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

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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.

Falling in Love

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I’ve fallen in love.

It happened right around Valentines Day.

Landing in Dhaka, Bangladesh on February 10, buoyed by the excitement of a new connection I made with friends in my own community, I was open to whatever came next.

After 35 hours of travel and 1 hour of freshening up, me and my travel partners Laryl Hutchin and Ilona Niemczyk, fellow colleagues at IDE,  arrived at the IDE-Bangladesh country office and greeted with open arms. Led by Rajiv Pradhan, a superstar social entrepreneur and the Country Director here, the staff there had arranged for our adventure to begin the next morning, guided by the brilliant and beautiful Raisa Chowdhury, IDE-Bangladesh’s Communication Officer.  We set out to drive 6 hours to Barisal, a 200 year old Muslim city in the southern part of Bangladesh.  Hanif, our driver, has been with IDE for 13 years so I knew we were in good hands.  I put on some music and watched out the window as we drove at breakneck speed and skill to our destination.

The next morning we left on a speedboat to an Island named Bhola.  We were going to meet IDE’s fish and vegetable farmers on this island. Since IDE works in partnership with rural poor families, we look at their entire situation for what might help them increase their income, whether its vegetables, fish, pigs or other such income generating activities.

After driving and walking through stunning vistas in this tropical place, we found a group of fish farmers first, and then through a grove of banana trees, came upon a group of women farmers.

This, my friends, is where it happened. I fell in love, and my heart cracked wide open with the possibility of the human spirit.

These women were strong, confident, and hard-working. They had been working with IDE for 4 years – and because of our partnership with them, because we work with them as customers and partners, not beneficiaries, I could see the progress.. In this remote place, the women and their families were flourishing.

They were still poor by most standards, yet the smiles on their faces belied another quiet but strong factor in their lives.

Those smiles came from the dignity of being able to feed their families, send their children to school, and expand their farms.

They asked for visits to commercial farms so they could grow theirs. They wanted better rates and terms from micro-finance institutions. They knew all of the players and they knew what they wanted.

They offered us coconut milk, tomatoes, and asked us questions about why we were there, etc.

We are here to learn from you, we said. We want to tell your story so we can reach more customers like you, to provide tools and opportunities to more farming entrepreneurs like you. We are also mothers, we said. We are just like you. We are one.

I showed pictures of my little children, Summer and Cody, on my iPhone. I had videos as well, and showed them. That’s when we all fell in love with each other. They crowded around to see my children. I played the videos and pictures over and over on their request. They let us hold one of their gorgeous babies.  They invited us to come back for lunch with our children, and come live with them for a while.

Here’s a photo with the women:

My new family

The incredible thing is that this is only one story of many that occurred during this trip. After Bangladesh, we went to visit Mike Roberts and his superstar team in the IDE-Cambodia program, and went on field visits in Siem Reap and Phnom Penh – we had more adventures, connections and inspirations than I could ever write about in one blog post, but stay tuned!

Every day I was inspired, for 10 days straight. Every day, my heart broke open wider. Between connections with farming families and staff halfway around the world, and connections with new people in my community back home, I’m awestruck by the potential we have, at IDE and in our lives, to unleash the human spirit and inspire dreams and change and entrepreneurship.

This is what I live for.

To connect with and fall in love, over and over again, with the human spirit.

Thank you for this experience and this learning, IDE.  You are one incredible organization!

———————

PS. To view slide shows of my trip and our adventures, click on the below links. As a facebook friend you should be able to view them:

1. Bangladesh Album 1 – great hair, fish farms and more..

2. Bangladesh Album 2 – landing in a village where westerners have never been..

3. Cambodia – pig farms, latrine selling, and a social enterprise for water filters..

Midterm Election Agita

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Ok. I’m sitting here having forced myself to watch the midterm election coverage. (and yes, I voted this morning and volunteered for GOTV in 2008). I wanted to watch Andrew Romanoff cover Colorado, not only because I think he’s brilliant and talented and inspiring, but also because he has recently joined IDE to spread awareness in Colorado and beyond for IDE and our market-based approach to ending poverty in the lives of rural poor families in the developing world. He believes our work is incredibly important and wants to put himself and everything he has behind us. I’m sad that he lost his bid for a US Senate Seat, but the 1 Billion people who live on less than $1 / day won when he decided to focus on giving them a chance.

Now, if you met me only 2 years ago, you’d think of me as obsessed with politics and activism and ranting about all of the things that are wrong with the world.  If you met me 7 years ago, you’d have seen me tirelessly working on Howard Dean‘s campaign for President in New York State.  In either case, you’re probably surprised to see that I had to force myself to watch election coverage this evening.

So, why the change? Simple: Optimism.

I choose to live my life surrounded by people working together to solve global problems.

It doesn’t matter if you are Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, Green Party, or any other affiliation out there.  If you are part of a family, or have a family, you can probably connect with this sentiment:

You want to be able to make your own choices and solve your own problems. You want the opportunity to lift yourself up if you are struggling, to educate yourself and your children, and to live in a safe home. You want to be able to purchase life-saving medicines. You want to eat three meals a day.

You want someone, somewhere, to see your potential. That you are worthy of an investment and you are not a recipient of charity.

In my experience since I’ve been in the field of social enterprise, I’ve not met ONE person who doesn’t nod when they hear this. Who doesn’t connect with that need and that burning desire.

Folks, THIS is the place where we can all start from, to begin creating massive global change.  I invite you to post your comments, ideas, thoughts and passions. We have a lot of work to do to unleash human potential together.

And THIS place is where we can meet, beyond all ideas of right vs. left, and as Rumi said “meet beyond all ideas of right and wrong.”

Inspiration in Zambia

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Sitting here in my hotel in Lusaka, Zambia after a week of inspiration, learning more about IDE‘s work at one of our more developed African country programs.

There is so much to report.. I don’t even know where to start.

On Saturday I arrived and immediately was transported to the Henry Tayali art center, where I met with some Zambian artists to procure some artwork for IDE’s exhibit in Denver at the 910 Arts Gallery on Santa Fe, “Art of Dirt“. Memories of my NYC art consulting/art dealing & appraising career in the late 90′s, I listened to stories of inspiration and creativity by these amazing artists. I will be posting some photos of the artwork once our art auction site is live in a few weeks.

On Monday, my colleague and I visited the Zambia headquarters and formally met the staff, comprised of irrigation experts, agriculture experts, farm business advisors, monitoring and evaluation staff, and consultants who make up the incredible country program where 16,000 farmers lives will be impacted this year. This entire operation is set up to teach rural poor farmers how to install and use irrigation equipment, how to grow the highest value crops for the most amount of income, pest management, fertilizer application, and seed procurement. IDE uses the most thorough and integrated approach to educating these farmers to increase their income.

I visited countless farmers who have gone from tiny plots with no irrigation to much larger plots in one year. One farmer, Jordan, is in the beginning phases of his training with IDE and went from making 700,000 kwacha a year (about $140) to $1200 a year in ONE GROWING CYCLE.

Lloyd, another farmer who has been working with IDE for about 3 years, started with a small plot, and purchased a treadle pump, then added drip irrigation, then a motorized pump and is now the lead farmer in his 35 farmer group. All of his 5 children go to school, and 2 have graduated high school and are looking to go to college. He has increased his income FIVE TIMES over in those 3 years.

IDE is to micro-irrigation and farm business advising as Grameen Bank is to micro-credit.

The impact is astounding.

Not only does IDE help increase the yield of the crops with these farmers, but we also help them get access to markets. Brokering deals with seed companies, supermarkets for local produce, farmers markets, and more. I could just see the entrepreneurial spirit bursting out of these farmers who wanted to get bigger and bigger as they saw the power of this type of knowledge and training, and access to agricultural input products, and saw how they could make money by pooling their yield to sell to larger and larger food companies and organizations.

IDE unleashes the entrepreneurial spirit of the rural poor… and helps them become serious commercial smallholder farmers who hold the key to global food security.

Only 10% of the ‘irrigatable land’ in Zambia is being utilized. Supermarkets and food brokers are ordering food from South Africa. Not necessary. The entire country’s economy could potentially be transformed if we are able to scale in Zambia. Focus on Scaling Market Access, Replicate that in 12 country programs, scale globally.

That’s the power of IDE’s potential.

When I get home, watch out for a fundraising whirlwind to make this happen! If this inspires you as it has me, contact me and let’s get you involved with this incredible work, however you want to contribute!

More soon…

What Will I Show My Children?

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This past week, the CEO of IDE (International Development Enterprises), Al Doerksen, asked the collection of VPs, Country Directors, and staff to bring a tangible ‘show and tell’ item to our first ‘home week’ meeting (4 weeks a year when everyone suspends travel to collaborate in Denver) as a symbol of IDE in our current experiences.

He asked our imaginations to run wild.. and so I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and imagined the most important thing to me and why I am working with this organization. For me, its about the LOVE. Love for my children, of course, but also Loving and caring enough about every person in the world to work our tails off trying to give people at the ‘bottom of the pyramid” the opportunity to make more income with simple, affordable irrigation technology, so they can make their own choices and solve their own problems. The words Pride and Dignity ring true. Unleashing the power of smallholder farmer’s entrepreneurial spirit. Enabling these hard working farmer families to dream.

And so, to the meeting, I brought a little toy race car.. and read the poem below to everyone in the room, breathing deep in between every stanza. Enjoy.

What will I show my children?
Fast cars, or dried tears of happiness
on the face of a farmer who can
finally provide for his or her family?


What will I show my children?
That I maximized  shareholder profits, or
that I maximized smallholder profits?


What will I show my children?
A world that focuses on attacks and hate,
Or a world that provides
options and prosperity to
the developing world?


What will I show my children?
Expensive prep schools,
or that I helped millions
of girls go to school in
the developing world?


What will I show my children?
That we ignore the bottom of the pyramid..
where people are left out and can’t dream…

or that we – and them -

can be the change we want to see in the world?


-by Heidi Cuppari, written for her work with IDE – International Development Enterprises.

If you are interested in IDE’s work, please feel free to set up a meeting or teleconference with me.. I’d love to tell you more!

Here are links to Donate Online or Get Connected to follow IDE’s work.

Who Can Change the World? Live from "SocEnt Valley".. Boulder, CO

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As George Bernard Shaw once said, ”The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in adapting the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man [& woman].”

This quote inspired a group of brilliant young men who recently graduated from University of Colorado. From this, The Unreasonable Institute was born in Boulder, Colorado, dubbed here on HeidiCuppari.com for the first time as“SocEnt Valley.” (the new center for social & sustainable entrepreneurship & enterprise!).

I’ve had the pleasure of meeting a few of these young, passionate social entrepreneurs.  I’m blown away by their innovation and drive. They have created an incredibly interesting model.  They have assembled an list of advisors, veterans and thought leaders in this industry as well, which includes my partner and President of w1sd0m, Greg Berry.

See below for notes and actions to take from Teju Ravilochan. I reposted them here because I believe in them and what they’re doing, and want to support them by spreading the word…

“The Background. We announced to the world that we were searching for young entrepreneurs with ventures that could effectively address social and environmental problems while financially sustainable and globally scalable to millions of people. The response was incredible! And now, after receiving 284 applications from 45 countries, we’ve developed an unusual way to involve the world in selecting the 25 entrepreneurs we’ll bring to the Unreasonable Institute while admitting them free of charge, testing their entrepreneurial ability, and covering our costs of operations. It’s an online platform called the Unreasonable Finalist Marketplace and you can learn everything you need to know about it from watching this 1-minute and 12 second YouTube video, to the tune of AC/DC’s Back in Black (if you’d like more background on the Unreasonable Institute, feel free to scroll down to the very bottom of this email and read the section entitled “The Background on the Unreasonable Institute.” Otherwise, read on…)

2 Simple Requests. Every entrepreneur on the marketplace must rally the support of hundreds of people from across the globe. This is your chance to have your say! If you can spare 10-20 minutes:

  1. Head to our online Finalist Marketplace and vote with your dollars ($10, $50, however much you like within the current $250 max) for an entrepreneur you believe will change the course of history. The fate of our finalists, and of the lives they will affect, rests in your hands.
  2. Tell 5 people you know about our marketplace. Whether or not you can contribute financially to any of the entrepreneurs on the marketplace, perhaps the single most important way to support our finalists without spending a dollar or more than 5 minutes of your time is to tell 5 people you know about the opportunity to back these young, high-impact entrepreneurs. I’ll even make it easy for you: You can copy and paste details below into the relevant channels.
    • Send an Email: Send our YouTube video to 5 of your friends.
    • Copy and paste this message to your Twitter Account: These 33 entrepreneurs could change the world. You decide which 25 attend the Unreasonable Institute http://ow.ly/149cu
    • Copy and paste this message to your Facebook Account: These 33 entrepreneurs could change the world. You decide which 25 will receive the training, mentorship, and seed capital they need to launch at the Unreasonable Institute: http://ow.ly/149cu

Background on The Unreasonable Institute:

We select and bring together (attract & unite) 25 young social entrepreneurs (Unreasonable Fellows) from across the globe for a 10-week summer institute in Boulder, Colorado. During these 10 weeks, we incubate their ideas by providing them rigorous entrepreneurial skill training, legal advice, prototype consulting, web hosting and development services, and mentorship from 50 proven entrepreneurs and investors like the co-founder of Google.org and an entrepreneur who has lifted over 19 million people out of poverty. (Note from Heidi.. He’s talking about Paul Polak, Founder of IDE, the organization I’m raising funds for. See my projects page) After bringing their ideas from an idea stage to a prototype stage / investable stage (giving their ideas legs), we provide them access to at least $150,000 in seed capital and the chance to pitch to over 200 investors and enlightened philanthropists (finance) and support them with a global network to give their ideas wings.  Our goal is to incubate & finance 25 social ventures a year that will each effectively address a major global issue (e.g. poverty, environmental degradation, slavery), become financially self-sustaining within a year, scale beyond the country of origin within 3 years, and ultimately reach at least 1 million people.

Hot Stuff in Miami..

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Why should you go to Miami from March 17-19?

Because.. its snowy almost every place else in the US this time of year and you need SUN?  Or because you can stroll on South Beach and see lots of thongs and muscled bodies?

Well, those reasons are always fun, (believe me, I’ll probably be doing a bit of that too.. why not??!!) but if you want to connect with world leaders in social venture capital and social enterprise.. AND attend the most important Haiti conference at the same time, Miami’s hot and the place to be.

The Social Venture Capital/Social Enterprise Conference, Miami-2010 Advisory Board is led by top professionals from Social Venture Capital/Social Enterprise organizations around the world.

Alvaro Rodriguez Arregui - Ignia
Jonathan C. Lewis, MicroCredit Enterprises
Daniella Levine – Human Services Coalition
Kelly Michel – Vox Capital
Rodrigo Villar – New Ventures Mexico
Percy Venegas – Solar Business Technology
Eric Leenson – Progressive Asset Management and Instituto Ethos
Raul Pomares – Guggenheim Partners

Also, Social Venture Capital/Social Enterprise Conference, Miami-2010 will be your best opportunity in 2010 to learn, network, and connect with hundreds of top social enterprise/financial leaders and organizations from Latin America, the Caribbean, and the state of Florida- in addition to organizations worldwide which have an interest in expanding to the region.

I’ve reposted some info from the conference website below for at-a-glance info on the conference:

The following groups will be attending SVC/SE, Miami-2010:

  • Venture Philanthropists
  • Social-responsible Funds
  • Venture Capital/Private Equity Investment Banks
  • Institutional Investors
  • Angel Investors/Individual Investors
  • Private Wealth Managers
  • Foundations
  • Multinational Corporate Executives
  • Development Banks and Agencies
  • Nonprofit Organizations Businesses with a Social Agenda
  • Social Enterprises and Social Entrepreneurs
  • Civil Society Organizations
  • Advocacy Groups
  • Government Organizations
  • Top University Leaders

Conference Goals:

  • Promote economic development within the region by utilizing Social Venture Capital and Social Enterprise.
  • Establish Miami as a capital of Social Venture Capital/Social Enterprise for Latin America, the Caribbean and the state of Florida. Contribute and support continued construction of the local social enterprise ecosystem.
  • Educate traditional finance (private banking, venture capital, and angel investment) about investment opportunities within Social Venture Capital and Social Enterprise. Leverage Miami’s reputation as a regional financial capital for the benefit of Social Venture Capital and Social Enterprise in the region.
  • Act as a primary connecting point to the Latin American/ Caribbean Diaspora, from whom it is believed some of the next great Social Enterprise leaders can come. The Diaspora may also represent a material source of capital for both existing and new Social Enterprise organizations within the region.
  • Work in collaboration with other organizations and conferences in establishing effective and standard investment metrics within the industry.

About the Haiti Conference:

Sustainable Haiti is a special “conference within a conference” taking place during Social Venture Capital/Social Enterprise Conference

Sustainable Haiti will contain 45 workshops/panels and over 100 speakers from around the world during its 3 days. Topics will include: Developing Haiti’s tourism sector, increased agriculture opportunities, microfinance for Haitian women, utilizing media to increase awareness to Haiti’s opportunities, job growth, and overall financing of Haitian development projects.  Not one to miss!

I4C A Better Tomorrow…

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I’m working on the coolest project right now which completely aligns with my passion and mission in life: use my skills, passion, knowledge and networks to make the world a better place for our children.. and their children..

I was recently retained to help Touchpoint Trust Group find 75 Triple Bottom Line (TBL) deals to review by January 22. That means, these companies have put PEOPLE and PLANET on the same level of importance of PROFIT. I’m speaking to incredible human beings about their work EVERY DAY, and I can’t wipe the smile off my face.

The Innovative Lilith I4C Campaign is a partnership with Sarah McLaughlin and the Lilith Fair, and TouchPoint! Trust Group. The goal is to select 4-6 ‘social enterprises’ or ‘people, planet, profit’ businesses to receive an investment and major promotion around the Lilith Fair, in June.  The selected companies will actually go ON TOUR with the Lilith Fair and the huge audience will learn about their business, and how they are changing lives.

Great story about this project here.

A little background on how I got here..

When I visited my friend Chandra Reddy Metzler during her Fullbright appointment in Nairobi, Kenya, in 2000, I was first introduced to micro-finance, micro-health and NGOs. I was incredibly inspired by the model, and it made an impression for the future when I would get introduced to the work of Acumen Fund.

I was head of fundraising at Acumen Fund in 2004 and 2005 and was more immersed than ever in the idea of ‘social enterprise’ and ‘social entrepreneurship’. I had dreamed about business models which generated social change before, but to see this group of MBAs, who could have been making a fortune in banking, putting their heads together to solve the world’s social problems.

I had a very successful time at Acumen Fund, and have been interested in the ‘Triple Bottom Line”  (TBL) space since then. To that end, in addition to this project, I recently joined the core team of w1sd0m, a network that connects entrepreneurs, investors and advisors in this industry.

You can do something too!

Please connect with the I4C Campaign on Twitter, and Facebook, and spread the word!!

2010 is coming on FAST and FURIOUS! Here's my take..

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Wow. I mean, wow. 2010 is coming on FAST and FURIOUS.  Here’s my take on what’s happening already:  Baggage gets dropped. New doors are opening. FAST. and the signs of what to do are really clear.

I’ve heard all kinds of stories about the new moon, the blue moon, and the lunar eclipse, and how powerful the night of new years eve would be this year.

Apparently whether you believe these things or not, what you thought of on New Years Eve is a big part of what your life will become in the next 2 years. You will be able to manifest the plans you set forth on New Years Eve.

So, I was at a great New Year’s party at my very good friend’s home with about 60 other people celebrating the coming year together.  I stepped outside to look at the moon, alone, at one point in the night, very late. I took a deep breath and put out what I wanted to manifest in the next 2 years.

Now, on January 4, the first work day of the year, It’s already happening. I mean HAPPENING. I am on the biggest rollercoaster ride I’ve ever been on. (I LOVE rollercoasters and screaming my head off!)

First, I found out one of the businesses I’m doing is about to implode and fall apart. Then, I found a new one to plug my existing partners into which is a much better opportunity and more legitimate in every way. Baggage, negative thing gone. New, valid and big opportunity presents itself.

Then, I find out that an idea in the Social Entrepreneurship space that I presented to a friend and colleague 3 weeks ago has taken off and we are going to have major backing for our project, and kick it off TOMORROW.

And on top of that, I have meetings tomorrow with two major social enterprises / Triple Bottom Line organizations based in Colorado. IDE and I4C.  They are going to lead to big projects in this area, which is where I’m being pulled in a BIG WAY in the last couple weeks of the year, and now 2010 is kicking in HARD to show me the way..

So folks it looks like this blog is going to have quite a few updates and announcements coming… and coming… and coming!

Stay tuned!

Love & Giving: Happy New Year!

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What is life all about? First answer that popped into my head: Love and Giving.

To That End, I have 2 videos for you!

1. Cuppari/Gould Slideshow – This holiday season, I created this slideshow for Friends & Family, and I thought it would be fun to share on my blog. It includes pictures of my children Summer (4 1/2) and Cody (1 1/2), and our families’ adventures in 2009 – Click Here

2. Want to do good this season? Why not do even better? Acumen Fund has a new approach to tacking poverty that actually makes a lasting difference. Acumen Fund | A New Solution To Poverty That Makes a Difference – http://budurl.com/Acumen