Acumen Fund

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Acumen Fund

-76 Ninth Avenue, Suite 315; New York, NY 10011 (212) 566-8821 | Fax: +1 (212) 566-8817 | http://www.acumenfund.org/

-Offices in India, Kenya, and Pakistan: http://www.acumenfund.org/about-us/contact-us.html

More info to come.

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Their wholly fictional “About“: http://www.acumenfund.org/about-us.html

A “non-profit” organization that uses a venture capital model to promote sustainable change to “improve” [read: indebt, enslave, evict, make worse, etc.] the lives of the poor. It is officially supported by many organizations, including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Google.org, and The Rockefeller Foundation, etc.

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Partners

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Acumen Fund Stewards ($5,000,000+)

Aman Foundation • Amy Robbins • Andrea Soros Colombel & Eric Colombel* • Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation • The Robert and Kate Niehaus Foundation • The Sapling Foundation* • The Three Dogs Foundation*

Leadership Partners ($1,000,000+)

Anonymous (3) • Abraaj Capital Employees • The Alexander Family Foundation* • Blood Family Foundation • C. Hunter & Pamela T. Boll* • David & Susan Lyons • d.o.b Foundation • Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) • Google • Julius Gaudio & Chandra Jessee • LF Foundation • Lundin for Africa Society • Mahvash & Jahangir Siddiqui Foundation • Partridge Foundation • Peter & Devon Briger Foundation • Skoll Foundation • Zennström Philanthropies

Keystone Partners ($500,000+)

Catherine S. Muther* • Edmond & Benjamin de Rothschild Foundations • Lehman Brothers • Phalarope Foundation* • Sidney E. Frank Foundation • Woodcock Foundation

Sustaining Partners ($250,000+) Anonymous • DCD America, Inc. • George W. & Patricia A. Wellde* • Goldman Sachs • John L. Thornton • Liquidnet Holdings, Inc. • Nandan Nilekani • Nathan Laurell • Nike Foundation • Shawn & Brook Byers • Susan & Gib Myers • The Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation, Inc. • Kathryn and Robert Stewart • Peery Foundation

Senior Partners ($100,000+)

Alwaleed bin Talal Foundation • Barry Haimes • Bohemian Foundation • Brinson Foundation • Bruce Campbell • Charles & Roberta Katz Family Foundation* • David & Anita Keller Foundation • Diana Barrett • The Dow Chemical Company • Fadi Ghandour • Fiona & Stanley Druckenmiller • Francisco Garcia Paramés • Friso & Mabel van Oranje • Geraldine Laybourne • The Gilder Foundation • GV Prasad • The Harnisch Foundation • Herb Allen III • Mr. & Mrs. Hisham El-Khazindar • IDEO • Irving Foundation • Jay & Eileen Walker • Jill & Ken Iscol • Joe & Amy Novogratz • Jonathan & Jennifer Soros • Jose & Trish Suarez • KCB Bank • King Khalid Foundation • KL Felicitas Foundation • Lodestar Foundation • Margot Pritzker • Mr. Mark Lampert & Ms. Susan Byrd • The MCJ Foundation • Mediabrands • Michael & Sarah Peterson • Miles Morland • Marissa Mueller Foundation • The One Foundation • Osprey Foundation • Planet Wheeler Foundation • Resnick Family Foundation, Inc. • Rod and Liz Berens • Rural India Support Trust • Salesforce.com Foundation • Salvatore Ferragamo • Select Equity Group Foundation • Shaukat Tarin • Shopify • The Rockefeller Foundation* • The Tokyo Foundation • Tudor Investment Corporation • William E. Mayer • W.K. Kellogg Foundation* • Work-in-Progress Fund of Tides Foundation

Associate Partners ($50,000+)

Anonymous (4) • Adnan Asdar • Ali & Hina Ashgar • Ali Jameel • Amjad Ali Khan • Ann & Thomas L. Friedman • APEX Foundation* • The Bernard and Anne Spitzer Charitable Trust • Carol Baker & Mark Stein • Charles & Susan Harris • Citi Foundation • The Cohn Family Foundation • Craig & Kirsten Neville-Manning • Elenor and Howard Morgan Family Foundation • Farrokh Captain • The globalislocal Fund • Harriet Mouchly-Weiss • Hasan & Shameela Rizvi • Hussain Dawood • Jay & Randi Coen Gilbert • Jeffrey C. & Suzanne C. Walker • Karin Helene Bauer • Kashif Zafar • Leslie Gimbel • Liebe & Bill Patterson • Maggie Kaplan • Mary Lyndon Haviland • Mike Velings • Muna Al Gurg • Nasreen Kasuri • Niko Canner • Orient Links Co. LLC • Peter Cain • Peter Kellner • Rachel McAdams • Susan Petersmeyer • Ralph & Dorothy Bahna • Sadeesh Raghavan • Samir Rath • Sean Phelan & Audrey Mandela • Steve Smith • Syed Babar Ali • Tahir Wahid • White & Case, LLP • W.L. Lyons Brown Foundation • Zafer Achi • Zafar Siddiqui

Development Partners ($10,000+)

Anonymous (13) • Adventures of the Mind Foundation • Anne Wade & Gil Hagan • Ajay Parekh • Alec Hanson • Allegro Foundation • Argosy Foundation • Asif Khaja • Asiff Hirjii & Sarah Wigglesworth • Balamurali Ambati • Barry McHugh • Better World Fund • Bill & Betsy Meehan • Bloomberg LP • Bobby & Madhavi Rao • Brad Rosenberg • Carolyn S. Brody • Cathrine S. Steck Foundation • Chicago for Acumen • Christine A. Jacobs Family Foundation • Coburn Ventures • Commonwealth Secretariat • Connie Steensma • Crabby Beach Foundation • Craig & Jennifer Staub • Credit Suisse • Crown Family Philanthropies • Dan Toole and Beth Verhey • David & Keira Barry • David & Peggy Tanner Philanthropic Fund • David Rose• Denise & Ira Wagner • Dennis Miller • Dhiren & Katie Shah • Doug & Christine Rohde • Dubai for Acumen • Dwight Anderson • Efroymson Family Fund, a CICF Fund • Erin Levin • Faisal & Tanya Mian • Fareed & Paula Throckmorton Zakaria • Fawad Anwar • Frances K. Dibner Fund • Gary Rindner • Geeta & Krishen Mehta • Gerry Ohrstrom • Glenn & Eva Dubin • GOOD Magazine • Grant Me the Wisdom Fund • GSRD • GVC Fund • Henriette Nielsen • Hilton Pharma Ltd • Hong Leong Holdings Ltd • Hunter Douglas • imago dei fund • Imc² • Ingrid Stange • The Jacquelyn and Gregory Zehner Foundation • James O’Shaughnessy • Mr. & Mrs. James R. Treptow • James Wong • Jennifer R. McCann*• Joan & George Hornig • John Hughes • John P & Anne Welsh McNulty Foundation • John & Tina Novogratz • John Schaetzl • Jonathan Carp • Joy Family Foundation • Julie Menin • K. Richard & Elizabeth Flynt Foundation • Katherine Collins • Katherine Fulton & Katharine Kunst • Kristen Spindler & David Smoot • Laird Norton Family Foundation • Laura & Gary Lauder* • Laurent Demuynck & Maia Ming Fong • Ms. Laurie Bernstein • Leith Greenslade • Lemelson Foundation • Lesley Goldwasser & Jonathan Plutzik • Lindsay & Brian Shea* • The Louie-Marsh Family Fund • Malik & Najmi Sarwar • Manoj Varghese • The Marjorie Merriweather Post Foundation • Marks Family Foundation • Marten Hoekstra • Martha & Toby Brooks • Mary Pat Ryan • Masahiko Sumiya • Matthew Dontzin • Matthew & Anupama Tate • Merrill Lynch • The Mr. & Mrs. Michael P. Kirby Charitable Gift Fund • Michael Poppel • Mikael Ahlstrom • Mike Jacobellis • ML Resources Social Vision • Mohsin Nathani • Monis Rahman • Montag Family Foundation • Morgan Stanley • Muneer Khan • Munib & Kamila Islam • Murray Dalziel • Murray Metcalfe • Nathan Cummings Foundation • Neeraj Mehta & Jennifer L. Mehta • New York for Acumen • New York Life • Nuru Project • Paul Hastings, LLC • Paul Petruccelli • Pedro Ha • Peter F. Moore • PricewaterhouseCoopers • Puricom Water Industrial Corp. • Ram Sundaram • Ramesh & Neeraja Murthy • Ravi & Ginny Akhoury • Raymond Everett & Lucy Chow • Roger D. Bayat • Rohit Bansal • Romita Shetty & Nasser Ahmad • Ron & Beth Dozoretz • Ronald G. & Patricia J. Anderson • Russ Dirgantoro • Russell Faucett • S and P Goodwill Fund • Samuel M. Victor • San Francisco for Acumen • Sanne Charitable Trust • Sasha Rabsey & Fred Berkowitz • Schering Plough • Scott Turner • Shamaya Gilo • Sharique Siddiqui • Shehnaz & Shakil Tapal • Simon Clark• Stage Right Enterprises • Stephanie Gaines • Supporting Opportunity Foundation • Susquehanna Foundation • Syed Ali Zaidi • The Thanks Be To God Foundation • Thomas Cooper • Thomas Darden • Timothy J. Boyle • Toronto for Acumen • Unaizah Moonis • Wahid Maskatiya • Walid Muslih • Warren Jason • Wes Fuller • William Rosenzweig & Carla Fraccia • Zeelaf & Munir Mashooqullah • Margaret and Sharjeel Kashmir

Founding Partners

The Alexander Family Foundation • Andrea Soros Colombel & Eric Colombel • Apex Foundation • Catherine S. Muther • C. Hunter & Pamela T. Boll • Charles and Roberta Katz Family Foundation • Cisco Systems Foundation • George W. & Patricia A. Wellde • I Jerome Hirsch • Jennifer R. McCann • Laura & Gary Lauder • Lindsay & Brian Shea • The Novogratz-Caceres Family Foundation • Phalarope Foundation • The Rockefeller Foundation • The Sapling Foundation • The Sigrid Rausing Trust • TOSA • William H.A. Wright II • W.K. Kellogg Foundation

Pro-Bono Partners

Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP • Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker LLP • McKinsey & Company • White & Case LLP • Raee Public Relations & The Partnership Advertising

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Board of Directors

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Margo Alexander (Chair)

Margo Alexander was the former Chairman of UBS AG Global Asset Management amd formerly a senior executive of PaineWebber, where she spent the greater part of her thirty-three year career in the financial services industry. Beginning as a research analyst, she later became Director of Research, then Director of Institutional Equity and, in 1995, CEO of Mitchell Hutchins Asset Management. She was a member of the PaineWebber executive committee until the firm’s acquisition by UBS in November 2000. Ms. Alexander is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley and the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration, where she met her husband, Robert Alexander. She has lived in New York since 1970 and has two sons. Ms. Alexander is a member of the advisory boards of Haas School at Berkeley and The New School, serves on the board of the Eleanor Roosevelt Legacy Committee and is a member of The Council on Foreign Relations.

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C. Hunter Boll

C. Hunter Boll is a former managing director of Thomas H. Lee Partners, one of the largest private equity firms in the world. He joined the firm in 1986. In 2005, he co-founded Source Audio LLC, a start-up venture focused on providing consumers with next generation accessories for the musical instrument market. Mr. Boll is Chief Operating Officer for Source Audio LLC. From 1984 to 1986, Mr. Boll was with the Boston Consulting Group, a corporate strategy consulting firm. He previously served as an Assistant Vice President, Energy and Mineral Division of Chemical Bank. Mr. Boll is a director of Metrics Companies, Inc., TransWestern Publishing and Source Audio LLC. Mr. Boll received a BA in Economics from Middlebury College and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

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Andrea Soros Colombel

Andrea Soros Colombel [daughter of George Soros] is the founder and president of Trace Foundation, established in 1993 to promote “the cultural continuity” and “sustainable development” of Tibetan communities within China. The foundation implements projects in the fields of “education, culture, and rural development”. In New York, the foundation has also opened the Latse contemporary Tibetan cultural library. In 2000, Andrea co-founded Tsadra foundation with her husband, Eric Colombel, to support the activities of advanced students of Tibetan Buddhism in the West and preserve rare Tibetan Buddhist resources. Andrea was born in New York in 1965. She received her B.A. from University of Chicago in literature and holds a graduate certificate from the Bard Center for Environmental Policy. She participated in The Philanthropy Workshop at Rockefeller Foundation in 1995.

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Stuart Davidson

Stuart Davidson is a managing partner of Labrador Ventures. Prior to Labrador, Stuart founded and served as CEO of Combion, Inc., which was acquired by Incyte (NASDAQ:INCY). He was also President of Alkermes, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALKS). Previously, Stuart worked for MCI Communications and for Warner Communications. He serves on the boards of The Acumen Fund, Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors and REDF. He is a trustee of the Phalarope Foundation, which focuses on enterprise development, and the Woodcock Foundation. Stuart is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Business School.

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David Heller

<–spouse Hermine Riegerl Heller. | David Heller is the Co-Head of the Goldman Sachs Global Securities Division. He currently sits on the firm’s Securities Division Operating Committee, Firmwide Risk Committee, Business Practices Committee, Finance Committee and Compensation Committee. David joined Goldman in 1989 in New York as an equity derivatives trader. He worked for Goldman in Japan from 1993-1998, initially as an equity derivatives trader and eventually as the co-head of Goldman’s Japanese equity business. David transferred to London in 1999 to become the global head of equity derivatives trading and returned to New York in 2002.

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William E. Mayer

Tom Pritzker, Margot Pritzker, William E. Mayer. | William E. Mayer formed Park Avenue Equity Partners, a private equity fund that invests in middle-market companies. Previously, he was a founding partner of Development Capital. He was a professor and Dean of the College of Business and Management at the University of Maryland, and during his tenure, led an effort that made it one of the top 25 ranked business schools in the country. From 1991 to 1992, he served as a professor and Dean of the Simon Graduate School of Business at the University of Rochester. Mr. Mayer worked for The First Boston Corporation (now Credit Suisse), a major investment bank, for 23 years, during which he held numerous management positions, including President and Chief Executive Officer. He is a board member of BlackRock Kelso and Lee Enterprises, and is a trustee of the Columbia Group of Mutual Funds. He is Chairman of the Aspen Institute and Chairman of the Board of the University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland. Mr. Mayer was a First Lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force. He holds a BS and an MBA from the University of Maryland. | Acumen Fund – director; Aspen Institute – trustee; Atlantic Council of the United States – director; Columbia Group of Mutual Funds – trustee; Lee Enterprises – director; New York Sentinels – owner; Park Avenue Equity Partners – senior partner; University of Maryland- trustee. Past: First Boston Corporation – president & CEO; Reader’s Digest Association Inc. – director; University of Maryland – professor. …lives and/or works in Darien, CT.

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Pat Mitchell

Pat Mitchell is the President & CEO of the Paley Center for Media. Prior to the Paley Center, Ms. Mitchell was President & CEO of the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) for six years. She was the first woman and first producer and journalist to hold the position. Earlier in her career, Ms. Mitchell worked for three broadcast networks and several cable channels, winning national acclaim both in front of and behind the camera as a reporter, news anchor, talk show host, White House and special correspondent, producer, and executive. In 2011, she was named to Newsweek’s list of 150 Women Who Shake the World. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and Green Cross International, and sits on several boards, including AOL, the Sundance Institute, Human Rights Watch, the Mayo Clinic, and the Jordan River Foundation. Ms. Mitchell also acts as an adviser to the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard Kennedy School and the V-DAY movement. She graduated magna cum laude from the University of Georgia with a master’s degree in English literature.

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Robert H. Niehaus

Robert H. Niehaus is the founder of Greenhill Capital Partners and oversees private equity funds totaling $1.8 billion in committed capital. He is Chairman of the Investment Committee of Greenhill Capital Partners and a member of the Management Committee of Greenhill & Co. Prior to joining Greenhill & Co., Mr. Niehaus spent 17 years at Morgan Stanley & Co., where he was Managing Director in the merchant banking department from 1990-1999 and the department’s Chief Operating Officer from 1996-1998. Mr. Niehaus is a director of Director of Heartland Payment Systems, EXCO Resources, Knight Energy, FCC Holdingsand a number of other portfolio companies. Mr. Niehaus received a B.A. in International Affairs from the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University and an M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School. | Age in 2011: 55. Acumen Fund – director; Greenhill & Co. Inc. – managing director; Heartland Payment Systems – director; Iridium Communications Inc. – director; Touch Foundation – director. Past: EXCO Resources, Inc. – director. …lives and/or works in Rye, NY.

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Jacqueline Novogratz

Prior to Acumen Fund, Jacqueline founded and directed The Philanthropy Workshop and The Next Generation Leadership program at the Rockefeller Foundation. She also founded Duterimbere, a micro-finance institution in Rwanda. She began her career in international banking with Chase Manhattan Bank. Ms. Novogratz is currently on the advisory boards of Stanford Graduate School of Business and Innovations Journal, published by MIT Press. She is an Aspen Institute Henry Crown Fellow and a Synergos Institute Senior Fellow. She is a frequent speaker at international conferences, including the World Economic Forum, the Clinton Global Initiative and TED. Ms. Novogratz has an MBA from Stanford and a BA in Economics/International Relations from the University of Virginia.

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Michael E. Novogratz

Michael E. Novogratz has been a principal and a member of the Management Committee of Fortress Investment Group LLC since March 2002. Mr. Novogratz is responsible for the liquid markets business, which includes running the Drawbridge Global Macro Fund. Prior to joining Fortress, Mr. Novogratz spent 11 years at Goldman Sachs, where he became a partner in 1998. Mr. Novogratz held the positions of President of Goldman Sachs Latin America and Head of Fixed Income, Currencies and Commodities Risk in Asia, where he lived from 1992 to 1999. He serves as Chairman of the Board of the School for Strings and Beat the Streets Wrestling Inc. Mr. Novogratz received a BA from Princeton University and served as a helicopter pilot in the US Army. | Acumen Fund – director; Fortress Investment Group – director; Hudson River Park Trust – director; NYU Langone Medical Center – trustee; Third Way – trustee. Past: Goldman Sachs Group Inc. – partner. …lives and/or works in New York, NY.

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GV Prasad

GV Prasad is Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd. Previously, he was Managing Director of Cheminor Drugs Ltd, which merged with Dr. Reddy’s in 2001. Prasad leads the core team that drives the growth and performance of Dr. Reddy’s, and is widely credited as the architect of the company’s successful global generics strategy. He is also a champion of sustainability thinking and has spearheaded efforts to reduce Dr. Reddy’s ecological footprint by embracing green technologies and processes. Prasad earned his degree in chemical engineering from the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago and his Masters in Industrial Administration from Purdue University.

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Ali J. Siddiqui

Ali J. Siddiqui is a principal of JS Group, one of Pakistan’s largest conglomerates. Prior to JS Group, Mr. Siddiqui was a Director with Crosby Capital Partners and was based in Hong Kong. Prior to Crosby, he was an Associate with Techpacific Capital where he was part of a team that managed private equity and venture funds investing in Asia-Pacific. He serves on the boards of a number of fast-growing private sector companies in Pakistan. In addition, he is involved with a number of charitable and sustainable development organizations. He holds a B.A. in economics from Cornell University.

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Joseph E. Stiglitz

Joseph E. Stiglitz is a University Professor at Columbia University in New York, Chair of Columbia University’s Committee on Global Thought, and co-founder and Executive Director of the Initiative for Policy Dialogue. In 2001, Dr. Stiglitz was awarded the Nobel Prize ["lol"] in economics for his analyses of markets with asymmetric information, and he has pioneered such pivotal concepts as moral hazard and adverse selection. Previously, he served as Chief Economist and Senior Vice-President of the World Bank and as Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers under the Clinton Administration. Recognized as a leading economic educator and author around the world, Dr. Stiglitz has written numerous books and has taught at Princeton, Stanford, Oxford, MIT and Yale. He founded The Journal of Economic Perspectives, and his 2001 book Globalization and Its Discontents has sold over one million copies worldwide. Dr. Stiglitz is a graduate of Amherst College and holds a PhD from MIT.

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Advisory Council

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“The Honorable” Bill Bradley, Chair, Acumen Fund Advisory Council
B. 1943. Was a senator from New Jersey, elected in 1978 and served three six-year terms.

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Fazle Hasan Abed, BRAC

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Syed Babar Ali, Lahore University of Management Sciences, Pakistan

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Chris Anderson, The Sapling Foundation

B. 1957; is the curator of the set of TED (conference) (Technology, Entertainment, Design). TED is a global set of conferences owned by the private “non-profit” Sapling Foundation, formed to disseminate “ideas worth spreading.” [Heavily funded and sponsored by the Gates Foundation, unless I am mistaken.] He is married to Jacqueline Novogratz, founder and CEO of Acumen Fund (a venture capital fund that supports social enterprises), and has three daughters, Elizabeth, Anna, and Zoe (1986-2010).
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Diana Barrett, The Fledgling Fund

…founded The Fledgling Fund in 2005 after a career at Harvard University, where she taught at the Harvard Business School and the School of Public Health. Her areas of interest at Harvard included global poverty reduction and specifically addressing the social and personal burden of disease such as HIV/AIDS. The Fledgling Fund provides an opportunity to further those and many other interests by focusing on innovative approaches to complex social issues including the use of media to ignite social change.

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Seth Berkley, GAVI Alliance

…is the founder and former president and CEO of the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI). A medical doctor specializing in infectious disease epidemiology, Seth currently serves as president and CEO of the GAVI Alliance. …Prior to founding IAVI in 1996, Berkley was an officer of the Health Sciences Division at The Rockefeller Foundation. He has worked for the Center for Infectious Diseases of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, and for the Carter Center, where he was assigned as an epidemiologist at the Ministry of Health in Uganda. Seth played a key role in Uganda’s national HIV sero-survey and helped develop its National AIDS Control programs. He has been featured on the cover of Newsweek, recognized by TIME magazine as one of the “100 Most Influential People in the World” and by Wired Magazine, etc.

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Angela Glover Blackwell, PolicyLink

Blackwell is the founder and chief executive officer of PolicyLink, a national research and action institute for economic and social equity.

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Mark Malloch Brown, the United Nations

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Tim Brown, IDEO

”IDEO, famous design firm.”

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Niko Canner, Booz & Company

Senior Partner in Booz & Company’s organization and change leadership practice, and is a founder and Managing Partner of Katzenbach Partners LLC, a consulting firm with offices in New York and Houston. He is also a founder-member of the McKinsey Change Center and cofounder of the Organization Practice at the Mitchell Madison Group, etc.