It's not often that you see "moral imagination" listed as a job requirement. But that's precisely what the staff at Acumen Fund seek out in candidates for their Fellows Program.
"Acumen Fund’s goal in creating the Fellows Program was to build an 'entrepreneurial bench' of talented individuals for the social enterprise sector. We believe this cohort comprises some of the world’s next generation of leaders, who have the skills and imagination to effect real change..." [from www.acumenfund.org]
Acumen Fund is one of the three Big Moo supported charities. In the past 12 months, Acumen Fund has received 50,000 dollars directly from the author-donated royalties of The Big Moo. This funding has supported their Fellows Program, in addition to other projects. We thought you'd enjoy taking an inside look at how your purchase of The Big Moo is making a lasting difference in the world by highlighting the truly remarkable Acumen Fund Fellows Program.
Acumen Fund Fellows work at a local level in Africa, India, and Pakistan. Because becoming a Fellow is a highly selective process, they have resumes rich with experience as well as intercultural sensitivity - they listen first instead of imposing their own agenda on the people they're there to help. Here are the projects that the Fellows are working on this year:
David will be consulting on marketing, pricing and service design for information kiosks in rural areas of India for an organization called Drishtee.com. These kiosks allow people in rural areas to access public information - such as financial and governmental documents as well as healthcare services - that they would otherwise need to travel long distances to obtain.
Nadaa’s project:
Nadaa will be in India helping a company called Medicine Shoppe. Medicine Shoppe is establishing health centers in rural India aimed at providing high quality yet affordable health services for poor and marginalized rural consumers. Nadaa's challenge is to create two successful stand alone businesses which piggy-back on Medicine Shoppe's franchising network.
Jocelyn's project:
Jocelyn will be working with Sustainable Healthcare Enterprise Foundation (SHEF) in Nairobi - a franchise of medical clinics. Jocelyn will be helping to develop a model for scaling the business. She will oversee the rolling out of new franchises.
Adrien will be in India working with International
Development Enterprises India (IDEI). He'll be helping them, as well as other organizations, develop a model for expanding access to low cost drip irrigation for rural farmers.
Ayleen's project:
Ayleen will be leading a branding initiative focused on customer care for a mortgage lender, Kashf Foundation, that extends microloans to women entrepreneurs in Pakistan.
Eric's project:
Eric will be working in South Africa for BroadReach Healthcare. He'll be helping to scale their existing disease management business as well as consulting on business development and new market analysis.
As you can see, Acumen Fund is trying to position highly skilled individuals in places where they can fight poverty. By creating what will become a large network of social entrepreneurs, Acumen Fund is attempting to engender a legacy of change. This is exactly the kind of impact that the authors of The Big Moo were hoping for when they decided to donate their royalties to charity. For more information about the Fellows Program (you really must check out their stellar backgrounds) or any of the other programs at Acumen Fund, please visit their website. Thanks again for your help in making this possible through your support and purchase of The Big Moo.
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