The Blue Sweater, Chapter 9, Blue Paint on the Road

There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth; not going all the way, and not starting. — Buddha

Programs serving the poor needed to do a better job of giving people the chance to aim high and believe in themselves— and of holding them accountable for reaching their goals.

...we have to build accountability into all aspects of development— and of philanthropy— and how the world is really connected.

Private initiative and innovation driven by philanthropy were our best hope for finding those ways to give the poor the opportunities they deserved.

Angela Glover Blackwell: ..."minoritarian leadership": "America needs leaders who are comfortable with diversity."

"Individuals in the dominant culture assume the rules work because they've always seemed fair to them. On the other hand, people who view themselves as outsiders have had to learn to navigate the dominant culture in order to be successful. Becoming attuned to how others function and make decisions is a critical skill set we need to inculcate in our next generation of leaders."

"To thine own self be true": Add to this humility, empathy, a sense of curiosity, courage, and plain old hard work, and I was finally seeing the real path to leadership.

...just bringing diverse people together is not enough to foster productive dialogue. More powerful is enabling groups of people to work on a common venture, a common problem.

Leading is a lifelong proposition— and the people who seem least like you are usually the people you need most.

Good public policy must accompany market-oriented solutions that are undergirded with an imperative of moral leadership.

We can't wait around for someone else to change things...

...leadership is about having vision and the moral imagination to put oneself in another's shoes...