As I thought about her life, I started wondering what is it that makes people like Novogratz able to do what the rest of us merely wish we had the ability to do -- make real contact with people in need and actually do something to move them out of poverty. I was especially curious about what Novogratz would say to people living in the developed world who are so worried about their own diminished financial well-being that they find it hard to imagine how they could meaningfully affect the lives of less fortunate people in Africa or Pakistan.
So I had a meeting and a series of email conversations with her to get some answers, and some inspiration. Below is a condensed version of our discussion.
It seems there is a new cachet around working in the poorest corners of the world. Bono, Angelina Jolie, and Oprah have made helping the poor feel like the latest trend. Meanwhile businesspeople, economists and activists like Jeffrey Sachs and you have gained almost-celebrity-like status for your work. What do you make of all that?
Our interconnected world enables us to see one another across the globe. Wealthy elites travel the world and are increasingly aware of the plight of the poor. The big question is whether the most privileged are seeking to help people in the most responsible ways. I’m among those who believe we can end poverty, but we need to approach it by seeing poor individuals as capable of changing their own lives. What is needed is not handouts but removing the challenges and barriers that deny choice and freedom from the poorest of us. We have the imagination, the skill and the resources to do this – now all we need is to muster our collective will.
What do you say to those who say they will focus on the world’s problems once they can take care of themselves and their families?
Everyone has the opportunity to contribute -- whether it is in their church, synagogue or their children’s school. Life has greater meaning if you commit to something bigger than yourself. It is that simple, really. Too many people live provisionally, promising themselves they will do good for the world once they save enough money, for example. In truth, people will discover much greater and sustained joy if they do what they love and believe in today. Happiness studies show increasingly that service is the one variable that actually influences how happy a person is.
You’ve been traveling the world, working on these issues for nearly a quarter century, and you probably didn’t have a lot of responsibilities -- like children or a mortgage -- when you began. Do you think it’s possible to make real change in the world while also trying to keep one's own family afloat?
When I went to Africa for the first time at 25, I had no health insurance, a few hundred dollars in the bank, and significant school debt. As one of seven children in a military family, we were all raised to know we’d have to find a way to take care of ourselves – for me, that included paying my way through college. Neither of my parents came from privilege -- my dad was a child of immigrants, my mom was raised by a single mother -- but we were always told how lucky we were. They passed down to us a belief that no matter how little or much you had, it was your responsibility to give to others. What I discovered in my life was how the people with the most sparkle are those who think less about themselves and more about the people around them.
As for having children, I’m not sure I could have lived the way I did while raising a family – there were times I was traveling three-quarters of the time. I’m lucky to be surrounded in NYC by my six siblings, their spouses and fifteen nieces and nephews. But that was my path – there are many ways to craft a life of making significant contributions.
Your firm recently advertised the availability of 10 internships and received 700 applications, leading you to believe that lots of talented people displaced by the global financial crisis are eager to move from traditional positions in business and finance into this growing field of social enterprise. You and others have been exploring how to take advantage of this swelling of interest and create pathways for people who want to move into this sector. What are some of the most promising ideas?
I personally believe we need a new Global Peace Corps for the 21st century, comprised of people from around the globe who bring the skills of management, finance, operations to organizations serving the poor. There is enormous interest from recent graduates and MBAs and also there is a groundswell of interest among second and third-career types, people who’ve been very successful in the private sector and are looking for ways to contribute that take advantage of those skills. We tap into this pool in small ways through the Acumen Fund Fellows and our summer intern program; and this year are experimenting in a small way with a few Senior Fellows. But the world needs a bigger, more systemic solution. I’m hoping President Obama’s Corporation for National Service will include programs like this that are global, management focused, and include people who are over 40 as well as the younger ones!
