The first Global Microcredit Summit was held in Washington, D.C. February 2nd to February 4th in 1997, and it attracted over 2,900 people from 137 countries. The Campaign brings together microcredit practitioners, advocates, educational institutions, donor agencies, international financial institutions, non-governmental organizations and others involved with microcredit to promote best practices and to stimulate the [...]
International Microfinance 
Highlights from the 2011 Global Microcredit Summit
Learn more about the world of Microfinance and join the San Diego Microfinance Alliance (SDMFA), the Center for International Development at Point Loma Nazarene University (PLNU), the School of International Relations & Pacific Studies and the EPTEAM Network Association at University of California-San Diego (UCSD), for three sessions of Microfinance 102, the continuation of Microfinance [...]
What is a Microfinance Alliance Partner? Meet VIA International, just one of many incredible San Diego based organizations dedicated to building “paths to self-reliance for an interdependent world!” Focus is placed on community based programs designed to improve the quality of people’s lives through nutrition and ecology training, community leadership education and microcredit and microenterprise [...]
How do you plan to celebrate 100 years of women’s economic, political and social achievements? We encourage you to join Women’s Empowerment International, International House, UCSD’s Women’s Center, EPTEAM Network, and Women Equity Council at the United Nations Association of San Diego (WECUNASD) at UCSD on March 6th for International Women’s Day! This event promises to [...]
Social Change-One Class at a Time
As the fall semester of the academic year comes to a close, we would like to take a moment to highlight the efforts of two socially minded professors and their class. Dr. Judith Liu and Dr. Donald Kelly, professors in the sociology department at the University of San Diego, taught a course entitled Social Change: Global [...]
Despite advances in technology, it remains difficult to support others from a distance. From a distance, it is easier to misunderstand the support others really need. From a distance, it is easier to minimize the severity of the situation in which others find themselves. From a distance, it is easier to get distracted with our [...]
As a young man in college, my appreciation for a home cooked meal grew exponentially. These days a home cooked meal is almost as rare as teenager without an iPod. Fortunately, there is an upcoming event that will provide for those of us daydreaming about homemade tamales and envisioning a world without poverty. On Sunday, [...]
Virtual Conference Promotes Real Progress
Can you remember the last conference you attended? Was it out of town? How much was the registration fee (Not to mention the travel expenses)? Do you remember how you decided whether or not you would attend? In most cases, we compare the costs and benefits of investing in the educational opportunity and if the [...]
Mobile Technology and Microfinance
One of the most promising developments I have seen in my travels in the last few years is the proliferation of mobile phones. You could find them across the most distant reaches of India, and even in the poorest parts of Liberia you will find mobile phones and the towers that connect them to the [...]
Microfinance Programs to Combat Rising Unemployment
The European Commission announced last week plans to create a 100 million euro fund to pour into existing microcredit agencies within the European Union. Intended as a plan to combat unemployment by allowing entrepreneurs the means to start small businesses, the program will launch by next year. The fund is expected to provide capital for [...]
One of the most dramatic effects of the Liberian Civil War was the massive migration to Monrovia of displaced peoples from all over the country. As various rebel groups pillaged and plundered throughout the Liberian countryside, rural Liberians found it harder and harder to live as they had in the past. As their small businesses [...]
Join the San Diego Microfinance Alliance’s lending team on Kiva! SDFMA is steadily gaining more team members and more loans for a bigger collective impact on Kiva.org Kiva is the world’s first person-to-person micro-lending website, empowering individuals to lend directly to unique entrepreneurs around the globe. On Kiva, individuals can loan directly to micro-entrepreneurs [...]
Fostering a Liberian Entrepreneurial Spirit
Shopping in the commercial district of downtown Monrovia is eerie. Foreigners own almost every single business of note. The Lebanese presence here is strong, and their hold on commerce in the city is rather alarming. More recently Indian businessmen have moved in, but their presence here is less pronounced, especially compared to East Africa. Why [...]
Today we went to visit some of the centers in the countryside. First we went to Gbowee Town which was about an hour and a half outside of Monrovia. To get to the road to Gbowee town, we drove across Monrovia’s only bridge (the other one is near by, but collapsed) and past the “free [...]
Here is the Press Release from the Office of the Vice President. I have chosen to leave it as is. What the PR man heard is not necessarily what we said in some cases, but overall it was a wonderful experience meeting the VP. International foundation empowers Liberian women… Vice president Joseph Boakai has commended [...]
One of the biggest differences between the “developing” world and the “developed” world is the understanding and conception of time. Here, folks are laid back, and instead of scheduling meetings at 2 they schedule the meetings at “any time after 2.” Things always seemed to get pushed back until tomorrow, and in general stuff takes [...]
So my first day in Monrovia consisted of familiarizing myself with the community. I was expecting to bear witness to overwhelming poverty, a direct result of the catastrophic civil war this country dealt with for decades, and I did. What surprised me however, was seeing the detachment and almost parallel universe in which the development [...]
Microlending in Liberia with the Foundation for Women
I just arrived in Liberia last night after a harrowing tri-continent journey. As a surfer, I am excited to explore a new coastline, as a traveler I am excited to explore a new continent, and as a microfinance practitioner, I am excited to work on a new project. I am a native San Diegan, die-hard [...]
Nine Days Following Microfinance in Peru
Editor’s note: Seattle-based Global Partnerships just led a group of travelers on a nine-day trip to Peru to see microfinance programs in action. What did they learn? A lot–including why you have to have strong lungs to be a FONDESURCO loan officer and the importance of communal meals for communal banks. Read trip leader Chris [...]
