“Easy, Simple, Powerful. Come travel and change lives!” What more can you ask for?  The slogan of the new microfinance organization Investours, which is pioneering the concept of “microfinance tours,” combines microfinance and tourism.  I’ve got to say, this is a pretty amazing concept. So far, Investours has only only done a pilot in Oaxaca, Mexico and has recently launched a second program in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.  How does Investours work?  Here are the five simple steps:

1. Sign up for an Investour. 100% of your fee will be used for the loan given to the borrowers whom you visit.
2. Visit a developing community, meet multiple groups of women entrepreneurs, and learn about their small businesses
3. After a discussion with your tour group, select a group of entrepreneurs to receive the loan
4. Track the progress of your borrower group
5. Join our alumni network and continue to be involved with Investours

I’m really excited about this new concept for microfinance.  I’m not quite sure how scalable it is, but so far it seems to be a great concept.  Microfinance is still on the rise, but people are always traveling, so if they can penetrate tourism on a grander scale, this could have a lot of potential. I hope it does!

New Generation Energy’s (NGE) mission is to make America’s communities healthier and more sustainable through the development of renewable energy and energy efficiency projects. They support solar, wind, biomass, and geothermal, along with many different kinds of energy efficiency. NGE recently launched the Green Energy Project Microfunding Site, which lets you support green energy projects online via small donations. It is similar to popular microfinance sites, but uses donations rather than microloans to support specific projects.  Here is a list of projects that you can fund.  In addition to funding projects, NGE has plenty of jobs, internships and volunteer positions, here’s a list of the current ones:

Community Lending Program Intern:
NGE is seeking a talented and motivated intern to research renewable energy and energy efficiency projects that qualify for low-interest loans from our Community Lending Program (CLP). The selected candidate will be in charge of managing relations with potential project partners, maintaining a record of project data, and evaluating loan applications and costs/benefits for each project. The selected candidate will also be responsible for tracking new regulations or policies that may affect the industry, as well as monitor the economy to determine its effect on earnings.
Key responsibilities:
Research and provide analytical support for potential Community Lending Program (CLP) loan recipients. Perform on-site visits as needed, along with phone and email correspondence. Maintain accurate information in our database regarding loan applications and recipients. Coordinate creation of promotional materials for CLP including press releases, web articles, and newsletter articles. Coordinate with local community–based organizations that serve low and middle income communities.
Requirements:

• Excellent communication skills; written and verbal
• Strong analytical and research skills
• Ability to multi-task and adhere to deadlines
• Proficiency with Microsoft applications Graphic and visual presentation development skills
• Database experience with Salesforce a plus
• Background in energy or environmental sciences a plus
• Enthusiasm and creativity a must!

Development and Outreach Intern:
New Generation Energy is seeking a talented and motivated Intern to provide assistance in the areas of grant preparation and submission, database development and maintenance, and non-profit organization outreach.
Key responsibilities:

The grant-related portion of this internship involves researching and identifying funders who are a potential match with our mission and programs, writing follow-up reports to funders as needed to satisfy reporting requirements, and maintaining a schedule of all grants and reporting deadlines. The database component of this internship consists of assisting with the development of a database to more effectively manage information about NGE’s program participants and contacts. The database will be used to record information connected with granting agencies, potential donors, and other individuals and organizations. The outreach portion of this internship consists of contacting potential partners, funders and/or supporters regarding our upcoming activities, and determining whether they are interested in collaborating with us, or whether a partnership or supporting relationship may be possible.
Requirements:

• Excellent writing skills
• Strong interest in working with grant application and proposals for foundations, corporations and government
• Strong research ability and organizational skills Ability to multi-task and adhere to deadlines
• Basic knowledge of Microsoft applications & database applications
• Detail-oriented
• Enthusiasm and creativity a must!

Marketing and Publicity Coordinator:
NGE is seeking a creative and motivated intern to participate in the conception, development and production of press releases and a quarterly newsletter. The successful candidate will be able to maintain a database of trade associations, journals, magazines and other media outlets and track media response to our press release. Candidates should be comfortable making calls to various organizations and handling relationships with media professionals. In addition, this position involves researching, developing and maintaining a calendar of trade shows and conferences for NGE to participate in, including local community events.
Key responsibilities:

Contacting media outlets to publish press releases. Writing and editing content of the newsletter and press releases, data entry of trade associations, trade journals, local papers, magazines etc.
Requirements:

• Excellent communication skills: verbal and written
• Graphic design experience
• Strong organizational skills; detail oriented
• Professional demeanor
• Ability to multi-task and adhere to deadlines
• Proficiency with Microsoft applications
• Detail-oriented
• Enthusiasm and creativity!

Source: PRweb

Microfinance Gateway, a microfinance website provided as a service of CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor) featuring research and other publications, industry announcements, news, events and job opportunities in the microfinance sector, has reached 10 years of operation…click here to read more

About CGAP:
Housed at the World Bank Group, CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor) is an independent policy and research center dedicated to facilitating the provision of financial access to poor people worldwide. CGAP is supported by approximately over thirty development agencies and private foundations. Its mission is to provide market intelligence, to promote standards and to offer advisory services to governments, microfinance providers, donors and investors.

Freedom from Hunger seeks a creative and motivated person/team to design and develop a new, professional, visually appealing, classy, branded, search-engine-optimized, full-featured, information-rich website with e-commerce capability and content management system, preferably in Drupal. Knowledge of cross-browser compatibility issues, streaming audio/video and photo galleries, best practices with user-centered design principles, knowledge of PHP, Drupal, HTML, JavaScript and CSS needed. This new site must be interactive, integrated, and support our fundraising and communications efforts, as well as manage an online donation platform, a blog and other social media (including Open Graph protocol). We seek a person/team who will work with Freedom from Hunger on the design, integration, usability, functionality, and launch of our website, with post-launch support as needed.
An emailed Letter of Interest must be received by Freedom from Hunger by COB on Wednesday, December 1, 2010. A detailed Request for Proposal (RFP) will be emailed to interested and qualified parties by Tuesday, December 7. Proposals from bidders will be due before COB on Tuesday, January 18, 2011. We will award our contract to the selected vendor by February 4 and work will commence no later than February 10 with target completion date June 21, 2011. Various project stages and milestones will be stated in the RFP.

This is an outsourced, contracted position only. Interested parties should email a Letter of Interest with team members’ qualifications, a client list with at least 3 references and contact information and a portfolio of at least 5 relevant nonprofit websites you have designed and developed to Beth Harrison, Director, Communications, at bharrison@freedomfromhunger.org.

About Freedom from Hunger:
Freedom from Hunger is an international development organization that brings innovative and sustainable self-help solutions to combat chronic hunger and poverty. We train and collaborate with 112 local partner organizations to provide value-added microfinance to groups of women. This leverage through collaboration allows our staff of fewer than 50 professionals to offer our programs to more than 2.4 million women in 17 developing countries of Africa, Asia and Latin America.

Source: i-Newswire

Check out what Opportunity International is doing — providing electronic bicycles to their loan officers in Africa as a test, and getting positive feedback. I definitely think this type of transportation would work here in the Volta Region of Ghana to help Lumana loan officers reach their clients more effectively.

[via One.org via Opportunity International]

If the answer to that question is yes, please request to join the “PassionateMicrofinancers” facebook group!! We’d like to use that group as a way to keep up to speed with all the people doing amazing things in the microfinance industry worldwide.

My friend Akhila Kolisetty, who writes the excellent blog Justice For All, passed along this opportunity.  She writes:

I worked with this organization (The Student Initiative) while studying abroad at LSE (Actually, I co-founded it and now am on the Board of Directors), and was wondering if you could help me pass along a great opportunity to any people, organizations, groups or listservs (particularly university student groups) who you think might be interested in microfinance and development.

The Student Initiative is a registered Charity and an incorporated non-profit ltd. company with official headquarters at the London School and Political Science (LSE) and is based and working at many leading universities.

The Student Initiative is unique because it combines academic grounding in leading university research and education with long-term work in the development sector. Its large student outreach and training enables it to identify the best individual students to work professionally on the issues and on-the-ground in development. Further information can be found on our website: http://www.thestudentinitiative.org/

The Student Initiative is currently accepting applications for new Fellows

What does it mean to be a Fellow?

The Student Initiative Fellows are the young, future and student leaders in development. An application to be a Fellow signals a desire and commitment to play a greater role in development, which The Student Initiative will facilitate. The organisation brings you closer to your ambitions of working in development in various ways. As a Fellow, you will be given guidance, advice and support for the initiatives that you propose. Also, Fellows are our priority candidates for the various opportunities (e.g. internships, research work etc) that we facilitate together with our partner institutions. You will be informed in advance of others about such opportunities, and given an exclusive application time period during which only Fellows will be allowed to submit applications for review. Being a Fellow also means that your CVs will be included in our database, which our partner organizations will have access to. This opens up career opportunities for you in the field of development. The Student Initiative also aims to help Fellows build up experience and gain more knowledge on development-related issues. Participation in the courses that we have designed, writing articles on various themes in development or the events that we organize, and even the organization of these events, are some of the avenues that you can explore you to gain an insight into various themes of development. We are also open to hearing your ideas on how you think you can deepen your involvement with development. Essentially, The Student Initiative aims to bring you closer to development-related issues and careers. If you have a passion for development, a Fellowship with The Student Initiative promises to be a rewarding experience.

To find out more about what our Fellows have done, take a look at our Get Informed pages.

How do I apply?

1. Send your most updated CV to info@thestudentinitiative.org. with the subject title ‘Fellowship Application – Your Full Name’.

2. Fill in this form with the relevant details. The deadline for applications is 15th November.

Should you have any further enquiries, please feel free to send them in to info@thestudentinitiative.org. We look forward to receiving your applications!

Called the “hottest non-profit on the planet” by FORTUNE magazine and a Top 50 Website by TIME, Kiva (www.kiva.org) is the world’s first person-to-person lending marketplace for the poor. In just 4 years, Kiva has raised $100+ million for 300,000+ entrepreneurs in 50+ countries. Kiva combines the culture and approach of an internet start-up with an intense focus on alleviating global poverty. Kiva is poised to take its initial success to a whole new level – targeting $1 billion in loans by 2015 and expansion into new areas (e.g. student loans, climate change, etc). Headquartered in San Francisco, Kiva’s team has 50 employees and 500+ volunteers.
Job Description
As an experienced and highly driven microfinance professional, you will play a key role in shaping the expansion of Kiva’s MFI network in North America, particularly the United States. You will be responsible for ensuring the healthy growth of Kiva’s portfolio, by driving and coordinating Kiva’s partnership selection, development and monitoring efforts.

Tasks / Responsibilities
New Partner Selection & Due Diligence

• Help set the strategy for growth in the region
• Expand the knowledge of Kiva within the microfinance community in the United States
• Grow Kiva’s portfolio of quality MFI partners by expanding relationships with local associations and networks to help identify and market potential partners
• Undertake due diligence and complete financial analysis on potential partners
• Present potential partners to the Investment Committee and recommend risk rating

Monitoring and Risk Management

• Monitor financial health of partner institutions on a quarterly basis through revision of financial statements and portfolio reports
• Ensure continued due diligence through regular communications and partner site visits
• Contribute to improve Kiva systems for partner management and due diligence

Special Projects (Development, Press)

• Work with development team on grants targeted for Kiva’s US programs
• Coordinate external study on US microfinance
• Liaison with PR department on media events surrounding US programs

Compensation & Benefits

• Competitive salary, with high growth potential based on performance
• Full benefits (e.g. health insurance, 401K match) & fun perks (e.g., friends loving what you do, etc).

Mandatory Skills / Qualifications / Experience

• 3+ years of professional experience in MFI, bank or management consulting firm
• BS/BA degree in business, finance or economics, MS/MBA desirable
• In-depth understanding of microfinance in the United States
• Knowledge of international microfinance best practices and familiarity with microfinance methodologies
• Experience with due diligence and portfolio management analytical tools and methodologies
• Strong management skills and ability to deliver results on multiple priorities simultaneously
• Strong leadership skills, ability to work collaboratively and present to large groups publicly
• Spanish proficiency preferred but not required
• Strong interpersonal and speaking skills; disciplined, detail oriented, and accountable
• Ability to travel regionally up to 30% of your time.
• Strong understanding of internet based services and Microsoft Office (e.g. Excel and PowerPoint)

Interested? Email cover letter and resume / CV to jobs@kiva.org. Include in the subject line “Portfolio Manager, North America”
Please do not contact the office directly with any questions or follow-up inquiries
Due to the number of applicants for this position, we regret that we can only respond to candidates that we would like to interview.

Source: LinkedIn

This year, the Grameen Foundation has expanded their work in China, saw great results from their mobile projects in Africa, and established a regional office for Latin America in Colombia. On November 10th, Alex Counts and Jennifer Meehan, CEO – Asia Region, will review their work in Asia, Africa and Latin America.  Here’s the info to join the webinar:

Webinar: Year-End Wrap Up
Date: Wednesday, November 10th
Time: 12:00-1:00 p.m. EST
Register here: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/614217795

About the Organization
MicroFinance Transparency (MFT) is a non-profit organization (501c3) that promotes fair and transparent pricing in the microfinance industry.​ Our desire is to be the venue for the microfinance industry to publicly demonstrate its commitment to pricing transparency, integrity and poverty alleviation.​ Our vision is an industry operating with healthy free market conditions where consumers and other stakeholders can make informed decisions.

About the Job:
At the core of MFT’s work is the need to be able to efficiently collect and process microfinance pricing data from many countries around the world and to disseminate the information in a timely manner on its web site MFT chose to use Django, an open source web application framework, with a PostgreSQL database managed by Python coding, for its data needs.​  We collect data through online data entry and then present the data graphically and in tables under different filtering criteria.​  We are looking for a Technical Project Manager Contractor to guide development of the system to full operationality, with emphasis on completion of design specs and development of a coherent architecture.​ We are looking for someone with experience architecting websites and managing a team of web developers.​ The contract is envisioned as a medium-term, full-time position but there is room for negotiation on length of time and level of effort depending on the candidate’s availability.

Tasks/​Responsibilities

• Design and execute a phased plan for putting MFT’s data input functionality into production on the website, including triage of what functionality to include immediately and what to postpone to Phase 2 and beyond.
• Complete functional requirements and specification for existing application that can be used to complete development and testing.​  The resulting document(s) should include detailed process flow for all data entry transactions, including entry, approval/​rejection, visible to users, etc.
• Inventory current application design documents and identify gaps.​  Create  additional required design documents (i.​e.​, entity relationships, object relational mapping, class diagrams, application framework, process flow, etc) and update on an ongoing basis
• Re-architect the existing application for a 2.​0 release;
• Establish (and document) an appropriate development methodology for developers to design, prioritize and schedule, implement, test, and put into production both new functionality and bug fixes;
• Refine existing or establish new reporting system for progress on web development;
• Deploy appropriate application monitoring system to measure and manage application availability (uptime);

Ongoing:

• Assist management to develop a clear vision and goals for the web-based data system;
• Ensure that existing code is refactored and cleaned up as necessary;
• Supervise the work and manage the use of time of the two developers on staff;
• Liaise between management and the web development team;
• Update management weekly on web development work;
• Provide recommendations for long-term maintenance and development of the system.

Level of Effort & Location
The contract is envisioned as a medium-term, full-time position but there is room for negotiation on length of time and level of effort depending on the candidate’s availability.​ Ideally, the candidate would be located in the Pennsylvania/​New York/​New Jersey/​Delaware/​Washington, DC area so he/​she can periodically work in-person with the web development team based in Lancaster, PA but this is also negotiable.

Skills/​qualifications/​experience

• Demonstrated experience designing and developing web-based transactional and/​or work-flow based applications;
• Hands on development experience developing large scale production applications based on PostgreSQL and Python;
• Experience with Djanjo or other frameworks like Ruby on Rails is preferred;
• Prior experience as the lead developer on multiple projects;
• Demonstrated ability to manage development teams;
• Understanding and experience using different Agile Development Methodologies;
• Ability to communicate clearly with non-technical managers; and,
• Ability to work as a team and under pressure to meet deadlines.

To Apply:
Please send detailed resume and a cover letter explaining your interest in working for an organization committed to global social and economic development to Randall Weaver.​ Only qualified applicants will be contacted for an interview and will be contacted on a rolling basis.​ Deadline for applications is December 15, 2010.​