Jacqueline Novogratz
Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Acumen Fund, Inc.
Jacqueline Novogratz is founder and CEO of Acumen Fund, a nonprofit global venture fund
that uses entrepreneurial approaches to solve the problems of global poverty.
Acumen Fund seeks to prove that small amounts of philanthropic capital, combined with
large doses of business acumen, can build thriving enterprises that serve vast numbers of
the poor. Its investments focus on delivering affordable, critical goods and services—like
health care, water, housing, and energy—through innovative, market-oriented approaches.
Acumen Fund currently manages more than $40 million in investments in South Asia
and East Africa, all focused on delivering affordable health care, water, housing, and energy
to the poor. The organization also includes the Acumen Fund Fellows Program, focused
on building the next generation of business leaders with an understanding of global issues
and poverty. The organization has offices in New York, Pakistan, India, and Kenya.
Prior to creating Acumen Fund, Ms. Novogratz founded and directed the Philanthropy
Workshop and the Next Generation Leadership programs at the Rockefeller Foundation.
She also founded Duterimbere, a microfinance institution in Rwanda. She began her
career in international banking with Chase Manhattan Bank.
She is currently on the advisory board of Innovations, a journal published by MIT Press. She
serves on the Aspen Institute board of trustees and as a member of two World Economic
Forum global agenda councils, on social entrepreneurship and on water. She is an Aspen
Institute Henry Crown Fellow and a Synergos Institute senior fellow. She was recently
honored as an Ernst & Young Metro New York Entrepreneur of the Year 2008. She is
a frequent speaker at international conferences, including the Clinton Global Initiative
and Technology Entertainment Design.
Ms. Novogratz holds an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and a
BA in economics/international relations from the University of Virginia.
She speaks Spanish and French and has a working knowledge of Swahili. Her book,
The Blue Sweater: Bridging the Gap Between Rich and Poor in an Interconnected
World, was published in March 2009. (For further details on her book, go to
www.thebluesweater.com.)