Tag Archives: Acumen Fund

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

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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

 

 

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.

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!!

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

How the recession is HELPING people..

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Hello and welcome to my blog on optimism.. I”ll be posting good news and interesting tidbits I find from around the world. One of my favorite magazines is Ode Magazine, and I check their website a few times a week to see what wonderful news I can find.

Today I logged on and saw a story by an acquaintance of mine, Charles Best, who started DonorsChoose.org.  I met him  back in 2004 when he had just started this wonderful organization. I was working at Acumen Fund at the time, and he was seeking advice based on my experience on the Howard Dean for president campaign. As most people know, the Dean For America campaign really democratized political fundraising.

He felt his organization was democratizing charitable giving, and he wanted to build a similar community around his organization. We sat down and got into it. He was young at the time, around 26 or so, and very earnest, honest, passionate and driven. He struck me as the future of social entrepreneurship mixed with a really smart way to fund projects.  Donorschoose allows teachers around the country to post school projects which need funding, and then as a donor you can choose exactly which projects you want to fund. You can see the progress of the project as well and see pictures of the class you are helping. It’s awesome!

So, without further ado I will repost a bit of his article and link to it for your Optimistic reading pleasure!

The goodness of crowds

When large numbers of people give a little, they accomplish a lot. By Charles Best

The global economic recession is an opportunity to fuel social change. While financial instinct says philanthropy will suffer in times of economic distress, there’s evidence that the challenges we face are no match for collective action. I don’t think the road ahead is smooth. But we can’t underestimate the power of “ordinary” individuals in this age of connectedness.

Picture a nest of honeybees, where each insect makes a small but vital contribution. The result is greater than the sum of its parts. A large colony will produce far more honey than two colonies half the size of the larger one. As the colony grows, its efficiency increases.

People can achieve similar triumphs. One of the most promising models is “crowdsourcing,” through which an organization generates content, or gets work performed, by tapping the knowledge and creativity of members of the public. As with a nest of honeybees, each participant contributes a small piece of a greater whole. Zagat’s database of amateur restaurant reviews and YouTube’s user-submitted videos are examples. The more contributors, the better the results.

To continue reading, click here!