Jacqueline Novogratz

The world can feel so broken and our problems, so big, that we might be tempted to believe our actions are too small to matter. But every day - every moment - is a chance to widen the space between us or help repair it. We can deepen indifference or we can enhance dignity - even with just a smile in the right moment. This is the work of moral imagination: to remember that our actions are not neutral. We are always shaping the world around us. And on this mother’s day, I give thanks to my amazing mother and to every person who takes seriously the work of mothering other beings.

It's been 25 years since we started Acumen, when "social investing" was barely a whisper. Today, impact assets are measured in the trillions. And yet in too many of the places where poverty is deepest and climate shocks are most severe, capital still does not flow at the speed or scale required. The people who have long been overlooked and underestimated risk being left even further behind. I've been thinking about why and what it will take to close the gap between the commitments impact investors make and the capital that actually reaches the people who need it most. Those reflections became a letter. In it, I write about the real tradeoffs of impact-first investing, the essential role of philanthropy and what courageous capital actually looks like right now. I'd be grateful if you'd read it and share it with those who should be part of this conversation.

What we notice, we begin to love. And what we love, we are called to serve. But attention is not passive. It can be a radical act, one that connects us to those too many don't see. When we truly pay attention to the person in front of us, we have the chance to see our commonalities. For those who are suffering, we start to hear what they desire, not what we think they need. In our world of distraction, what more can we do to notice, to pay attention, to listen? We will not solve our problems if we don't hold affection for one another. Attention is the beginning of devotion.

In this moment of so much uncertainty, the ability to make decisions and move forward takes a particular kind of courage. If I try to decide based on all that could happen, I risk not being able to move at all. If I decide based on what I know today, everything feels clearer. The river does not resist its unfolding. It simply flows — and in that flowing, finds its way. Life will inevitably surprise us. Sometimes it will carry us in directions we did not plan. And knowing when to allow for that — when to release the need to control the current — is part of leadership too.

@JonHaidt Thanks Jon (and Jayne) - you have been constants in my life and I appreciate you. Love j

@jnovogratz What a great man, who raised a great family. What an inspiration for a way to live. Jayne and I are sorry for your loss.

My father, who died a week ago, would write daily emails to his seven children and their spouses. "Good morning, everyone!" he would write, and then share details of the day — the weather, small and big victories among the siblings, local news. One thing you could always count on was his ending: Count your blessings. As I've gotten older, I've come to understand that simple phrase more deeply. Appreciate the moment. Appreciate the people around you. Focus not on what you do not have, but on what you do. Lift up other people. Love one another. Simple ideas, all encompassed in three words that I will hold close, cherish, and try to live by for the rest of my life: Count Your Blessings.

Kobayashi Issa wrote this haiku after losing his child. Even in tragedy, he chose to witness the world. My work has brought me close to people and places that hold within them the most sparkling beauty — and also the difficult, the burdensome, the struggle. If we care about change, our job is to get close. To understand what people carry, where systems hold them back, and sometimes, where they may be holding themselves back. Our job, too, is to remember: within every struggle lives the possibility of change.

I am grateful to those who found the talk and watched it. And I'm sharing it here in case you might be interested in checking it out. We're all needed to imagine the world anew and rebuild it in ways that ensure that every one of us matters, that all of us have dignity. ted.com/talks/jacqueli…

When my book Manifesto for a Moral Revolution came out, I was preparing for a 14-city tour and a TED talk. Then Covid happened. The tour was canceled. @TEDTalks moved online. And I ended up doing my talk straight to an iPhone at home. I had no choice, really, but to follow the book's advice and redefine success. A friend just told me the talk crossed 3 million views, which felt a bit bonkers. But maybe it is a small signal that something is changing. The talk is about three principles that I've learned are essential to solving our toughest problems: moral imagination, holding opposing values in tension, and accompaniment. The ideas may sound lyrical or soft or even small, but I promise they are not. And in this time when so many are hungry for purpose, meaning and community, maybe this is a conversation waiting to be had.

In this season of renewal — of springtime, Passover, and Easter — I find myself looking both backward and forward. Every day brings a chance to renew. Every day, a chance to recommit to what and to whom we love. This season carries special meaning for me. Twenty-five years ago this week, a small group of people embarked on the road less traveled. My fledgling organization dreamed of a different world and, with no roadmap, took a step toward a North Star of dignity — trusting that our steps, in time, especially as others joined us, would ultimately create the path. I am so grateful for everyone who took that leap of faith, and then followed it with hard work and persistence. I am meeting too many people today who fear that change isn't possible — that the problems we face are simply too big to try to solve. Too many feel small, forgetting the gigantic waves of possibility we can make together. What they may be missing is this: once you commit and start on the path, road signs appear. Friendly travelers walk beside you. And yes, you will fall down. Doubts and tears are part of the deal. But don't give up. If you hold fast to the dream, do the work, and find the courage to rise after each fall, you will be amazed at the places you'll go and the changes you'll make. And this I can say from experience: the road less traveled is worth every step. So be like Spring: insist on renewal. The path is waiting for you.

The world feels heavy. Too many people are carrying deep personal burdens as well. Too many are melting into despair. I've been carrying these words: "To be alive: not just the carcass." And I'm reminded of Tennyson's: "As if to breathe were life." Yet Orr gives us something more: the spark. I've lived my life in places where the carcass is real. Yet in those same places I've met some of the most hopeful and brilliantly alive people on Earth — people who dare to express joy, who refuse to be extinguished, no matter what. They are the ones who inspire hope. If we dare to dance in the dark times, if we dare to seek our spark when light feels elusive, we have the chance to discover our best selves.

In 25 years of impact investing, Acumen has been asked more often than you'd expect how many unicorns we’ve produced. The answer is humbling: exactly one. And yet our portfolio has reached more than 700 million low-income people, created hundreds of thousands of jobs and reshaped fundamental systems for those historically overlooked. I think of our companies whose impact is transformative in ways the world urgently needs. Yet we have no category, no rubric, no shared recognition that captures what they're achieving or connects them with the investors who would back them. That doesn't feel right. So, how do we create a different measure of success? And what might we call those organizations truly transforming our communities and our world?

@abidlasharindf, an @Acumen Pakistan Fellow, is being awarded the Tamgha-e-Imtiaz — one of Pakistan's highest civilian honors, conferred by the president — for his lifelong work advancing inclusion for children with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Abid leads the National Disability & Development Forum (NDF) Pakistan. His recognition affirms something we believe deeply at Acumen: that work rooted in listening to voices unheard, recognizing the dignity in everyone and showing up again and again is among the most important work there is. In these turbulent times, it matters that we celebrate leaders like Abid who imagine a more inclusive world and then do the hard, patient work of building it. The world needs to see more role models like him. Congratulations, Abid! The Acumen community is proud. #PakistanDay @AcumenAcademy

I wonder… When the world is on fire, does every act of noticing become political? A younger friend shared her guilt about adding color to an otherwise dull room — worried it felt unserious. Yet beauty is more essential than ever. It is resilience. And sometimes, it is resistance. When the birds are drowned out, we don't stop needing them. Perhaps that need — to listen for something beyond the warplanes and the noise of constant media — is itself a form of resistance. We cannot afford to lose our sense of wonder. That is when the moral imagination begins to die. So let us be clear-eyed: war is hell, and it is always the vulnerable who suffer most. And let us also insist that the birds still sing — that there is something worth leaning toward. A hard-edged hope. The slow, necessary work of building trust. The belief that we can build anew.

The world of social impact is small, but the @Acumen community makes it feel like home no matter where you are. 🌏 By total accident, I was invited to this Singapore gathering and it was an absolute privilege to catch up with @jnovogratz and builders in social enterprise space.

After spending time in five countries in eleven days — the UK, India, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam — in the midst of war, uncertainty and a fraying sense of trust, I'm reminded of the quiet power of human connection. Of showing up. Of bringing yourself fully. Human connection offers the chance to come alive. When we truly attend to one another, we remember how much we need each other — and how deeply our lives are intertwined. Our horizons expand even as the connections, when they are real, deepen our sense of grounding and belonging to something larger. Wherever we stand, may we find the courage to be the soul of that place. Happy Sunday. 🙏 P.S. Writing this on a 25-hour journey home to NYC on my 36-hour birthday (!). I feel deeply nourished by the diversity of souls I'm lucky to know, the new people I met and the extraordinary hospitality and grace I encountered. So much gratitude to the team and all who gave so generously of themselves.

I know these weeks have been tough. We are in dark times. And it is easy to feel helpless. Yet around me, too, I see signs of hope — like flowers pushing through rocks on a hillside. Young people protecting those they were raised to hate. Neighborhoods welcoming newcomers. People choosing to give and invest in ways that truly enable others rather than reinforce dependency. A generation of social entrepreneurs becoming a new kind of human infrastructure. Simple acts of kindness, maybe more noticeable as counterweight, yet seemingly more pervasive too (am I crazy to think that?). In all of this is a light within reach. On this International Women's Day, I think of the women around the world who are bringing forth that light, in themselves and in others. In each of us, and in all of us together, is a new world waiting to be born. #IWD2026 #GiveToGain

We're lucky to have them in our @Acumen America portfolio, and I'm inspired by them every time we talk. Our conversation: linkedin.com/pulse/building…

I've watched Wemimo and Samir through the hardest moments and the most celebrated ones, and they are the same people in both. The same humility, the same goodness, the same deep curiosity about others.

Wemimo Abbey and Samir Goel heard no from 326 investors. They were kicked out of a Denny's they planned to stay at all night because they couldn't afford a hotel room. Today, their company, @getesusu, has unlocked $50 billion in credit for low-to-moderate income Americans and helped change federal policy on how rent data is used in mortgage underwriting. Its latest funding round brought its valuation to $1.2 billion.