The Blue Sweater: Bridging the Gap Between Rich and Poor in an Interconnected World

by Jacqueline Novogratz

Overview

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “A visionary book . . . devoted to providing opportunity to poor people in all countries in an interconnected world.”—Deepak Chopra

“An inspiring book by a remarkable woman.”—People
 
It all started with the blue sweater, the one my uncle Ed gave me. . . . The blue sweater had made a complex journey, from my closet in Alexandria, Virginia, to a young child in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda. . . . The story of the blue sweater has always reminded me of how we are all connected. Our actions—and inaction—touch people we may never know and never meet across the globe.

Jacqueline Novogratz left a career in international banking to spend her life on a quest to understand global poverty and find powerful new ways of tackling it. From her first stumbling efforts as a young idealist venturing forth in Africa to the creation of the trailblazing organization she runs today, Novogratz tells gripping stories with unforgettable characters. She shows how traditional charity often fails, but how a new form of philanthropic investing called “patient capital” can help make people self-sufficient and can change millions of lives.
 
More than just an autobiography or a how-to guide to addressing poverty, The Blue Sweater is a call to action that challenges us to grant dignity to the poor and to rethink our engagement with the world.
 
Jacqueline will donate her paperback royalties to Acumen Fund and other organizations fighting for social change.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781605294766
Publisher:	Harmony/Rodale
Publication date:	02/16/2010
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	320
Sales rank:	309,200
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.30(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

JACQUELINE NOVOGRATZ is founder and CEO of Acumen Fund, a nonprofit venture capital firm for the poor that invests in sustainable enterprises in the developing world.

Read an Excerpt

CHAPTER 1
(Continues…)

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Excerpted from "The Blue Sweater"
by .
Copyright © 2010 Jacqueline Novogratz.
Excerpted by permission of Potter/Ten Speed/Harmony/Rodale.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Table of Contents

Prologue xi

1 Innocent Abroad 1

2 A Bird on the Outside, a Tiger Within 20

3 Context Matters 36

4 Basket Economics and Political Realities 54

5 The Blue Bakery 72

6 Dancing in the Dark 89

7 Traveling without a Road Map 106

8 A New Learning Curve 126

9 Blue Paint on the Road 146

10 Retribution and Resurrection 165

11 The Cost of Silence 181

12 Institutions Matter 198

13 The Education of a Patient Capitalist 213

14 Building Brick by Brick 235

15 Taking it to Scale 255

16 The World We Dream, the Future We Create Together 272

Acknowledgments 285

Reader's Guide 289

Suggested Reading 293

Index 299

Reading Group Guide

Questions for Discussion
1. One lesson that Jacqueline learns over and over again is the importance and power of listening to others. What are some examples from the book of either failure to listen or success in listening? Can you think of some instances from your own life where listening more or less might have changed an outcome?

2. Who were the sources of Jacqueline's inspiration in the book? Who are your role models, mentors, or favorite writers? How do they inspire you?

3. Jacqueline often describes the natural beauty of her surroundings before delving into the details of her work. Why do you think she uses this particular style to introduce readers to her stories and experiences?

4. How is Jacqueline's narrative style similar to or different from other writers or biographies you've read?

5. Jacqueline encounters failure many times throughout her life. Think about how her failures shaped future decisions. What is the relationship between failure and success both in this story and more generally? What is the relationship between failure and leadership? Discuss your own failures or failures you might be familiar with and the effects of those failures.

6. Acumen Fund's approach sees entrepreneurs and businesses as primary agents of change in the effort to end poverty. Discuss the roles and relationships among different actors, i.e., business, government, and civil society, in economic development.

7. How is the Jacqueline who founded Acumen Fund at the end of the book different from the ambitious college student at the beginning? What changed?

8. Why does Jacqueline use her blue sweater story as a starting point for her book? Do you have any experiences like the blue sweater story that explore the same types of themes in your life?

9. Does Jacqueline make the right choice in turning down a promotion at Chase Manhattan and going to Africa instead? What would you have done if you were in her shoes?

10. What caused the women’s initial distrust of Jacqueline when she first arrived in Kenya? How does she build trust? How can trust be rebuilt after great tragedies like the Rwandan genocide or in countries where corruption might be the norm?

11. Describe the transformation of the bakery in Nyamirambo from a donor-driven organization to a self-sustaining small business. Do you agree with how Jacqueline went about changing the bakery and the lives of the women who worked there? What effects did it have? How were Jacqueline's efforts with the bakery different from the "patient capital" approaches she later espouses?

12. Discuss the dilemma that Jacqueline faces when buying champagne in Rwanda in Chapter 7. Have you ever been in a similar situation where you were conscious of your own privilege? Take a look at Chapter 9 as well, where a young man in the Next Generation Leadership fellows program confronts Jacqueline about privilege.

13. One of Jacqueline's favorite quotes from Martin Luther King Jr. is, "Power without love is reckless and abusive; love without power is sentimental and anemic." How does Jacqueline balance power and love in her work and as a leader? Does she find a "third way" that is a median between the two? In your own home or work life, how do you negotiate this tension?

14. Jacqueline sees moral imagination as the ability to put yourself in someone else's shoes and see the world from their perspective. When is moral imagination most necessary? How is it related to the concept of dignity? Is this a skill that can be taught, and if so, how?

15. Why do you think Jacqueline wanted to return to Rwanda after the genocide? What did she learn from her conversations with Honorata, Liliane, Agnes, and Prudence during her return trips? How did these stories change Jacqueline’s understanding of human nature or your understanding of human nature?

16. What are the various coping mechanisms Jacqueline references in describing the post-genocide healing process in Rwanda? How have different societies dealt with the consequences of similarly horrific periods in their histories (i.e., Germany after the Holocaust, the U.S. after slavery)?

17. Describe Jacqueline's storytelling style. What role does a story play in shaping how we understand or remember events?

18. A close friend tells Jacqueline to "Just start. Don't wait for perfection. Just start and let the work teach you". Discuss this idea of overcoming mental barriers fearlessly. What other qualities or traits might you need to start something new?

19. Discuss the philosophy behind the concept of "patient capital". Does this seem like a viable solution to solving the problems of poverty? What other instruments exist for poverty alleviation? How does patient capital compare? Is it a sufficient "third way"?

20. How does Acumen Fund's approach differ from Jacqueline's beginnings in microfinance at Duterimbere? 21. Think about Acumen Fund's investment in Water Health International (WHI) in Chapter 15. What is the difference between seeing the poor as customers and seeing them as recipients of charity? Should poor people have to pay for basic services like water and housing? Why or why not?

22. Despite her focus on building businesses to solve poverty, Jacqueline gives money directly to the poor at various points in the book. Why does she give the money away? Has this book changed how you might donate your money in the future?

23. A potential donor tells Jacqueline, "Leaders are born, not made." What is leadership? Do you think some people are born leaders? Can leadership be developed over time and through experience? Does Jacqueline seem like a "born leader" or someone who became a leader?

Copyright © 2009 Acumen Fund

Editorial Reviews

This is a wonderful book by a remarkable woman. It's a story about doing enormous good while having some extraordinary experiences and even adventures. It touches the heart and the mind. I recommend it to anyone who wants to learn about what's really going on in the world out there.” —Fareed Zakaria, Author of The Post-American World and editor of Newsweek International

“The decency of Jacqueline Novogratz shines through these pages and so does her strength. The stories she shares about the people she has met show the nobility of the human spirit and the breadth of the desire to stop suffering, to feed the hungry, to care for the sick, to empower the poor - in short, to make the world a better place. The Blue Sweater is a book of hope written by a practical idealist who won't take "no" for an answer when it comes to building a better world. Jacqueline breathes new life into the phrase "a life of meaning" and she is living one everyday even as she asks us to join her.” —Senator Bill Bradley

“The Blue Sweater will inspire people around the world by seeing the difference one person can make in taking on challenges with courage, curiosity, drive and a great sense of possibility. It is a story for all of us, regardless of the country in which we were born.” —Mary Robinson, Chair of Realizing Rights: The Ethical Globalization Initiative

“Jacqueline's book and her work represent an entirely new way to look at things, a vivid opportunity for change and most of all, an obligation to spread the word about the way the world has evolved. We need to wake up and listen to what she has to say. Hurry!” —Seth Godin, author of Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us and Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable

“Jacqueline is a national treasure. Her pioneering work at Acumen Fund is positively influencing a whole generation of donors and recipients.” —Seth Berkley, President and founder of the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative

“A captivating first-person account of a young woman's quest to close the gap between rich and poor. If one person can change the world, this is your window into how it's done.” —Chee Pearlman, former Editor in Chief, I.D. Magazine

“If you believe in the worth and capacity of individual initiative and in group commitment, or if you believe that our lives can be transformed by the events we live through, then you must read this book.” —Daniel Toole, UNICEF Regional Director for South Asia

From the Publisher

Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers
Young, idealistic, and well educated, Novogratz had an admirable goal: to change the world. She traveled to Rwanda, where she found a small boy wearing a sweater she recognized as her own -- one she'd given to Goodwill many years earlier. For Novogratz, that sweater served as a symbol of the interconnectedness of the rich and the poor -- a connection that wasn't working. What the poor wanted was an opportunity, not a handout. The voiceless needed donors to listen to their ideas, not tell them what to do.

Years later, Novogratz would channel her expertise as an international banker into an antipoverty campaign. She rallied a group of African women and founded a micro-finance bank dedicated to lending to female-owned and operated businesses. Expanding her work to India and Pakistan, her progress is slow but sure, bolstered by donors and development advisers from many sectors of society: a Pakistani doctor, a Rockefeller Foundation philanthropist, a kind professor, three African women whose dedication is interrupted by the Rwandan genocide, and a visionary Indian entrepreneur.

The Blue Sweater is a thoughtful and timely book. With the recent collapse of so many large financial institutions, small socially responsible lending is the wave of the future -- in a world, as Novogratz writes, "whose bottom line is more about change than strictly about profits." (Summer 2009 Selection)

Novogratz combined her twin passions for banking and philanthropy after she left a lucrative corporate banking position to work with women's groups in microfinance, the pioneering banking strategy that won Muhammad Yunus a Nobel Peace Prize in 2006. Her work merging market systems with development and social empowerment led her to create the Acumen Fund for entrepreneurs in developing nations, which she describes as "the opposite of old-fashioned charity." Novogratz also focuses on her own developmental path as she charts her evolving views of capitalism and how she will "change the world." Unfortunately, she stumbles when she strays into biographical territory, relying on clichés to bolster her professional decisions through a personal lens. The book is most interesting when it touches on the difficult decisions that Novogratz and her team must make about financial empowerment-should they charge interest on loans to poor women? can working women find acceptance in a patriarchal society?-but these dilemmas are facilely glossed, keeping the book in an uncomfortable limbo between a personal narrative and a primer on globalization. (Feb.)

Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Publishers Weekly

Novogratz (founder, CEO, Acumen Fund) presents an insider's view of charitable foundations and microfinance institutions, including her own venture capital firm for the poor. Her greatest critique of philanthropic efforts is that despite their best intentions, they often focus more on making donors feel good than on actually doing good for those in need. So it's ironic that she wraps a somewhat extraneous memoir around her extremely valuable advice to charitable organizations, especially those combating poverty. Philanthropies, she says, should focus on bringing the poor into the global economic system in a sustainable way. Novogratz is most effective when examining the organizations and people with whom she works, but occasionally her book suffers from the problem she claims plagues some philanthropic efforts-she focuses on her quest to "find herself," with the people in need the supporting characters. That being said, the book valuably highlights the importance of accountability in charity and of social responsibility in business. Recommended for academic libraries with programs in social work, international relations, and business.
—Veronica Arellano

Library Journal

How a lifelong philanthropist aided some of the world's poverty-stricken populations with a shrewd economic plan. In 2001, the author founded a nonprofit venture-capital firm aimed at reinvesting charitable funding via focused entrepreneurial endeavors. The Acumen Fund's successes include the development of clean water and irrigation systems in India and a bedding-net manufacturer in Africa. She's aspired to change the world since she was young, writes Novogratz, who assembles engaging and insightful stories about her journey toward effective philanthropy. Traveling in Africa in her 20s, she saw a boy wearing a cherished blue wool sweater she had donated to Goodwill 11 years earlier; this example of life's interconnectedness energized her efforts to help those less fortunate. After graduating from college, the author went to work for Chase Manhattan, flying around the world to analyze the bank's portfolios in troubled economies. Her employers didn't share her belief that loans to the poor might actually be better risks than the bad commercial debts they were writing down, so she moved to a Bangladeshi bank that was pioneering the field of microfinancing. (It later won a Nobel Peace Prize.) Novogratz wasn't always greeted with open arms. In West Africa, a local woman explained her hostility: "The North comes to the South and sends a young white girl without asking us what we want, without seeing if we already have the skills we need." Learning from this reception, Novogratz subsequently rallied Rwandan women around the idea of microcredit by persuading them that it connected with their dreams of owning a bakery, bookstore or restaurant. She personally witnessed the Rwandan genocide and thedemise of several businesses she'd helped establish, but persisted in her mission, acquiring additional valuable lessons about humanity and humility. Novogratz transports readers directly to the landscapes she travels by describing with intimate urgency her experiences when immobilized by malaria, chased by muggers or inspired by a business owner's success. "Humbled by the strength of individual women," she continues to believe that "we can end poverty."An empowering, heartfelt portrait of humanitarianism at work. Agent: Marly Rusoff/Marly Rusoff & Associates

Kirkus Reviews

If you believe in the worth and capacity of individual initiative and in group commitment, or if you believe that our lives can be transformed by the events we live through, then you must read this book.

UNICEF Regional Director for South Asia Daniel Toole

A captivating first-person account of a young woman's quest to close the gap between rich and poor. If one person can change the world, this is your window into how it's done.

Chee Pearlman

Jacqueline is a national treasure. Her pioneering work at Acumen Fund is positively influencing a whole generation of donors and recipients.

President and founder of the International AIDS Va Seth Berkley

Jacqueline's book and her work represent an entirely new way to look at things, a vivid opportunity for change and most of all, an obligation to spread the word about the way the world has evolved. We need to wake up and listen to what she has to say. Hurry!

author of Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us and P Seth Godin

The Blue Sweater will inspire people around the world by seeing the difference one person can make in taking on challenges with courage, curiosity, drive and a great sense of possibility. It is a story for all of us, regardless of the country in which we were born.

Chair of Realizing Rights: The Ethical Globali Mary Robinson

This is a wonderful book by a remarkable woman. It's a story about doing enormous good while having some extraordinary experiences and even adventures. It touches the heart and the mind. I recommend it to anyone who wants to learn about what's really going on in the world out there.

Author of The Post-American World and editor of Ne Fareed Zakaria