Today's Ornament of Grace for Thursday of the first week of Advent is Jacqueline Novogratz.
from Isaiah 26: 1-6
Trust in the Lord forever! For the Lord is an eternal Rock. He humbles those in high places, and the lofty city he brings down; he tumbles it to the ground, levels it with the dust. It is trampled underfoot by the needy, by the footsteps of the poor.
In 2009, Jacqueline Novogratz published a book titled The Blue Sweater: Bridging the Gap between Rich and Poor in an Interconnected World. The title is a reference to an experience Jacqueline had in Kigali, Rwanda. Rwanda is located south of the equator in east central Africa, and Kigali is its capital city located in the center of the country.
There it was that Jacqueline saw a boy wearing a blue sweater, a sweater she recognized. It appeared to be one she had donated to Goodwill many years before, so she checked it out. Her name tag was still in it, and she realized as never before how we are all connected across the globe. She understood that we must be one with all, including the poor, using whatever gifts we have to bring about a more just society.
After graduating from the University of Virginia where she studied Economics and International Relations, Jacqueline Novogratz earned an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business. At only 22, she began a career as an international credit analyst for Chase Manhattan Bank. Seeking a new way to make a meaningful difference in the world, she left Chase and served as a consultant for the World Bank and UNICEF in Rwanda.
In that position, she helped establish a microfinance institution called Duterimbere which, loosely translated, means “Let’s Develop.” Microfinance Institutions provide capital to business owners and individuals who cannot get traditional loans from banks because they lack sufficient credit, collateral, or other ways to secure loans. Her organization has freed many in Rwanda from devastating poverty.
By 2001, after educating many through Leadership Programs at the Rockefeller Foundation, Jacqueline founded Acumen, a nonprofit impact investment fund. Acumen’s mission is “to change the way the world tackles poverty by investing in companies, leaders and ideas. Acumen invests patient, long-term capital in innovative and sustainable startups that deliver critical goods and services to the world’s poor.”
So, Jacqueline Novogratz has the intelligence, the background, and – above all – the understanding heart that empowers her to help people globally, especially the poor. Like Isaiah, Jacqueline understands we are in this together. Isaiah realized a Savior would come to care for the poor, promising Hope.
This Advent, let’s not forget that the Savior needs our hands and hearts, our skills and gifts, to care for our brothers and sisters everywhere. We may all have different ways of expressing our beliefs, but we all want a chance at life; we all want to live in dignity and with hope. When we reach out with what we have to help one another, we find happiness – true and deep happiness. Jacqueline has found a way to make a difference. Maybe we can too.
OBSERVING THE BEAUTIFUL ORNAMENTS
How can you get to know someone outside your usual contacts and learn to see that person as your brother or sister, whether physically close or far away?
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