For our 4th Annual Summit we invited industry experts and innovators to explore cutting-edge developments in microfinance models and technological advances among borrowers and microfinance institutions.  We’ve updated the site to include a full-length video of the keynote session with Chris Dunford, a photo gallery with pictures from the day, and PDF lists with details about how to continue to support local microfinance borrowers. If you were unable to join us, these resources should give you a sense of the events of the day.

Click here read more about the 2012 San Diego Microfinance Summit
and explore the available videos, photos, and other resources. 

Watch the video of the keynote session

View the Photo Gallery

Shop local Microfinance Borrowers

Support Local Client Panelists

This year’s event includes a networking breakfast and a luncheon featuring Keynote Speaker Ruben Garcia, U.S. Small Business Administration District Director of San Diego.  It will be held at the Doubletree Hotel in Mission Valley, at 7450 Hazard Center Drive, San Diego, CA 92108, from 8am to 3pm.

Panels of experts will be conducting workshops focusing on unconventional financing and what it takes to qualify, understanding procurement and contracts, regulations and policies that affect how you manage your business and marketing strategies for non-marketing people. There will also be a business expo and a loan pavilion where business owners can sit one-on-one with a loan consultant to discuss and determine their lending options in a more confidential setting.

To register, please click the following link: http://sandiegomoney2012.eventbrite.com/.  Hurry – online registration closes May 4th!!

The film Bonsai People

The film will be shown at the JOAN B. KROC INSTITUTE FOR PEACE & JUSTICE at the University of San Diego, on June 20th at 7pm.  The director Holly Mosher will be in attendance.

Please read below for more information, taken from the Bonsai People website.

As the founder of Grameen Bank, Yunus pioneered microcredit, the innovative banking program that provides poor people – mainly women – with small loans they use to launch businesses and lift their families out of poverty.  In the past thirty years, microcredit has spread to every continent and benefited over 100 million families.  His Grameen Bank currently lends to one out of every 1,000 people on earth and with a 98% rate of return – unheard of in the financial world.

Yunus goes beyond microcredit to pioneer the idea of social business – a completely new way to use the creative vibrancy of business to tackle social problems from poverty and pollution to inadequate health care and lack of education. Bonsai People shows how Yunus – in partnership with some of the world’s most visionary businesses – is launching purposely designed social ventures. From collaborating with Danone to produce affordable, nutritious yogurt for malnourished children in Bangladesh to building eyecare hospitals that will save hundreds of thousands of poor people from blindness. Bonsai People offers a glimpse into his visionary work.

Bonsai People is a feature length documentary film that explores the work of Nobel Peace Prize winner  Muhammad Yunus and his vision from microcredit to social business.

Bonsai People received the Audience Award for Best Film at the UNA-USA GLOBAL WAKE-UP Film Festival, and was voted one of the Top 5 Transformational Films of 2011 by the Aware Guide.

There will be a community Earth Day celebration on April 21st that will benefit our micro-entrepreneurs at the City Heights Farmers’ market and community gardens! Anyone who may be interested is invited to attend this free and fun event.  Please see the information below.

EARTH DAY CELEBRATION IN CITY HEIGHTS
Saturday, April 21st, 2012
9am – 1pm
•Come visit various community gardens located in the heart of City Heights
•Enjoy exotic foods from around the globe, and celebrate earth day in community
•Free UCSD reusable bags will be distributed at the gardens

Volunteer and gain an insight look at some of City Heights green gems and see what’s growing in the gardens. Gardeners will share composting knowledge, what to plant, soil types, and much more.

For additional information on La Maestra Community Health Centers, contact Irma T. Timmons 619-779-7900, ext. 3515 itimmons@lamaestra.org

For additional information on The International Rescue Committee-IRC, contact Ralph Achenbach 619-641-7510, ext. 278
ralph.achenbach@rescue.org

Volunteering opportunities available. http://epteam.ucsd.edu

City Heights Farmer’s Market
SATURDAY, APRIL 21^ST 2012
9:00AM – 1:00PM
Fairmount Avenue & Wightman Street

La Maestra Community Health Center’s Garden
4129 Fairmount Ave.
San Diego, CA 92105

IRC Aquaponics Garden
4035 Fairmount Ave.
San Diego, CA 92105

Live healthy, eat locally grown food!

Don’t forget to get your tickets for the 2012 Microfinance Summit, which will be held at the University of San Diego on April 4th.  For more information, please visit our Summit page.

“IRC has been like a family to me.  Without the support of the IRC, my business would not be as successful as it is today.”    - Mary Page, Owner, Tropical Heritage

Personal Background:
Mary Page arrived in the United States in 1999 as an asylee from Kenya, where she was forced to flee due to violence and political persecution. Mary had several years of entrepreneurial experience prior to coming to the United States, including managing two different “Duty-Free” shops in Liberia.  Mary was also an accomplished artisan in Kenya, and ran a gallery featuring her work alongside the work of several youth and women organizations in Africa, which supported victims of violence in both Kenya and Liberia.

The IRC in San Diego Microenterprise Program and the WE STAR Center Supports Tropical Heritage
In 2005, Mary decided to start a business importing arts and crafts from her native country.  Her two reasons for starting this business were to create a living for herself in San Diego and to support artisans in Kenya.  When Mary approached the IRC’s Microenterprise Program in November of 2007, her business was very new; she was only selling products at one consignment shop and was generating just a couple hundred dollars per month in sales.  Furthermore, she had not yet established a legal business entity, had insufficient marketing material to support her sales, and lacked financing necessary to import additional products.

From November 2007 through early 2008, the IRC Microenterprise Program and WE STAR Center spent many hours providing 1-on-1 technical assistance and business consulting to Mary.  The results of this work include the development of a formal business entity (Tropical Heritage), a marketing plan with professional marketing material (brochures, business cards, and website), the addition of new sales venues (including two weekly farmers’ markets), and a $5,000 loan to purchase a dependable van to transport her goods to and from markets.  Mary also expanded her business into selling at street fair and festivals, with the support of an additional $3,000 in loan capital from IRC.

Status of business:
Today, Tropical Heritage is almost entirely sustainable, due to IRC’s support and Mary’s very hard work and dedication. Mary is able to locate markets, sell products, track income and expenses, import more inventory, and grow the business with limited assistance. Her business is currently generating $2,000-3,000 per month in sales, and has been featured in local San Diego publications, including the San Diego Union-Tribune and The Reader.

Mary has recently worked with the Microenterprise Program to develop an e-commerce enabled website, which will allow her to expand to new markets.  For Mary, Tropical Heritage has grown to be not only a source of income, but also a business that gives her the tools and confidence to successfully integrate into her new community.    Visit her website at www.AfricanTropicalHeritage.com.

Why we are nominating Mary for Entrepreneur of the Month:
Mary has played a critical role in helping other refugee women start similar businesses.  As an experienced business owner and expert sales woman, Mary has been an invaluable mentor to other refugee women entrepreneurs. She helps other women locate markets, display their products, and develop sales skills for selling their products.  This mentoring from Mary, in addition to support provided from the IRC, has resulted the development of an additional five refugee-owned microenterprises.

Through the Brewing the American Dream Program, small businesses can receive loans from $500-$25,000.  Boston Beer has contributed an initial $250,000 commitment to establish the Samuel Adams Brewing the American Dream Micro-Loan Fund at ACCION.  This fund will provide much needed capital that is often out of reach to lower and moderate income small business owners whose businesses would not be approved for a bank loan.  ACCION and The Boston Beer Company also provide free seminars discussing financial and business education.

The next Brewing the American Dream event is all the way in Denver, Colorado, but we hope they’ll spread the program to California soon!

For more information on the program, please visit the Brewing the American Dream website.

Sunday, March 4 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.
At the Great Hall of International House, UCSD campus, La Jolla

 Register and secure your opportunity drawing tickets below!

• Meet recipients of microfinance loans
• Sample scrumptious ethnic dishes prepared by recipients of microfinance loans and services in San Diego
• Learn how microfinance creates opportunities for women in poverty
• Shop at the STAR Center Bazaar for beautiful imported jewelry, fashions, flowers and decorative items for the home
• Learn about WE’s partnerships with successful women in Honduras, Mexico, Ghana and San Diego
• Opportunity Drawing ~ $10 a ticket, suggested donation (Need not be present to win.)
• Golfer’s Staycation: 1-night stay for 2 at Morgan Run Club & Resort, round of golf and cart. Includes dinner at Red Tractons Steak House. ($400 value)
• Wine & Food Lovers: Nine-Ten Restaurant 3-course dinner for 2 and 1 case of premium wine ($350 value)
• African Dinner for Six: Prepared by STAR Center caterer at your home. Includes wine, invitations and recipes. ($300 value)
• Beer Crafter’s Choice: Brewery tour to 3 San Diego breweries, including transportation, lunch, flights, pints and filled growler. Also, dinner for 2 at Stone Brewery and $25 certificate to Callahan’s Pub. ($400 value)
• Pamper Yourself: All About Me Medical Day Spa treatments, one-hour massage at Massage Network, and 3-hr La Jolla wine tour ($400 value)

Hosted by Women’s Empowerment International and UCSD International House, with support from USE Credit Union and UCSD’s Global Justice Institute.

Free admission and parking.

Directions: http://ihouse.ucsd.edu/contact/index.html

Visit www.womenempowerment.org
619-333-0026 ~ womens.empowerment@cox.net

Register Today!

Held at the Joan B. Kroc institute at the University of San Diego, the 2012 San Diego Microfinance Summit will be an all day event that features keynote speakers from the microfinance industry, provides an opportunity to meet and support local microfinance clients, and offers the best microfinance networking of the year. The theme this year is Technology & Innovation.  Lunch will be provided by local restaurateurs who are also current microfinance clients. In addition to food, there will be an artisan marketplace where other microfinance clients will sell their wares and services. Among the expected vendors will be artisans, bakers and entrepreneurs. There will be three breakout sessions in the afternoon in order to help attendees to delve further into various topics of microfinance. The summit will close with a catered networking reception.

For more information, please visit our 2012 Microfinance Summit Page.

SDMFA Summit Mixer – April 3rd: For an additional $12 per person, you will be able to sign up for the SDMFA Summit Mixer that is being held the evening before the summit, on April 3rd.  It will be a private event for Summit attendees only, and you will receive appetizers and one drink per person (the drink can be alcoholic or non-alcoholic). The event will be held at Ritual Tavern.  For more information, please visit the Mixer Page.  The maximum number of people for this mixer event will be 100 people, so please register soon!

Early Bird Pricing (ends March 21^st):
$12 Students/faculty/staff
$25 General public

Standard Pricing:
$20 Students/faculty/staff
$35 General public

Registration price includes summit, refreshments, catered lunch, $10 marketplace voucher and closing reception (pre-summit mixer is an additional $12).

The 2012 San Diego Microfinance Summit is made possible through generous support from Citibank.

Conozca su crédito y prepárese para obtener capital para su negocio
ACCION San Diego le presenta dos expertas dinámicas en áreas de crédito y de préstamos para
negocios. No importa qué tipo de negocio tenga o quiera empezar es necesario comprender los efec-tos que su crédito personal y sus finanzas tendrán en el éxito de su negocio. ¡Este taller será gratis! Estacionamiento y desayuno continental incluido.
Venga y aprenda más acerca de:
- ¿Por qué es importante mantener un buen historial de crédito?
- ¿Cómo puedo mejorar mi puntaje de crédito?
- ¿Cómo me puedo preparar para solicitar un préstamo de negocios?
- ¿Qué factores toman en cuenta los bancos cuando solicito un préstamo de negocios?

Presentadoras:
Jennifer Rodríguez, Springboard Nonprofit Consumer Credit Counseling
Valery Belloso, ACCION San Diego

Jueves, 9 de Febrero, 8:30am a 10:30am
Flyer- Spanish Workshop Feb. 9

Joe & Vi Jacobs Center
Community Room en el primer nivel
404 Euclid Ave., San Diego, CA 92114
Líneas de autobús: 3, 4, 5, 13, 916, 917. Parada en Euclid Ave.
Por Trolley: Línea Anaranjada. Parada en Euclid Ave.
¡Inscríbase hoy! En línea al http://tinyurl.com/accioncredito
o lláme a ACCION al (619) 795-7250
Patrocinado

¡Inscríbase hoy! En línea al http://tinyurl.com/accioncredito o lláme a ACCION al (619) 795-7250