Jacqueline Novogratz’s humanitarian impact boasts some serious numbers. She’s CEO of Acumen (formerly the Acumen Fund), and since it was founded in 2001, it’s raised over $250 million and brought off-grid solar power to more than 70 million people across 16 sub-Saharan countries in Africa. Basically, she’s been bringing electricity to people who’ve only dreamt about it.
Acumen extends beyond Africa, however. It’s a global non-profit where impact investors can offer up “patient capital” to support businesses and entrepreneurs in underserved markets to help tackle poverty in those regions. Think of it as a series of new financial models that blend philanthropy with smart risk-taking in formats like loans tied to social impact.
2025 saw Novogratz focus on Acumen’s Hardest-to-Reach initiative (H2R), which is the primary force behind its huge energy push in Africa. She also delivered a TED Talk that highlighted the idea of universal electricity, her point being that the risk associated with leaving millions without power was greater than the financial risk of providing that power. Many media pundits, like moi, described it as an “audacious idea,” but frankly it reads like trailblazing common sense to me.
