Next week Forbes officially rolls out a year ending issue with a focus on Innovation in the Social Sector. The cover story of the special issue features Jacqueline Novogratz, a founder of the Acumen Fund that works in micro-enterprise investing in Asia and Africa.
Having cut her teeth in banking, and then later spending time with major foundations and international NGOs, she was looking for a new method of impacting change that was like charity in how it raised money, yet focused on helping people start their own small enterprises. And did this using a kind of long-term perspective that you would not see from venture capitalists.
Novogratz is one of 30 innovators in the Impact 30 list created by Forbes that also includes two others with Houston connections. Rafael Alvarez of Genesys Works and Richard Barth who runs the Houston founded KIPP Academies from San Francisco.
The lead reporter Helen Coster also intervieed other major figures in the world of Impact Investing Jed Emerson and Antony Bugg-Levine who recently wrote the book, “Impact Investing: Transforming How We Make Money While Making a Difference”. (below)