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79 reviews for:
The Blue Sweater: Bridging the Gap Between Rich and Poor in an Interconnected World
Jacqueline Novogratz
3.87 AVERAGE
79 reviews for:
The Blue Sweater: Bridging the Gap Between Rich and Poor in an Interconnected World
Jacqueline Novogratz
3.87 AVERAGE
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
Wonderful. A very important critique of traditional top-down aid and a studied endorsement of including the poverty-stricken in the formal economy. Novogratz speaks from a place of wisdom and personal experience. It's too bad she isn't a better writer. Good, but not gifted.
I loved the honesty in this memoir. It's so nice to hear about the mistakes and bumps that many people in the field try to hide. It makes her path and work seem more realistic, attainable, and inspiring. I wish I'd read this before I worked abroad and maybe I would have had a step up! I recommend it for anyone, but especially people going to work in developing countries. I also liked how diplomatic and uncynical she was, when that does not seem to be the trend in the field. Towards the end, it started to sound a bit more like an ad for the Acumen Fund, but even that wasn't unwelcome. I didn't have a full understanding of how the organization worked and this was the best possible package for finding out. With the organization's great, but not necessarily intuitive (methodology-wise) work, I think she needed to put this out there.
As much as I may have wanted to like this book, I never got pulled in by the storytelling. I finally gave up halfway through. Maybe this is par for books written by energetic business executives, for it clearly showed her passion for her work, but as a book for a general audience, I've read much better. My disappointment is that I think there is an important story here that is too hard to tease out of the writing.
More like an autobiography. A very inspiring story
I really enjoyed reading about Novotratz’s views on philanthropy work and what is the difference between programs that are successful (where they equip people with tools AND skills) vs programs that fail (just providing a temporary solution). Despite all of the work she has done in the space she does a great job of giving light to stories that we otherwise might not hear and also takes care to follow her colleagues throughout the year so we can get a multidimensional idea of who they were/are. She isn’t afraid to admit failure but also knows how to celebrate victories. She worked on a lot of microfinance projects and the book blends together business talk with personal narratives in a beautiful way. It was inspiring and exciting and moving all at once.
I found this book's theme of how to help other people help themselves around the globe very relevant to today's world. Although the book is business-oriented, it is very much a story about the author's learning about how to best apply her talents in helping others and honoring their dignity.
Ms. Novogratz is an inspiring woman who went from a position of privilege and an idea to change the world, in a way that I could only describe in modern vernacular as “white savior”, to working with the poorest in Rwanda (pre-genocide) and Ghana, where she fought to found a woman run bank that specialized in microfinancing loans for women to finance ways to establish their own businesses to provide for their families. She then returned back to the United States and at the Rockefeller Foundation, where she realized that what is needed in philanthropy and charity is what we at the Community Foundation refer to as “centering on community voice.” It’s all well and good to fund a flour processing mill’s construction – but when you do not provide the means to teach the workers how to repair the equipment or factor in “how are they going to obtain the fuel to run the machines”, your money and time are wasted and often resented by those you are trying to help.
She went on to found the Acumen Fund – a Not-for-profit that provides grants and loans to low income/poverty level entrepreneurs around the world to help bring dignity and independence to those who need it the most.
+++++
I cannot even tell you how this book landed on my radar, but somehow, I had requested it from the library and then promptly forgot about it. But when it became available, I trusted that past me had a reason for wanting to read it. And I am glad I did.
This was a good book that looks not only into the life of a rather extraordinary woman, but makes you think on just how much the global community is interconnected and how one small act can make a HUGE change in not only the world but also just one person. And you never know how changing the life of that one person can in turn, change the world.
She went on to found the Acumen Fund – a Not-for-profit that provides grants and loans to low income/poverty level entrepreneurs around the world to help bring dignity and independence to those who need it the most.
+++++
I cannot even tell you how this book landed on my radar, but somehow, I had requested it from the library and then promptly forgot about it. But when it became available, I trusted that past me had a reason for wanting to read it. And I am glad I did.
This was a good book that looks not only into the life of a rather extraordinary woman, but makes you think on just how much the global community is interconnected and how one small act can make a HUGE change in not only the world but also just one person. And you never know how changing the life of that one person can in turn, change the world.
This is a good read for anyone interested in global poverty/development as well as for insight into effective philanthropy and private/public partnerships. Novogratz has had incredible experiences and she's very inspiring. I'm being picky with criticism b/c i had an allergic reaction to some of the language that tended to sound like cover-letter/application-speak and b/c I'm left with the feeling that we missed out on a lot of insights/lessons/other commentary on things she chose not to give a lot of air-time to - maybe that's for another book or b/c this one was part-memoir. Still, a bolder edit would have made this better.