april 2001 founder jacqueline novogratz website www.acumen.org acumen formerly known as acumen fund 1 is a non profit global venture fund that uses entrepreneurial approaches to solve the problems of poverty . 2 its aim is to help build financially sustainable organizations that deliver affordable goods and services that improve the lives of the poor . acumen is a 501 c 3 organization headquartered in new york city with regional offices in india pakistan kenya and ghana . 3 contents 1 history 2 investments 3 fellows programs 4 acumen chapters of acumen 5 see also 6 references 7 external links history edit this section may rely excessively on sources too closely associated with the subject potentially preventing the article from being verifiable and neutral . please help improve it by replacing them with more appropriate citations to reliable independent third party sources . july 2015 learn how and when to remove this template message acumen was incorporated on april 1 2001 with seed capital from the rockefeller foundation cisco systems foundation and three individual philanthropists . acumen s investors and advisors include also the bill & melinda gates foundation google.org and the skoll foundation . 4 jacqueline novogratz is the founder and ceo of acumen . 5 ali jahangir siddiqui is director of acumen fund pakistan . 6 investments edit acumen uses patient capital to build businesses . it makes investments loans or equity not grants that yield both financial and social returns . as of july 10 2014 acumen had approved 88 million in investments in the following countries ghana india kenya nigeria pakistan rwanda tanzania uganda and ethiopia . 7 it has invested in 82 enterprises since inception helping over 100 million people and creating 60 000 jobs . 8 investments are separated into six portfolios water health housing energy agriculture and education . acumen commitments range from 300 000 to 2 000 000 in equity or debt with a payback or exit in roughly seven to ten years . 9 10 fellows programs edit this section may rely excessively on sources too closely associated with the subject potentially preventing the article from being verifiable and neutral . please help improve it by replacing them with more appropriate citations to reliable independent third party sources . july 2015 learn how and when to remove this template message the acumen global fellows program selects young professionals each year to work with acumen portfolio organizations in the countries where it invests . the fellows spend one year starting in september working with the acumen team and local social enterprises . 11 starting in 2011 acumen launched regional fellows programs in east africa pakistan and india . this is a one year fellowship program targeted at local leaders and entrepreneurs who manage an existing social change project in their region . 12 amal academy an organizational development academy is funded by acumen . acumen chapters of acumen edit this section may rely excessively on sources too closely associated with the subject potentially preventing the article from being verifiable and neutral . please help improve it by replacing them with more appropriate citations to reliable independent third party sources . july 2015 learn how and when to remove this template message volunteer run acumen chapters supportive of acumen s mission have formed in over 20 cities around the world . these volunteer groups raise money for the organization and hold events related to poverty reduction and global development . 13 in 2013 acumen launched free online leadership courses under the acumen online leadership academy . 14 the courses are offered on a rolling basis and are free and open to the public . past courses have included acumen leadership essentials human centered design for social innovation with course partner ideo and adaptive leadership mobilizing for change with course partner cambridge leadership associates . in 2015 acumen will launch acumen on demand which will include short courses on mlk repeatable models lean data and market analysis at the bottom of the pyramid . 15 see also edit lifespring hospitals a joint venture established in 2005 references edit a manifesto . acumen . retrieved on 2013 09 21 . a most meaningful gift idea . new york times . december 23 2009 . fund expands into west africa . acumen . retrieved on 2013 09 21 . partners in venture philanthropy acumen archived july 20 2009 at the wayback machine . . acumenfund.org . retrieved on 2013 09 21 . jacqueline novogratz invest in africa s own solutions video on . ted.com . retrieved on 2013 09 21 . http alijahangirsiddiqui.blogspot.com 2016 03 ali jahangir siddiqui principal of js group.html acumen investments have impacted over 100 million lives archived july 14 2009 at the wayback machine . . acumenfund.org . retrieved on 2013 09 21 . 1 archived january 4 2013 at the wayback machine . investments archived july 14 2009 at the wayback machine . making a difference with patient capital in energy healthcare . mint newspaper wall street journal . nov 3 2009 . acumen global fellows are the next generation of impact leaders . acumen.org . retrieved on 2013 09 21 . acumen regional fellows tackle the most pressing social issues . acumen.org . retrieved on 2013 09 21 . acumen acumen chapters are volunteer led groups learning and sharing acumen fund s principles and approach to help create a world beyond poverty a more inclusive and sustainable future for all . plusacumen.org 2011 02 23 . retrieved on 2013 09 21 . courses acumen . plusacumen.org 2011 02 23 . retrieved on 2013 09 21 . http plusacumen.org courses external links edit acumen fund website investing in the world s poor stanford graduate school of business may 2007 philanthropy and development in emerging markets business week march 2 2009 hard lessons learnt in the war on poverty financial times february 24 2009 developing entrepreneurship among the world s poorest the mckinsey quarterly march 2009 the patient capitalist the economist may 21 2009 retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title acumen organization & oldid 744011752 categories international non profit organizationsfunding bodiesinternational charitiesnon profit organizations based in new yorkorganizations established in 2001hidden categories articles with wayback machine linksarticles lacking reliable references from july 2015all articles lacking reliable references navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages fran 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