One Acre Fund

"August 2005: Andrew Youn visits Kenya during a summer internship experience in Africa and interviews subsistence farmers; learns that modern agricultural techniques can lead to significant boosts in productivity and cuts in malnutrition... "May 2006: One Acre Fund is awarded a prestigious Echoing Green Fellowship, which provides a two-year stipend to pursue One Acre Fund full-time. In the same month, board members at Kellogg School of Management's Levy Center for Entrepreneurship provide a founding start-up grant for operations... "January 2007: One Acre Fund receives a prestigious 3-year, $300,000 grant from the Draper Richards Foundation, an organization which funds the most promising early-stage non-profits, and a larger general operations grant from Mulago Social Investments. These grants are soon followed by anchor commitments from David Weekley Family Foundation and Jasmine Charitable Trust. "July 2007: Eric Pohlman, senior partner, joins One Acre Fund. He is soon joined by General Partner Margaret Vernon, and they lead a successful launch into Rwanda, One Acre Fund's second country of operation. Due to the leadership of their field team, Rwanda grows quickly to slightly exceed Kenya in size... "January 2009: Pershing Square Foundation makes a founding grant to start One Acre Fund's Permanent Fund. This fund provides the basic monies that One Acre Fund uses to make loans to farm families. At the end of every year, this fund is replenished by repayments from those same farmers - and thus can be used to serve more farmers, permanently. Pershing Square Foundation's first gift is for $0.5 million in 2009, followed by $1 million in 2010, and a $5 million commitment that will be gradually disbursed between 2011 and 2013. After each grant, One Acre Fund makes a significant upward revision to our projected growth path. "April 2010: The Skoll Foundation, one of the most prominent funders of early-stage, innovative nonprofit organizations, awards a prestigious grant to One Acre Fund for $750,000, to be disbursed over three years. One Acre Fund is around four years old at the date of this award, making it one of the youngest organizations ever recognized..."

Board
Accessed January 2013:


 * Joel Ackerman
 * Matt Forti
 * Karl Hofmann
 * Fred Ogana
 * Andrew Youn, Senior Partner / Executive Director

Members Emeritus
 * Anne Marie Burgoyne
 * Jason Maga
 * Walter Scott
 * John Wood

Advisory Board
Accessed January 2013:


 * J. Brian Atwood
 * Bo Cutter
 * Martin Fisher
 * Bruce McNamer
 * Matt Paull
 * Paul Polak

Fundraising Board
Accessed January 2013:


 * Chris Addy, Bain & Company
 * Chris Ashley, EnerNOC
 * Susan Diamond, Prayables
 * Taira Hall, Citigroup
 * Amy Hsiao, Clorox
 * Briehan Lynch, Rainforest Alliance
 * Dev Patel, McKinsey
 * Jennifer Splansky, FSG - Social Impact Advisors
 * Bhavan Suri, William Blair and Company
 * David Tomback, neigh*borrow
 * James Wesner, Marquette Associates
 * Paul Wormley, Hadley Capital
 * John Yi, Crowson Technology, LLC

Contact
Web: http://www.oneacrefund.org