Grameen Foundation : Resource Center : Print Newsletter : Winter 2004 : Donors’ Corner: A Wealth of Volunteers
Donors’ Corner: A Wealth of Volunteers
Though it began humbly with a handful of loans given out by social entrepreneurs such as Dr. Muhammad Yunus, the microfinance movement has increased in sophistication and scale to the point where it can have a major impact on world poverty. Grameen Foundation USA (GFUSA) is at the forefront of this rapidly evolving field, exploring creative ways to leverage resources and bring the power of microcredit to growing numbers of poor. One way is to utilize skilled volunteers, like those profiled below, in order to cost-effectively advance its projects and programs worldwide.
Inspired by the opportunity to impact global poverty through microfinance, many GFUSA supporters donate their time and expertise in addition to, or in lieu of, a financial contribution. Harmohan Ahluwalia is one such volunteer. After retiring from a distinguished 30-year career at Citigroup, he has applied his expertise and connections for the past year to GFUSA’s work in India. As a volunteer, he recruited and led a team of McKinsey consultants that developed a business plan to create a wholesale fund that would vastly increase the leverage that GFUSA was able to achieve when deploying its resources in India. Subsequently, he secured the commitment of ICICI Bank, the largest private bank in India, to invest $500,000 in this venture and assisted GFUSA in raising
a similar amount to invest by giving a series of presentations to potential donors.
Volunteer Emily Tucker spent April through September of 2003 helping GFUSA roll out its Village Computing Project (VCP) in rural Tamil Nadu, India. (See story on page 2 for more on the VCP.) Prior to working with GFUSA, Emily launched the Amazon.com Auction and Marketplace sites and has run product development for those businesses for several years. Attracted to the microcredit concept and GFUSA’s dedication to financial sustainability and scaleable solutions, Emily has brought her on-line business knowledge to the VCP, which provides business opportunities and information access to the rural poor through computer kiosks.
A continent away in rural Uganda, another groundbreaking initiative has been progressing steadily (see page 1), thanks to the efforts of the Grameen Technology Center and a small group of dedicated volunteers. For a combined 15 months, Michael Eber, Ryan Stanley and Abser Kamal (a senior Grameen Bank official who took a sabbatical to work with GFUSA in Uganda) have been based in Kampala and have journeyed to remote, outlying villages to deploy mobile phone kits to local micro-entrepreneurs. Their combined business, telecommunications and development expertise has been integral to the early success of MTN villagePhone, the first replication of Grameen Telecom’s Village Phone Program outside of Bangladesh.
Technology-enabled information access is a powerful tool, but it is not the only application for technology within the microfinance sphere. GFUSA has worked with many of its partner organizations to implement automated management information systems (MIS), which can help them increase efficiency. Lynn McKiernan, a certified accountant with an MPA in Public Affairs, began volunteering with GFUSA in the fall of 2002. Most recently, as a “circuit rider” based in Guatemala, she traveled from one partner MFI to the next, sorting out accounting and management issues to prepare for conversion from a manual to an automated MIS. The demands of her punishing travel schedule were considerable, but the impact she made on these seven institutions will be a lasting legacy. With the support of Fund for the Poor and others, GFUSA plans to install automated MIS in all seven of its microfinance institution partners in Latin America.
Since its earliest days, GFUSA has been fortunate to be able to channel the talent and enthusiasm of hundreds of volunteers like those profiled here. GFUSA continues to seek out skilled volunteers to add value to our projects and magnify our impact on poverty.
Grameen Foundation : Resource Center : Print Newsletter : Winter 2004 : Donors’ Corner: A Wealth of Volunteers
Grameen Foundation uses microfinance and innovative technology to fight global poverty and bring opportunities to the world's poorest people. With tiny loans and financial services, we help the poor, mostly women, start businesses and escape poverty. Our global network of 55 microfinance institution (MFI) partners including our Growth Guarantee partners has touched more than 34 million people in 24 countries. In addition, we introduced and now sustain technology initiatives (Mifos and Village Phone) in Cameroon, Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda, bringing our total country outreach to 28.
+1-202-628-3560 www.grameenfoundation.org
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