Last week, Acumen Fund CEO Jacqueline Novogratz held a book reading in San Francisco as part of the launch of The Blue Sweater, her new book, which is now available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Half.com.
The Blue Sweater takes us on a journey, through one inspiring personal memoir after another. She read us an excerpt from an experience she had in the eighties where she helped a group of unwed mothers start a bakery.
In the book, she reveals how traditional charity often fails. A key mission of Acumen Fund is to use entrepreneurial approaches to solve the problems of global poverty. It’s a combination approach: “small amounts of philanthropic capital combined with large doses of business acumen, can build thriving enterprises that serve vast numbers of the poor.”
Why they feel charity alone isn’t the answer: “poor people seek dignity, not dependence.” Frankly, everyone seeks dignity and all too often, we don’t get it.
She tells us “why the blue sweater?” I was obviously curious as were others. When she was around ten, she wore a sweater with zebras on it well into high school before she finally parted with the garment. Years later, when she as in her mid-twenties, she spotted a zebra sweater on a little boy in Africa.
With emotion, she tells us how she ran over to check the label and sure enough, it was her very own zebra sweater she wore as a child. “It’s an example,” she says, “of our own interconnectedness. Those of us who have lived in the developing world all have a blue sweater story — where something we have done has impacted someone’s life and we don’t learn how until much later on.”
She’s right. We all have our blue sweater stories even if we haven’t lived in the developing world. Having an impact on others in an unselfish loving way is ultimately why we’re here. Giving back to the world is what really feeds us at the end of the day and often, its the smallest of “gives” that have the most impact.
Renee Blodgett is the founder of We Blog the World. The site combines the magic of an online culture and travel magazine with a global blog network and has contributors from every continent in the world. Having lived in 10 countries and explored nearly 80, she is an avid traveler, and a lover, observer and participant in cultural diversity.
She is also the CEO and founder of Magic Sauce Media, a new media services consultancy focused on viral marketing, social media, branding, events and PR. For over 20 years, she has helped companies from 12 countries get traction in the market. Known for her global and organic approach to product and corporate launches, Renee practices what she pitches and as an active user of social media, she helps clients navigate digital waters from around the world. Renee has been blogging for over 16 years and regularly writes on her personal blog Down the Avenue, Huffington Post, BlogHer, We Blog the World and other sites. She was ranked #12 Social Media Influencer by Forbes Magazine and is listed as a new media influencer and game changer on various sites and books on the new media revolution. In 2013, she was listed as the 6th most influential woman in social media by Forbes Magazine on a Top 20 List.
Her passion for art, storytelling and photography led to the launch of Magic Sauce Photography, which is a visual extension of her writing, the result of which has led to producing six photo books: Galapagos Islands, London, South Africa, Rome, Urbanization and Ecuador.
Renee is also the co-founder of Traveling Geeks, an initiative that brings entrepreneurs, thought leaders, bloggers, creators, curators and influencers to other countries to share and learn from peers, governments, corporations, and the general public in order to educate, share, evaluate, and promote innovative technologies.
