Standing Shoulder to Shoulder: A Letter from Acumen’s Board

Dear Acumen friends,

A month after Acumen’s 19th turn around the sun and the launch of both Jacqueline’s profound book Manifesto for a Moral Revolution: Practices to Build a Better World and Acumen Academy, we, the Board of Acumen, are proud to recognize the extraordinary community that is Acumen. At last week’s Spring Board meeting, we considered “Moral Imagination in Crisis”. The lives of the poor are filled with daily crises and now Covid-19, respecting no borders or boundaries, is wreaking havoc as it ravages people, communities and livelihoods. As difficult as this set of circumstances is, Acumen is blessed with an exceptionally talented staff who is clearly motivated by doing what is right, not what is easy. Now more than ever it is clear just what Acumen is made of, and what it is made for.

It is a tribute to the Acumen team and to our entrepreneurs, fellows and partners that in the face of crisis we rapidly pivot and support in direct and proactive ways with intelligence, grace and care. Our teams understand the markets they serve because they are on the ground and proximate even in the most devastating conditions. They work to protect human dignity, livelihood and lives, organize a virtual book launch, design courses, create emergency funding facilities and carry out the hard core work of building companies that reach over 300 million people.

We are witnessing Acumen communities around the globe using innovative, high risk, impactful thinking; creating solutions and bringing about change from the ground up. This represents moral imagination at work.

Thank you to each and every member of the Acumen team around the world for your amazing commitment and effort. With humility we support you as you stand with the poor, investing in intrepid entrepreneurs who refuse to leave the most vulnerable behind. We are honored to commit to the principles of the Acumen Manifesto and privileged to serve on the Board of Acumen and to stand shoulder to shoulder with all of you.

In Partnership,

Shaiza Rizavi
Chair of the Board on behalf of the Board of Acumen