Microfinance

Things to Truly Be Thankful For

Fang Yuan | Posted 12.09.2009 | Impact

Read More: Social Enterprise, Philanthropy, Microfinance, Social-Finance, Strategic Philanthropy, Microlending, Impact News
Fang Yuan

At this critical moment in history, when it is easier than ever before to reach out, touch, and shape another person's life, we have fewer excuses to not contribute to re-shaping our world for the better.

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Changing Lives With Spare Change: My Two Cents on Microfinance

Yeardley Smith | Posted 12.03.2009 | Impact

Read More: Grameen-Bank, Global Development, Microfinancing for Women, Poverty, Microfinance, Grameen Bank, Grameen, Global-Development, Microfinancing-for-Women, Yeardley Smith, Global Poverty, Impact News
Yeardley Smith

I love the microfinance approach because instead of being a welfare model, it's a model that puts the recipient at the center of the solution. And in doing so, the victory is a thousand times sweeter.

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2010 Vancouver Olympic Games: An Opportunity to Change the World

Rahim Kanani | Posted 10.14.2009 | World

Read More: Women's Rights, Clinton Global Initiative, Violence Against Women, Microfinance, Vancouver, Olympics, United Nations, Gender, Vancouver Olympics, Canada, World News
Rahim Kanani

Canada is a model for the world on immigration, diversity and pluralism. Now is the time to reignite Canada's commitment to gender equality and the advancement of women's rights internationally.

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Creating Hope and Opportunity in Haiti for Extremely Poor Women and their Families

Susan Davis | Posted 10.06.2009 | World

Read More: Brac, Women, Clinton Global Initiative, Susan Davis, Microfinance, Ultra Poor, Fonkoze, Haiti, Muhammad Yunus, World News
Susan Davis

After two years of support -- asset transfers, skill training and social linkages -- over 90% of our program women "graduate" into becoming successful microfinance members.

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Small Is The New Big: The Best Tools For Micro-Giving

Halle Tecco | Posted 12.02.2009 | Living

Read More: Microloans, Internet, Microvolunteering, Microgiving, Technology, Microfinance, Economy, Halle Tecco, The Giving Life, Living News
Halle Tecco

Bigger may be better in Texas; but for the rest of us, small steps are all it takes to make a difference. I've searched the depths of the web for the smallest big ideas that help everyday citizens make an impact.

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Kathleen Colson: Making a Difference in Africa through Entrepreneurship [VIDEO]

Judith Ellis | Posted 11.27.2009 | Impact

Read More: Donating to Charity, BOMA Fund, Kathleen Colson, Entrepreneurship, Microfinance, Business, Africa, Impact, Arianna Huffington, Huffington Post, Impact News
Judith Ellis

The BOMA Fund works to alleviate poverty by building self-sustaining communities amid a rugged and beautiful landscape.

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Microfinance A Microsuccess

GOOD | Posted 11.23.2009 | Living

Read More: Non-Profits, Microcredit, Microfinance, Charity, The Giving Life, Living News

Microlending, as you may know, is the practice of giving very small loans to poor people in developing countries so they can, in theory, start busines...

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Pro Mujer: Journey Towards Women's Empowerment In Latin America

Jim Luce | Posted 11.22.2009 | World

Read More: Family Health, Sexual Health, Peru, Carmen Velasco, Communal Association, Women’s Health, Argentina, Barrios, Pro Mujer, Mohammad Yunus, Lynne Patterson, Self-Sufficiency, Microfinance, Grameen Bank, Racism, Machismo, Discrimination, Classism, Family, Women, Poverty, Barbara Magnoni, Latin America, Mexico, Potential-Realization, Cycle of Poverty, Nicaragua, Peruvian Ministry of Education, Human Rights, Bangladesh, Counseling., Bolivia, Cervical Cancer, Reproductive Health., Childhood Education, Latino Culture, Domestic Violence, World News
Jim Luce

Pro Mujer is helping some of the poorest women in Latin America to increase their income, develop their full potential, and claim their basic human rights, enabling them to become agents of change.

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Reflections on Afghanistan

Susan Davis | Posted 09.05.2009 | World

Read More: Brac, Women, Sheryl WuDunn, Susan Davis, Half the Sky, Microfinance, BRAC Afghanistan, Nicholas Kristof, World News
Susan Davis

I was glad to discover during my travels in Afghanistan that a mood of despair was giving way to hope and determination.

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Roll Back the Darkness in a Sustainable, Cost-Effective Way

Rep. Steve Israel | Posted 08.13.2009 | Green

Read More: Global Health, Microfinance, Humanitarian Aid, Solar Panels, Green News
Rep. Steve Israel

One of the smartest foreign assistance initiatives the United States could undertake is to jump-start promising solar-powered efforts around the world.

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Amidst Conflict, Pakistanis Persevere

Susan Davis | Posted 08.02.2009 | World

Read More: Women's Rights, Education, Poverty, Microfinance, Social Entrepreneurship, Pakistan Taliban, Pakistan, Working Women, Women in Business, Taliban, North-West-Frontier-Province, Nwfp, Poverty Alleviation, Brac, World News
Susan Davis

The impoverished North-West Frontier Province lays claim to devastating maternal and child mortality rates, and scant education for girls. But courageous women here are increasingly agents of change.

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Microfinance as a Solution: Beggars, Thieves, AIDS and Prostitution

Vivian Norris de Montaigu | Posted 07.19.2009 | World

Read More: Millenium Goals, Microfinance Summit, Microcredit, Muhammad Yunus, Sam Daley-Harris, Microfinance, Columbia, Results, Poverty, Sex Trafficking, Fonkoze, Grameen Bank, World News
Vivian Norris de Montaigu

At a recent Microfinance Summit, Sam Daley-Harris spoke about making credit available not only to the poorest of the poor, but to those usually excluded from civil society, like beggars and rebels.

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A Near-Zero-Cost Approach to Do-Gooding: My 375th Kiva Loan

Bob Harris | Posted 07.16.2009 | Business

Read More: Microloans, Uganda, Philippines, Yunus, Grameen, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Maria Shriver, Mozambique, Third World, Muhammad Yunus, Costa Rica, Kiva.org, Peru, Microfinance, Grameen Bank, Kiva, Developing World, Hillary Clinton, Development, Nicaragua, Business News
Bob Harris

Metaphorically, micro lending is not giving someone a fish, and it's not teaching someone to fish; it's helping a fisherman patch a hole in his rowboat so he can get on with life.

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Words Apart

Jaime Pozuelo-Monfort | Posted 10.04.2009 | Business

Read More: Poverty, Africa, Millenium-Challenge-Corporation, Usaid, Jeffrey Sachs, Bill Easterly, Microfinance, Branko Milanovic, Malagasy-Red-Cross, Hernando De Soto, Financial Crisis, Muhammad Yunus, Business News
Jaime Pozuelo-Monfort

Microfinance's intellectual debate could be healthy but it oftentimes ends up in intellectual wars that forsake the ultimate goal: the alleviation of extreme poverty.

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Sachsterly

Jaime Pozuelo-Monfort | Posted 10.04.2009 | World

Read More: Jeffrey Sachs, Poverty, Economics, John Maynard Keynes, Marshall Plan, Microfinance, Bill Easterly, Global Poverty, Dambisa Moyo, World News
Jaime Pozuelo-Monfort

The rescue of the bottom billion is only a reality if Mr. Sachs and Mr. Easterly put their outstanding intellectual skills to work instead of trying to win a debate that academics will perpetuate so long as they exist.

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Beyond the Romance of Microfinance to a Love of Manufacturing

Magatte Wade | Posted 06.25.2009 | World

Read More: Manufacturing, Microfinance, Barack Obama, International Labor Organization, African Infrastructure, Africa, World News
Magatte Wade

by Magatte Wade, with Michael Strong In the course of starting a business based in Africa, I was referred to a former Silicon Valley CFO who had made...

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The Cornerstone of Obama's Foreign Aid Policy: Health and Wealth

Josh Ruxin | Posted 06.22.2009 | World

Read More: Family Planning, Microfinance, Wealth, Health, Maternal Health, Business, Health Care, Barack Obama, Rwanda, World News
Josh Ruxin

The data doesn't lie: sickness and poverty have grown together during the last few decades. We now have a chance to turn the tables and foster health and wealth.

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Inclusive Capitalism Not Economic Colonialism: the G20 and the Future

Vivian Norris de Montaigu | Posted 04.30.2009 | Business

Read More: Microcredit, Colonialism, Poverty, Muhammad Yunus, Microfinance, World Bank, Economy, g20, Financial Crisis, Imf, Capitalism, London-United Kingdom, United Kingdom, Business News
Vivian Norris de Montaigu

We have seen what happens when Capitalism runs amok and is not inclusive. The problem is not capitalism, it is greed and the lack of the human element.

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By the People, for the People: Microfinance Offers the "Transformative Vision" Davos is Seeking

Alex Raksin | Posted 02.28.2009 | World

Read More: Microfinance, Social Entrepreneurship, Unitus, Davos, Social Entrepreneur, Davos 2009, Muhammad Yunus, World Economic Forum, World News
Alex Raksin

What began as a philanthropic movement to empower the working poor has evolved into a new class of social entrepreneurs who have shown that capitalism can generate significant returns in every sense of the word.

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Buy Me A Drink? I'll Take A Charitini

Rachel Sklar | Posted 01.08.2009 | Living

Read More: Bob Woodruff Family Fund, Habitat for Humanity, Donorschoose, Foundation Rwanda, The Giving Life, Charitini, Obama Fundraising, Charity, Obama Donations, Twitter, Microlending, Micro-Giving, Microgiving, Donations, Micro-Lending, Microfinance, Living News
Rachel Sklar

Tonight, I've planned a birthday party with a twist: Instead of plying me with drinks 'til I'm wobbly, I've invited friends and colleagues to donate the equivalent sum to some of my favorite charities.

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Don't get crushed at the mall - Create Jobs

Jack Hidary | Posted 01.01.2009 | Style

Read More: Toys, Walmart, Small Business, Microcredit, Santa Claus, Grameen, Holiday Gifts, Jobs, Kiva, Holiday, Kiva.org, Accion, Microfinance, Hannukah, Christmas, China Lead, Stampede, Style News
Jack Hidary

Think your are helping the economy by buying some holiday gifts? Instead of giving more stuff to your relatives and friends that they don't need, d...

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The Antidote to Bad Media Days - Make a Microloan

Graham Hill | Posted 04.15.2009 | Green

Read More: Clean Energy, Climate Change, Microcredit, Microfinance, Green News
Graham Hill

Sarah Palin's bear-draped office sofa can make you either want to laugh or weep, but her views on polar bears do only the latter.

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From Machete To Microfinance: A Double Amputee's Recovery

Nicholas Sabin | Posted 10.09.2008 | Living

Read More: Yenku Sesay, Microloans, Micro Lending, Microfinance, Kiva, The Giving Life, Micro Loans, Living News
Nicholas Sabin

Yenku Sesay looks down where his hands used to be. He answers my question with a sickening quickness: "1998. May 6. 10am." That was when the rebel ar...

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Natalie Portman on Her New Role: Giving Women Hope

Marianne Schnall | Posted 07.12.2008 | Entertainment

Read More: Microloans, Fighting Poverty, Microfinance, The Giving Life, Finca, Women and Politics, Global Poverty, Natalie Portman, Entertainment News
Marianne Schnall

In this exclusive interview, Natalie Portman talks about her work for FINCA International, how she balances her activism with her career as an actress, and her advice on making a difference.

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Economic Colonization: The Rich Profiting from the Poor is Not the Way to Handle Microfinance

Vivian Norris de Montaigu | Posted 07.08.2008 | Business

Read More: Grameen, Microcredit, World Bank, Borrowers, Foundation, Business, Alex Counts, Donate Grameen America, Wealth, Microfinance, Interest Rates, Mohammed Yunus, Business News
Vivian Norris de Montaigu

What is the point of microfinancing the poor build up small businesses if it is only to eventually provide wealthy, Western-owned businesses and individuals with even a larger share of the world's wealth?

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