Wassup Last Week

Here is an update on the speakers, activities and readings the Acumen Fellows experienced the past week and a half.

Speakers:
1) Ross Kauffman and Pam Boll, who created the Academy Award Winning documentary, Born Into Brothels. They taught us some techniques for filming while we are in the field.

2) Bill Drayton, founder of Ashoka: Innovators for the Public. I just love this guy. He reminded us what an exciting time in history we are experiencing as the social sector/ civil society sector is growing so rapidly and professionalizing around the world. He also reminded us about the importance of assessing ethical fiber in social entrepreneurs.

3) Iron Bound Films gave us more training on our cameras and are considering doing a documentary about the experiences of Acumen Fellows in the field.

4) Rives, Spoken Word Poetry Artist, worked with us to create slam poetry for a performance in a few weeks! It was perhaps the most fun session so far!

5) Anthony Simon, Ex President of Marketing at Unilever, came to discuss his thoughts on the Bottom of the Pyramid markets.

6) David Keller, Formerly of Cisco, came to host a great discussion on supply chain management.

7) Louis Boornstin of the Gates Foundation shared with us an overview of the Gates priorities and we talked specifically about the challenges for the world’s water and sanitation issues.

8) Bill Mayer of Park Avenue Equity Partners and the Aspen Institute spoke to us about private equity and leadership.

9) Journalist Amy O’leary delivered Op Ed training and spoke about spreading ideas through publishing in journal, newspapers and mainstream magazines.

10) Ace Greenberg & Warren Spector of Bear Stearns spoke to us about their work as leaders in the banking industry for the last 50 and 30 years.

11) Michael Gordon of the University of Michigan’s William Davidson Institute provided tips for video taping case studies of our projects in the field as learning tools.

12) Sonal Shah, who created Goldman Sachs environmental policy and Indicorps, spoke about living and working abroad.

13) Pradeep Kashyap, Executive Director of American India Foundation shared an overview of their work to mobilize the Indians in America who are contributing to development in India.

14) Eric Cantor or Acumen Fund shared stories of his recent trip to Africa and India, including a rather interesting wireless technology conference held near the stomping ground of the Dalai Lama.

Seminars: Effective Management of Social Enterprises
>>Two Fellows, Adrien and Eric, hosted a great seminar on Design and Innovation at the Bottom of the Pyramid.

>>Jocelyn and I also hosted a seminar which was related to Supply Chain and Distribution. Distribution of products and services to poorer communities in developing countries is topic I hope to delve down much deeper into over the course of the year in Tanzania. If Coke and cigarettes can make their way to the most remote regions of the earth, why can't healthcare goods such as medicines and bednets seem to make it? If we can figure out a way to incentivize the distribution as we stimulate the market, there is huge potential here. If anyone has good contacts, articles or cases about distribution, please let me know by posting a comment.

Readings:
1) Book: Train to Pakistan by Khushwant Singh
2) Book: A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry
3) Article: “Designing for the Base of the Pyramid” from the Design Management Review Vol. 15 No. 4 Design & Economic Development. Written by Patrick Whitney, Steelcase & Robert C. Pew Professor and Director, Institute of Design, IIT and Anjali Kelkar, Research Associate.
4) Article: “Strategy By Design” in FastCompany’s June 2005 Edition by Tim Brown of IDEO
5) Article: McKinsey Quarterly’s “A Point of Light in Mumbai” by Rukmini Banerji, Madhav Chavan, Paresh Vaish and Atul Varadhachary.
6) Article: “Innovate to End Poverty” by Louis C. Boorstin of Gates Foundation and IFC
7) White Paper: “Delivering Social Value via the Private Sector: A Framework for Market-Based Interventions” by Louis Boorstin