Jacqueline Novogratz on patient capitalism | Video on TED.com

Jacqueline Novogratz shares stories of how "patient capital" can bring sustainable jobs, goods, services -- and dignity -- to the world's poorest.

Jacqueline Novogratz founded and leads Acumen Fund, a nonprofit that takes a businesslike approach to improving the lives of the poor. In her new book, The Blue Sweater, she tells stories from the new philanthropy, which emphasizes sustainable bottom-up solutions over traditional top-down aid. Full bio »

"dignity is more important to the human spirit than wealth. " ... Monte

“People really don’t want handouts, they want to make their own decisions; they want to solve their own problems.”
Watch this talk »
“We can send people to the Moon; we can see if there’s life on Mars — why can’t we get $5 [mosquito] nets to 500 million people?”
Watch this talk »
“We so often don’t realize what our action and our inaction does to people we think we will never see and never know.”
Watch this talk »
“Failure can be an incredibly motivating force.”
Watch this talk »
“Listening is not only about waiting, but it’s also learning how better to ask questions.”
Watch this talk »
“When we were walking through the narrow alleys [of the Mathare Valley slums], it was literally impossible not to step in the raw sewage and the garbage alongside the little homes. But at the same time it was also impossible not to see the human vitality, the aspiration and the ambition of the people who live there.”
Watch this talk »“My dreams don’t look exactly like I thought they would when I was a little girl. But if I think about it, I thought I wanted a husband, but what I really wanted was a family that was loving.”— quoting Jane, a Kenyan single mother of seven
Watch this talk »
“At the end of the day, dignity is more important to the human spirit than wealth.”
Watch this talk »
“So many low income people have seen so many failed promises broken and seen so many quacks and sporadic medicines offered to them that building trust takes a lot of time, takes a lot of patience.”
Watch this talk »
“I’ve heard it said that the most dangerous animal on the planet is the adolescent male.”
Watch this talk »
“Our leaders and ourselves want everything, but we don’t talk about the costs.”
Watch this talk »
“We have to remember that the girls and the women are most isolated and violated and victimized and made invisible in those very societies where our men and our boys feel disempowered, unable to provide.”
Watch this talk »
“What we really yearn for as human beings is to be visible to each other.”
Watch this talk »
“Your job is not to be perfect. Your job is only to be human.”
Watch this talk »