No Apologies Winner:  Jacqueline Novogratz

April 6, 2009

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Jacqueline Novogratz knows that women are powerful game changers. “When you look around, many of our social innovators are indeed women,” says the banker-turnedactivist.  “We are listeners, multitaskers and team builders. Our job is to release those energies in ways both creative and powerful.”

Novogratz has taken an innovative approach to social change, founding Acumen Fund in 2001 as a non-profit to finance the development of sustainable businesses that serve the world’s poor. The fund manages more than $30 million in investments in South Asia and East Africa, delivering affordable health care, water, housing and energy, creating more
20,000 jobs while training a new generation of business leaders with an understanding of global poverty.

“If we can inspire people around the world to think differently about what it means to be poor, then we will have made a real impact,” she says. “When we design solutions that recognize the poor as clients or customers and not as passive recipients of charity, we have a real chance to end poverty. And I believe we can do that in our generation.”

Novogratz enjoyed a successful career in international banking before moving into philanthropy. “While working at a bank, it seemed both unfair and bad economically to exclude low-income people from financial services,” she says. “I was intrigued by microfinance and pursued that for several years. I’m still motivated by building a global economy that is both inclusive and creative.”

A frequent speaker at international conferences, including the Clinton Global Initiative, Novogratz was recently honored with an Ernst & Young Metro New York Entrepreneur of the Year award. Her book, The Blue Sweater: Bridging the Gap Between Rich and Poor in an Interconnected World, was published in March.

Noting the difficult economic conditions of 2009, Novogratz says, “When the rich stumble, we cannot let the poor fall off the cliff. At the same time, when existing systems are broken, we have enormous opportunity to invent new and better ways to build a
more inclusive global economy.”

For more Changing the Game Awards Winners:

No Apologies Winner: Dr. Jane McGonigal
No Apologies Winner: Katherine Jane Bryant
No Apologies Winner: Joslyn Barnes
Quantum Leap Winner: Nancy Smith
Paradigm Shift Winner: Esther "E.T" Franklin
Brainwave Winner: Sue Bostrom