Jacqueline Novogratz Invests in Ending Poverty

Discussion questions  before you watch the lecture Hospedagem de Sites:

1.       Have you heard of the term “microfinance?”  If so, can you explain what it is and how this concept is used to help people in developing countries?

2.       Jacqueline Novogratz believes in using market-oriented approaches, instead of grants, to help bring affordable clean water, housing, and healthcare to poor people.  What would be some of the advantages of this approach?  What would be some of the challenges?

3.       How could someone with a background in banking and finance help create a more peaceful or just world?

Discussion Questions  After you watch the lecture:

1.        People don’t want handouts," says Novogratz. "They want to make their own decisions, to solve their own problems.”  Do you agree?  Can you give any examples to support your point?

2.       Novogratz begins with a powerful story about “the level of connectedness we all have on this earth.”  She says, “We so often don’t realize what our action and our inaction does to people we think we will never see and never know.”  Can you think of any examples of how our actions and inactions affect people we don’t know?

3.       Novogratz describes some of the lessons she learned when working in Rwanda (a country that later experienced a horrific war and ethnic genocide).   She says that “accountability, incentives, and working with local people from the ground up” are all very important when working to reduce poverty.    Do you agree?  How could this be achieved?

4.        Novogratz says that she is thrilled by the increased attention given to developing countries because of celebrities like Bono and Bob Geldoff.  Yet, she also says that she is afraid that increased aid and reduced debt will lead developed countries to think they’ve had  “moral absolution.”  What does she mean by that?  Why are these efforts not enough, according to Novogratz?

5.       Novogratz says that the way to end poverty is to “build viable systems on the ground that deliver critical and affordable goods and services to the poor in ways that are financially sustainable and scalable.”  Describe what she means by that and how that could possibly be achieved.

6.       Novogratz says that stereotypes made about the poor are one of her pet peeves, and she goes on to describe the situation facing poor people around the world.  Four billion people on earth make less than four dollars a day.  They are the “invisible” farmers, factory workers, government office workers, drivers, and domestics.  And they pay 30-40 times what their middle-class counterparts pay for critical goods and services.  Did any of this description surprise you?  How can we even begin to approach a problem of this magnitude?

7.       Did anything about this lecture surprise you?  What did you learn from it?