Inside Track: Ethics forum to feature social capitalist Jacqueline Novogratz

Jacqueline Novogratz, an international banker who started the Acumen Fund in 2001 to help finance fledgling local companies, will address a forum in Minneapolis Wednesday afternoon sponsored by the Hendrickson Institute for Ethical Leadership at St. Mary's University of Minnesota.

Novogratz is a pioneer in the field of "social capitalism," a hybrid of venture capital, lending and philanthropy that attempts to uplift poor people with sound investments that can improve conditions and enable them to earn a living through related goods and services.

Acumen-funded ventures have developed a drip-irrigation systems to help subsistence Indian farmers, improved housing and running water to Nairobi slums and brought a low-cost mortgage program to Pakistani villages.

The "patient capital" strategy is a market-oriented, bottom-up approach that contrasts with generations of top-down foreign aid that often doesn't touch those most in need.

"The Acumen Fund is a sustainable and ethical use of social capital to successfully fight poverty around the world," said Lindsay McCabe, the Hendrickson Institute's executive director.

Novogratz is the author of "The Blue Sweater: Bridging the Gap Between Rich and Poor in an Interconnected World," a memoir of her life's journey from a Stanford MBA-trained international banker with Chase Manhattan Bank to a development consultant with the World Bank who merged her finance background with a desire to make a difference one small investment at a time.

The forum will be moderated by Fred de Sam Lazaro, the Twin Cities-based, globe-traveling broadcast journalist who profiled Novogratz in Kenya in 2010 as part of his "Project for Undertold Stories." De Sam Lazaro, who recently became a senior fellow at the Hendrickson Institute at St. Mary's, tells those stories on his website (www. undertoldstories.org) and in his role as a correspondent for "PBS NewsHour With Jim Lehrer."

U.S. Bancorp CEO Richard Davis also will be recognized for his "outstanding leadership" in navigating U.S. Bancorp around the mortgage debacle and the ensuing credit crisis.

The 3:30 p.m. program will be at the former Zuhrah Shrine Center, 2540 Park Av. S. St. Mary's, which occupies several buildings on its South Side campus, plans to close a deal to buy the Shrine center in May and rename it the Harrington Mansion & Event Center.

Tickets and more info: www.smumn.edu/welcome-tobrst-marys/institutes-affiliates/hendrickson-institute-for-ethical-leadership/hendrickson-forum.

Sears Imported Autos has just completed a $5 million, top-to-bottom remodeling in the wake of its decision a few years ago to sell its BMW operation to TCA Imports and focus entirely on Mercedes-Benz.

The dealership, which sells about 130 vehicles a month, says it has focused on one brand at a time when other dealers are diversifying their brand offerings. Sears employs about 100 and boasts what management says is very low turnover for auto retailing and annual sales of more than $60 million.

Don Davidson, who runs the show today, joined Sears Imported in 1979 as a salesman after a decade in public and corporate accounting. Davidson, Don Sears' nephew, is credited with a number of innovations as he worked his way up through sales, service and operations, including customer service programs.

Sears, now in his mid-80s, still shows up at work most days. He sold the company about 15 years ago to his three sons and Davidson.

The remodeled luxury dealership includes an expanded service aisle with room for up to 20 vehicles in its waiting line (keeping customers out of the elements) and a remodeled waiting area, complete with private offices for customer use and wireless Internet.

Jerry Caruso, a veteran investment banker, has been named professional director of the Carlson Growth Fund, succeeding longtime director Joe Barsky, a retired investment professional who left over differences with the University of Minnesota's Carlson School of Management.

Caruso will be responsible for instruction, serve as primary liaison between the Carlson Funds Enterprise and the external business community, and oversee the Carlson Growth Fund equity portfolio, which now has about $18 million in assets under management.

Two Minnesota companies, Best Buy and Carlson Cos., are among the dozen "Best Companies for Hourly Workers," according to Working Mother magazines.

Working Mother says about 73 million Americans punch in and out, as compared with salaried workers, and these businesses are creating best practices to provide "family-friendly benefits that promote health and wellness, education, flexibility and work-life balance -- vitally important to working moms throughout the country."

Capital One Capital of Virginia, Marriott International and the University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics also were named.

The Minneapolis office of Weber Shandwick was honored for a league-leading seven campaigns for creativity, research and measurement last month at the Minnesota Public Relations Society of America Classics Awards, including :

The American College of Surgeons for "Florida Surgical Care Initiative: Setting a National Example for Quality Healthcare."

U.S. Census Bureau for "2010 Census Issues Management Program Ensures Complete Count."

The winning firms, categories and awards are at: www.mnprsa.com.