The Blue Sweater: Bridging the Gap Between Rich and Poor in an Interconnected World
Rodale, March 2009
Jacqueline Novogratz left a career in international banking to spend her life on a quest to understand global poverty and find powerful new ways of tackling it. It all started back home in Virginia, with the blue sweater, a gift that quickly became her prized possession -- until the day she outgrew it and gave it away to Goodwill. Eleven years later in Africa, she spotted a young boy wearing that very sweater, with her name still on the tag inside. That the sweater had made its trek all the way to Rwanda was ample evidence, she thought, of how we are all connected, how our actions -- and inaction -- touch people
every day across the globe, people we may never know or meet.
From her first stumbling efforts as a young idealist venturing forth in Africa to the creation of the trailblazing organization she runs today, Novogratz tells gripping stories with unforgettable characters -- women dancing in a Nairobi slum, unwed mothers starting a bakery, courageous survivors of the Rwandan genocide, entrepreneurs building
services for the poor against impossible odds.
She shows, in ways both hilarious and heartbreaking, how traditional charity often
fails, but how a new form of philanthropic investing called "patient capital" can help make people self-sufficient and can change millions of lives. More than just an autobiography or a how-to guide to addressing poverty, The Blue Sweater is a call to action that challenges us to grant dignity to the poor and to rethink our
engagement with the world.
hardcover | ISBN: 9781594869150 | Publication Date: March 2009
Reviews:
"Jacqueline is a national treasure. Her pioneering work at Acumen Fund is positively influencing a whole generation of donors and recipients."
--Seth Berkley, President and Founder of The International Aids Vaccine Initiative
"If you believe in the worth and capacity of
individual initiative and in group commitment, or if you believe that our lives can be transformed by the events we live through, then you must read this book."
--Daniel Toole, Unicef Regional Director for South Asia
"This is a wonderful book by a remarkable woman. It's a story about doing enormous good while having some extraordinary experiences and even adventures. It touches the heart and the mind. I recommend it to anyone who wants to learn about
what's really going on in the world."
--Fareed Zakaria, author of The Post-American World and editor of Newsweek
International
"Jacqueline's book and her work represent an entirely new way to look at things, a vivid opportunity for change, and most of all an obligation to spread the word about the way the world has evolved. We need to wake up and listen to what she has to say. Hurry!"
--Seth Godin, author of Tribes: We
Need You To Lead Us and Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable
"The decency of Jacqueline Novogratz shines through these pages and so does her strength. The stories she shares about the people she has met show the nobility of the human spirit and the breadth of the desire to stop suffering, to feed the
hungry, to care for the sick, to empower the poor -- in short, to make the world a better place. The Blue Sweater is a book of hope written by a practical idealist who won't take 'no' for an answer when it comes to building a better world. Jacqueline breathes new life into the phrase 'a life of meaning.' She is living one every day even as she asks us to join her."
--former US senator Bill Bradley
"The Blue Sweater will inspire people
around the world by seeing the difference one person can make in taking on challenges with courage, curiosity, drive, and a great sense of possibility. It is a story for all of us, regardless of the country in which we were born."
--Mary Robinson, former president of Ireland and president of Realizing Rights: The Ethical Globalization Initiative
