Jacqueline Novogratz – Investing in Dignity and Character

My guest today is Jacqueline Novogratz. Jacqueline is the founder and CEO of Acumen, a non-profit global venture fund that uses entrepreneurial approaches to solve the problems of poverty.  Our conversation touches on how Jacqueline left Wall Street and ended up starting a micro finance bank in Rwanda, how she thinks about investing in character, how creating dignity plays such a major role in her investments, and how governments and businesses can work together to solve the world's toughest problems. It is a bit of a departure from my normal investing conversations but contains powerful lessons for many investors and builders. I really enjoyed our conversation and hope you will to.    This episode of Invest Like The Best is sponsored by Canalyst. Canalyst is the leading destination for public company data and analysis.  If you’re a professional equity investor and haven’t talked to Canalyst recently, you should give them a shout. Learn more and try Canalyst for yourself at canalyst.com/Patrick.     For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast. Sign up for the book club and new email newsletter called “Inside the Episode” at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub. Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag   Show Notes (2:29) – (First question) – Where the concept of the blue sweater came from for her book.             (2:44) - The Blue Sweater: Bridging the Gap Between Rich and Poor in an Interconnected World (4:29) – Every child has a humiliated experience and the impact on their life (6:55) – The origin of Acumen (10:42) – Why character is such an important investing filter for her (11:59) – How the markets have changed through the lens of Acumen (16:59) – The challenges of getting started             (17:04) – Manifesto for a Moral Revolution: Practices to Build a Better World (19:46) – Embracing the idea of being uncomfortable and an example for her (21:50) – The space between government action and market action (26:11) – The concept of conformity traps (29:29) – The lens of moral imagination (30:32) – The importance of brining dignity to others (35:09) – Entrepreneurial skills she sees outside of the US that we lack here (39:38) – Biggest problems across the globe she is interested in tackling (42:48) – Impediments to investing in global problems (49:11) – Kindest thing anyone has done for her   Learn More For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast. Sign up for the book club and new email newsletter called “Inside the Episode” at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub. Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag