“Social entrepreneur Jacqueline Novogratz will receive this year’s Notre Dame Award for International Human Development and Solidarity at a campus ceremony on October 31, in recognition of her pioneering work to combine best practices from the worlds of business, aid, and charity in the service of human development.

Her innovative approach views people living in poverty not as passive victims in need of charity but as human beings with inherent dignity and the right to make choices for themselves.

The founder and CEO of Acumen, a nonprofit global venture fund, Novogratz has brought together free markets and philanthropy, investing charitable donations in businesses that provide essential services to the world’s poor while creating thousands of jobs. Acumen takes pride in being mindful of both financial and social returns on its investments.”