The History of Microfinance in the U.S.
The Opportunity Fund developed a microlending timeline, complete with a one page overview of the history of microfinance in the U.S. for their annual conference. The timeline stretches from 1973, when ShoreBank Corporation began to provide investment capital to business owners who were denied access to credit by larger financial institutions, to 2010 when the first nationwide conference on microfinance, which gathered practitioners, policymakers, investors, and enthusiasts took place.
Some events featured in the timeline include the first college course taught on U.S. Microfinance, foundations making their first U.S. microfinance loan, the Community Reinvestment Act, and Kiva launching it’s first U.S. partnership. Throughout the over 30-year history of microfinance in the U.S., lending institutions proove again and again that disadvantaged communities and small businesses are, in fact, creditworthy.
