I’m reading The Blue Sweater: Bridging the Gap Between Rich and Poor in an Interconnected World, by Jacqueline Novogratz, the creator and vision behind the Acumen fund. It’s as fascinating autobiography of how she felt compelled to “change the world” – from the perspective of providing women empowerment and making them part of their economic system (in Africa) rather than through grants or assistance.
Novogratz came at the problems she saw with the head of a banker and the heart of a philanthropist. Yet she turned the idea of aid on its head through microfinancing - by “microloaning” to women, expecting them to pay back their small loans - with interest.
“Sustainability” of programs is key for her – and for her success. The women who are most successful are those whose endeavors continue on after they are set up, without outside funding. They are taught to fish so they don’t need to be given fish anymore, as the analogy goes.
It’s interesting that one of Novogratz's ongoing themes is accountability. Watching and being a part of privately and publicly funded programs over the years, she has seen that if there is no accountability on the part of either the funder or the loan recipient then the arrangement does not work. There is no “respect” on either side; neither takes the other seriously. Promises are not kept; loans are not repaid.
The success that Novogratz has created should be enlightening to the nonprofit world. Like Novogratz, we can learn by listening to what is needed and what will work. Programs should be funded that can make a difference not from the funder’s perspective, but from the recipient's. And accountability on everyone’s part is key.
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