Posts Tagged ‘accion’

Microfinance Focus, Feb 24, 2010: ACCION is reaching the jungles of Brazil to provide its microfinance products to the microentrepreneurs living and working there. Called Microfinancas, ACCION’s new microfinance company will serve the Amazonas region, where the company said less than 10 percent of the 1.9 million low-income resident microentrepreneurs have access to financial services from a bank or microfinance organization. It was in Recife, ... Full story

By Nagesh Narayana Microfinance Focus, Jan. 30, 2010: In the past, microfinance services have helped to empower and provide stability for poor Haitians but the need is far greater now with the 7.0 magnitude earthquake devastating the nation on January 12 and leaving 200,000 dead. Those who survived were left without food and water for days and ... Full story

Microfinance Focus, Jan. 13, 2010: The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will provide 6 grants totalling $38 million to create and safe and affordable affordable places for the poor, it was announced on Wednesday. The grants aim to provide 11 million people with access to savings over the next five years across Latin Amercia, Asia and Africa, the Gates Foundation said in a statement. The funds will ... Full story

Microfinance Focus, Dec. 16, 2009: ACCION has announced that it has successfully implemented the Dialogue on Business program in India, in association with Bangalore-based microfinance institution Grameen Koota. The program with a special focus on marginalized women, had nine training modules covering topics such as self-management for women, leadership, cash management, communication and promotion, and entrepreneurship. Dialogue on Business has so far trained 500 entrepreneurial low-income ... Full story

Microfinance Focus, Dec. 16, 2009: After two years of planning, ACCION International has launched operations in Inner Mongolia, an autonomous region of China, said  a statement. ACCION Microcredit Company, the first foreign-funded microfinance bank in Inner Mongolia, started providing financial services to microentrepreneurs in the city of Chifeng on December 11, reportedly an auspicious date according to the city’s respected elders. Over the next five years, ACCION ... Full story

Microfinance Focus, Nov.24, 2009: The Havard Business School and Accion International have announced the 2010 Program on Strategic Leadership for Microfinance. The six-day program will begin on April 5 at the Harvard Business School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, US, said a statement. The annual program provides leadership training for microfinance sector professionals and those from the commercial finance industry who provide microfinance services. The focus of the program ... Full story

Microfinance Focus, Nov. 18, 2009: IQPC, The Wall Street Microfinance Alliance and the New York Microfinance Club have teamed up to host the Microfinance & Sustainable Development: The Investment Opportunity Summit, taking place in New York City, January 25-27, 2010. After the Microfinance 2.0 Summit, held together with the Silicon Valley Microfinance Network, this upcoming conference is focusing on impact investing within the microfinance industry ... Full story

Microfinance Focus Nov. 09, 2009: ACCION USA, a pioneer and leader in U.S. microfinance that provides critical capital and financial education to small businesses, has been awarded a gift by Craigslist founder Craig Newmark, to support its person-to-person microlending activities on the Website Kiva.org. Craigslist is a centralized network of online communities, featuring free online classified advertisements. Mr. Newmark is a strong supporter of microfinance internationally. ... Full story

Micofinance Focus, Sept. 30, 2009: The Boston Beer Company has been presented the Boston Business Journal (BBJ) award for its Samuel Adams Brewing the American Dream program. The award was presented to its founder Jim Koch at the Fourth Annual Corporate Citizenship Summit held in Boston. Full story

Microfinance Focus, Aug. 12, 2009: Former CEO of the major microfinance organization, ACCION International, Maria Otero, has taken charge as the US Under Secretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs. She oversees and coordinates the work of the Bureaus of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor; Oceans, Environment and Science; and Population, Refugees and Migration; and the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons. Full story

MF Focus, July 1, 2009: ACCION International, a private, nonprofit organization, has appointed Diana Taylor as its new chair. Taylor, a fomer managing director at Wolfensohn & Co., a New York-based investment banking firm, has also served as superintendent of banks for the State of New York, from 2003 to 2007. Between 1996 and 2003 she held various positions in the New York state government, including CFO of the Long Island Power Authority and deputy secretary to the governor for housing and finance. Prior to her government work, Ms. Taylor was an investment banker at Smith Barney, Lehman Brothers and Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette. Full story