We’re in the midst of the holiday season and it’s a good time for us to think of ways we can give back to our communities. The other day I highlighted MassChallenge, and the mission of mentoring entrepreneurs to become great business leaders.
Entrepreneurs create wealth–not only for themselves, but for their communities. In fact, entrepreneurship is the best way to lead people out of poverty. Businesses can increase the standard of living, create new opportunities, end hunger and provide sustainable means for people to live better and give their children better lives.
That’s why I wanted to highlight another local Cambridge organization I’m really excited about: the Seven Fund, which has a mission of ending global poverty by encouraging innovation and entrepreneurship. Not only do I love their mission, it was co-founded by one of my former colleagues, Andreas Widmer. I had the pleasure of working with Andreas at Eprise when he was VP International. Anyone who has worked with Andreas knows that he’s one of the most knowledgeable people about international business, not to mention an incredibly passionate and capable executive.
The idea of Seven Fund is simple: don’t simply donate to struggling economies. All the donations of food, time and money are well-intentioned, but ultimately don’t put in place the infrastructure to empower people to control their own destinies. That can only be accomplished through entrepreneurial businesses–but most people in these economies lack the traditions, institutions and mentoring that makes entrepreneurship possible. That’s where Seven Fund hopes to close the gap.
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That sounds really similar to Acumen Fund, which focuses on entrepreneurship and patient capital to combat world poverty.
Regardless, Seven Fund looks to be a really worthy cause!
Very nice article guys, I really enjoyed reading it.