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. Jacqueline Novogratz More Quotes by Jacqueline Novogratz More Quotes From Jacqueline Novogratz When I first went to Africa, I thought that I was personally going to save the continent, if not the world. Jacqueline Novogratz continents world firsts Girls and women are most victimised in societies where boys and men are disempowered. Jacqueline Novogratz girl men boys After all this atrocity, this is how human beings really pray. Jacqueline Novogratz being-real atrocities thought-provoking We don't see profit as a blind instrument. Jacqueline Novogratz profit thought-provoking blind I was encouraged to break all the rules but to take the best of philanthropy, the best of investing, and the best of development finance, and experiment with new ways to create this venture capital model of using philanthropy to back patient capital investments, and then build solutions that were measured in terms of the kind of impact and change they were making on people's lives and in the world, not just on the financial return. Jacqueline Novogratz impact development people I was going to save the world, and I thought I would start with the African continent. Jacqueline Novogratz african-continent thought-provoking world We are connected to each other not only as humans, but to every living thing on the planet. Jacqueline Novogratz thought-provoking planets connected Africans didn't want saving, thank you very much, least of all not by me. Jacqueline Novogratz thought-provoking saving want Each of us can work to change a small portion of events. And it's in the total of all those acts that the history of this generation will be written. Jacqueline Novogratz this-generation thought-provoking events Honour what is most beautiful about the past and build it into the promise of the future. Jacqueline Novogratz thought-provoking beautiful past We need leaders, we ourselves need to lead from a place that has the audacity to believe that we ourselves can extend the fundamental assumption that all men are created equal to every, man woman and child on this planet. And we need the humility to recognize that we cannot do it alone. Jacqueline Novogratz humility believe children Philanthropy is no longer about writing a check for $10,000 to the opera. Jacqueline Novogratz philanthropy opera writing Dignity is more important than wealth. Jacqueline Novogratz wealth dignity important On the one hand, I loved being a banker. I loved how numbers could tell a story and how you can invest in ideas and see them translate into products and services and create jobs. What I didn't like, particularly where I was working in Brazil during the debt crisis of the early '80s, was how the poor were excluded from the banking system. I made the decision to try and experiment with whether we could use the tools of banking to extend the benefits of the economy to the poor. Jacqueline Novogratz jobs hands ideas Poverty is too complex to be answered with a one-size-fits-all approach, and if there is any place that illustrates that complexity, as well as a better way forward, it is Rwanda. Jacqueline Novogratz way-forward size poverty May each of you live lives of immersion. They won't necessarily be easy lives. But in the end, it is all that will sustain us. Jacqueline Novogratz thought-provoking live-life may Acumen Fund's patient capital investment in Western Seed is intended to enhance the food security and economic independence of Kenya's smallholder farmers. Jacqueline Novogratz kenya acumen independence If indeed we can create systems that allow individuals to access goods and services like health and housing and energy and water, in a way that they can afford, they'll all have greater choice, greater opportunity, greater dignity. Jacqueline Novogratz choices opportunity water For too much of history, we've viewed the world's precious resources - both environmental and human - as things to extract, to make the most of in order to maximize their potential. Jacqueline Novogratz environmental order world Freedom is what beauty feels like when it can most express itself. Jacqueline Novogratz feels
