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Issue link: http://digital.greengale.com/i/174813
SPIRIT OF GENEROSITY Father of a New Revolution W hen Rob Broggi accepted an invitation from actor Matt Damon to attend a panel discussion on Haiti at the Kennedy Presidential Library in January 2009, he had no idea how the night would change his life. He and Damon were college buddies from Harvard, where the two had both been members of the Delphic Club. As he listened to Damon talk about the "inhumane" conditions throughout the country with Partners in Health founder Dr. Paul Farmer and local Haitian-American politician Linda Dorcena Forry, he became increasingly incredulous. Haiti has a population of only 10 million people, and is as close to the United States as Jamaica is—yet it had gone from the richest colony to the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere in less than 200 years. "This is crazy," he said to Damon at a dinner following the panel. "How in the world is this small country that is so close to us so poor?" Damon agreed. "You're right," he replied. "We need someone to work on this." After that night, Broggi became that person. As an analyst at Bostonbased Raptor Capital (after working at Tudor Investment Corporation, one of the most successful hedge funds in the world), Broggi had made it his passion to analyze complex financial problems. To him, Haiti seemed like one 68 TOP: Workers at the that could be fixed. "It has so few people—with the Industrial Revolution right approach, this is a problem that could be II factory in Haiti, where 50 percent of solved in my lifetime. If I could be a part of that, it profits go to health would be incredibly satisfying." and education programs. INSET: His response, launched this fall, is a new apparel company, Industrial Revolution II, with a factory Founder Rob Broggi. in Port-au-Prince. At the root of the company's mission is a pledge to invest 50 percent of its profits directly into health and education programs to help its workers improve their lives. If successful, it could be a new model for factories in developing countries, transforming one of the most exploitative industries into one that could play a direct role in alleviating poverty. Broggi grew up in Wellesley and West Roxbury and attended The Roxbury Latin School, where he watched his father start and run several software companies, seeing firsthand how to build a business from scratch. continued on page 70 PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION II A WELLESLEY HEDGE FUND GENIUS LAUNCHES AN ETHICAL (AND FASHIONABLE) ANSWER TO HAITI'S ONGOING STRUGGLES. BY MICHAEL BLANDING BOSTONCOMMON-MAGAZINE.COM 068-073_BC_SP_SpOfGen_LateFall13.indd 68 9/17/13 2:54 PM