What does Hub Boulder and Brown University have to do with Apollo missions?

Posted on March 18, 2012 by Heidi Cuppari

I’m sitting in a cafe in Providence, Rhode Island with the week’s events and activities swirling around in my mind and body.

I’m filled with awe, inspiration and a feeling of deep connectivity to both Boulder and Brown, and the collective energy and leadership that both have inspired in the field of social enterprise.

On Thursday evening, I attend an event in Boulder for key community members and investors to pool their collective resources, finances and talent to launch the HUB here. About 60 people gathered in a circle and shared stories about how and why they feel the HUB needs to be here. Investors, entrepreneurs and advisors came together and realized that the power was in the hands of the people in the room.

From Executive Director Greg Berry’s invitation to this event, I quote:

At HUB Boulder, we are catalyzing a business eco-system by incubating start-ups, promoting sector-leading business practices, and accelerating impact investments. Members will host and attend uniquely thought-provoking events and talks, meet with new partners and old colleagues, and drop in to work, whether for half an hour or the next five years. Connected to a network of more than 30 similar spaces around the globe, HUB members have a home base wherever their travels take them, from Seattle to Sao Paulo and London to San Francisco, and access to thousands of change-makers world-wide.

The elation I felt from being a part of this founding group of community members made my heart soar as I got on a 7AM plane the next morning to attend the first ever SEEED (Social Enterprise and Ecosystem Development) conference at Brown University, my alma mater. I had been asked to speak on a panel at this conference on behalf of iDE.

I arrived late to the conference just in time for a panel on Impact Investing with Tracy Palandjian, CEO, Social Finance, Inc., Bill Strathmann, CEO, Network for Good, and Michael Brown, CEO & Co-Founder, City Year. Read their bios here. It was an excellent panel with so many different perspectives and I was honored by their willingness to participate in Brown’s first conference of this kind. I asked the last question during the panel: “What do you think is missing in this sector to unlock and realize the $3 trillion market JP Morgan describes? How can we get this into the public eye and funnel the most capital into the hands of social enterprises?” and I got three great answers, two of which are highlighted here:

Tracy Palandjian answered – “We need the business cases to prove that investors can make money by supporting social ventures.” Excellent answer and totally spot on. Then, Michael Brown answered:

We need an Apollo of our time.

I heard an audible gasp of inspiration and awe in the crowd. It took our breaths away. Then I thought, I have to find that Apollo and support it, or do it.

Throughout the conference I was touched by the openness and willingness to collaborate and share. Like at the HUB gathering, I felt that I was part of the founding members of something bigger than myself that would be a beacon to the world.

Then, during the lunch session on Saturday, I realized what that Apollo might be.

I met a 16 year old entrepreneur who lives in Providence. Brown had partnered with Social Venture Partners, Rhode Island, which has had tremendous leadership and innovation in supporting local social entrepreneurs. They partnered with Ashoka Youth Ventures to support a youth program. This young man, John Novas, had been supported by SVPRI and sat at a table with professionals, investors and other entrepreneurs more than double his age. He told us about his business, Earth Custom Designs, which takes non precious stones from the developing world, makes them into jewelry and sells them here in the US, and gives back to the communities that sent the rocks. He wanted to help others as he felt he had been helped to start this business.

All of us at the table were dumbfounded. We were supposed to come up with a product or new venture at the table but we couldn’t get past the awe we felt for this young man, with this incredible spirit, who wanted to help the world.

All we could do is jot down a few notes about creating a loan fund for young entrepreneurs under 20. I knew there was something here, but at the moment we couldn’t fully structure it because we couldn’t stop asking John questions about how he got here. We asked what he needed from us. He said just keep doing what you are doing. Didn’t ask for a thing. The humility baffled us.

I realized in that moment that something really profound had happened around that table.

The Apollo of our time would be an entrepreneur like John Novas. Youth. The youth of the world would unite us like nothing before it.

It hit me that the HUB Boulder would support youth entrepreneurs and gather around them with all of our skills and mentorship, and help them become that Apollo mission.

And so would Brown, Social Venture Partners Rhode Island, and everyone around that table who represented consulting firms and organizations such as Acumen Fund, iDE, and Brown University.

I passed a note around the table for everyone to sign their name and their email addresses. I took a picture to record it and email to everyone, and gave John Novas the note to keep. I had to take a picture with these young men:

: The Apollo missionaries of our time

After the conference ended, we all got an email from John and his partner Anthony no less than an hour later:

Hi guys,
On behalf of Earth Custom Designs, I would like to thank you sincerely for giving me the opportunity to come in and be a part of the Seeed Summit, I truly appreciated all of your time and support. From your kind words and through your actions, I admire your work as well as your passion in helping social ventures grow. Throughout our interactions you were always professional, kind, and considerate and you always stayed true to your mission.

Thank you for taking the time out to talk with me. If there are any more opportunities that are linked to Seeed Summit, I would love to be a part of it.

As a reminder, my venture is Earth Custom Designs. We make bracelets that incorporate non-precious stones from developing countries that support the growth of education in poor villages where the stones first originates from. My business partner Anthony Defilippo and I will definitely keep you updated on the progress we make with our venture. Hope to hear from you soon.

Sincerely, Earth Custom Designs
“Uniting the world, one stone at a time”
Anthony Defilippo and John Novas

So, to HUB Boulder and to Brown University – I invite you to keep being the beacon to connect the global and local communities around supporting these incredible heroes. I will support you and sing your praises, and be a part of the foundation that creates the change we want to see in the world.

With love and great hope,
Heidi Cuppari

The Day That Changed My Life

Posted on December 27, 2011 by Heidi Cuppari

Dear visitor,

If you are here, you probably care about the world. I need your help to spread the word about this unique and sustainable approach to poverty.

I’ve been working at iDE for nearly 2 years, but the moment that changed my life—the moment when I truly experienced the impact of our work first-hand—was the day I met Anita Mwembe in Zambia…

Back in 2007, Anita and her family were living in a thatched roof hut on a small plot of land. She was making only $1-2 per day by selling packets of sugar and chickens outside the front of her hut. After becoming an iDE entrepreneur, she learned farming practices and invested in a drip irrigation system, which now allowed her to grow year round and sell crops for a better return.

Today, Anita is a full-scale entrepreneur. Not only has she quadrupled her income in only 5 years, but she’s also started a seed collective, purchased a car to get products to market more quickly, and even setup a women’s micro-lending network to support others in her community grow their businesses. But most important of all, is what this has provided…

Anita can now afford to send all of her children to school, she has built her family a new brick home, and she is even giving back to her community.

In short, through working with iDE, Anita’s entrepreneurial spirit has been unleashed. Her dreams are flourishing.

Since my trip to Zambia, I have traveled to Bangladesh and Cambodia also and I continue to be incredibly inspired and touched by the sparkle in the eyes of the people we work with – those who have invested in their future and with iDE’s partnership, brought themselves and their families out of poverty.

Please join me in spreading the word and help me reach my personal goal of $10,000 this holiday season. Our board is matching up to $50K dollar for dollar, so your investment is doubled.

It would be the greatest gift I’ve ever received if I reach my goal – which means we can help 500 individuals out of poverty.

So please give what you can, or help me spread the word. You will make more people happy than just me.

Thanks, and with great hope and love,

Heidi Cuppari

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Celebrating Ten Years of Acumen Fund – Joy, Humility, and Bollywood Style Flash Mobs

Posted on November 16, 2011 by Heidi Cuppari

As I stepped out of the taxi in front of the Skylight SoHo in NYC last Thursday, I took a deep breath. I was about to walk in to the celebration of Acumen Fund‘s 10 year anniversary.

During my time at Acumen Fund in 2004 and 2005, we were a start-up. 6 years later, we’re a global phenomenon.

I say “we” – because once you become part of the Acumen Fund community, you are always family. There’s something really deep that connects people that come in contact with Acumen Fund. I think its a sense of real commitment to people. To the world. To innovate new ways that can change lives. To unrest and unwillingness to let people flounder while others flourish. To recruiting the best and brightest minds in the world to this cause, and unrelentingly pursuing solutions that work. To knowing that we are all one and we are all connected, and there’s nothing we should stop at to give people the opportunity to change their own lives. When you feel that, along with others, it’s unstoppable and the constraints of time and space don’t apply.

I now live in Boulder, CO. Acumen Fund is based in NYC, where I lived for 10 years. I moved here to pursue a more balanced lifestyle, and still, I can’t rest until I find more like-minded people who care about the world in this way. I have found it in Boulder. There are so many conscious, loving people here. It’s why I am so passionate about my work with iDE which is headquartered outside of Denver – its the same story. I learned about iDE when I was at Acumen – because Acumen invested in iDE’s India program. I have been using the story of micro-drip irrigation for years when people ask me what social enterprise is.

Somehow, the stars aligned so that I happened to live in Colorado when iDE was hiring for the exact same position I was doing at Acumen Fund. I’ve been at iDE since February 2010 and have had the pleasure of visiting Zambia, Cambodia and Bangladesh to meet our customers.

My heart explodes with hope for humanity when I see the work that Acumen and iDE do.

I digress.

The celebration was spectacular. There were 450 people. Each person got a gorgeous scarf as they walked in. Many people, including myself, were dressed in South Asian garb. (I was wearing a Bangladeshi dress that I had made when I was there in February. I knew this would be the perfect place for it)

The energy was connected and loving and celebratory. During the cocktail hour, a flash mob assembled to dance Bollywood style in the middle of the crowd. A spoken word poet named Sarah K inspired us with her words about being a teacher in New York. Aaron Neville performed his beautiful songs. There was an engaging 7 minute video about Acumen told by the community. And Jacqueline Novogratz, Acumen’s visionary, brilliant, open-hearted CEO and founder, gave an inspiring 30 minute speech about where Acumen’s been and where they are going. They have ambitious goals: to double their portfolio to $150 million in 15 countries by 2015, while also expanding their leadership programs to include 400 leaders and 40 chapters with the goal of serving 150 million individuals.

Here’s the flash mob of dancers, made up of staff, board members and donors:

Here’s the 7 minute video during the program:

One of the main things that struck me was the humility. The truth about failures was not hidden, and there was a real effort to make everyone feel a part of this community. Even the fact that Jacqueline, my old boss, said she was proud of ME. Here’s this incredibly successful woman who inspired me to do what I do now, and still has time to be humble and give so many compliments to others. Here’s a great pic I had to share, because it shows the joy in our faces:

I was so proud to have been part of this incredible organization in its start-up days, and to see it flourishing now. I’m honored to have shared this incredible night with this inspiring global community, which came from 20 countries around the world to be there. There were Indians, Pakistanis, and Saudi Arabians all dancing together like family, and there was Jacqueline, heart exploding with joy at what’s possible.

This is the hope I see for the world.

What does it mean to you to operate from a heart-centered place in business?

Posted on October 11, 2011 by Heidi Cuppari

This summer, I was asked to do a 14 minute “TED” style talk at Harvard’s Igniting Innovation Summit on October 1 by the enterprising undergraduate chair, Kara Kubarych. Earlier this year, I had conducted a guest lecture in David Ager’s Social Entrepreneurship class about iDE, and Kara had been moved by our work.

The theme of the summit was ‘movement’ and ‘action’, so I was asked to speak about bold actions for social change.

As I prepared in the weeks prior and thought about what I wanted to talk about, it came to me. I want to talk about a different way of being in the world. A different way of being in business. To not accept the status quo of conformity and actually operate in business from a heart-led place. To me, it means operating from a place of fearlessness, open-heartedness, and authenticity. What would it look like if everyone operated that way? If all business owners and leaders operated that way?

I wanted to gain some insight and inspiration from other business leaders in Colorado where I live. The perfect opportunities presented themselves right as I needed them as I flowed through meetings in Boulder, and in the form of a w1sd0m gathering in downtown Boulder, CO. I grabbed my iPhone, launched the video camera, and started asking the question without them knowing what I was going to ask. The responses I got astounded me. I just had to include them in my talk. These leaders are successes in the fields of social enterprise, renewable energy, green/fair trade products, philanthropy, and asset management. My brilliant volunteer intern, Jenny Wardell, created an amazing video from these compiled clips to include in my talk. I thought you’d enjoy seeing the incredible consciousness and leadership in this field exploding in Colorado.

Now, I ask you, the reader of this blog – no matter what you do, please consider this question, and please post your answer. I want to hear from you!

Volcano Explodes Social Entrepreneurship in Oxford & London!

Posted on April 21, 2010 by Heidi Cuppari

IDE, w1sd0m, Skoll World Forum, Oxford Jam, TedXVolcano..

WOW! I don’t know how it happened, but somehow life has conspired to effect collaboration on a global scale. Ride-sharing, couch-surfing, new communities and networks forming … its mind-boggling and unimaginably inspiring. Last week, Oxford UK became the nexus of global social entrepreneurialism – launching a phenomenon (with a little help from a volcano in Iceland) that feels as if it has irrevocably altered the landscape for social entrepreneurs, their projects, and the people they exist to serve.

I came to Oxford During the Skoll World Forum for Social Entrepreneurship on behalf of IDE – (International Development Enterprises), a 28 year old organization founded by Paul Polak. I was to meet the international board and discuss how IDE could achieve greater scale and impact by helping more people at the Bottom of the Pyramid (BOP) sustainably increase their income . We stayed at Corpus Christi college and enjoyed gorgeous days and intensive discussions with great minds. I managed to make it to OxfordJam for a breakfast about online collaboration platforms for Impact Investing – I could only stay for an hour, yet even in that brief period met an incredible group of people open to innovation and collaboration on a scale I’ve never before experienced.

The volcano had already erupted, but nobody paid it any mind till the conferences were over and we realized that we were stuck. So back to London we all went..

… and so now, a new community is being born that is coming together in an even deeper way.

Saturday there was a great Kiva event where people shared Kiva trivia, their own business ideas, and trains and bus trips to the south of France and other places were arranged.

Here’s a little video clip of Matt Flannery, Kiva C0-Founder, and Premal Shah, President:

After this fun trivia contest, Matt & Premal asked if anyone had an emerging company and would like to talk about it. I stood up and introduced w1sd0m, an emerging network that I’m helping to build as core team, that helps social & sustainable enterprises like IDE (For which it’s already opened a lot of doors) find the intellectual, human, social & financial capital they need.

Sunday was the first ever “TedXVolcano” organized by Nathanial Whittemore, Evan Grant & June Cohen. In 36 hours these rockstars brought together TED, TEDxLondon, The Hub, Sandbox Network, Newspepper.com, & Robert Leslie along with Skoll World Forum Speakers and other great minds such as Matthew Bishop, Jim Hornthal, Gary Bolles, Peter Greenberg, Elizabeth Lindsey and musician Shesheela Raman.. Click here for the story of how they did it..

One of my favorite moments was when Jeff Skoll read his volcano poem:

Jeff Skoll’s volcano poem

This is an ode to the volcano
That sent our travel plans into the draino
I’m not really one to complaino
But this all hurts my little braino
Madrid, Casablanca, Amsterdam, Rejkavik on cruiseships
The trains will fail
All the escape routes that we planned
Are blocked by nature or by man
We heard the French trains may soon be striking
At this rate we’ll all be biking
With our luck we’ll all be struck by lightning!
This is all rather frightening
So better we all meet at TED
That is what I should have said
So thank you June and thank you all
Damn the volcano, let’s have a ball

Presented at TEDXVolcano, London, 4/19/2010

Monday afternoon, Suzanne Biegel, social venture investor and “catalyst at large” (i love her title!) and Dr. Audrey Selian of Rianta Capital organized some action-takers from the Friday OxfordJam breakfast who have built collaboration and connection platforms for impact investors and social entrepreneurs. Socential, Artha, ClearlySo, Nexii, Sasix, Gexsi along with w1sd0m were there to talk about ways to collaborate in an efficient way and eliminate waste of resources for entrepreneurs, and the networks themselves.

Another networking event after this meeting led to even more fascinating conversations over dinner with Jill Finlayson & Jason Clark of SocialEdge, Lora O’Connor of Citizenglobal.com, Cathy Clark who runs the Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship (CASE) program at Duke, Suzanne Biegel, Sean Holt, David Green (Solar World for All), and others.

Waking up this morning I’m slammed with all of the ideas, people, and inspiration swirling in my head. I don’t even need coffee!

As much as being ‘stranded’ in London would be viewed by many as disastrous, the remarkable thing about this exceptional group of people is that, when faced with no other options, they simply turned lemons into lemonade. For the past ten days, due in no small part to the intercession of the very earth so many are working to save, some of the most brilliant minds and open hearts in the world have come together to talk, to dance, to celebrate – and most importantly of all, to find new ways of working together (as the Buddhists would say) in service to all beings.

I’m grateful and honored and humbled to have been invited to engage with these people, at this time, in this way.