{"id":1612,"date":"2016-06-28T12:10:35","date_gmt":"2016-06-28T16:10:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/alumni\/?p=1612"},"modified":"2016-06-28T18:16:26","modified_gmt":"2016-06-28T22:16:26","slug":"ward-medal-recipient-sees-micro-lending-as-cure-to-poverty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/alumni\/2016\/06\/28\/ward-medal-recipient-sees-micro-lending-as-cure-to-poverty\/","title":{"rendered":"Ward Medal Recipient Sees Micro Lending as Cure to Poverty"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Photo<\/a>
Photo by Joanna Chattman<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For a student who was kicked out of school two months before graduation, there\u2019s a lot of love between Ed Michael Reggie \u201971 and Williston Northampton. So much so, that this spring, Williston bestowed upon Reggie its highest honor: the Robert A. Ward Medal. (Read the full text\u00a0of Reggie\u2019s acceptance speech here.<\/a>\u00a0See photos here<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

The Ward Medal, which was given during a special assembly in the Phillips Stevens Chapel on May 13, 2016, recognizes individuals who exemplify the values of humanitarian service and volunteerism, and who have made outstanding contributions to their communities.<\/p>\n

To graduate from Williston, Reggie completed an independent study project at home in Louisiana, and his focus\u2014the history of banking\u2014changed the trajectory of his life. Ironically, the same characteristics that put Reggie in hot water at Williston in the 70s as a political anti-war agitator have led him to fight hunger and poverty worldwide in his philanthropy and work as a venture capitalist.<\/p>\n

But not just any philanthropy\u2014in typical Reggie style, he\u2019s shaking up the donor world, asking people to rethink how they give money. He\u2019s a trustee for Freedom from Hunger, a micro-lending initiative in developing nations like Haiti and Ghana, and he\u2019s asking for better accountability from charities and stronger outcomes from donations. In essence, where is the money going and how is it really working?<\/p>\n

\"Ed<\/a>
Ed Michael Reggie ’71 and Head of School Robert W. Hill III<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWe want to transform the world for the better, and not just feel good for giving to a local charity who doesn\u2019t give us the proof that they deserve it,\u201d Reggie says.<\/p>\n

He views micro lending to small businesses as a long-term solution to poverty. \u201cPlacing capital in the hands of those with initiatives and character is the way to pull people up from poverty,\u201d he says. \u201cInvesting in communities is much more effective than simply delivering a soup bowl.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reggie began his professional life in banking, founded and sold a healthcare company, and then became a venture capitalist. He\u2019s the managing director for FutureFactory<\/a>, an early-stage investor in new companies. Reggie has one word for investing in startups: \u201cFun,\u201d he says. \u201cI love the entire process. I have a blank canvas, and I\u2019m going to start something new with the best thinking I\u2019ve ever had.\u201d<\/p>\n

At Williston, Reggie\u2019s experiences protesting everything from the Vietnam War to the food on campus shaped his worldview.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo much of my awareness and respect for other people, for civil rights, all of that emanated from my Williston experience,\u201d he says, \u201cand philanthropy was just another extension of that.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For a student who was kicked out of school two months before graduation, there\u2019s a lot of love between Ed Michael Reggie \u201971 and Williston Northampton. So much so, that this spring, Williston bestowed upon Reggie its highest honor: the Robert A. Ward Medal. (Read the full text\u00a0of Reggie\u2019s acceptance speech here.\u00a0See photos here.) The … Continue reading Ward Medal Recipient Sees Micro Lending as Cure to Poverty<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":111,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_s2mail":"yes","footnotes":""},"categories":[286,287],"tags":[288,289],"class_list":["post-1612","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-alumni-award","category-ward-medal","tag-ed-michael-reggie-71","tag-futurefactory"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1612"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/111"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1612"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1612\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1647,"href":"https:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1612\/revisions\/1647"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1612"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1612"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1612"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}