Jacqueline Novogratz is the founder and CEO of Acumen Fund, a nonprofit global venture fund that seeks to demonstrate that small amounts of philanthropic capital, combined with large doses of business acumen, can build thriving enterprises that serve the poor. Acumen Fund currently manages $20 million in investments in South Asia and Eastern/Southern Africa, all focused on delivering affordable health care, water and housing to the poor. The organization also includes the Acumen Fund Fellows program, focused on building the next generation of business leaders with an understanding of global issues and poverty. The organization has offices in New York, Pakistan, India and Kenya.
Prior to Acumen Fund, Jacqueline founded and directed The Philanthropy Workshop and The Next Generation Leadership program at the Rockefeller Foundation. She also founded Duterimbere, a micro-finance institution in Rwanda. She began her career in international banking with Chase Manhattan Bank. She is currently on the advisory boards of Stanford Graduate School of Business and of Innovations Journal published by MIT Press. She is an Aspen Institute Henry Crown Fellow and a Synergos Institute Senior Fellow. She is a frequent speaker at international conferences, including the World Economic Forum, the Clinton Global Initiative and TED. She has an MBA from Stanford and a BA in Economics/International Relations from the University of Virginia. She speaks Spanish and French and has a working knowledge of Swahili.