The Blue Sweater
Bridging the Gap Between Rick and Poor in an Interconnected World
By: Jacqueline Novogratz (founder of Acumen Fund) (Link to the booksite)(Link to Google Book Review)
Ms. Novogratz tells her story of moving from international banking to working in the developing world, where she focused on building opportunities in Rawanda. Her work began before the genocides with (what I consider to be the) most poignant story about the blue bakery – how she helped turn what was a money-losing charity project into an empowering business for the women involved. She later discusses her return to the country after the Genocides and follows up on what happened to many of the people she knew and their various roles.
Two points I particularly enjoyed was the on-going theme of how difficult it can be to do this sort of work, she was very harshly judged and had to earn the respect and trust of the women she was trying to help, and the on-going explanations of how various good-intentioned projects had gone wrong (most often from lack of local understanding, or lack of a long-term addressing of the problem). Throughout her journey, she develops and understanding of the value of micro-finance, and lays out the path that brought her to starting Acumen.
