Here’s a youtube video from NTV about Microinsurance after the Microcredit Summit. 

Here is an interesting video where Bill Gates discusses microfinance at UC Berkeley.  To view the other videos, check out Smart Planet

• 1st microcredit institution established in Tibet
• BlueOrchard Finance, a Swiss Asset Management Company, to Provide $5m Loan to Belarusian Bank…
• Impact Microcredit has officially been launched!
• Leapfrog to Invest $5-15M in Micro-Insurance
• Bono Stumbles Upon a Good Point on Microfinance

The Grameen Foundation’s Global Volunteer Initiative: Bankers Without Borders, recently launched their new website. The new site features stories from volunteers from the past as well as a cool interactive map of their worldwide volunteer projects.   With their new website, Bankers Without Borders  “want prospective volunteers, corporate partners, and microfinance partners to have all the information they need to get involved.”

Never heard about Bankers Without Borders?  Bankers without Borders is a global volunteer initiative, sponsored by Grameen Foundation, connecting private individuals and companies with microfinance institutions and other organizations serving the poor. Bankers without Borders is an international reserve of professionals who contribute their time and skills to fight poverty by supporting microfinance and technology for the poor people around the world. From human resources to marketing, from cash management to telecommunications, Bankers without Borders gives volunteers a chance to use their professional expertise where needs and returns are greatest. Whether working on-site or remotely, whether consulting or training, members of Bankers without Borders help increase the scale, sustainability, and impact of the programs that Grameen Foundation supports.

Bankers Without Borders is a great website for people who are looking to volunteer or get an internships in Microfinance.  The different opporunities vary across all aspects of MFI jobs, as well as the time frames.  Here is a list of their current openings:

Business and Strategic Planning:

• NEW! Childfinance products and services

Development team:

• Summer Development Team Intern

Finance:

• Intern for Capital Management & Advisory Center (CMAC)

Human Capital:

• BwB Calling Support
• Human Resources Policy and Procedure Review
• GF Human Resources Recruitment Screening Support

Marketing/ Public Relations:

• Assistant Editors for Microfinance Focus Magazine in Bangalore, India
• Creating an Online Bankers without Borders Card
• Design and Layout for Corporate Governance Handbook
• Guest Bloggers and Online Outreach Volunteers
• Management, Research & Administrative Support with Marketing & Communication
• Mifos Community Outreach Web Content
• NEW! Communications Intern for the Social Performance Management team
• Mifos Graphic Design (Microfinance Open Source Software)
• Video Editing – Village phone

Project & Enterprise Management:

• Knowledge Management

Technology:

• Software Development – Automate pseudolocalization in Mifos
• Software Development – Automated Acceptance Tests for Mifos (Microfinance Open Source Software)
• Software Development – Configure Build Server for Mifos
• Software Development – Fix Firefox Bugs in Mifos
• Software Development – Mifos contributor
• Software Development – Prototype Mifos with a CSS Framework
• Technical Requirements and Implementation Documentation
• Technology Readiness – Case Study for CEO/CIO IT Strategy Training
• Technology Readiness – Curriculum and tools design for CEO/CIO IT Strategy Training

Translation Services:

• Chinese Translation of Mifos documentation
• French Translation of Mifos Documentation
• Portuguese Translation of Mifos Documentation
• Spanish Translation of Mifos documentation
• Translation team for Grameen Foundation

Web-based Expertise:

• Mifos (Microfinance Open Source Software) Flash Demo Design & Production
• Mifos (Microfinance Open Source Software) Plone Web Design & Development
• SugarCRM Integration for Mifos(Microfinance Open Source Software)
• Technical Writing – Improve Mifos Install Guide
• Web Development for Microfinance Focus Magazine in Bangalore, India

 

 

It’s been awhile, but here are a few links that may be of interest to microfinance advocates:

• Should you lend via Kiva’s for-profit Field Partners?
• MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Mohammad Yunus, Founder of Grameen Bank, Calls Out Loan Shark Organizations
• Building Better Lives (video)
• The Many Faces of Microfinance

I know I’m writing this one a little late (been traveling in Asia) but wanted to give a shout out to Vittana and United Prosperity.  Both Microfinance platforms have recently reach over $100,000 in loans!  There are of course other platforms that have exceeded this already, but Vittana and UnitedProsperity are two that have launched within the last year and have taken a new spin on lending.  It is great to see that even through a recession, people are still finding the time to help other people who are even more in need.  Here are some kind words from each:

Vittana:

We launched a brand-new website and a huge marketing campaign around March Madness that just ended last night. In the process, we doubled our user base, passed $100,000 in total amount lent, then turned around and raised over $50,000 in March alone, ultimately helping fund over 100 students. Because of you, those students are able to get their degrees to become nurses, accountants, lawyers, mechanics, teachers and much more.
Wow! Now, it’s time to celebrate. We’re going to be hanging out on the upper level of Barça on Capitol Hill with our friends from SeaMo (Seattle Microfinance) all evening on Friday, so come grab a drink with us. We want to celebrate with the people who made it happen – you, our lenders. So come after work, bring a friend, and we’ll have a fantastic time.

UnitedProsperity:

Thank you very much for  helping  Unitedprosperity.org reach the major milestone of providing US$100,000 in loans to 500 entrepreneurs living in extreme poverty since our launch in May 2009. These entrepreneurs and their families are typically living on $2 a day, and have one vision – to grow their businesses and thereby improve their lives. Thanks to your support, these entrepreneurs have been able to realize their dreams and improve their lives. Please visit the impact section to see how these ‘microloans’  are being used for a variety of initiatives ranging from buying cattle for milk to building product inventory in their small shops.

At some point, everyone has received an email or message, whether it be through facebook, gmail, MSN, etc, from an annonymous person saying that they would like to meet up.  I think most people know the trick by now, but every once and a while, it looks real.  Earlier this month, I received an email on Wokai that I got a message from a new user.  I didn’t recognize the name, but luckily I was busy and didn’t open it.  It was a spam email that was sent out to all users.  I don’t think the email would have done too much harm, but it was unexpected to see it within the microfinance community.  Wokai, had caught this the next day and had done a great job of sending out a formal apology and letting everybody know of the incident.  I’m not quite sure what all it entails on the backend to help stop this in the future, I’m sure Wokai has already solved it.  The spam wasn’t a big issue, but it sucks to see that it is in microfinance as well.  I’m sure it has already happened a bunch, but this was one case that didn’t get caught by any of my filters either, so it stood out.  I think with the close circle of people in the microfinance community, as well as the smart people building out platforms/MFIs, we can narrow down the spammers, but it just sucks knowing that first time lenders could get a spam email and get discouraged.  Props to Wokai for handling the situation so professionally.

Kiva has been chosen as one of four finalists in the Sam’s Club “Giving Made Simple” competition for a chance to win a $1 Million dollar grant.
With this grant, Kiva will multiply the impact by 10 by generating approximately $10 Million more in loans from the Internet community, to help 25,000 entrepreneurs in the US and around the world.
To help support Kiva, send this link to anybody that you know with a Sam’s Club membership so that they can vote.  You can vote daily up through May 2nd.
To view the full contest details, check out Sam’s Club the “Giving Made Simple” competition.