We at Acumen Fund are so proud that Niko Canner, a key advisor to our work, was named in Fortune.com as among “the next generation of management experts who are changing the way business gets done”. As one of the “10 gurus you should know“, Niko stands alongside Nouriel Roubini, the NYU economist famed for predicting the recent economic turmoil, and Don Sull, the professor of management practice at LSE, among others. Niko has been a champion of our talent work and I personally feel incredibly grateful to him for all he and his firm Katzenbach Partners has done to strengthen and expand Acumen’s work.
Congratulations, Niko!
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Recruiting for the 2009-10 Acumen Fund Fellows Program is off and rolling! The application closed this past Monday, October 20, with a pool of 342 candidates representing 49 different countries.
“Its truly exciting that we have such strong evidence now of Acumen Fund’s brand going worldwide, with a pool that is heavily weighted internationally!” said Abigail Keene-Babcock, Acumen Fund Talent Associate.
Now in its fourth recruitment cycle, the program has attracted applicants from Afghanistan, Finland, Mongolia, Iran, Georgia, Malta, Ukraine, Jordan, Liberia and Sudan, among other countries. By region, representation breaks down as follows:
38% from countries in Asia/Southeast Asia/Middle East
29% from countries in Africa
26% from US/Canada
6% from Europe
1% from Latin...
Deepti shushed me; gave me the look – let’s get started, she was trying to say. I kept talking anyway. Then Abigail shushed me; same look. I still kept talking. Finally, Hali gave me a nod – the presentation was starting. I finally shut up, and politely asked Jason Rzepka from Pop!Tech to come in and have a seat. Through the shushings, Jason and I were using the last few minutes of pre-event networking to catch up on his work – a yearly conference held in Maine. But neither he nor I had come to Gibson Dunn’s 48th floor offices (sidenote: thanks to Gibson Dunn for letting us use their amazing space) to talk about Maine. We were there for a presentation by the returning class of Acumen Fund Fellows.
Why would someone from Pop!Tech – and about 50 others – be interested...
By Priya Pandya, Acumen Fund Summer Associate (pictured at left)
In early August, Acumen Fund Pakistan held a small dinner at the Sheraton Hotel. Some of our investees, key partners and advisors - including Shaukat Tarin, Zubyr Soomro, Zaffar Khan, Ali Siddiqui, and Shahid Firoz - discussed one of the biggest challenges of social enterprise in Pakistan—developing and retaining talent.
Deepti Doshi, our Talent Manager, kicked off the evening with an overview of the Acumen Fellows Program as the search for the next class of fellows begins worldwide. Personal stories by current and previous fellows Jawad Aslam, Ayeleen Ajanee and Adrien Couton gave insight into what Acumen is looking for in hiring, but also what an experience working hand-in-hand with the investees has offered them....