social change. (Recorded at TED@State, June 2009, at the US State Department, Washington, DC. Duration: 17:05)
Twitter URL: http://on.ted.com/3O
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17 August 2009
Investing in ending poverty: Jacqueline Novogratz on TED.com
We’re beginning the second week of the TED media team’s annual break and our highlights from the archives with a thought-provoking talk from 2005.
In her first talk at TED, Jacqueline Novogratz, founder and CEO of Acumen Fund urges us to get better at answering the tough questions of the world and says that aid, while appreciated, just doesn’t cut it. She begins her talk by telling the story of a blue sweater that she donated to Goodwill as a child, and over a decade later found on a little boy running through the hills of Kigali. Coincidentally, earlier this year, Novogratz released a book titled The Blue Sweater: Bridging the Gap Between Rich and Poor in an Interconnected World that puts into writing her encounter in Kigali and explains how her realizations in that moment ultimately caused her to devote her career to addressing tough global questions and to found Acumen Fund.
Acumen Fund uses philanthropic capital to begin and stimulate businesses that serve and employ the poor, from water systems to micro-insurance to textile manufacturing. It has invested $40 million in over 35 companies serving 25 million in the developing world, with offices in New York, Pakistan, India and Kenya. The fund and its work are continuing to grow, with the help of its brand new Student Leaders Workshops for college students interested in social enterprise development and the Fellows Program, developed in 2007 to recruit talented and passionate young people who are given the opportunity to build leadership skills and gain international experience while providing management support for the budding businesses. Maybe they’ll also have their “blue sweater moment” in a rice paddy in India or on a factory floor in Kenya. We could use a few more people who, like Novogratz, work hard at answering the tough questions.
Twitter URL: http://on.ted.com/2P
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03 June 2009
TED@State: Jacqueline Novogratz on patient capital in Pakistan
Jacqueline Novogratz founded and leads Acumen Fund, a nonprofit that takes a businesslike approach to improving the lives of the poor, by investing in entrepreneurs who bring necessary goods and services -- water, bread, healthcare -- to communities that need it, and who would otherwise depend on traditional charity. In her new book, The Blue Sweater, she tells stories from the new philanthropy, which emphasizes sustainable bottom-up solutions over traditional top-down aid.
At TED@State, Jacqueline talks about a project in Pakistan that encapsulates what her work is about. Drip irrigation is a proven farming technology, but it's only been available for large farms; Novogratz tells a story of how, with help from grants and then from "patient capital," this vital tool was made available to smaller farmers.
Investments like this -- which are typically unattractive to large investors because the target customers make less than a dollar a day -- are the heart and soul of patient capital, allowing an entrepreneur to make something that improves people's lives and helps them live with dignity and independence.
Discuss this idea and more in the comments ...
03 June 2009
TED goes to Washington: Today is TED@State
TED is in Washington, DC, today, helping to throw a first-of-its-kind conference: TED@State, bringing great ideas from TEDTalks to Washington. This afternoon at the State Department, five TEDTalks stars -- Clay Shirky, Paul Collier, Jacqueline Novogratz, Stewart Brand, and Hans Rosling -- will share insight and new ideas; music will come from the legendary Zap Mama.
Our partner in this event is the Global Partnership Initiative, based at the State Department. This initiative was launched in April to establish public-private partnerships with foundations, businesses and NGOs ... and TED@State is the first major event under this initiative. The Special Representative for Global Partnerships, Ambassador Elizabeth Frawley Bagley, is proud to welcome TED and these visionary speakers to the Department of State (read her remarks to the audience).
You can follow TED@State on our Twitter feed @TEDNews -- or look for the hashtag #TEDState. Look for TED@State onstage and backstage photos on Flickr. And we'll be reporting on each speaker here on the TEDBlog, and hosting the post-event Q&As right here.
Watch CNN's report on TED@State >>
Above: TEDTalks star Hans Rosling meets with TED's Director of Film + Video, Jason Wishnow. Photo: TED / Mike Femia.
25 March 2009
Jacqueline Novogratz on Charlie Rose [update, now with video]
Watch Charlie Rose talk with Jacqueline Novogratz on his PBS show -- discussing Novogratz' new book, The Blue Sweater, and fresh approaches to tackling the problem of poverty and bridging the gap between rich and poor.
24 March 2009
From a Nairobi slum, a tale of hope: Jacqueline Novogratz on TED.com
Jacqueline Novogratz tells a moving story of an encounter in a Nairobi slum with Jane, a former prostitute, whose dreams of escaping poverty, of becoming a doctor and of getting married were fulfilled in an unexpected way. (Recorded at TED U 2009, February 2009, in Long Beach, California. Duration: 07:30.)
Watch Jacqueline Novogratz's talk from TED2009 on TED.com, where you can download this TEDTalk, rate it, comment on it and find other talks and performances from our archive of 400+ TEDTalks -- including more talks that explore issues around poverty.
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08 March 2009
4 great talks for International Women's Day
To celebrate March 8, International Women's Day, we suggest these four TEDTalks gems from some amazing speakers -- artists, scientists and economists who think deeply about the role of women.
Author and activist Isabel Allende discusses women, creativity, feminism -- and the power of passionate thinkers and doers:
The former Finance Minister of Nigeria, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, talks about one key opportunity to grow African economies -- by investing in women and the businesses they start:
(For more, watch Jacqueline Novogratz >>)
Scientist Nalini Nadkarni explores the world of the forest canopy -- and shares her findings with the world below, through dance, art and bold partnerships. She's working to inspire the next generation of women scientists:
The wonderful Nellie McKay sings "Mother of Pearl" (with the immortal first line "Feminists don't have a sense of humor") and "If I Had You" from her sparkling set at TED2008:
Find these four and many more astonishing women (including the legendary primatologist Jane Goodall, oceanographers Sylvia Earle and Tierney Thys, games theorist Brenda Laurel, Zipcar inventor Robin Chase ... ) on TED.com >>
23 July 2008
Ending malaria: We're not spending enough, or evenly enough
As Jacqueline Novogratz says in her 2005 TEDTalk: "You can't talk about poverty today without talking about malaria bednets."
Yesterday, the Guardian UK reported on a massive new study of malaria prevention -- which found several alarming gaps in the global drive to wipe out this disease, especially in the poorest countries. Read the study's press release here. From the Guardian story:
The analysis found that the global spend on malaria prevention of around $1bn per year would need to increase by between 50% and 450% to achieve the goal. But the study also found that funding was not spread evenly, with some countries receiving far less per person at risk of the disease than others.
"What we have done in this paper is try to estimate how much money is awarded to countries according to how many people live at risk," said Prof. Robert Snow at the Kenya Medical Research Institute in Nairobi, "What we can say at this stage is there isn't enough for a minimum package of interventions ... They are often getting much less than a dollar per person at risk and we know that you need at a bare minimum $4."
The study analyzed spending on malaria control (like insecticides and anti-malarial bednets) by big donors such as the World Bank and the US President's Initiative -- and compared it to the number of people in each country who are at risk of infection by the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum.
Novogratz talks about malaria bednets again in her 2007 TEDTalk -- and suggests another piece of this puzzle: How can the money we spend on malaria also help to build stronger economies in poorer countries?
13 November 2007
Iqbal Quadir's new Center for Development and Entrepreneurship at MIT
TEDGLOBAL2005 speaker and GrameenPhone founder Iqbal Quadir is launching a new center for Development and Entrepreneurship at MIT, thanks to a $50 million structured gift from Legatum, a Dubai-based investment firm.
The Legatum Center "will help MIT students start enterprises in developing countries, to foster organic and durable economic growth and more equitable societies", Iqbal told us in an e-mail. He will act as the Center's Exec Director, while Prof. Alex Pentland, Director of the Human Dynamics research group at the MIT Media Lab, will be the Faculty Director.
"We will champion bottom-up economic growth, rather than the prevalent top-down, state-led, aid-funded projects that by and large have not worked", Iqbal added. That was also at the core of his TEDGLOBAL2005 talk (on this topic, watch also the talks by Ashraf Ghani and Jacqueline Novogratz or several speakers from TEDGLOBAL2007 in Arusha). The Center's primary activity (starting next Fall) will be running a fellowship program for MIT students who intend to create scalable, socially responsible enterprises.
20 August 2007
CARE Turns Down Federal Money for Aid and Turns to Investing
TEDsters have already heard this story -- from speakers Iqbal Quadir, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Ashraf Ghani, Jacqueline Novogratz, and several others at last June's TEDGLOBAL in Tanzania: developing countries need investments more than aid.
One of the world's biggest charities has now acted upon this idea. CARE, writes the New York Times, is turning down some $45 million a year in US federal financing, saying American food aid is not only plagued with inefficiencies, but also may hurt some of the very poor people it aims to help.
CARE says it will phase out by 2009 the practice of selling state-subsidized American farm products in African countries that in some cases compete with the crops of struggling local farmers (watch Jacqueline's speech for a parallel take on how donated clothes compete with local textile production). The move is controversial -- other charities are defending the current system -- but CARE has already started investing in local companies.
14 August 2007
Tackling poverty with "patient capital": Jacqueline Novogratz on TED.com
Jacqueline Novogratz is pioneering new ways of tackling poverty. In her view, traditional charity rarely delivers lasting results. And commercial investors are also unwilling to seed the businesses and jobs that are needed in tough conditions. Her solution, outlined through a series of revealing personal stories, is "patient capital." This means using philanthropic funds to help "bottom of the pyramid" entrepreneurs get their businesses off the ground. Listening, truly listening, is key, she says, and the marketplace is the best listening device we have. The result: sustainable jobs, goods, services -- and dignity -- for the world's poorest. (Recorded June 2007 in Arusha, Tanzania. Duration: 18:35.)
Watch Jacqueline Novogratz's talk on TED.com, where you can download it, rate it, comment on it and find other talks and performances, including her talk at TEDGlobal2005 in Oxford.
Read more about Jacqueline Novogratz on TED.com.
New: Download this talk in high resolution >>
06 June 2007
Day Two in Quotes [TEDGlobal 2007]
“Dignity is more important to the human spirit than wealth” — Acumen Fund CEO/Founder Jacqueline Novogratz
"What we call governments are vampire states, which suck the economic vitality out of the people." — Economist George Ayittey
"I want to make Africans rich. If you make Africans rich, they'll be less poor. That's my development strategy." — Private equity pioneer Idris Mohammed
"What we're trying to do is create a family tree for everyone alive today." — Anthropologist and geneticist Spencer Wells, who's leading the Genographic Project, a landmark study tracing human origins to their roots in Africa
"There is no region of the world and no period in history that farmers have had to bear the burden of risk that African farmers bear today. But I'm not here to lament or wring my hands. I'm here to tell you that change is in the air." — Economist Eleni Gabre-Madhin, who is founding the first commodities market for farmers in Ethiopia
"World progress needs a good dose of spontaneous human intelligence to realize that the answers to many of the questions we ask ourselves are just around the corner." — Architect Issa Diabete, who draws inspiration from innovative, makeshift urban solutions found in Africa's sprawling squatter cities
"I'm hopeful because nature is amazing resilient. Seemingly dead tree stumps -- if you stop hacking them for firewood, in 10 years you can have a 30 ft tree.” — Primatologist and conservationist Jane Goodall
“I am a mathematician and I would like to stand on your roof.” — Mathematician Ron Eglash's standard greeting to African families, when he was researching the intriguing fractal patterns observed in many villages across the continent
Technorati tags: tedglobal2007
30 May 2007
TED.com's new discussion space: Africa: The Next Chapter
As the TED Conference team departs for Tanzania and TEDGlobal 2007, the TED.com team is beginning the conversation online, with our latest theme: Africa: The Next Chapter. We start with an observation: That while we're all familiar with Africa's challenges -- famine and disease, conflict and corruption -- it's less known that across the continent, change is afoot. A new generation of Africans -- entrepreneurial, optimistic, inventive, undaunted -- are shaping a very different future for the their homeland.
Ingenious solutions are being applied to tackle some of the toughest health and infrastructure problems. Businesses are being launched that can transform the lives of millions. New communication technologies allow ideas and information to spread, enabling markets -- and governments -- to be more efficient. The numbers suggest that real growth is on the way ... A new Africa beckons.
Next week, we hold our first conference in Africa (also titled "Africa: The Next Chapter") to learn all we can about the profound changes sweeping the continent. Thought leaders from across Africa will gather with counterparts from the west in hopes of building new and lasting collaborations. But the meeting in real time is only the beginning: It's the conversations and connections that continue online which will have even deeper reverberations.
Though the talks from TEDGlobal won't be online till midsummer, we've started the conversation off with several relevant talks from TEDs past, including Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the pioneering Nigerian Finance Minister, who captures the zeitgeist of the moment with a talk on rethinking the African economy. It dovetails nicely with Jacqueline Novogratz, who promotes a new approach to philanthropy, based on investment rather than traditional aid. Both those thoughts were echoed by Ashraf Ghani, former Finance Minister of Afghanistan, whose rousing talk on his country's future resonates with this theme, despite geographical distance. And then there's Bono, whose memorable 2005 TED Prize acceptance speech was the original inspiration for the conference (though many there may disagree with his approach).
Click here to go to TED.com's new Theme, Africa: The Next Chapter >>
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