Creative Problem-solving and the Acumen Fund as the Future of Charity

Having recently lost some weight, I went on a quest to find better-fitting pants. However, I had a dilemma--I couldn't go shopping with my mom. She always gave me her true (sometimes too true) opinion of what was appropriate and looked best. We might not have agreed--ok, never agreed--but I valued her honesty and sense of class. It might not seem like a big deal, but a mom is more worthwhile than a thousand girlfriends. So I started asking random mothers their opinions; it worked. As it turns out, almost all moms have similar opinions about how young women should dress.

But why is this important? A search for jeans isn't, really. But stepping outside my comfort zone and asking complete strangers for their opinions allowed me to observe something about a unique demographic and apply my new found knowledge to the problem at hand. When confronting a problem, whether individually or with a community, we need to keep in mind how to access opinions other than our own. Without a fresh outlook on a problem, the issue grows stagnant and no new growth can occur. Actively searching for new opinions keeps critical thinking from becoming redundant.

The Acumen fund does just that--it keeps itself from growing stagnant by using new and innovative ways to make charity a renewable resource for the giver and receiver. They search for methods that will keep both the receiver from becoming dependent on charity and the giver from thinking too narrow-mindedly.