Tag Archives: venture philanthropy

The Day That Changed My Life

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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

 

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

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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!

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.

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!!