233 Jacqueline Novogratz: When the Work Gets Hard, Look For Beauty

Disrupt Yourself Podcast with Whitney Johnson

When we talk about starting a new S-curve, few exemplify this better than Jacqueline Novogratz. She upended her successful career in international banking to focus on addressing global poverty through the impact investment organization Acumen. Her journey is extraordinary, inspiring, and at times heartbreaking.

Jacqueline and Whitney talk about what it takes to have a "moral imagination," the foundational work of building a better world. As she puts it, "the opposite of poverty isn't wealth, it's dignity."

Jacqueline explains why top-down and bottom-up solutions lack the nuance to effect lasting change, and how she learned to leverage her privilege, rather than distance herself from it. And when extreme poverty and violence make everything feel futile, Jacqueline reminds us to look for beauty wherever we can find it. "Beauty reminds us why we're here to do the hard work."