Patient Capital: Jacqueline Novogratz

 Jacqueline Novogratz is the founder and CEO of Acumen Fund, a non-profit global venture capital fund that uses entrepreneurial approaches to solve the problems of global poverty. Acumen Fund has invested over $50 million of Patient Capital in 50 businesses that have impacted more than 40 million people in the past year alone. Any money returned to Acumen Fund is reinvested in enterprises serving the poor. 

Currently, Acumen has offices in New York, Mumbai, Karachi, Nairobi, and Accra.  Patient Capital, “takes the best of the markets as well as philanthropy and aid. Patient Capital is money invested in entrepreneurs building companies and organizations that solve tough problems like healthcare, water, housing, alternative energy.”

Patient Capital investing is a third way to solve tough problems. It bridges the gap between the efficiency and scale of market-based approaches and the social impact of pure philanthropy. Patient capital has a high tolerance for risk, has long time horizons, is flexible to meet the needs of entrepreneurs, and is unwilling to sacrifice the needs of end customers for the sake of shareholders. At the same time, patient capital ultimately demands accountability in the form of a return of capital: proof that the underlying enterprise can grow sustainably in the long run.

It is creating exciting new business models capable of bringing affordable, life-changing products and services to the poor. These businesses are transforming the lives of their customers, and are creating jobs that lead directly to economic growth.

Starting a new business is always tough and starting a business in the developing world can be much tougher. Launching a business that focuses on the needs of the world’s poorest often seems impossible. Patient Capital is the scarce resource that allows new, sometimes crazy, potentially world-changing ideas see the light of day.

Where did Jacqueline find her inspiration?  You can read about her journey in her memoir, The Blue Sweater:  Bridging the Gap between Rich and Poor in the Interconnected World. It tells the story of a woman who left her career in international banking to spend her life understanding global poverty and how to make effective inroads in its alleviation.

Her story begins back in Virginia where, as a young girl she was given a present of a blue sweater.  Beloved and well-worn, she eventually donated it to Goodwill after it no longer fit.  Eleven years later, when in Africa, she spotted a young boy wearing that same sweater, confirmed by her name tag still on the inside.  That her beloved sweater made the trek all the way to Rwanda was evidence enough for her that we are all inter-connected.

She shows, in ways both hilarious and heart-breaking, how traditional charity often fails but also how Patient Capital can increase people's self-sufficiency and change the lives of millions.  Her story is a call to action that requires us to think differently about how we engage with the world and how "aid" can become an effective turning point in the lives of many living in poverty.

[photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/acumenfund/6005682852/">Acumen Fund</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/">cc</a>]

In the Kitchen: Quinoa 101

"If I had to chose one food to survive on, quinoa would be the best," said Dr. Duane Johnson, New Crops Agronomist at Colorado State University

Called a supergrain, quinoa is highly nutritious and can supply us with all of the body's requirements: carbohydrates, fats, protein, vitamins, minerals, and fiber.  It's a gluten free seed, not a grain.  It provides outstanding protein quality.  The germ of each quinoa grain is larger than that of any other grain and encircles the outer surface which explains its exceptionally high protein content.

Protein and fiber are two dietary essentials for regulation of blood sugar. Because chronic, unwanted inflammation is also a key risk factor for the development of type 2 diabetes, the diverse range of anti-inflammatory nutrients found in quinoa enhance diabetes risk reduction.  

Since quinoa is gluten free, it is considered an ideal food for those prone to food allergies. Common allergens include grains from the grass family. Quinoa is not in the grass family, making it beneficial for people who cannot tolerate common grains like wheat, corn, rye, barley, and oats.

The United Nations General Assembly has  declared 2013 as the "International Year of Quinoa" in recognition of ancestral practices of the Andean people.  It is the Andean people who have preserved quinoa as food for present and future generations through knowledge and practices of living in harmony with nature. The objective is to draw the world’s attention to the role that quinoa plays in providing food security, nutrition and poverty eradication, all in support of achieving Millennium Development Goals.

HISTORY
 
Quinoa is native to the Andes Mountains of Bolivia, Chile, and Peru, sometimes referred to as "vegetable caviar" or Inca rice.  It has been eaten continuously for 5,000 years by people who live on the mountain plateaus and in the valleys of Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, and Chile.  Quinoa means "mother grain" in the Inca language. This crop was a staple food of the Inca people and remains an important food crop for their descendants, the Quechua and Aymara peoples who live in rural regions.

In the 16th century, when the Spanish invaded the Andes region, the Incas were forced into submission and the cultivation and consumption of quinoa was banned due to its association with non Christian ceremonies. The Incas were forced to grow corn and potatoes instead.  If you compare the nutritional qualities of quinoa to these other crops, you’ll see why they were vastly inferior to quinoa. Nevertheless, some wild quinoa continued to grow out of sight and a small amount was able to be cultivated. So in small amounts of quinoa were consumed in secret. 

Quinoa was imported into the US in the 1970’s and become increasingly popular in western cultures, particularly in the last 5 - 10 years.

The marketable seed is usually white in color, although multicolor seeds are also available. The leaves are frequently eaten as a leafy vegetable, like spinach. Seed imported from growers in South America is sold in the United States in health-food stores, gourmet food shops and even in major grocery chains in their natural/health food sections.  I buy mine at Trader Joe's.

PREPARATION

The seed coats (pericarp) are usually covered with bitter saponin compounds that must be removed before human consumption. The removal of the pericarp and the saponins by mechanical or chemical means does not affect the mineral content of the seed. Because of the residual bitter compounds that may coat the seeds, I recommend placing the amount you intend to use in a very fine mesh strainer and rinsing them in running cold water before use.  

After the rinse, it is ridiculously easy to cook Quinoa seeds.  They are basically cooked the same way as rice and can be used in a wide range of dishes as you would use rice or other grains, like pilafs, tabbouleh, and mixed salads. 

To cook it in a pot, add 2 parts liquid (water, chicken/vegetable/beef broth) to 1 part quinoa.  I like to add other ingredients either from the get-go or mix them in at the end, like raisins, dried cranberries, finely chopped shallots or scallions, grilled or left-over veggies.  Add the seasonings of your choice, from garlic to curry to saffron.  You are only limited by your imagination.  Simmer gently for about 15-20 minutes and let rest until all liquid is absorbed.  Enjoy its light, tender, slightly chewy texture.

It's easy to make in advance and reheat in the microwave. 

If you look closely at the photo below, you will notice a thin white ring bordering each seed.  As quinoa cooks, the germ is released from the exterior of the grain and forms a tiny spiral. You'll recognize it easily by its white coloring and sprout-like appearance.

 
RECIPES

Check out 22 quinoa yummy quinoa recipes right here.









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[Photo 2:  <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/johnnystiletto/5393021073/">I Believe I Can Fry</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/">cc</a>]
 

The Heavy Handbag: My Essentials

My handbag is too heavy.  No matter how I edit the contents, it's never enough to sufficiently reduce the weight.  You'd think that since the phone can double as a camera, an ipod and a laptop, I'd be home free.

According to Real Simple , your purse should weigh no more than 10% of your body weight!  That seems like a lot to me.  Alyssa Shaffer at Prevention magazine, advises holding your bag on your shoulder rather than the crook of your arm.  If you can, wear the strap across your chest like a messenger bag to allow trunk muscles to carry more load, that's even better.  Doctor's recommend dividing the load and balancing it between a handbag and a tote.  Common sense to be sure.  But my purse is still too heavy.

Here's the bare minimum of what resides in my purse, in addition to my iphone that I used to take this photo.  Sometimes a folding umbrella. I'm on a perpetual quest for the lightest most compact umbrella I can find?  What's hiding inside your handbag?

[<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/missnita/2246602555/">Ani-Bee</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/">cc</a>]

Half the Sky

Sheryl WuDunn

Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide is a book by the husband-wife team of Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn.  The book posits that the oppression of women worldwide is "the paramount moral challenge" of the 21st century. 
Only when women in developing countries have equal access to education and economic opportunity will we be using all our human resources.  Half the Sky also focuses on sex trafficking, maternal mortality, sexual violence, and micro-finance. 

Carolyn See, reviewing the book in The Washington Post, said: "'Half the Sky' is a call to arms, a call for help, a call for contributions, but also a call for volunteers. It asks us to open our eyes to this enormous humanitarian issue. It does so with exquisitely crafted prose and sensationally interesting material....I really do think this is one of the most important books I have ever reviewed."

As I imagine myself or my daughters deprived of our autonomy, independence, or freedom to become our best and most productive selves, I am outraged.  That women and girls anywhere in the world are limited by societal norms created, enforced and perpetuated by men and women who are complicit in the limitation of female opportunities and achievement, I am called to action. The voice is loud and insistent.  I must do what I can do in order to amplify the voices of women worldwide.

While there is only so much we can do, we can chose at least one organization or cause that resonates  with our own spirit.  Here are two specific organizations which our family foundation supports.

Global Press Institute:  uses journalism as a development tool to educate, employ and empower women in the developing world to produce professional news coverage for the Global Press.

WePower:  promotes women's leadership, gender integration and equality at all levels of Israeli society. WePower is the only NGO in Israel which proactively focuses on advancing women to top influential positions at the highest levels of decision-making and elected positions, thus propelling social change leading to an equal civic society.

Half the Sky Movement

Half the Sky

[photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/aspeninstitute/4776957013/">The Aspen Institute</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/">cc</a>]

 

Manufacturing Happiness

A group of Anglo-American economists – together with the French economist Patrick Viveret – are urging that the success of our societies should be measured by the well-being of their citizens, rather than by their production of weapons or construction of prisons. In studying what really makes people happy, they have come up with precise recommendations – daily behaviors and activities that don’t consume material goods, and which are relatively recession-proof.

1. Connect with others – invest in human relationships. Look on them as the foundations of your life. They will enrich and support you more and more every day.

2. Be active – find a way to move your body that’s fun and feels good. When the body is active, it manufactures happiness.

3. Sharpen your awareness of the present moment – be curious. Observe what is beautiful or unusual. Savor the moment you’re living in right now.

4. Never stop learning – try something new. Take up singing lessons, tango, cooking, drawing. Set yourself a goal you’d like to meet. Then take the first step in getting there.

5. Give a bit by yourself – do something to help someone. Imagine that your personal happiness is inextricably linked to the happiness of your community. Activate the pleasure zones in your brain.

 Rumination is bad for you. As psychologist Sonja Lyubomirsky explains in her book The How of Happiness:  "Overthinking ushers in a host of adverse consequences: It sustains or worsens sadness, fosters negatively biased thinking, impairs a person’s ability to solve problems, saps motivation, and interferes with concentration and initiative. Moreover, although people have a strong sense that they are gaining insight into themselves and their problems during their ruminations, this is rarely the case. What they do gain is a distorted, pessimistic perspective on their lives."

Instead, we can do as Christine Carter, PhD advises:

ACCEPT the negative feelings. The key to this is not to deny what we are feeling, but rather to lean into our feelings, even if they are painful. Take a moment to be mindful and narrate: I’m feeling anxious right now, or This situation is making me tense. Hang in there with unpleasant feelings at least long enough to acknowledge them.

PROBLEM SOLVE. What did you learn from that embarrassing situation? What can you do to improve a difficult situation tomorrow? Who else can help? Who do you need to forgive before you’ll feel better? Put a plan into place.

LET GO. MOVE ON. TRY TO FEEL BETTER. This means that we make a genuine effort to cultivate happiness, gratitude, hope, or any other positive emotion; researchers call this “deep acting.”
Faking a smile or other pleasantries to cover our negative emotions (what researchers call “surface acting”) without actually trying to change our underlying negative emotions will often make us feel worse rather than better. But when we genuinely try to feel more positive—when we do try to change our underlying feelings—we usually end up feeling fewer negative emotions and more positive emotions.

She goes on to suggest:

Have a DANCE party. Putting on some music you enjoy and dancing around is a research proven way to feel good.

Find a way to LAUGH.  Laughter lowers stress hormones (even the expectation of laughter can do this) and elevates feel-good beta-endorphins and the human growth hormone.

SLEEP it off. Sometimes, we have a hard time recovering because grief and other negative emotions can be so draining. Taking a nap—or just hitting the hay early for the night—can work wonders.

Take a WALK. When we’ve been really angry or had a “fight or flight” response, physical activity helps clear the adrenaline out of our system. And like happiness researcher Sonja Lyubomirsky says: Exercise may just be the best short-term happiness booster we know of.

ENGAGE with FRIENDS. This is my go-to feel-better solution (maybe because my friends make me laugh). In this case, seek friends out not to tell them all the reasons why you’ve been feeling badly, but rather to have some fun. The idea is to goof around a little.

Practice GRATITUDE. Feeling and expressing gratitude makes most people feel happier and more satisfied with their lives; it also comes with the added benefit of bringing a larger perspective to the picture.

Give out some HUGS. Dacher Keltner’s studies show that touch is the primary language of compassion, love, and gratitude—all positive emotions. Read all about the way that hugs make us feel better in Keltner’s terrific book, Born to Be Good, and in this essay.

Find some INSPIRATION. Elevation, awe, and inspiration are some of my favorite positive emotions.

Notice that none of these things are the numbing behaviors. We are moving on rather than dulling and denying; we’ve already felt the bad feelings, and now we are letting them go.  We have a long list of ways to avoid feeling bad in the first place, of ways to dull the pain. We drink alcohol and take drugs; we overeat and gossip; we have affairs and go shopping for things we don’t need; we keep ourselves too busy to feel anything; we compulsively check our phones and email and Facebook. These are not happiness habits, and they are less necessary when we’ve already accepted our negative emotions and moved on.

As Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could; some blunders and absurdities have crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; you shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.”

Portion Distortion: My Top 5 Recommendations to Fight the Urge to Super-Size

I admit it.  My portion size often exceeds the recommended serving size.  More calories than necessary, a metabolism that ratchets downward with each passing year and what have I got?  Girth creep.

My appetite exceeds my capacity to burn calories and my body rats me out.  While I am comfortable with my food choices, I am not pleased with my portion size.  I am constantly fighting my desire to trim down with my urge to eat up!

Sad news.  An average sedentary woman in my age group needs approximately 1600 calories/day  to maintain her weight, with a little bit of regular exercise, she can scarf up another 50 calories.  Here's the Mayo Clinic's calorie counter to help you determine your recommended calorie intake.  Not  a pretty picture.

We could all do with a few reminders of how to wrangle this nagging problem of portion distortion.

1.  Imagine your plate (no bigger than an 8" to 10" dinner plate) divided into 4 quadrants.  Generously fill two sections with veggies and fruit.  Fill one with protein and one with a higher fiber starch like sweet potato, quinoa, or brown rice.

2.  Eat your calories, don't drink them.  That whole orange, fiber and all, is more satisfying and less likely to spike blood sugar than that glass of fresh squeezed oj, even with all that yummy pulp!  Sparkling water with a slice of citrus fruit is more "festive" than a glass of water.  Even a glass of water is more appealing with a wedge of lemon. 

3.  Use your measuring cups.  Train your eye to recognize portion size.  Read the food label and measure out one portion.  Such a disappointment but so educational.  Try to buy single serving portions or apportion that large bag of nuts or snack foods into single serving bags.  Mindless munching = portion distortion and excess calories.

4.  Plan ahead.  Snacks should typically contain no more than 100 calories and 15 grams of carbohydrates.

5.  Want a good "guesstimate" of portion serving size?  Let your hand be your guide.

• Two fingers = one serving of cheese
• Fleshy part of palm = one serving of meat
• Closed fist = one serving of fruit or vegetables
• Cupped hand = one serving of cereal or grain
• Tip of thumb = one serving of margarine, oil, or salad dressing
• Thumb = one serving of candy

      Other helpful tips:

• One serving of meat, fish, or poultry is the size of a deck of cards.
• One serving of sweet potato is the size of a computer mouse.

What has worked for you to control the dreaded portion distortion temptations?

[photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/andrewrennie/4656911892/">andrewrennie</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/">cc</a> ]

Gene Patenting Victory for Patient Care & Medical Innovation!

VICTORY! WE OWN OUR BODIES!

After Angelina Jolie's courageous decision to have a double mastectomy, I wrote about it through the lens of concern about Myriad's gene patents on BRCA 1 and BRCA 2 and the ACLU's fight against such control.

 On June 13, 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court invalidated patents on two genes associated with hereditary breast and ovarian cancer in response to a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Public Patent Foundation (PUBPAT) on behalf of researchers, genetic counselors, patients, breast cancer and women's health groups, and medical professional associations representing 150,000 geneticists, pathologists, and laboratory professionals.

From the ACLU Website:

"'Today, the court struck down a major barrier to patient care and medical innovation,' said Sandra Park, senior staff attorney with the ACLU Women's Rights Project. 'Myriad did not invent the BRCA genes and should not control them. Because of this ruling, patients will have greater access to genetic testing and scientists can engage in research on these genes without fear of being sued.'

The court found that the patents on human genes are invalid, which represents a major shift in patent law and overturns current Patent Office policy. The court also found that patents on complementary DNA, or cDNA, are patent-eligible. Scientists can provide genetic testing without relying on cDNA. Thus, the court's ruling lifted the patent obstacle to offering genetic diagnostic testing.

'The court rightfully found that patents cannot be awarded for something so fundamental to nature as DNA,' said Daniel B. Ravicher, executive director of PUBPAT and co-counsel in the lawsuit.
The restrictions on examining the BRCA genes can have devastating results.

Kathleen Maxian of Buffalo, N.Y. is suffering from late-stage ovarian cancer that she believes could have been prevented. Her sister, who is a breast cancer survivor, obtained a test from Myriad that did not look for all known genetic mutations associated with cancer and was told she was negative for mutations. Years later, her sister learned that she did, in fact, have a BRCA genetic mutation – information that Maxian could have relied on to seek preventive surgery. Numerous labs across the country have stated that they are capable of providing this comprehensive screening and would do so were it not for Myriad’s patents.

Lisbeth Ceriani, a breast cancer survivor and plaintiff in the case, was faced with having to pay over $4,000 for Myriad’s testing to determine if she carried a genetic mutation associated with hereditary ovarian cancer because Myriad had refused to enter into a contract with her insurance company. She was forced to wait 18 months before she was able to obtain the test through a grant, at which point she learned she did indeed carry a mutation.

'I'm relieved that no other women will have to go through what I went through,' said Ceriani. 'I'm so glad that the Supreme Court agrees that women deserve full access to vital information from their own bodies.'"