acumen fund fellows

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Chris Newton

The Acumen Fund Fellows Program: A Model to Spread Accompaniment?

The accompaniment model, designed by Dr. Paul Farmer and propagated by Partners in

Health (PIH), presents a Last-Mile Problem.1Years of effort have gone into the formulation and

refinement of the accompaniment model. It stands now as an effective model of development

across countries from Rwanda to Peru. However, it is not enough just to develop an idea,

product, or model, innovative and proven as it may be. A top priority of PIH now is to market

this model and vastly increase awareness of it, thus increasing its usage in development. It is

necessary to look to other instances of success, bright spots, in which organizations have

developed a means of spreading their specific model and theory of social change. A particularly

bright spot of success in recent years has been the Acumen Fellows Program. While a rigorous

analysis of the program has not yet been done, initial results are highly promising. I proceed with

a theory of social change outlined in Switch, describe the Acumen Fellows Program and how it

incorporates this model, and conclude with a recommending a similar program be adopted by

PIH.

The problem PIH confronts is one of affecting social change. It must find a means by

which it can bring large numbers of both individuals and development organizations into a social

movement surrounding its model of accompaniment. In determining how this might be

accomplished, it is helpful to first consider the methodology of social change laid out in Switch

by Chip Heath and Dan Heath. They posit that sustainable social change occurs when one is able

to direct the rider, motivate the elephant, and shape the path of a target population. In laymans

terms, this refers to guiding individuals rational minds, providing them with personal and

1See Karlan, Dean S., and Jacob Appel. More than Good Intentions: How a New Economics Is Helping to Solve

Global Poverty. New York: Dutton, 2011, 43-44.


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emotional motivation, and presenting them with a situation in which the desired choice is likely

to be made. A program that accomplishes these three steps would seem to be an effective means

of spreading a model of social change.2Such a program is the Acumen Fellows Program.

The Acumen Fund confronted a similar problem to PIH in seeking to find greater support

for its model of patient capital. It seeks to use philanthropy to invest in market-based solutions

for delivering critical services such as healthcare and clean water to the worlds poor and

supports projects until they are sustainable and can go to scale. In order to acquire sufficient seed

capital, especially with high expectations of initial failure built into its investments, the demands

for funding are high and widespread awareness of Acumens efforts is necessary. In addition,

Acumen seeks to not only spread the model of patient capital but also to create leaders.

To these ends, Acumen launched the Fellows Program in 2006. The program has grown

rapidly over the past seven years, enjoying what Acumen believes has been fantastic success.

The program accepts about 10 Fellows every year, with 63 having graduated from the program to

date. Fellows must meet highly selective criteria regarding prior work experience and

commitment to social change. This is not a program for careerists. The organization now

receives over 600 applicants annually and has moved to create regional Fellows programs,

starting in east Africa. The program entails a yearlong immersion process beginning with an 8

week training program at Acumens headquarters. The goal of the initial 8 weeks is to provide

Fellows with the financial, managerial, and communications skills, moral imagination, and

philosophical underpinnings necessary to drive, sustain, and scale social innovation.3The

remainder of the Fellows time is spent individually working directly on projects Acumen has

invested in. They work not only with those being invested in, but with the investors themselves

2Heath, Chip, and Dan Heath. Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard. New York: Broadway, 2010, 17-

18.3Taken from the Acumen Fund website, Global Fellows page:http://acumen.org/leaders/global-fellows/.
http://acumen.org/leaders/global-fellows/http://acumen.org/leaders/global-fellows/http://acumen.org/leaders/global-fellows/http://acumen.org/leaders/global-fellows/


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as well. Their immediate bosses are the COs or senior management of the investee. Theory

rapidly translates into practice for the Fellows.4

At the conclusion of the program, the Fellows enter the Acumen Alumni Network, a

means of continually keeping the Fellows formally and informally in contact. This increases

collaboration among them as they move onto to new organizations and maintains their ties with

Acumen. To date, 85% of graduated Fellows hold leadership positions at organizations such as

IDEO.org, Bridge International Academies, Endeavor, Bamboo Finance, New Island Capital, We

the Change Foundation, Living Goods, Ashoka, Omidyar Network, and the Global Alliance for

Improved Nutrition. Alumni of the program not only bring the model and mission of Acumen to

the organizations they transition too, but they help forge partnerships between Acumen and new

organizations. The Fellows are essentially another investment by Acumen, one that will continue

to offer returns long after the Fellows have left the program.

The foundational belief of the program is that leaders can be created and that large-scale

social change requires large numbers of individual leaders with the appropriate skills, mindsets,

and worldviews. The theory of social change behind the Fellows program specifically is that in

order to advance the interests and mission of the organization, it is necessary to overcome

financial and organizational constraints by proxy. Proceeding from the assertion that leadership

can be cultivated, if selected individuals are trained in the appropriate areas, imbued with the

mission of the organization, and given a strong sense of purpose, they will attain leadership

positions in other organizations and foster durable social change that reflects the model and

mission of Acumen. This training in key areas, imbuing with a mission, and giving of a sense of

4"Acumen Global Fellows Are the Next Generation of Impact Leaders."Acumen. The Acumen Fund, n.d. Web. 04

Nov. 2013. .


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purpose, brilliantly reflect the directing of the rider, motivating of the elephant, and shaping of

the path that Switch puts forth as necessary and effective for social change.

Where it is difficult to convince a given organization, from an NGO up to the World

Bank, to shift its policy to incorporate a new model or program, it is perhaps easier to train

cadres of leaders that will then go on to work within those same organizations. Change can be

affected from the inside through the creation of leaders. The model of accompaniment can

become a broader movement if ever larger numbers of those in leadership positions have been

trained and immersed in it. In these ways, PIH could significantly benefit from establishing a

Fellows program of its own. It would serve as a critical opportunity to facilitate the education of

key agents of social change in areas such as the accompaniment model, liberation theology, and

the constant drive to create a preferential option for the poor.

The brand of PIH is already widely known, as is Dr. Farmer as a distinct personality. The

participation of Jacqueline Novogratz, the founder of PIH, in the training of the Fellows has

great appeal for many applicants. Possible participation by Dr. Farmer would likely have the

same effect. PIH has the opportunity to establish its own network of dedicated, educated, and

cultivated drivers of social change. Dedicated, skilled leaders are indispensable in the fostering

of a social movement.5

5On key people and social movements, see Ricigliano, Rob. Making Peace Last: A Toolbox for Sustainable

Peacebuilding. Boulder, CO: Paradigm, 2012; Lederach, John Paul. The Moral Imagination: The Art and Soul of

Building Peace. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2005; Gladwell, Malcolm. The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big

Difference. Boston: Little, Brown, 2000.

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