4/28/12

Sasha Dichter's Blog | Reflections on generosity, philanthropy and social change

Sasha Dichter's Blog | Reflections on generosity, philanthropy and social change

The one thing I shouldn’t have spent any energy on (though I certainly did): the size of the crowd.  The notion of speaking in front of a full house at New Haven’s Shubert Theater created a mantra of “2,000 people!” that I couldn’t keep from running through my head in the lead-up to my talk.  Of course the reality is that whether it’s 50 people or 2,000, it’s still my job to stand up there and share what I’m going to share, tell the stories I’m going to tell  – the size of the audience makes no difference whatsoever. (In fact, with the lighting I could barely see past the third row, so it’s as if the audience wasn’t even there in the first place.)

Just a lesson in how the mind tricks us into focusing attention on all the wrong stuff sometimes, especially when something is brand new and when fear seems like an appropriate response.


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 Sasha Dichter is the Director of Business Development at Acumen Fund, a nonprofit venture capital fund that invests in enterprises that serve the poor.  In this role, he leads up capital raising globally for Acumen Fund, including executing a successful $100M capital raise, serving as the point person for Acumen Fund’s Partner community, and heading up global partnerships for Acumen Fund including global expansion.  Sasha is a member of Acumen Fund’s leadership team and the author of the Manifesto for Nonprofit CEOs. He blogs about generosity,philanthropy and social change athttp://sashadichter.wordpress.com.

Sasha Dichter: The Generosity Experiment | Video on TED.com

Sasha Dichter: The Generosity Experiment | Video on TED.com









Sasha Dichter is the Director of Business Development at Acumen Fund, a nonprofit venture capital fund that invests in enterprises that serve the poor. In this role, he leads up capital raising globally for Acumen Fund, including executing a successful $100M capital raise, serving as the point person for Acumen Fund’s Partner community, and heading up global partnerships for Acumen Fund including global expansion. Sasha is a member of Acumen Fund’s leadership team and the author of the Manifesto for Nonprofit CEOs. He blogs about generosity,philanthropy and social change athttp://sashadichter.wordpress.com.



Before Acumen Fund, Sasha worked as Global Manager of Corporate Citizenship at GE Money, expanding financial offerings to underserved communities globally; and as a Senior Program Manager at IBM, spearheading the company’s corporate citizenship strategy and launching a leadership program for school administrators. Sasha began his career as a management consultant for Booz & Company in the telecommunications practice, based in New York but working primarily in Latin America and Europe. He’s also had stints with the microfinance group of Bank Rakyat Indonesia and with the venture-backed Navic Networks, recently acquired by Microsoft.

Soft Pedaling Murder: Smothering of alcoholic wife called 'mercy killing'

Anything is possible if you believe in yourself.

Smothering of alcoholic wife called 'mercy killing' - Edmonton - CBC News


Case compared to Latimer conviction

The Crown said the case can be compared to that of Saskatchewan farmer Robert Latimer, who was convicted of second-degree murder in the death of his daughter, Tracy, who suffered from cerebral palsy.

The prosecutor said he is asking for a harsh sentence to protect other sick, disadvantaged Canadians.

Justice Donna Shelley would not convict Lavery on the more serious charge of second-degree murder because she had doubt that Lavery intended to kill his wife.

Shelley believed Lavery was physically, mentally and emotionally exhausted from caring for his wife, whose condition had deteriorated due her extreme alcoholism.

Shelley agreed with Royal, who suggested Lavery's depression affected his judgment, clouding his ability to think straight and form the intent to kill.

4/21/12

Homeless in America

This post is about a book called, 'Travels with Lizbeth' by Lars Eighner who becomes homeless in Texas. He decides to hitch hike to California where he hopes to obtain work as a writer.  He is a published writer already and likely to do better in CA because his audience is there - the Gay reading community.

The book jacket praises his writing by comparing his writing to great American writer's such as Henry David Thoreau... the sentence that caught my attention was when he said, "I did not undertake to write a book about homelessness, but wrote what I knew, as an artist paints a still life, not because he is especially fond of fruit, but because the subject is readily at hand."  It is the account of one man's experience of homelessness...

The collapse of credit causing thousands of families to be put out of their homes by the Banks in the last few years, makes homelessness a common experience for many American families.

So far it is an easy read and that is what suits me.  My brain hurts from reading too much difficult stuff lately so this is a welcome break.


 

Homeless people could benefit from your time. Photograph: Pat Tuson/Alamy