Nuseir ‘Nas Daily’ Yassin
Founder of Nas Daily & 1000 Media | 70M+ Followers & 30B Views | Harvard-Educated Entrepreneur & AI Content Pioneer
Jacqueline Novogratz
Founder and CEO, Acumen | Bestselling Author, The Blue Sweater and Manifesto for a Moral Revolution | Impact Investing and Moral Leadership
Jacqueline Novogratz founded Acumen in 2001 and has spent more than two decades proving that patient capital can do what aid alone cannot. Her organization has reached over 500 million people across Africa, Latin America, and South Asia. On stage, she challenges senior audiences to rethink the relationship between profit, purpose, and dignity in a world that demands both accountability and courage.
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Jacqueline Novogratz biography
Jacqueline Novogratz is one of the most influential voices at the intersection of business, poverty, and moral leadership. As the founder and CEO of Acumen, the pioneering impact investment organization she built from a $1 million seed grant in 2001, she has spent more than two decades demonstrating that markets, deployed with discipline and moral clarity, can reach people that neither charity nor conventional capital will serve. Acumen has grown into a global operation with nine offices across five continents and has impacted over 500 million people with access to affordable healthcare, clean energy, safe housing, clean water, and agricultural services.
Motivational speaker Jacqueline Novogratz is the author of two award-winning books. The Blue Sweater (2009) traces her journey from international banking at Chase Manhattan to co-founding Rwanda’s first microfinance institution, capturing the lessons she drew from years working across Africa and Asia on the frontlines of poverty. Her second book, Manifesto for a Moral Revolution: Practices to Build a Better World (2020), distills thirty years of field experience into a practical framework for moral leadership, drawing on stories of entrepreneurs and changemakers who built lasting impact by choosing dignity over dependency.
Recognition and Scale
Novogratz has received some of the most distinguished honors in social entrepreneurship. Forbes named her one of the world’s 100 Greatest Living Business Minds and presented her with the Forbes 400 Lifetime Achievement Award for Social Entrepreneurship. Foreign Policy included her in its Top 100 Global Thinkers list, and The Daily Beast named her one of the 25 Smartest People of the Decade. In 2024 she received the Concordia Leadership Award for her contributions to solving complex global challenges. Beyond Acumen, she is a member of The B Team, co-founded Anew (a New York incubator for social entrepreneurs), and previously created the Philanthropy Workshop and Next Generation Leadership programs at the Rockefeller Foundation. Acumen’s Hardest to Reach Initiative won the AFSIA 2025 Deal of the Year, and the organization recently raised $250 million to expand off-grid solar access across Africa.
As a speaker, Jacqueline Novogratz brings a combination of intellectual conviction and hard-won field experience that few executives or activists can match. Her talks explore how patient capital works in practice, what moral leadership requires of those with power and resources, and why the opposite of poverty is dignity rather than wealth. Audiences leave with a sharper understanding of the role business can play in building a more just world, and a more honest reckoning with the mindset and courage that transformation actually demands.
Jacqueline Novogratz Speaking Videos
Jacqueline Novogratz - What it takes to make change
Jacqueline Novogratz - Moral Leadership
Jacqueline Novogratz Keynote Topics
Drawing on three decades of investing in entrepreneurs across Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the United States, Novogratz challenges leaders to move beyond doing less harm and toward actively building a better world. She shares stories of entrepreneurs who have achieved extraordinary impact by centering dignity, embracing long-term accountability, and resisting the shortcuts that erode trust. The talk offers a practical framework for moral leadership that applies at every level, from the boardroom to the field.
Novogratz built Acumen on the conviction that the poor deserve investment, not just charity. In this keynote she explains the philosophy of patient capital, how it differs from traditional aid and from conventional venture investing, and what organizations need to understand about risk, time horizons, and trust to deploy it well. Drawing from Acumen's portfolio of hundreds of companies serving over 500 million people, she offers concrete lessons about what works, what fails, and why the hardest-to-reach markets often hold the greatest opportunity.
Based on her bestselling memoir, this keynote traces the pivotal decisions and encounters that took Novogratz from Wall Street to Rwanda and eventually to the founding of Acumen. She uses personal narrative to explore the universal challenges of purpose, failure, and reinvention, and to make the case that lasting change requires us to see people as agents of their own lives rather than recipients of someone else's generosity.
This keynote challenges the assumption that poverty is simply a resource problem. Novogratz argues that the deepest failures of development, philanthropy, and corporate social responsibility stem from a failure of moral imagination: treating low-income communities as problems to be solved rather than markets to be respected and people to be seen. She offers a framework grounded in Acumen's experience for how businesses and investors can engage with underserved communities in ways that create genuine economic value alongside human dignity.
Speaker topics
FAQs on Booking Jacqueline Novogratz
Why Jacqueline Novogratz?
Booking Jacqueline Novogratz means bringing one of the world's most credible and compelling voices on impact, purpose, and moral leadership to your stage. She built Acumen from scratch into an organization that has reached over 500 million people, earned the Forbes 400 Lifetime Achievement Award for Social Entrepreneurship, and been recognized by Foreign Policy, Forbes, and The Daily Beast as one of the defining business minds of her generation. Her talks are not theoretical: they are grounded in twenty-five years of field experience investing in entrepreneurs across four continents. For events focused on ESG, impact investing, leadership, purpose-driven business, or global development, she delivers a perspective that is both strategically rigorous and genuinely moving. Contact Aurum Speakers Bureau to check availability and speaking fees.
What is Acumen and how big is it today?
Acumen is a global impact investment organization founded by Jacqueline Novogratz in 2001. It uses patient capital, a combination of philanthropic funding and for-profit impact funds, to invest in companies that deliver critical goods and services to people in poverty. Operating from nine offices across five continents, Acumen has impacted over 500 million people with access to healthcare, clean energy, safe housing, and agricultural services. The organization has also built a global leadership network, the Acumen Fellows program, and recently raised $250 million to accelerate off-grid solar expansion across Africa.
What is patient capital?
Patient capital refers to long-term investment, typically in the form of loans or equity rather than grants, in social enterprises that serve low-income communities. Unlike conventional venture capital, it accepts longer return timelines and measures success by social impact alongside financial performance. Unlike traditional charity, it holds investees accountable to building sustainable businesses. Novogratz pioneered the concept at Acumen and has spent more than two decades refining it across hundreds of investments in some of the world's most challenging markets.
What topics does keynote speaker Jacqueline Novogratz cover?
Novogratz speaks on impact investing and patient capital, moral leadership and purpose-driven business, poverty and dignity, social entrepreneurship, ESG strategy, and the role of business in addressing global inequality. Her talks draw on The Blue Sweater, Manifesto for a Moral Revolution, and her on-the-ground experience across Africa, South Asia, Latin America, and the United States. She is particularly well suited to events where senior audiences need to think seriously about purpose, accountability, and what it means to lead in a world of growing inequality. Reach out to Aurum Speakers Bureau to discuss the best format for your event.
How to book Jacqueline Novogratz as a keynote speaker?
Aurum Speakers Bureau can help you book Jacqueline Novogratz as a speaker for your next event, conference, or board meeting. Simply fill out our contact form to inquire about Jacqueline Novogratz's availability for a speaking engagement. One of our booking agents will respond to your request immediately and contact the speaker to let them know you want to hire them. We will assist you with obtaining speaking fees, booking information, and confirming availability for Jacqueline Novogratz or any other top keynote speaker or celebrity of your choice.
How much is Jacqueline Novogratz speaking fee?
Jacqueline Novogratz speaking fees are determined by several factors, including the event's date, whether it's a virtual or in-person event, the duration, format, preparation required for their speech, and more. The same applies to the cost to hire any other top expert speakers and celebrities. The Speaker Fee Range listed on our website is simply a guideline and is subject to change without notice. If you would like to hire Jacqueline Novogratz to deliver a keynote speech for your event, please fill out the contact form or email us at info@aurumbureau.com with as much detail as possible. One of our experienced agents will get in touch with you and let you know exactly how much it will cost to book Jacqueline Novogratz.
How can I contact Jacqueline Novogratz?
We only work with Jacqueline Novogratz on paid speaking engagements. Aurum Speakers Bureau can assist you in booking Jacqueline Novogratz and will handle all negotiations, contracts, and logistics associated with having Jacqueline Novogratz speak at your event. We will be your sole point of contact throughout the process. Get in touch with Aurum Speakers Bureau today, and we will reach out to any motivational speaker or celebrity you want to enquire about speaking at your event. If you wish to contact Jacqueline Novogratz for any other reason, we will be unable to assist you as we are not authorized to provide personal contact information.
Can I book Jacqueline Novogratz for a virtual keynote?
Yes, Jacqueline Novogratz is available for virtual keynotes and webinars. To book Jacqueline Novogratz for a virtual event, please complete the contact form or send us an email to inquire about the special fees for virtual engagements.
