Stories
Stories from the volunteers and social enterprises powering the global skillanthropy movement to connect the world's poor to their potential.
With a total headcount of sixteen employees that successfully serve 2,900 poor clients in Kenya, Century DTM knows a thing or two about efficiently leveraging h... Read More
When he graduated with his master’s degree in Accounting Science, Calvin Liou seemed set to launch his career in investment banking and finance. He had carefull... Read More
“Do people still volunteer?” asked a bewildered bank official in the bustling city center of Kampala, Uganda. He was perplexed by Fredrick Ndiwalana’s frequent... Read More
In 2008, Basanti Kisan, a recently widowed mother of three, was living in abject poverty and barely getting by, making brooms to sell at the village market. Whe... Read More
Technology is a critical operational component for MFIs, but it’s often viewed as a huge challenge. In fact, 40 percent of respondents to a 2008 CGAP survey sai... Read More
In many parts of the world, the sustainability of MFIs is threatened by weak corporate governance. Grameen-Jameel Pan Arab Microfinance Ltd. collaborated with C... Read More
Everyone from Julia Roberts to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is touting the power of clean cookstoves as a critical tool to improve the lives of the poor. ... Read More
One of the most significant challenges in the poorest regions of the world is a lack of safe drinking water. danone.communities, in collaboration with Naandi, a... Read More
Grameen Foundation and Qualcomm, through it's Wireless ReachTM initiative, incubated RUMA to support the growing network of micro-entrepreneurs in Indonesia. RU... Read More
In Kenya, smallholder farmers are often trapped in a cycle of producing crops with low yields and marginal profits. Typically isolated from markets, many farmer... Read More
Over the course of three weeks Kelli Moles, a Bankers without Border® volunteer from a top investment bank, supported the piloting of mobile banking point-of-sa... Read More
PT Rekan Usaha Mikro Anda (RUMA), which translates to Your Micro-Business Partner, is our implementing partner for Village Phone in Indonesia. By December 2009... Read More
When I heard about the volunteering opportunity with the Grameen Foundation in my microfinance class, I was very enthusiastic about it. I applied to the positio... Read More
My name is Jesus Fernandez-Munoz. I am originally from Madrid, Spain and currently live in New York, USA. I found myself wasting hours on the internet and decid... Read More
Even before I ever heard of Bankers without Borders®, I had an interest in microfinance. I am concerned for those who fall "outside the net" and I want to direc... Read More
I am a member of a Tokyo based NGO, Living in Peach, which studies on various microfinance issues and joined the Grameen Foundation’s Philippines office for abo... Read More
Where do international bankers go when they retire? They can become “Bankers without Borders” at Grameen Foundation and help build a world without poverty. This... Read More
In January 2010, Ruma, an Indonesian social enterprise, received 12 volunteers from Harvard Business School and University of California - Berkeley's Haas Busin... Read More
A few years ago, my friend Lakeesha introduced me to the idea of microfinance and to the work that Grameen Foundation was doing. I was intrigued with this conce... Read More
Three small fish in the global pond. Could we make a difference in the world of microfinance?
The assignment offered to us was not one that would attract throng... Read More
The assignment offered to us was not one that would attract throng... Read More
Awhile back, a good friend of mine lent me Muhummad Yunus’s book, Banker to the Poor, and exposed me to the incredible idea of microfinance. Through the book, I... Read More
A couple of years ago, I was watching one of my favorite shows, Top Chef, and Grameen Foundation was a featured sponsor on that episode. I had assisted friends... Read More
In December 2010, I was fortunate to be able to visit Bangladesh with my wife and 'adventure partner' Kate. The two of us coordinated a brief Bankers without Bo... Read More
Children and youth represent one-third of the world’s population, and in some countries, especially emerging markets, they can constitute almost half of the pop... Read More
As part of its Mobile Agriculture initiative, which leverages the power of the mobile phone to help fight “information poverty” among poor, rural farmers, Grame... Read More
It doesn't matter where you live – people love to talk about the weather. You may think that citizens of a country like Uganda, which comfortably straddles the... Read More
When I was a little girl and people asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I always said that I would like to be a medical doctor. I didn’t imagine myself... Read More
Providing agriculture loans has always been a challenge for Enda but as a large portion of their beneficiaries are engaged in agriculture they have been adamant... Read More
Farming under most circumstances is difficult. Drought, disease, pests and price volatility all force farmers to make decisions that can determine success or fa... Read More
Smallholder agriculture in Latin America is characterized by its small economic returns caused by low productivity, isolation from markets, and high vulnerabili... Read More
I've always had a healthy skepticism about short-term volunteer projects abroad. But as a Texas expatriate living in a Manhattan closet that passes for an apart... Read More
As I sat sipping some lemongrass tea, one of the many gifts I brought back home with me from my trip to the Philippines, I reflected on the series of events tha... Read More
I recently returned from a Bankers without Borders (BwB) volunteer engagement in West Bengal, India, with Society for Model Gram Bikash Kendra (GBK), a small no... Read More
After working with Grameen Foundation’s Human Capital Center for a year as an Atlas Fellow, it was time to return to Egypt. Looking back now on my year-long st... Read More
My interest in microfinance started when I first heard about Kiva on National Public Radio. Next, my daughter, a sociology student, took a class on microfinance... Read More
One of the many perks of being a part of The Associate’s Program (TAP) at Capital Group Companies is having the opportunity to leave our company for four to fiv... Read More