Bill Clinton, Dona Linda Manueles, and Summer Cuppari Gould

Posted on January 14, 2013 by Heidi Cuppari

On December 4, 2012, my seven-year-old daughter Summer got to see Bill Clinton speak on behalf of rural poor families around the world making $1/day.

Bill Clinton, at the recommendation of one of iDE’s donors who worked in his administration, chose to surprise, attend and speak for 12 minutes at iDE’s second annual Leaders In Their Fields Luncheon – because he believes in the mission.

I’ve included the transcription on my blog here, as well as the raw video comments of his speech. Here’s a news page of iDE’s site which recaps the event nicely.

Meeting Bill Clinton felt like meeting a living legend. Beyond politics, wherever you lay on the spectrum, few can refute what he’s done for humanity since his time in office. A lucky few of us were able to meet him backstage right before he went onstage. Present here are, from left: Stephanie Cox, Tim Prewitt, Paul Polak, Bill, Rehan Hasan and Jim Deters.

I was moved and elated that this living legend made his way to this event. This is the second year iDE has had this fundraising event called Leaders In Their Fields which was named intentionally so iDE could award and highlight first the excellence and accomplishments of the farmers in their lives, and also to create space to bring in incredible speakers of relevance and reverence such as Bill Clinton.

One of my other special moments goes to having met and connected with Dona Linda Manueles who won the Leaders In The Fields award this year.

We instantly felt connected to each other, and I was deeply honored to meet a woman who has done so much for her family and community. I love this photo – it shows our joy that comes with a shared purpose. On the right, one of iDE’s Ambassador’s, Michael Tracy, smiles to himself. It was a wonderful moment in time.

At iDE, for the past 2 1/2 years, we built a fundraising department focused on investments of time, money and talent from individuals and corporations. We created the Ambassadors’ Circle for people like Michael and their families to be able to invest their time along with their money and that be valued just the same. To create a community of change-makers with means who care about each other and our mission.

On December 4, my heart exploded with possibility for more positive impact on humanity as a result of what we were all able to pull off on that day.

With Andrew Romanoff as emcee, we had 750 people present, including Governor John Hickenlooper, (in photo along with Romanoff on right) other public officials, the state treasurer, the city council president, heads of companies, out of town companies present, partners organizations, new family foundation donors, etc, etc..

Best of all, my mother Brigitte Cuppari and my 7 year old daughter Summer Cuppari Gould were able to be there to experience the event. When Clinton took the stage, Summer grabbed my iPhone and started filming Clinton and whispered to me with bright excited eyes: ”When was he President, Mama?”

The joy I felt with three generations of my family – all strong women – in this room filled with potential, possibility, hope and humanity – was profound. To inspire my daughter to both understand what I do and how I serve humanity, to share with my mother who from a young age did everything in her power to foster, encourage, and support a world vision in me – is something I never imagined could happen, and is a moment I will remember for the rest of my life. Bridging the gap of generations and action and service is the best holiday gift, and launches me into the new year filled with hope for the future.

News Links:

Read about the event in the Denver Post here. Or, in The San Francisco Chronicle (AP) here.

Or watch a clip of the event on Denver’s CBS 4 News site here.

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

Donate Now

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!

Midterm Election Agita

Posted on November 2, 2010 by Heidi Cuppari

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.”

What Will I Show My Children?

Posted on June 20, 2010 by Heidi Cuppari

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

Posted on March 2, 2010 by Heidi Cuppari

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:

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.
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..

Posted on February 19, 2010 by Heidi Cuppari

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…

Posted on January 17, 2010 by Heidi Cuppari

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..

Posted on January 4, 2010 by Heidi Cuppari

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!