Posts Tagged ‘microfinance usa 2010 conference’

Micro-level Stories and the Big Picture

posted: 2010-05-14 @ 12:30 pm EDT

By Patricia Wada

This probably marks me as a newbie, but my interest in microfinance began when I read Banker to the Poor by Muhammad Yunus. I was working at the Asian Development Bank Institute in Tokyo, Japan, and was interested in how microfinance could be a piece of the international development puzzle. Fast forward a few years and you find me now, a microfinance enthusiast at the tail end of an eight-month internship at Kiva.

Kiva is a website that lets you make micro-loans of as little as $25 to low-income borrowers around the world. A quick browse through the Kiva lending page offers a glimpse into the lives of these borrowers.

In Peru, Edgar is borrowing to buy seeds for his agriculture business. In Senegal, Tacko is borrowing for her mobile phone business. And right here in the United States, Ana is borrowing to improve her childcare business. It is these individual stories that originally attracted me to Kiva, and they continue to fuel my enthusiasm for microfinance.

One of the sessions I’m most looking forward to is “The Rise of P2P Lending.” Peer-to-peer lending sites like Kiva have opened up a new funding channel for microfinance. At the same time, they provide something traditional funding sources don’t: an educational opportunity for individuals who lend on the site.

I’m also excited to hear from individual micro-loan borrowers. I’ve spent a lot of time working with over 400 volunteers who edit and translate their profiles for Kiva, so I can’t wait to meet some Kiva borrowers at the “Kiva Lender-Borrower Meet-Up.”

The “Opening Session: Conversation with Maria Shriver” is likely to be a highlight for me because of the chance to hear Maria Shriver speak, along with Kiva President Premal Shah. Thursday night’s “Taste of Microentrepreneurship” event will combine two things I’m passionate about microfinance and food, as microentrepreneurs will be representing Bay Area kitchens in a “food festival”!

On the other end of the spectrum, the conference offers sessions on important big-picture questions. I’m particularly interested in “What is a Fair Price to Pay for Good Credit?” and “Is Savings Even More Important than Credit?” These have been hot topics in the Kiva office and in the microfinance world, and I’m looking forward to hearing the experts weigh in.

The conference promises a great mix of sessions for seasoned microfinance professionals and relative newbies alike. It’s not too late to register for individual sessions or for the whole conference. I hope to see you there!

Patricia Wada has just completed an eight-month internship in Kiva’s Review and Translation Team. She previously worked in the publications department of the Asian Development Bank Institute in Tokyo, Japan. A believer in the importance of microfinance for poverty alleviation, Patricia is continually inspired by the stories of microfinance clients all over the world.

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Choices, Choices, Choices

posted: 2010-05-14 @ 9:30 am EDT

By Dylan Higgins

As the Microfinance USA conference draws nearer and with an abundance of tantalizing sessions, I thought it may be helpful to map out an attendance strategy. Here are my Day 1 and Day 2 recommendations.    

Day 1:

  • 1:15 Session – Scaling Global Microfinance – While much progress has been made in scaling this field, we still have much work to do.  I’m interested in learning what has worked and what hasn’t from these panelists.
                        
  • 2:45 Session – Leveraging Partnerships To Reach Millions – A nice follow-up to the 1:15 session.  With more and more players entering this field, it is becoming imperative that we learn how to collaborate on our common goals.
                     
  • 4:15 Session – What is a Fair Price to Pay for Good Credit? – The recent New York Times article on interest rates for microfinance loans will undoubtedly make this one of the most popular sessions in the conference.  If you want to come prepared, I would recommend reading Chapter 5 of Portfolios of the Poor – The Price of Money. 

Day 2:

  • 9:45 Session – Is Savings Even More Important Than Credit?  As the CEO of SaveTogether, you can guess how I would answer this question and why I’m the most excited about this session.
                           
  • 11:00 Session – Policy Efforts  to Promote Responsible and Appropriate Financial Products  – Leveraging broad public support through public partnerships and policy advocacy is the most under-appreciated and untapped step to truly scaling this work.
                             
  • 2:30 Session – US Innovations: Serving the Unbanked – Since I’ll be missing the 11:00 session on innovations, I’m glad I’ll be able to attend this one to learn about organizations who like to push the envelope. 

I look forward to meeting many of you next week!   Feel free to contact me on twitter: @savetogether

                                 
Dylan Higgins is the Founder and CEO of SaveTogether.org and the Vice-Chair of SeaMo. SaveTogether operates a website that offers you an opportunity to participate in savings-focused microfinance and SeaMo is an organization dedicated to connecting the microfinance community through events, conferences, and an online platform.

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Continuing My Microfinance Education

posted: 2010-05-13 @ 11:06 am EDT

By Delaine Zody

For 21 years I have worked in an inner city school in the middle of California’s Central Valley. My students come from very poor neighborhoods with little chance to see what is beyond their six blocks. 

Seeing a need I helped build a program at my school, called the Marketing Academy. Through the program we showed students how to start their own business, and through guest speakers and field trips, opened them up to a world of possibilities.  Many of these students have gone on to have successful careers and started their own businesses. 

Seeing this success made me want to continue to work with organizations that can help others be successful. So as I planned my third career, I took into account how microfinance was doing just that and where I might fit.  My research started with reading Muhammad Yunus’s book, “Banker to the Poor” and then lead to an interest in Microfinance USA conferences

This year, when I received the notice for Microfinance USA 2010 and learned that it would be in San Francisco, I was doubly excited.  Not only would I get to learn more about this method of helping people get out of poverty through entrepreneurship, but I could do it in my favorite city, and new hometown, San Francisco. 

I signed up immediately and was even able to get registered for the Micro-entrepreneur Tour. This session is all about visiting microfinance borrowers at their places of business throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. I am really excited to learn about what real entrepreneurs are doing and how microfinance has helped them.

Another session that I am excited to attend is Student-Led Microfinance Clubs.  With my background in teaching and the examples I have read of two schools where teachers have had students invest in microfinance organizations such as Kiva. I am looking forward to hearing what other students are doing to start microfinance clubs on campus. 

The Opening Session: Conversation with Maria Shriver will be a great way to start the conference and hear the First Lady of California’s take on the growth of microfinance and how it will help California. Just having Maria Shriver attend lends an air of excitement to the two-day event. Looking forward to seeing you all there!

 

Delaine Zody is currently a teacher in an inner city school where she has collaborated on two smaller learning communities within the business department.  She teaches entrepreneurship and is a microfinance enthusiast. Blogging athttp://dkzody.wordpress.com/

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Banking on the Poor at Microfinance USA 2010

posted: 2010-05-12 @ 9:30 am EDT
By Daniel Kreps
                      
This year the Microfinance USA conference will be taking place in my home town of San Francisco. I am very excited to be attending and blogging on several sessions at the conference, and I see this as a great opportunity to continue my research on how basic financial products can be adapted for use by low income entrepreneurs.
                              
Having worked most of my career in the banking industry, I am particularly interested in the session focused on “Serving the Unbanked.” There have been a number of recent articles in the press and blogosphere, lamenting the high cost of micro-credit and criticizing large financial institutions who appear to be reaping inordinate profits from their lending to low income clients. This is certain to be a hot topic at the conference and, as an experienced banker and volunteer with Grameen Foundation’s Bankers Without Borders, it is a key issue that interests me.
               
Other sessions of interest include Microloan Management Services which will be covering the provision of portfolio management services for other MFI’s by ACCION Texas, as well as the Kiva Lender-Borrower Meet-UP.
                
Having worked as a banker in Asia I started learning about microfinance when I became a Kiva lender.  Kiva has recently taken some criticism for extending its activities into the U.S market, however I think it is great to have Kiva’s network of lenders available to American low income entrepreneurs.
                        
I anticipate the conference will provide much material for my blog.  If you are able to make it to the conference let’s meet up; if not, follow my posts here and at Banking on the Poor.
      
            
Daniel Kreps is an experienced international banker, volunteer with Bankers Without Borders and blogger who is focused on creating access to financial services for the poor.

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Microfinance 2010 Conference Blog Launched!

posted: 2010-05-04 @ 8:02 am EDT

If Microfinance USA 2010 will be the place where microfinance practitioners, investors, and enthusiasts meet, then the conference blog will the place where they share their thoughts, ideas, and reflections online!

On behalf of the conference planning committee and sponsor organizations, welcome to the Microfinance 2010 conference live blog. Whether you’ll be at the conference, checking in by Webcast, or following the #mfusa2010 Twitter hashtag from home, we hope that you’ll check here frequently for conference news and updates. Here’s what we have in store:

  • Go 2.0! Get summaries of the top conference tweets (be sure to follow the #mfusa2010 conference hashtag!), meet fellow attendees in video blogs, and share your thoughts and questions in our comments section.
  • Learn about the sessions that you may have missed: Our team of live bloggers will be reporting from each conference session, ensuring that you’ll get access to information and best practices shared in sessions that didn’t fit into your conference schedule.
  • Get extra insight from panelists: Microfinance USA 2010 panelists will be pointing you towards extra information and resources; and will give personal insight into their panel discussions.

We’re looking forward to meeting you at the conference! In the meantime, check back soon for posts from conference panelists. And, get in touch if you’ll be at the conference and are interested in joining out live blogging team!

Laura Kozien is communications director for ACCION USA, a member organization of conference partner U.S. ACCION Microfinance, and will be running the Microfinance USA 2010 conference blog. She’s looking forward to meeting fellow microfinance enthusiasts at the conference, so be sure to say hi!

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