Jeff Namnum » Opinion http://www.jeffnamnum.com social entrepreneur Wed, 01 Feb 2012 23:27:30 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1 My Advice to Wyclef and Yele http://www.jeffnamnum.com/2010/01/my-advice-to-wyclef-and-yele/ http://www.jeffnamnum.com/2010/01/my-advice-to-wyclef-and-yele/#comments Sat, 16 Jan 2010 18:57:50 +0000 namnum http://www.jeffnamnum.com/?p=42 Like so many people, I read the Gawker and The Smoking Gun articles about the documented financial challenges (being generous here) that Wyclef’s Yele has had.  After I was posted to Twitter and Facebook apologizing to my friends and colleagues for telling them to text Yele and give money I had a thought.

This could actually be the shining moment in the sun for Wyclef and Yele (and more importantly the people of Haiti).

Wyclef, we’ve heard that you raised $1,000,000 to help your fellow countrymen and that is a remarkable thing.  It seems obvious you have intentions of doing good things for Haiti, but right now it looks really bad.  Here’s my advice, for what it’s worth.

  1. Apologize. Now. Sincerly, without justification or ego. Cut a video, on your phone if you have to, post it online and make sure it gets everywhere.
  2. Make sure every dime that you just raised makes it to Haiti, minus some reasonable costs. Maybe give it to a bigger org that can respond quicker right now. And hire somebody to make sure the whole process is visible and transparent, maybe post the results online. (what’s a reasonable cost? check out Island Harvest on Long Island)
  3. Hire good people to run this thing. You can change Haiti for the better permanently if you’re serious about it. (how to find the right people? Ask someone smart and successful in that field, like maybe Cat Laine at AIDG)

That’s it. Nothing brilliant and of, course none of my business, but I felt it was important enough to write it down in case you get a chance to read it.

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