Microloans

Microfinance: Why Care About Institution Building?

Elisabeth Rhyne | Posted 05.27.2012

Read More: Brac, Microloans, Microcredit, Microfinance, Equity Bank, Financial Inclusion, Mibanco, Promujer, Roodman, Books News

Rather than complaining that microloans aren't enough, those who support microfinance can work on figuring out how to use these great institutional resources to accomplish more.

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LinkedIn Founder Puts His Fortune Up For Grabs Online

HuffingtonPost.com | Nate C. Hindman | Posted 03.27.2012

Read More: Kiva.org, Microloans, Video, Linkedin, Reid Hoffman, LinkedIn IPO, Small Business News and Trends, Kiva, LinkedIn Reid Hoffman Kiva, LinkedIn Reid Hoffman, Small Business News

Didn't get in on the LinkedIn IPO last year? Here's another way to get your hands on the proceeds: Sign up for Kiva, a Web site that lets people make ...

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Creating a Cycle of Sustainable Change

Reid Hoffman | Posted 05.15.2012

Read More: Developing World, Microloans, Sustainable Development, Microfinance Lending, Microfinance, Kiva, Microlending, Impact News

In Silicon Valley, we deploy technologies and networks to change the world. Can we deploy these techniques in an effort to break the worldwide cycle of poverty at a scale in the millions?

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5 Ways To Empower Women And Girls This International Women's Day

Posted 03.08.2012

Read More: Microloans, Women's Empowerment, Say No Unite to End Violence Against Women, Women's Equality, Video, Girlup, United Nations, International Women's Day, Slidepollajax, Kiva, Join Me on the Bridge, Impact News

International Women's Day is not only a celebration of gals all over the world -- it's also a call to action. First celebrated in 1911, Internatio...

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How Far Can Your $1 Go To Provide Jobs For Poor Through Microloans?

HuffingtonPost.com | Eleanor Goldberg | Posted 02.29.2012

Read More: Microloans, Haiti Education, Video, Haiti Earthquake, Charity, Haiti, Haiti Unemployment, Port Au Prince, Matt Jones, Andrew Jones, Cite Soleil, Poverty Resolutions, Rebuilding Haiti, Impact News

When Matt Jones tells an auditorium full of students that he's rich, they usually laugh. The 32-year-old doesn't quite give off the millionaire imp...

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Making Consumer Protection a Reality in Microfinance

Elisabeth Rhyne | Posted 01.23.2012

Read More: Smart Campaign, Microfinance Client Protection Principles, Client Protection, Consumer Protection, Microloans, Microfinance Consumer Protection, Microfinance, World News

Across the microfinance industry a deep examination of performance is underway, as well as work to create structures that will incentivize good practices.

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The Road Less Traveled

Elizabeth Nicholas | Posted 12.19.2011

Read More: Microloans, Women, Developing World, Half the Sky, Microlending, Economic Development, Nicholas Kristof, Millennial Generation, Film, Impact News

Examples abound of women in the developing world receiving loans, building businesses, and employing others with their capital, along with investing in education and infrastructure for their families and communities.

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Doing Good!

Jane D. Wurwand | Posted 11.27.2011

Read More: Microloans, Kiva.org, Joinfite, Microloans for Women, Small Business, Microfinancing for Women, Jane Wurwand, Entrepreneurship, Impact News

Looking at the world picture, professional and corporate success must embrace global activism and advocacy for women.

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Helping Women Help Themselves Around the World With Micro-Credit: Grameen Bank in Action

Mitchell J. Rabin | Posted 11.26.2011

Read More: Muhammad Yunus, Grameen Bank, Microloans, Microcredit, Micro-Credit, Bonsai People, Business News

I had the unique opportunity to meet Dr. Muhammad Yunus last week in NYC after the screening of a film called Bonsai People directed by Holly Mosher.

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Turning Bogota's Red Light Green: The Miracle of Microfinance

Elmira Bayrasli | Posted 11.12.2011

Read More: Microloans, Microloans-for-Women, Microfinance, Opportunity International, Bogota, Women Microfinance, Colombia, Colombia Microfinance, International Microloans, Women Microloans, Impact News

Martha Holguin, a 37-year-old microfinance recipient, is standing on her own feet, but she still has a long way to go. "You'll come back to see me as a businesswoman?" she asks. I take a deep breath to hold back my tears.

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Dreaming Is Fine, but Doing Is Better

Jane D. Wurwand | Posted 10.31.2011

Read More: Joinfite, Entrepreneurship, Microfinance, Microloans, Small Business America, Microloans for Women, Small Business, Microfinance for Women, Impact News

Americans have always been dreamers. But given the current state of the world economy, we must temper "Dream big!" optimism with pragmatism.

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Yoga Gives Back Around the World

Leslie Hendry | Posted 10.24.2011

Read More: Microloans, India, Yoga Gives Back, Sister Aid, Grameen Foundation, Yogi, Impact News

76% of India's population lives below the poverty line, while $6 billion is spent each year on yoga in the U.S. "With $25 a month, a struggling woman can start her own business, or a child can go to school. For the cost of one yoga class, you can change a life."

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Microloans in America? Rockin' Appalachian Mom Project Launches Program

Amy Guerrieri | Posted 09.17.2011

Read More: Microloans, Unemployment, Entrepreneurship, Whole Foods, Moms, Sewing, Impact News

With the dim news about rising unemployment reaching 9.2 percent, the Rockin' Appalachian Mom Project (RAMP), saw an opportunity to help some entrepreneurial individuals through a microloan program.

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Kiva's Microloan System Expands For U.S. Small Business Owners

Premal Shah | Posted 08.30.2011

Read More: Microloans, Kiva.org, Microfinance, Kiva Detroit, Kiva, Kiva City, Small Business, American Economy, Recession, Video, Impact News

So who can play a role in helping these businesses? The answer is actually quite simple: the American people.

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Celebrating 30 Years Of Social Entrepreneurship

Alison Craiglow Hockenberry | Posted 08.29.2011

Read More: Social Change, Social Innovation, Bill Drayton, Ashoka, Changemakers, Social Entrepreneurship, Microloans, Microcredit, Microfinance, Microlending, Muhammad Yunus, Impact News

Social entrepreneurship today enjoys the high regard it has long deserved -- fully 30 years after the organization that launched the movement was born.

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Social Impact Evaluation: Useful? Utopian? (Part 2 of 4)

Jonathan Lewis | Posted 08.28.2011

Read More: Evaluation; Microfinance; Easterly; Gordon; Social Impact, Microloans, Impact News

In nonprofit fundraising, in the investment world, in political campaigns, in TV ads and even at grant-seeking research universities, hyping products and services is routine. Propaganda happens.

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Measuring Your Money's Impact

Jonathan Lewis | Posted 07.09.2011

Read More: Impact Investing, Microloans, Philanthropy, Poverty, Microfinance, Helping the Poor, Market Capitalists, Impact News

Economic development and scholarly research alike deserves scrutiny. Let's not target our dollars at only what we can document, instead of what we can dream.

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A Parade of Humanity - HIV/AIDS in Ethiopia

Reporters Uncensored | Posted 07.06.2011

Read More: Microloans, HIV/AIDS, Women's Rights, Multi Sector, Education, Ethiopia, Prevention, Africa, NGO's, Global Health, Development, World News

By Maura Kelly In mid-April I traveled to Ethiopia and zigzagged 1000 miles across the rolling hills and towns of the northern Amhara region with the...

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Eco-Friendly Microfinance: It's Time To Clean Up The Bandwagon

DeSmogBlog | Joanna Zelman | Posted 06.06.2011

Read More: Microloans, Green Microcredit, Small Business, Grameen Bank, Environmental Economics, Microlending, Microfinance Green, Nobel Peace Prize, Green Energy, Green Microfinance, Green News

Microfinance is intended to help the poor. The poor are often the most affected by climate change. Yet, some microfinance programs actually further co...

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Banking on the Poor

Scott Baker | Posted 06.04.2011

Read More: Microloans, Yunus, Microcredit, Credit, Grameen, Loans, Bank, Poor, Grameen Bank, Cafrs, Impact News

Would banking on the poor be any more risky than banking on the money-leveraging banks that have already failed and had to be bailed out -- for trillions?

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To Catch a Dollar Reveals Real Life on a Large Scale

Muhammad Yunus | Posted 05.29.2011

Read More: Microloans, Microcredit, Microfinance, Muhammad Yunus, World News

Throughout the world, there's a reality show playing out in actual communities on a huge scale, a truly authentic show whose message remains consistent, no matter the economic tides.

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Self-Help Groups: A Powerful Alternative to Traditional Microfinance

Michaela Haas | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Lotus Outreach, Microloans, Cambodia, Mohammad Yunus, Self Helf Groups, Microfinance, Impact News

Lotus Outreach is working to transform impoverished communities from the inside out.

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Bringing The 'Girl Effect' Back Home: Microfinance Projects For American Women

Nicole Skibola | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Poverty, Entrepreneurship, Microfinance, Kiva, Microloans, Women's Empowerment, US Poverty, Dermalogica, Fite, Impact News

As the owners of 5.13 million micro-enterprises in the U.S. alone, many low-income women have found that micro-loans are a means to transcend the lower rungs of poverty.

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Awesome Foundation Grows Globally, Spreads Micro-Grants for Genius

Alexander Howard | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Funny, Microloans, Science, Art, Media, Technology, Cool, Microlending, Awesome, Awesome Foundation, Impact News

The growth of the Awesome Foundation has been a net positive for many recipients of its "micro-grants" that leads to some improvement in a given community.

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Three Secrets of Safe Microfinance

Elisabeth Rhyne | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Client Protection, Microcredit, Microfinance, Bank Rakyat Indonesia, Andhra Pradesh, Equity Bank, Smart Campaign, Consumer Protection, Microloans, Ngos, World News

Like sex, microfinance can be safe if practiced responsibly. Recently, however, we've seen that not all participants in the microfinance industry are practicing safe microfinance.

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