Investing in Climate Resilience and Poverty Alleviation: Acumen Founder & CEO Jacqueline Novogratz
- 16 JUL 2025
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- Climate Rising
In this Climate Rising episode in our series on climate resilience, Jacqueline Novogratz,
Founder and CEO of Acumen shares how impact investing is agriculture is helping smallholder
farmers build climate resilience. Jacqueline shares insights from two decades of investing
in poverty alleviation that includes climate resilience and adaptation social enterprises
engaging in agriculture and off-grid solar. She explains how Acumen uses blended capital,
including philanthropic first-loss investments and commercial impact funding, to scale
business models in underdeveloped markets where traditional investors hesitate. Jacqueline
also shares examples of companies solving food insecurity and extreme climate risks
for smallholder farmers and discusses how a “post-aid” world demands new tools, structures,
and partnerships for impact investing.
In this Climate Rising episode in our series on climate resilience, Jacqueline Novogratz,
Founder and CEO of Acumen shares how impact investing is agriculture is helping smallholder
farmers build climate resilience. Jacqueline shares insights from two decades of investing
in poverty alleviation that includes climate resilience and adaptation social enterprises
engaging in agriculture and off-grid solar. She explains how Acumen uses blended capital,
including philanthropic first-loss investments and commercial impact funding, to scale
business models in underdeveloped markets where traditional investors hesitate. Jacqueline
also shares examples of companies solving food insecurity and extreme climate risks
for smallholder farmers and discusses how a “post-aid” world demands new tools, structures,
and partnerships for impact investing.
Customised Agricultural Advice at Scale: How Digital Extension Helps Indian Farmers Grow More and Lose Less
By: Shawn Cole
- 02 Jul 2025
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- VoxDev
Carbon Reporting Urgently Needs Fixing—Here’s How to Do It
Re: Robert Kaplan
- 15 Jun 2025
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- Financial Times
Is Boston Losing Its Biotech Crown? Bio Conference Takes Place Amidst
Re: Satish Tadikonda
- 10 Jun 2025
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- Mass Live
Using Satellites and Phones to Evaluate and Promote Agricultural Technology Adoption: Evidence from Smallholder Farms in India
- SEPTEMBER 2025
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- Journal of Development Economics
This paper evaluates a low-cost, customized soil nutrient management advisory service in India. As a methodological contribution, we examine whether and in which settings satellite measurements may be effective at estimating both agricultural yields and treatment effects. The intervention improves self-reported fertilizer management practices, though not enough to measurably affect yields. Satellite measurements calibrated using OLS produce more precise point estimates than farmer-reported data, suggesting power gains. However, linear models, common in the literature, likely produce biased estimates. We propose an alternative procedure, using two-stage least squares. In settings without attrition, this approach obtains lower statistical power than self-reported yields; in settings with differential attrition, it may substantially increase power. We include a “cookbook'' and code that should allow other researchers to use remote sensing for yield estimation and program evaluation.
SWEN Blue Ocean: Impact Investing Goes to Sea
- JUNE 2025
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- Teaching Material
Teaching Plan for HBS Case No. 325-013
The Miccosukee Tribe and the Battle to Save the Everglades (B): The Art of Coalition Building
- JUNE 2025
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- Teaching Material
Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 325-132. Curtis Osceola, Chief of Staff to the Chairman of the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida, exercised leadership to mobilize allies, deal with opposition, and forge internal and external multi-sector coalitions to help preserve the Everglades. In December 2024, after 3 years of activity, federal authorization was secured for the Western Everglades Restoration Project (WERP), a long-delayed multibillion-dollar infrastructure initiative aimed at restoring water flow and quality in an area adjoining tribal lands that was also the watershed for major urban areas. Representing a sovereign indigenous tribal nation of just over 600 people, Osceola and colleagues enlarged internal tribal capabilities and then looked externally to seek support from federal lawmakers and agencies, state and county officials, environmental NGOs, and private landowners. The case traces the specific relationship tactics employed—including calibrated messaging, data-backed advocacy, personal diplomacy, and coalition maintenance—to gain support for the project and reinforce the Miccosukee as central players in Everglades restoration.
Transforming a Titan (B)
- JUNE 2025
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- Teaching Material
After a global search the board appoints Marcel Cobuz—ex-LafargeHolcim executive with deep innovation experience—as TITAN’s first non-family CEO. Cobuz co-creates a four-pillar roadmap: sharpen the core cement portfolio, accelerate low-carbon products and aggregates, build a tech-driven innovation engine and empower country units while tightening performance accountability. Two years on, TITAN posts record revenues and profitability, green products reach 30% of output and a minority stake in TITAN America lists on the NYSE. Yet initiative overload strains the organization, raising the question: is Cobuz’s stretch agenda visionary or too much, too fast?
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