Traditional charity often fails, but an approach that grants people dignity and helps them become self-sufficient can change the lives of millions of people in the developing world, said author Jacqueline Novogratz, who founded the Acumen Fund, a nonprofit global venture fund, to do just that.

Novogratz spoke to a full Call Auditorium in Kennedy Hall Sept. 27 about the importance of young peoples' activism and effective charity in the modern, interconnected world. The talk was sponsored by the Iscol Family Program for Leadership Development in Public Service in the College of Human Ecology.

"Economists look at dollars per day when they look for poverty," said Novogratz, author of the New York Times best-selling memoir "The Blue Sweater: Bridging the Gap Between Rich and Poor in an Interconnected World" and founder of the Philanthropy Workshop and the Next Generation Leadership program at the Rockefeller Foundation. "But I believe dignity is more valuable than wealth."

This emphasis on the relatively intangible element of personal freedom rather than monetary capital is what inspired Novogratz to enact a new business plan to combat global poverty.

"Traditional charity and aid will not solve the problem of poverty," she said. "Nor will the markets alone." Instead, she argued that people in need be given the means and motivation for success.

Novogratz's Acumen Fund, which she founded in 2001, makes debt or equity investments in early stage enterprises that can improve the ability of the poor to live with dignity -- such as providing low-income consumers with access to health care, water or housing.

Novogratz takes a hands-on approach to the ventures of the Acumen Fund, which currently invests more than $50 million in jobs worldwide. When Pakistani-American commercial real estate agent Jawad Aslam sought to create affordable housing in Pakistan, she traveled to Lahore to oversee the operations.

"We ran into some bad luck at first," she said. "Some bandits raided a nearby town, and we got caught in the crossfire. Men with machine guns were firing on both sides of us. Thankfully, no one was hurt."

Immediately after that, she said, families started signing up to live in the Saiban developments. "They saw we were serious about our commitment," she said.

In her 20s, Novogratz said she worked for Chase Manhattan Bank, which gave her the opportunity to work in more than 40 countries. But her desire to bridge the gap between rich and poor was often overshadowed by the necessity of large-scale profits.

"In Brazil, we were writing off hundreds of millions of dollars to elites while others couldn't access credit ... some were afraid to even walk in the door," she said.

Novogratz, who saw possible long-term benefits in lending to the poor, approached her supervisor about changing their system. "He literally gave me a book called 'The Innocent Anthropologist,'" she said, for her naivety.

Spurred by this discouragement, Novogratz sought employment elsewhere and soon found herself in Rwanda, where she ultimately founded Rwanda's first microfinance institution for women. Experiences like these, she said, are often unexpected blessings.

"If an opportunity knocks," she advised the audience, "even if it's not exactly what you imagined, take it."

Above all, she said, if you want to change the world, remember that people are essentially good at heart. "We need leaders who are unafraid to walk holding love and power in each hand."

Kathleen Jercich '11 is a writer intern at the Cornell Chronicle.