What prevents poor people from getting ahead? Banks refuse to give credit without collateral. Where commercial banks see insolvency, Nobel Prize–winning economist Muhammad Yunus sees opportunity. His groundbreaking Grameen Bank was built on the radical notion that if you loan poor women money within the context of peer support, not only will they repay, but they’ll sustain the bank and elevate their communities in the process. With millions of microloans to rural entrepreneurs in developing countries, Grameen is now audaciously importing its methods to the bastion of first-world capitalism: the U.S.A. First stop: Queens, New York.

Learn more about THE FILM.  Or let others know you’ll be attending on Facebook.

The documentary was recently shown at the 2010 San Diego Microfinance Summit at the University of San Diego.

To view more of Kaley’s work you can visit her website at http://yourplatform.wordpress.com/about/

Collaborative Capital from Kaley Hearnsberger on Vimeo.

“You’re having a bifurcation in the industry,” said Terry Provance, executive director of international private microcredit provider Oikocredit. “With the overflow into microcredit now, that money has become a temptation. More people are now interested in profitability.”

Microfinance, or microcredit, involves the extension of small loans to poor people who do not have access to standard loans. Loans can be as little as $25 or as much as $35,000 and are often directed at the impoverished in developing countries.

Still, San Diego alone is home to more than a dozen organizations that offer some sort of microfinance program — if not solely focusing on microfinance. Some focus their efforts abroad, while others aim to help local low- to moderate-income entrepreneurs with little creditit history and/or new immigrants.

Provance, one of several presenters at the full-day summit at the University of San Diego, described how individual and institutional investors’ dollars have flooded into the microfinance space within the last three or four years — particularly after Muhammad Yunus and his Grameen Bank won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006.

As of 2009, there were more than 100 microfinance investment vehicles — private funds like Oikocredit that provide a way to invest in microfinance institutions, or MFIs — as opposed to just more than 40 MIVs around the world in 2004.

To read the full article by Rebecca Go with the San Diego Daily Transcript please visit. http://www.sddt.com/Finance/article.cfm?SourceCode=20100429czh

Terry Provance was one of the presenters at the San Diego Microfinance Summit. Nearly 240 individuals attended the event to learn more about microfinance in San Diego, as well as topics and issues impacting the international microfinance industry.  The event was deemed a success after selling out for the second year in a row.  To learn more about the speakers and organizations represented at the Summit please CLICK HERE

Join us for an evening of inspiration as we share with you the mission of Young Ambassadors for Opportunity.  This is a new group in San Diego comprised of young adults supportive of the work of Opportunity International, a nonprofit microfinance organization.  Opportunity is dedicated to helping the poor around the globe work their way out of poverty through the provision of basic financial services, such as small loans, savings accounts, and insurance.  Please join us as we share how microfinance services are empowering men and women in poverty around the globe.  If you’re interested in attending this event, please email Anne at anibigani@aol.com.

Young Ambassadors for Opportunity has monthly meetings in San Diego to discuss global microfinance efforts and to plan upcoming fundraising events.  Young Ambassadors is planning to host three fundraising events in San Diego this year to raise money specifically for microfinance efforts in Tanzania.  The first event will be a 4 mile run over the Coronado Bridge on May 16.  Please visit www.opportunity.org/yao to learn more about Young Ambassadors for Opportunity or contact Anne at anibigani@aol.com if you’re interested in becoming involved with the San Diego chapter.

Join the CSU Channel Islands community (students, faculty, staff, and administrators) as they welcome Dr. Muhammad Yunus, 2006 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and 2009 Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient.

Yunus is the founder of Grameen Bank in Bangladesh.  In 2006 he was jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize along with Grameen Bank “for their efforts to create economic and social development from below.”  His incredible story along with the rapid success of Grameen Bank has been a critical component of bringing microfinance global recognition as one of the most effective means of poverty alleviation.  Dr. Yunus is also the author of Banker To The Poor and Creating A World Without Poverty.

Tickets to hear him speak at the Fred Kavli Theatre in Thousand Oaks may be purchased at Ticketmaster for $20 ($31.75 after fees).

Delegates will have the choice of participating in a wide variety of plenary sessions, workshops, day-long courses, various council meetings, and associated sessions over the course of the four-day Summit. The Summit will also offer field visits to leading Kenyan microfinance institutions.

Some of the groundbreaking plenary sessions include: “Breakthroughs in Using Microfinance to Better End Poverty: A Vision for the Future of Microfinance in Africa and the Middle East”; “Using Microfinance to Improve the Environment and Agriculture: Ensuring Sustainable Livelihoods in Africa and the Middle East”; and “Using Microfinance as a Tool for Building Peace.”  For more information, visit www.microcreditsummit.org.

PLNU Hope Luncheon Invite 11-18-09

The Microfinance 101 course is a 4-week session that covers the history, basic theories, and current trends in the microfinance industry, as well as provide an understanding of how microfinance is being utilized in San Diego today.  Hosted by the San Diego Microfinance Alliance and the Point Loma Nazarene University Microfinance Club, the course is designed to teach participants about how microfinance works as a viable tool for poverty alleviation and engage course participants in ways to become involved as volunteers, investors, or just fans of microfinance.

The course will be taught by a combination of local university professors (University of San Diego and Point Loma Nazarene University) and microfinance practitioners from organizations such as the International Rescue Committee, ACCION San Diego, CDC Small Business Finance and The Foundation For Women

When: 7:00pm-8:30pm Tuesday, October 6th,13th, 20th, and 27th

Purchasing a ticket confirms your registration and reserves your spot at all four October class sessions.

ACCION San Diego client,  Lawrence Wells, was featured on KUSI news for his micro-loan funded business, DLM Marine.

To see the video, use this link: http://www.kusi.com/news/goodmorning/44718117.html?video=YHI&t=a