Jacqueline Novogratz

“What farmers gain most of all from the increase in agricultural productivity, of course, is choice.”

“I am an insomniac. Most of my nights include a moment of wakening. Often I will make my way to the kitchen to make tea and read for awhile.”

“By helping a woman, you help a family.”

“I was an accidental banker. To please my parents, I went for an interview with Chase Manhattan Bank in 1983. They promised to send me into their offices in more than 40 countries and essentially audit the practices. It was an extraordinary job.”

“In India, we now see many highly qualified professionals ready to work in the rural hinterland and in their own towns and cities to tackle development issues directly without depending much on the government.”

“Even when early innovations start to succeed, it is not uncommon to see growing businesses sabotaged for threatening the status quo.”

“I've been working on issues of poverty for more than 20 years, and so it's ironic that the problem that and question that I most grapple with is how you actually define poverty. What does it mean?”

“You have to learn to ask questions in a way that will elicit more nuanced answers, rather than the answers you would like to get.”

“Grief releases love and it also instills a profound sense of connection.”

“I've learned that generosity is far easier than justice and that, in the highly distorted markets of the poor, it is all too easy to veer only toward the charitable, to have low--or no--expectations for low-income people. This does nothing but reaffirm prejudices on all sides.”

“Money earned by men would not always reach to their wives and children.”

“I've heard it said that the most dangerous animal on the planet is the adolescent male.”

“Through the Fellows Program, Acumen Fund prepares future global leaders with the tools necessary to drive significant social change.”

“My first grade nun had instructed me that from those to whom much is given, much is expected. I was learning that this lesson had to be combined with Shakespeare's wisdom that one must 'to thine own self be true.' Add to this humility, empathy, a sense of curiosity, courage, and plain old hard work, and I was finally seeing the real path to leadership. Of course, humor is always a plus. (158)”

“As both developed and developing nations search for alternative sources of energy in response to the growing energy crisis, we at Acumen Fund believe that investing in entrepreneurs who provide innovative energy solutions is an increasingly critical part of the solution.”

“We see very, very high rates of C-sections, Cesarean sections, in India. Lots of reasons for it, high levels of malnutrition have meant that women have very small pelvic areas often, so if they have larger babies, it's very hard to deliver.”

“When I see people that are my age and reaching 50, the ones that are really sparkly and full of joy are the ones that are committed to something bigger than themselves.”

“Poverty is not only about income levels, but for lack of freedom that comes from physical insecurity”

“Why do some people stop growing at age 30, just going from work to the couch and television, when others stay vibrant, curious, almost childlike into their nineties?”

“Standing with the poor means walking away from unethical leaders, even when their companies are 'succeeding.'”